Zoe Saldana in dark make-up is no way to represent Nina Simone onscreen

Last week, the trailer and poster for the forthcoming Nina Simone biopic were released, and we were given our first look at Zoe Saldana playing the legendary musician. Saldana reportedly replaced the singer Mary J Blige after the latter dropped out before shooting began. Indeed, it’s been a controversial decision from the start, with Simone’s daughter describing it as “not the best choice”.

Zoe Saldana faces criticism over dark makeup in Nina Simone film trailer

 Debate surrounding the film, Nina – which is based on Simone’s 1992 autobiography – was reignited when the poster was released. It showed the actress with a darker skin tone and a seemingly wider nose than usual. The trailer, in which Saldana again appears in dark makeup, only made for more uncomfortable viewing.

As a lighter-skinned actress of mixed Latino and African heritage, Saldana cannot deny the advantage that her physical appearance gives her over her darker counterparts when going up for parts. India Arie, who played Simone in the TV movie American Dreams, said that Saldana’s appearance in the film made her “sad”. In an open letter, Arie referred to the casting as an example of “black(er) face” – with the actor having to darken up to play Simone.

And why does this matter? Not only is the marginalisation of darker skinned actresses in Hollywood a huge problem, but Simone’s racial identity was a crucial part of her life. She was denied access to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia because of her race, but she was unbowed, using her musical genius to become a prominent voice in the civil rights movement. As Arie says in a recent interview with the Hollywood Reporter: “In the context of the politics of race in America, and the politics of race in the entertainment industry in America, to make a movie about a person like that and cast an actress that has to wear blackface and a prosthetic nose is tone-deaf.” In my opinion, it is an insult to Simone.

Why does Hollywood choose to darken an actor’s skin and create a prosthetic nose rather than casting someone of the desired skin tone and features? The fact that it is even considered as a matter for the costume department is problematic in itself: these are the features and skin tone that some of us are born with.

And no, Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman wearing prosthetics in The Iron Lady or The Hours is not the same thing. They are white women playing white characters. Saldana’s case is different because of what having a wider nose means in a society driven by Eurocentric notions of beauty that consider any deviations as undesirable.

Many have complained that “race shouldn’t be an issue here”, or “all that matters is the acting”. But if race isn’t an issue why not allow Saldana to play Simone exactly as she is? Doesn’t the fact that they have done the opposite suggest otherwise? It suggests they felt the makeup was a requirement to portray her realistically. Saldana’s status as a talented actress cannot mask the fact that in Hollywood darker women remain largely invisible.

We are not living in a time where we are short of black talent. There is an abundance of actors who better resemble Simone – Uzo Aduba, Viola Davis and India Arie, for instance. But Hollywood has chosen to overlook them in favour of going to the trouble of painting Saldana’s skin and creating new facial features for her.

Some commentators have even said that those who oppose Saldana’s casting should be satisfied that Simone is being played by a black woman at all. Society is so numb to the casual whitewashing of the film industry that some believe we should praise them for using a black actor to play a black character.

There is no room for mistakes when it comes to retelling the story of Simone. Her music provided so much of the sound of the civil rights movement. She rose to fame during a time when it was difficult for people who looked like her to be accepted.

Do not be mistaken. This isn’t a matter of light skin v dark skin. Lighter women are often also victims of discrimination. But we cannot pretend that darker women enjoy the same opportunities that lighter-skinned actors do. It is absurd to believe lighter-skinned black women are better at acting. This is colourism at its most obvious.

With the egregiously whitewashed Gods of Egypt having recently been a box-office flop, I can only hope Nina goes the same way. Though its makers may have good intentions, they have continued the Hollywood narrative that darker women of colour just aren’t good enough.

Nina Simone embodied what it means to be “unapologetically black”. This casting goes against everything she fought for and believed in.

Response

This article is talking about how Hollywood is now associating racism with colorism. Nina Simone's biopic trailer was released last week, and Zoe Saldana was chosen to play the lead role. The controversial issue appears because Zoe Saldana was transformed to fit this role by using 'dark skin make up' as well as make her nose wider to fit the role of Nina Simone. This is presented to many as a form of 'black face' because there are several dark skinned talented African-American's who could have played the role of Nina Simone such as Viola Davis, Uzo Aduba and many others without the need of changing Zoe. This also shows the colorism that exists in Hollywood, which is choosing 'light-skinned' African-Americans' over 'dark-skinned'. Though some argue that the role was solely  based on talent not the color of skin, the author Frances Acquaah mentioned that if that was case Zoe would have played the role exactly as she is. I think the author may seem to show bias towards public opinion, but I think she did a good job of telling it as it is.

Works Cited

Acquaah, Frances. "Zoe Saldana in Dark-makeup Is No Way to Represent Nina Simone Onscreen | Frances Acquaah." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 07 Mar. 2016. Web. 07 Mar. 2016.