Misrepresentation of Dark Skin Women in Film.

 

For years, dark skin women have often been misrepresented in the film industry despite their remarkable contributions and tremendous pathways they have left behind. In the film industry, darker skin tones are not seen as suitable because of the ugly slave stereotypes passed down from generation to generation. There is a societal norm that wants to see lighter skin toned women on film because it is perpetuated that dark-skinned women bring only hurt and anger to the scene. Although darker skin toned women have left an unmatched impact on the world due to the film industry's fixation on the eurocentric feature, they have often been portrayed by lighter skin toned actresses that are dressed up to fit the description. 

For example, in 2016, actress Zoe Saldana portrayed the world-renowned singer and actress, Nina Simone, in a film about her life. Being that Nina Simone is a darker woman, Zoe Saldana’s fair complexion had to be altered to fit the description. It is questioned why the casting director didn’t cast a darker toned Black woman for the role instead of having to change a fair-skinned biracial woman’s appearance. The answer will never be verbally addressed in its entirety, but the reasoning is quite clear that having Eurocentric features seem to be the best fit for the big screen. This is one of many examples that convey the lack of representation of darker tone women in films.

- Simone Green