Actress Gina Torres Explains Why She Felt Trapped Being A Latina Woman In African American Roles
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The nerve of this bitch.
This has nothing to do with my opinion on black ethnicities. It's about the film / entertainment industry.
To even have the kind of platform that Gina Torres does is beyond difficult. You have to be extremely skilled, extremely lucky, extremely tenacious, or more likely all of the above, to even get a regular paycheck let alone any kind of real notoriety.
Once you've achieved that notoriety one of unwritten rules is that you don't get to complain publicly about being typecast. Especially when you have a whole nation full of black women who have had to cut their hair or change their "ethnic" clothing just to hold on to a shitty receptionist job. It's the equivalent of taking the bus and complaining to your fellow riders that your Maserati is in the shop.
I can dig that.... but gina has won award recognizing her work particularly from the latin community and she's steadily worked for the last 3 decades.
Yo Resp....check the last one ^^^^^ I'm glad she herself actually said AFRO-cuban but Laz Alonzo laid it out
I can dig that.... but gina has won award recognizing her work particularly from the latin community and she's steadily worked for the last 3 decades.
Yo Resp....check the last one ^^^^^ I'm glad she herself actually said AFRO-cuban but Laz Alonzo laid it out
Thanks brother. I'll check them out later.
Thank you! I really did appreciate how Laz Alonzo explain his race, ethnicity and his nationality. Furthermore, he started to expound on Latinos not being familiar with their history (Gina Torres felt they are, but choose to ignore it). Growing up in East Harlem (sometimes referred to as Spanish Harlem) I can say I have encountered both (although, I lean more towards the totally ignorant of their ancestral country's history).
I believe that all 5 of them know that when they audition for "Latin roles" the likelihood of them getting the role is very slim (whether it's been cast by white or Latino casting agents). Furthermore, I believe if they were giving parts in Latino productions the women would be prostitutes, maids or something very denigrating.
Slightly off topic, but the first time I saw Salma Hayek was on the "Sinbad Show," the first time I saw Sofia Vergara was on "My Wife and Kids," the first time I saw Zoe Saldaña was in "Drumline," the first time I saw Jennifer Lopez was on "In Living Color."
Oh, almost forgot Rosie Perez (Soul Train dancer).
I believe that all 5 of them know that when they audition for "Latin roles" the likelihood of them getting the role is very slim (whether it's been cast by white or Latino casting agents). Furthermore, I believe if they were giving parts in Latino productions the women would be prostitutes, maids or something very denigrating.
Slightly off topic, but the first time I saw Salma Hayek was on the "Sinbad Show," the first time I saw Sofia Vergara was on "My Wife and Kids," the first time I saw Zoe Saldaña was in "Drumline," the first time I saw Jennifer Lopez was on "In Living Color."
Oh, almost forgot Rosie Perez (Soul Train dancer).
yeah...everyone jumps on the black cabin boat until they get what they need then its off to big white cruise ship...
Two women immediately come to mind of course Jennifer Lopez, but the 2nd one may be a bit of a surprise. WBLS (a black owned radio station in New York) in 1983 had Madonna's debut album in heavy rotation when she first came out, the rest is history.yeah...everyone jumps on the black cabin boat until they get what they need then its off to big white cruise ship...
Sigh...
Cultural Identity & Race are two separate things imo. She's a black woman, whether she likes it or not. I don't understand her when she said she felt "pigeon holed"
Like...how many movies had parts specifically for Black Cuban Women
Sooo... I guess Idris Elba felt pigeon holed for playing American Roles?? I don't get where she coming from.
She tries to deflect by saying "I know I'm black" but... I'm Latina
LET"S BE REAL HERE - IT'S SELF HATE.
I swear, the world is white washed. Whatever. Move to Spain, I'm sure they'll typecast her in Black Latina Roles. I've met Dominicans, Cubans, etc that got a rude Awakening when they went to their European motherland.
Cultural Identity & Race are two separate things imo. She's a black woman, whether she likes it or not. I don't understand her when she said she felt "pigeon holed"
Like...how many movies had parts specifically for Black Cuban Women
Sooo... I guess Idris Elba felt pigeon holed for playing American Roles?? I don't get where she coming from.
