First glimpse of Angelina Jolie’s blackface performance
by Carmen Van Kerckhove
Racialicious has been tracking “A Mighty Heart” since last July, when we first heard that Angelina Jolie would be cast to play the biracial Mariane Pearl. Well, the film debuted at Cannes and the trailer for is out now. Hat tip to Stereohyped. Check it:
Carmen Van Kerckhove is co-founder and president of 
dnA wrote:
Lol. I also felt the need to rant about this today.
Posted 23 May 2007 at 8:05 am ¶
Latoya Peterson wrote:
Has anyone else heard that Mariane Pearl requested Angelina Jolie specifically to play the role? (I need to pay more attention to the gossip sites I skim…)
That would put an interesting spin on things, if it was her request vs. Jolie going after the part.
Posted 23 May 2007 at 8:44 am ¶
gandalf mantooth wrote:
I don’t know that she “requested” Jolie play the role, however Brad Pitt had been buddying up to her since her husband’s death, IIRC and had established a relationship with Mrs Pearl. Pitt was still with Aniston at that time. However when the project was greenlit he was with Jolie, so there probably wasn’t much convincing necessary.
Brad: You wanna play a Black woman? Can we do that?
Angie: Sure, why not?
Brad: I dunno, isn’t that . . . like ministry?
Angie: You mean minstrelsy, baby. No. I’m above that. I’m a superstar.
Brad:Yeah.
Angie:Yeah.
Brad:Uh, where you going?
Angie:There’s some orphans in Cape Verde I wanna take a look at.
Brad:Can I come?
Posted 23 May 2007 at 9:33 am ¶
Kendra wrote:
I was upset about this at first, but I read an article in Glamour I believe and Angelina and Marianne are very very good friends. Mariane actually wrote to Angelina shortly after her husband’s death and their friendship evolved from that and this was before she was with Brad.
If Mariane is happy and wanted her friend to play her in this movie so be it. They obviously have more in common than what seperates them. And because they are friends I’m sure this was a very daunting task for Angelina. I’m sure the movie will do Mariane’s book justice.
Posted 23 May 2007 at 11:13 am ¶
Ike wrote:
Angelina Jolie didn’t look like she was in blackface in the clip. She just looks like she got a tight perm.
Posted 23 May 2007 at 12:01 pm ¶
Ike wrote:
Sorry for the double comment, but I realized that my first one seems to insinuate that I think it’s okay.
I just think it’s more a case of writing a black character out of a story and just making her white, since if I didn’t know who Mariane Pearl was, I would have thought Jolie was playing a white woman.
However, if it is true about Mariane Pearl’s wishes, I think we’re being awfully insensitive and self-righteous to denounce her choice.
Posted 23 May 2007 at 12:13 pm ¶
Johnston wrote:
Where’s the shock here? When half-white women like Berry and Newton routinely occupy the roles of Black women there’s really no place left to go when the role in question is that of a half-white woman. Of course Black women who haven’t been so “blessed” to have been lightened and whitened continue to be shafted.
Posted 23 May 2007 at 12:38 pm ¶
Koko wrote:
Well they don’t really have to have their skin tones changed, though I see your point.
Posted 23 May 2007 at 5:42 pm ¶
Blanky wrote:
Much ado about nothing, it looks like.
She looks like a mulatto girl who inherited the fair-skinned parent’s genes in a 66/33 split.
And if the creator condoned it, great.
Posted 23 May 2007 at 8:55 pm ¶
Miss B wrote:
As Kendra pointed out, a little back story helps clarify a lot of the how Angelina came upon this role:
http://www.glamour.com/news/articles/2007/05/joliepearl
Honestly, I think this story is worth telling, since everyone will not read the book, and if Mariane Pearl is satisfied with the film and Angelina’s portrayal of her, then I really don’t see the point in anyone else fussing over it.
I’m just wondering… if it were Halle, Thandie or even Sanaa, would it be okay - even though none of those woman can act worth a damn?
Posted 23 May 2007 at 9:49 pm ¶
Blueberry wrote:
Mariane Pearl, a French journalist, said she wanted Jolie to portray her after reading an interview about the Hollywood star in a magazine. She said: “This role was played by somebody who loves me, and it means a lot to me.”
She added: “My main emotion when I met Brad, Angie and Michael was that everybody was doing this movie for the right reasons.
“Adam [her son] knows them and has developed a relationship with them.”
————–
Posted 23 May 2007 at 10:43 pm ¶
Brian wrote:
I just think it’s more a case of writing a black character out of a story and just making her white, since if I didn’t know who Mariane Pearl was, I would have thought Jolie was playing a white woman.
It’s hard to tell from the trailer but going by skin tone Jolie and Mrs. Pearl are a pretty close match.
I also note that Mrs. Perl’s wikipedia article repots she is Afro-Cuban and Dutch. Wouldn’t that make her tri-racial?
Posted 23 May 2007 at 11:14 pm ¶
dnA wrote:
I wouldn’t call this blackface because there’s no minstrelsy involved; it doesn’t look like AJ is exploiting black stereotypes to create her character.
