Commentary on the film Lucy staring Scarlett Johansson.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/olivia-cole/lucy-why-im-tired-of-seei_b_5627318.html
Here's a clip:
I can't accept that. I can't accept that there was only one black
woman in the entire film, who delivered one line and who we never saw
again. I can't accept that the bad guys were Asian and that although in
China, Lucy's roommate says, "I mean, who speaks Chinese? I don't speak Chinese!" I can't accept that in Hercules,
which I also saw this weekend, there were no people of color except for
Dwayne Johnson himself and his mixed-race wife, whose skin was almost
alabaster. I can't accept that she got maybe two lines and was then
murdered. I can't accept that the "primitive tribe" in Hercules
consisted of dark-haired men painted heavily, blackish green, to give
their skin (head-to-toe) a darker appearance, so the audience could
easily differentiate between good and bad guys by the white vs. dark
skin. I can't accept that during the previews, Exodus: Gods and Kings,
a story about Moses leading the Israelite slaves out of Egypt, where
not a single person of color is represented, casts Sigourney Weaver and
Joel Edgerton to play Egyptians. I can't accept that in the preview for Kingsman: The Secret Service,
which takes place in London, features a cast of white boys and not a
single person of Indian descent, which make up the largest non-white
ethnic group in London. I can't accept that in stories about the end of
the world and the apocalypse, that somehow only white people survive.
I can't accept that while my daily life is filled with black and brown
women, they are completely absent, erased, when I look at a TV or movie
screen.
