A White actor will be paid to portray one of the greatest Black artists of all time. According to reports, Joseph Fiennes landed the leading role as Michael Jackson.
The drama will focus on a reported road trip that Jackson took with Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando from New York to Ohio on the day after 9/11. Produced by Sky Arts, the film will first debut on British TV.
But the casting of Michael Jackson as a White man is disrespectful and reminiscent of the blackface era in film.
Whitewashing has always played a dominant role in the film industry. White actors would wear blackface during the late 19th century to mock Black life in humiliating fashion.
But it’s not just an outdated phenomenon. Beyond the degrading factor, White actors have recently been allowed to portray ethnic characters while taking jobs away from deserving minority actors.
Ben Affleck, an Irish American, won an Oscar for portraying a Mexican in Argo; Mena Suvari, a blonde White woman, portrayed a Black woman in the film Stuck; and Angelina Jolie, portrayed a mixed-race woman in the film, A Mighty Heart, just to name a few. There are dozens of examples that prove the regularity of this practice in the film industry.
The news of Fiennes landing the role as Jackson comes at a time when the lack of diversity in Hollywood is being lambasted by Blacks who work in the industry. Although the diversity issue surrounding the Oscars have shed light on the problem, it goes beyond those who are in front of the camera. There is very little diversity when it comes to the conception, production, or development of films that are granted access to the mainstream.
Fiennes being handed the role of a Black legend is a brutal slap in the face to every Black actor who studied the art their entire lives for such an opportunity. It also serves as another reminder that it’s 2016 and we’re still struggling with the issue of blackface in film.