But I do understand why people are frustrated, given the lack of good parts for black women. In fact, it seems like because this character had to be a real person, they decided a black person couldn’t play her.
As for whomever said
“Much ado about nothing, it looks like.
She looks like a mulatto girl who inherited the fair-skinned parent’s genes in a 66/33 split.”
That’s an absurd comment. Are we going to begin testing people to make sure they have the exact racial makeup as the person they’re playing? If that’s the case, you should be profoundly upset that Denzel Washington portrayed the profoundly mixed Malcolm X aka “Detroit Red”.
Posted 24 May 2007 at 5:54 am ¶
Jonathan wrote:
Also 66 + 33 = 99, not 100.
Posted 24 May 2007 at 10:09 am ¶
joyprincess wrote:
How about this…from a Salon.com columnist covering Cannes:
…..Jolie’s performance is restrained and dignified, and with her hair in Mediterranean curls, she actually bears a strong resemblance to Pearl, a Parisian woman of mixed racial heritage.
(Winterbottom has observed that trying to find an actress who was half Dutch, a quarter Cuban and a quarter Chinese was not realistic.)
Really? Not realistic? Lazy much, Mr. Director?
Posted 24 May 2007 at 1:49 pm ¶
Atena wrote:
I know that it’s very popular to love to hate Angelina J., but really - is this more problematic than anything else that happens in the world of mainstream filmmaking? Racial politics certainly are a part of how Jolie was placed in this role, but also, she’s a superstar. She will bring in the revenue (at least more so than an unknown actress of more accurate racial pedigree). Besides which, if the woman who is the owner of this story is happy with her, and if she plays the role well and respectfully, then I’m okay with that. Obviously it would be great if an unknown actress of mixed minority heritage could’ve taken a shot at this role, but I think we all know that Hollywood is not an equal opportunity employer.
I’m annoyed by the underrepresentation of black women in mainstream movies. Honestly, though, my annoyance that Halle Berry gets to be the “representative” black actress in the U.S. far outweighs this.
Posted 24 May 2007 at 4:25 pm ¶
tasha wrote:
I can see how people might be inclined to compare the casting of Angelina as Mariane Pearl to MGM Studio’s choice of Ava Gardner as the tragic mulatto Julie LaVerne in “Show Boat” over Lena Horne, but I don’t think it’s the same scenario. Plus it isn’t as if Angelina doesn’t have Mariane’s blessing. If the casting decision is that bothersome, express your frustration with your pocketbook, and don’t see the film. That’s what I plan on doing. Not because I have a problem with the casting decision, but because I’m finding it increasingly difficult to separate Angelina’s personal life from her work these days. Whenever I see her, an “H” word comes to mind, and I don’t mean humanitarian.
Posted 24 May 2007 at 6:39 pm ¶
Michelle wrote:
it’s great that Angelina has Marianne’s blessing but I have to wonder how much say did she have in the choice of the cast, as well as the producers. if Marianne had connected with someone else an actress of a far lesser known status, would she have been casted in the role. I can’t help but think Angelina ultimately got the role because she’s ‘Angelina Jolie’ and brad’s involvement in the project helped somehow. also considering the discrimination that black actresses suffer from in Hollywood I can’t help but be bothered a little seeing a white a-list actress play a mixed race Parisian woman. sometimes I wonder why producers can’t even cast an actor from the same country as the character and instead leave it to American actors to possibly butcher the accent
Posted 25 May 2007 at 12:54 am ¶
MIXED BLACK wrote:
I AM AN AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN WITH BROWN SKIN. MY GREAT GRANDMOTHER WAS IRISH AND CHEROKEE INDIAN. MY GREAT GRANDFATHER WAS A AFRICAN HATIAN.
ALL OF US AFRICAN AMERICANS ARE MIXED ,AND JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE LIGHT SKINNED DOES NOT MAKE LESS BLACK ANY MORE THAN HAVING BROWN SKIN, AND HAVING GREAT GRAND PARENTS LIKE MINE MAKE ME LESS MIXED.
I AM MIXED TOO!!!
NOW MATTER HOW YOU SLICE IT MIXED IS JUST ANOTHER FORM OF BLACK .
THE PROBLEM OF THE RACE ISSUE LIES IN THE HISTORY OF COLONIALISM AND ITS DEHUMANIZING WICKEDNESS IT SPEWED ON THE WORLD.
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY WE MIXED BLACK PEOPLE HAVE ISSUES WITH RACE AND HATE AND SELF LOVE, STUDY EUROPEAN COLONIALISM AND THEIR GIFT OF WORLD RAPE.
IT NOT ONLY AFFECTS AFRICAN DECENT PEOPLE BUT ASIANS AND NATIVE AMERICANS TOO.
Posted 19 Jun 2007 at 10:30 pm ¶
Vina wrote:
Yeah, but you’re other stuff too. Why limit? The whole one-drop nonesense where one black ancestor is enough to make a person TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY BLACK, NO QUESTION is a product of American racism.
