"It [the movie industry] wears me out on a different level because for me there aren’t enough multifaceted roles for women who look like me. And when I say multifaceted roles, I mean roles where I open up the script, and the character goes on a journey. Right, see, a balance, where I’m not just always dignified, I know everything, I see everything, I’m just this straight-backed Black woman/friend/all-knowing-seeing/whatever. I’m talking about a human being, multifaceted human being who actually lives, breathes, all of that, OK? I have a problem with that. I have a problem with not having more roles that are lead roles, especially for African American women. I have issues with all of that. I understand the argument with the film to a certain extent and then after a certain extent I just kind of lose it. Because my whole thing is: do I always have to be noble? If I always have to be noble in order for the African American community to celebrate my work, that’s when I say that you’re destroying me as an artist. That’s what I’m saying. I’m saying that as an artist you’ve gotta see the mess. That’s what we do. What we do as artists is we get a human being, and it’s like putting together a puzzle. And this puzzle, it’s gotta be a mixture, a multifaceted mixture of human emotions, and not all of it is gonna be pretty. We’re not gonna win, we’re not gonna be heroes, y’know, OK? That’s all I’m saying as an artist. But I get what you’re saying too. Trust me. We’re on the front lines."
Viola Davis, in this interview with Viola Davis
This is something that, as someone who will be writing those messy characters, I understand completely.
(via eshusplayground)
And like MMM said, how many Black male actors and filmmakers are consistently pooling together resources to give Black WOMEN multifaceted roles as human beings? It pisses me off that Black men wag their fingers at Viola Davis for doing The Help, but would they ever grill Denzel or Will Smith for always taking roles where the female lead is anyone but a Black woman?
(via liquornspice)