She tries to deflect by saying "I know I'm black" but... I'm Latina
LET"S BE REAL HERE - IT'S SELF HATE.
I swear, the world is white washed. Whatever. Move to Spain, I'm sure they'll typecast her in Black Latina Roles. I've met Dominicans, Cubans, etc that got a rude Awakening when they went to their European motherland.
I can dig that.... but gina has won award recognizing her work particularly from the latin community and she's steadily worked for the last 3 decades.
Yo Resp....check the last one ^^^^^ I'm glad she herself actually said AFRO-cuban but Laz Alonzo laid it out
I'd never seen her interviewed. I've always liked her and thought she was a really beautiful sister, but after those videos I like her even more.
That last video was really good and informative. It was cool how they discussed some of the same issues we did here in this thread. I think what was most interesting was how they acknowledged the discrimination that goes on in American casting with them being rejected for the roles of Latinos on the basis of them not looking more stereotypically white, yet the racism and lack of representation being even more pronounced in Spanish speaking countries.
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cool , u should search out her insta /email or agent and interview her on her self identification..
yeah...everyone jumps on the black cabin boat until they get what they need then its off to big white cruise ship...
Yeap, fuck'em all!
Nah, bro.
The point I'm trying to make is that the lack of Afro-Cuban representation in America doesn't lay at the feet of Hollywierd exclusively.
- It's largely CULTURAL in origin.
While I understand what Gina's saying and I support her in her desire to be seen fully both in terms of race and ethnicity, much of the bias that she faced and negative experiences often originate from how her culture actually views, treats and fails to promote her. Dude, go down to Miami right now and you'll see the type of Cuban women most heavily promoted by them tend to look like:
and much less like:
And yet, it's with BLACK AMERICA where Gina seems to have found not only love, acceptance, praise and positive self promotion but her voice to speak of her true feelings as well...
Those stars named + Larry Fishburne, Halle Berry, Samuel L. Jackson, Rosie Perez and most other successful Black actors followed that route. I don't think that's a bad thing.yeah...everyone jumps on the black cabin boat until they get what they need then its off to big white cruise ship...
However, I believe it to be a fair question to ask who amongst them returned to do more work on Black projects.
It's also fair to question whether, after their success, they were asked by Black producers and directors to participate in their projects.
It was Black directors and casting directors in their finest hour launching those actors + the ones that @November 17 named in his post. Also as for November's post, I saw a clear New York connection between the actors and the Black directors/shows/stars that launched them. Considering that most Afro Latinx people live in NYC and have lived amongst and interacted with African-American folks for many decades, it makes sense.
I did not know this, but it kind of makes sense. Her first two albums were produced by Nile Rodgers.
It makes me wonder what would have happened if she had kept directing her music towards a black fanbase the way that Tina Marie did.
Again white man, you are not in a position to opine in a Black space or any space that a Black woman "doesn't get to complain" about racist typecasting. You need to fall back.
She's not complaining about racist typecasting though.
She's complaining about not getting a chance to play someone of her own cultural background. And she's doing it in an industry where actors of all races are lucky to play a character of any cultural background.
She's complaining about having to pretend to be somebody she's not in order to get hired in an industry where many great actors build their entire careers that way. Others use it as a way to show off their range.
Their probably is a lack of Afro-latina rolls in American film. But she didn't complain about that. All she cared about was her inability to get one.
Most likely the same thing that happened to Tina Marie
Most likely the same thing that happened to Tina Marie
Hard to say.
Teena Marie had Rick James in her corner during the height of his career. Nile Rogers still had clout but his heyday was long behind him.
Also, I think it's fair to say that Tina Marie was a better singer than Madonna and a far better musician overall. Could you imagine Madonna trying to follow the rhythm of a song like "square biz"?
IMO she would have ended up like the band Nu Shooz. Much shorter career. Only a handful of hits. But she would have had at least one or two jams that could turn out a family reunion.