I think it’s interesting that so many commenters seem to abide by that rule though, even though Mrs. Pearl appears to have racially ambiguous features, and in addition to white (specifically Dutch-Jewish) and black ancestors is also of Chinese descent. Fine, she isn’t Totally White; she isn’t Totally Black either, and she definitely isn’t Totally Black And White. I feel frustrated at having to say this, but so much of the discussion I’ve followed focuses only on Ms. Jolie’s lack of ‘blackness’. Why not her lack of ‘Asian-ness’ or “Jewish-ness”? Those portions of her ancestry are just as much a part of Mrs. Pearl. To focus on only one small portion of her ethnic/racial makeup is rather strange.
Posted 21 Jun 2007 at 11:57 pm ¶
mzmollie wrote:
The focus on Angelina’s lack of blackness as well as the reason why it’s problematic that she’s playing a partially black woman even IF she can “pull it off” as some here seem to claim, is as follows:
the history, the politics, the power and lack thereof that happens when a white person dons the ‘mask’ of blackness.
Blackface was (/is) a tool of oppression, where white folk smothered themselves in shoe polish and acted as foolish black people for profit. It’s in the history, the repetition, the continued abuse of the black body and the powerful white performer.
Yes, perhaps this is a benevolent role, that you can argue may or may not perpetuate the classic ’stereotypes’. But it’s still minstrelsy, it is STILL blackface - and as Vina pointed out Yellowface. It is the power of a successful white person to occupy the space of people of color.
The point is not that a person of one race is dressing up as a person of another…but that a WHITE person is dressing up a person of color, a historically oppressive relationship and practice. HOW it happens is irrelevent - THAT it is still happening on our movie screens (as we silently much our popcorn and obediently pay up in support of the Hollywood power machine) is the point. History is still happening. Power is still in the same place.
(whew, end of rant. sorry for the lengthiness!)
Posted 22 Jun 2007 at 10:17 pm ¶
michelle wrote:
A few things that I would like to say on this issue…
1. Does anyone else realize that there are no public forums where this VERY important issue is being discussed. For instance, why isn’t Essence covering this like mad? Why isn’t there an interview with Angelina Jolie or Marianne Pearl in this month’s Ebony? Why haven’t Black women all over the country taken up their picket signs and hollered and screamed at this injustice. And yes, my friends, it is an injustice.
2. Of course Marianne Pearl wanted Angelina Jolie. If you ask MP she will tell you that she is not Black. Now, I will not be one of those people who says that one drop of Black blood makes you Black, but MP is CLEARLY a WOC and as such, she has a certain responsiblility, whether she wants it or not, to make sure that her actions do not ensure that the doors of opportunity are firmly and indefinately closed to every Black woman who has a dream to be an actress in film and television. But, I get the sense that MP could care less about a bunch of little Black girls because she has made it clear that she is not one and doesn’t want to associated with Black women. What better way to prove that than to have a white woman play you in a movie….it’s like a coup!
3. Does anyone else realize that there are too few Black women on TV, let alone film. Why is that important? Because film and television are the mirrors of our collective social/cultural conciousness. When one group of people within that culture are simply invisible, what does that say about the present and future of that invisible group? Simply put, Black women, relatively speaking, do not exist within the images that our culture produces. My question is how does this impact young Black women who do not have access to adequate education, adequate health care, adequate housing, adequate access to a better life. What does that say to them? That they are invisible and that they will always be invisible. That they are not even worthy of being seen.
4. Most films are all White films with a few sprinkles of color thrown in for good measure. And where Black women are concerned it seems that Wanda Sykes is the only Black woman that exists in Hollywood. Yes, I know that there are other Black women in Hollywood who get parts, i.e Paula Patton, Kerry Washington, Traci Thoms. But those women don’t work nearly as much as Mandy Moore, Linday Lohan, Rachel McAdams, etc. And how come Jeniffer Hudson doesn’t have umpteen billion projects lined up? When a White woman wins an Oscar, she has projects lined up for a year. However, I digress. My point is this; why aren’t there more Black women in “white” movies? Hollywood stars adopt Black children left and right, how come in the movies there are very few interracial families? Dianne Keaton never has any Black children in her movies, yet she did a movie where one of children was mentally challenged. Nicole Kidman has a Black son in real life, how come there were no Black people in Cold Mountain, a movie about the Civil War? When we see Black women in movies like Charlie’s Angels, SpiderMan, Die Hard or any of the other bajillion movies that come out every year, then I will have no problem with any actress of any color playing any character of any color. But as long as casting directors and producers and directors insist on sticking to the narrowminded views, and as long as America is okay with that, then I must insist, demand, that when there is a move where the character is not a White woman, then a White woman should never, ever play that character.
I can only hope that someone who has the power to say something about this issue will speak out against the injustice of it all. Where is Lena Horne? This very thing happened to her over forty years ago. Why isn’t she on Oprah talking about why this should never happen again?
Okay, I’m done!
Posted 23 Jun 2007 at 8:09 pm ¶