One thing is for certain though. If Madonna had stuck with Nile Rogers she never would have put those burning fucking crosses in the "like a prayer" video.
She was not complaining about anything. She was speaking about how she felt oftentimes not able to bring all of who she is culturally into roles and she had to learn how to present as African-American in her roles where she played and African-American, because it was not the culture she was raised in. That's not a complaint.
I still stand by this.
But also a black spy family
super villain duo
Billionaires
Pretty much anything fly.
What scene is this from?
"Well imma about to give her Da Back shot...... Champ!!!"
.
.
Interesting question by the guy conducting the interview:
"Do you need to speak the language fluently (Spanish) in order to be proud of your heritage?"
Wouldn't that question mean that you identify more with your colonizers (Spanish Conquistadors) than you do the indigenous people of your ancestors?
Finally somebody who viewed it without hate
I think Gincarlo is too short, but that has never stopped movies with Tom Cruise! But these two are such TITANS when given the right director.
It is not hate to question why she sought and accepted roles meant for sisters instead of being her true authentic self She made some money and a name for herself and now she Afro-Cuban.
If u read sum of these comments it comes from hate/evilness. Sometimes we get so caught up in that u can't see other ppl plight so instead of really reading what she said they wild out without even understanding, I came in here to play the bitch out based on the title of the thread but after reading what she said I got a better understanding of what she's trying to express in that statement
That's all
She's fine to feel how she feels
And she's right with the limited scope
But when you on suits delivering lines about being a black woman for 12 seasons and millions for the check
This part rings hollow
Cubans and Dominicans are just black people that speak Spanish. When they want to get out of trouble they just start speaking Spanish.
I feel sum type of way when ppl say this because they don't wanna be black so we shouldn't look at them that way.
They not black yall let them rep their shit
Fuck em
It’s like the Latino baseball players. They want to act black doing certain things (popping their collar or showboating on a HR like Rickey Henderson) , but then they don’t want to say they are black when MLB says the numbers are down. All these guys are getting paid because black peoples before them paved the way. I get what you saying though. Fuck em.
Most then mfers don't even like us I use to be around Dominicans Little Ferry, NJ which got me cool with alot of chicks and also dudes from Washington Heights, LES, Dyckman, Harlem, we use to have so many events throughout the yrs u get cool with them of course we get into bullshit like who like fried chx more etc. Mind u all the bitches fucked a black dude or wanted to but in front of other Dominicans they would be like they don't mess with Blanco. I kept alot of their secrets cause it's really not my business to blast ppl especially females that fucked me on the low.
I use to have to tell them who yall think yall got yall swag from yall be rockin braids, Caesars, all that shit just be like us. Then glow yall hair then. Use to tell them if it wasn't for my people yall wouldn't have jobs. None of y'all ppl had to get sprayed down with hoses. Had dogs sicked on them. Foh yall benefitting from ppl yall act like yall don't even like when most of y'all darker than me.
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Again,
She related her not having experienced or seen much in the way of roles playing characters who happen to be both Black and Latina.
That's all. And it wasn't packaged in any sense as complaining.
All the rest was extrapolation by dudes in this thread. The unnecessary outrage and actual complaining they were doing feels hypocritical and ultimately is swinging at someone who is not the bad guy.
She's not taking away "roles meant for sisters". She IS a sister. "Not being her true authentic self", what the hell does that even mean?
She's an ACTRESS. By definition, that means she plays roles for a living. By and large no one's hiring anyone to play themselves. That's what acting is, playing different characters.
THINK. What do you propose she does, since she offends you so much? Only look for roles playing Black Latinas? Did she not outline that those roles are almost nonexistent? Go into another profession? This is silly.
I've never seen anybody say one mumbling word protesting the countless roles that Idris Elba or Delroy Lindo played where they portrayed Americans. I don't think anyone should either. Just like people should lay off this sista.
If you want to point fingers then point them at white supremacy and it's stranglehold on that industry, those who act like Hollywood is only big enough to feature a limited amount of faces and who by and large are doing the overwhelming bulk of hiring and casting and who own all the studios except for Tyler Perry's.
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