Opportunity Gap: Where are the Oscar Worthy Roles for Black Women?

Originally Published on Torri Oats' Medium page

Quick! Name a black actress who is a contender for a Best Actress Oscar nomination this year!

While listening to one of my favorite film podcasts, one of the hosts recalled a Twitter conversation he had with a listener who mentioned potential nominees. Between them, they listed about 15 actresses that were among the likes of Cate Blanchett, Saoirse Ronan, Jennifer Lawrence, Alicia Vikander and Brie Larson; just to name a few. None of them were a woman of color. The host was clearly excited, but I was saddened.

Most films I’ve watched with at least one woman of color have the same negatively reinforced, cookie cutter lead. Unfortunately, they are familiar because they are archetypes I’ve seen repeatedly. I’m still working my way through a very long list of films, and I haven’t watched every film with a woman of color in the lead role, but it doesn’t look promising. This year’s film slate is further proof that studios do not value films starring complex, three dimensional people of color.

A report entitled, It’s a Man’s (Celluloid) World: On-Screen Representations of Female Characters in the Top 100 Films of 2014 by Dr. Martha M. Lauzen, calculated that 12% of protagonists were women. Of that, 23% were women of color. In short, if there were 100 leading roles, 12 would go to Caucasian women, and 2.5 would go to women of color.

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No Lies Told Then Character Blog: George

Fun fact:  I often imagine an actor’s voice in my head when I write.  It helps me find the character’s pitch and consistency in their speech pattern.  In this case, the voice of choice was George Clooney.  I named the character “George” so I knew which voice to listen to in my head.  The name stuck.

I once shared an early draft of No Lies Told Then on a screenwriting website where writers post their work for other writers to review.  The feedback was invaluable in helping me flesh out this character, and it was interesting to read some of the perceptions of George even though I was deliberately vague about one thing I particular.

Before the feedback, George was a handsome, charming, successful and wealthy author.  However, several people pointed out he needed to be more than those things.  They were right and that’s how he became a British expat and acquired more talents; he needed traits other than the obvious to make the protagonist and audience fall in love with him.

He is purposely mysterious in the beginning.  He’s the man we meet in the bar who says all right things and oozes confidence and sex; the perfect potential one night stand.  He’s the fun guy who doesn’t have a care in the world and possesses the unique ability to make every woman who enters his orbit feel like she’s the most important person in his life.  He has perfected the art of saying everything yet nothing at all; always the life of the party and a nurturer in his own way.  It’s something that works very well for him for most of his life.  

Like Johnathan, there are some things I’ve known about George since day one and the most important is the influence of a key figure from his past.  I knew she left him wounded, perhaps fatally, but the who, what and why couldn’t be revealed too early.  In our own lives, it sometimes takes years to understand how our past has left us scarred, so in that way, George is like all of us.

George may look like a man who has it all together, the reality is he is anything but; he is coming apart at the seams.  His lonely existence works for awhile, but when Sandra enters his life as a woman who is his equal in every way, he begins to question if the way he has lived all these years is the path he wants to continue to travel.

Just as Sandra must take her own journey to discover who she is and what she wants, George must do the same.  To move forward, he has to rid himself of the demons of his past.  As an audience we experience his “ah ha” moment with him.  I never expected him to have this moment, but his role in the ending evolved so organically, his story couldn’t remain unfinished.  

The Urgent Need for Black Female Driven Films

When Torri R. Oats conceived “No Lies Told Then”, there was no question who was on her mind and in her heart - black women. She didn’t have to look far, as a black woman she personally understood the frustration of not seeing many faces and stories like her own on her screen. Not only were black protagonists lacking in film and television, black female storytellers weren’t getting the opportunities to serve the people with stories that showcase diversity and the fullness of the experience of people of colour.

One can’t help noticing the severe shortage of black stories and black female driven projects, and also how necessary they are. We need them because they will give a clearer picture of who we are and just how powerful this underserved market is. Black female driven projects can shatter biases and perhaps  answer the pressing questions we have about how we’re portrayed.

How come in America, where African-American women isthe most educated group, we still have so few educated black women depicted on our screens? When an educated black womanis depicted – she becomes almost magical and not like she’s one in a wider group of girls just like her. There’s no doubt that we can blame television and film for its part in perpetuating this.

In a rousing speech at Glamour’s Women of the Year awards, Reese Witherspoon voiced the need for female driven projects. Her hope, shared by other women in the room is that female driven projects become the norm and something that those at the top of the Hollywood food chain seek, and not something they have to be convinced to do.

If there are few opportunities for female driven projects imagine how much harder we have to work for the chance for more BLACK female driven projects. Not only do we have to overcome the bias against female protagonists, writers, directors, actresses and stories - the added load on our backs is the bias Hollywood has against our race. This is not to say that the cause is an impossible one, because strides have been made in the last 3 years - the point here is we need to keep reminding ourselves and others of “black female driven” as much as we think about “female driven”. In a way, the two need each other in the same way feminism works best when it crosses racial lines.

Finding Your Own Truth in Society's Lies

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“Mirrors are perpetually deceitful. They lie and steal your true self. They reveal only what your mind believes it sees”

                                                 ― Dee Remy, There Once Was A Boy

When you look in the mirror what do you allow yourself to see? Do you let your reflection speak clearly to you or do you let your mind color your view with self-doubt, judgment, guilt and inadequacy? Before you even look at yourself do you start hearing the voices of people who’ve made you feel like you’re not good enough? Do you go through the things society says you have to fix about yourself to be considered perfect?

This goes beyond what you see in the mirror; maybe it’s the attitude you carry into every relationship because something in your past gave you the idea that you don’t deserve love and happiness. It could even be about your work – you talk yourself out of opportunities that were rightfully yours or you lead with doubt and not with confidence in your talents and abilities. You have to ask yourself what the language of your own mind is because changing how we speak to ourselves is the most powerful step we can take to finding our own truth.  

One thing human beings do without fail is question themselves instead of questioning a society that tells hurtful, blatant lies. It’s a vicious and exhausting cycle that carries on until you can’t separate your own truthful voice from all the lies you were told. The risk is that you’ll lose so much of yourself and no person in society is worth losing that for. The good news is you can get yourself off the hamster wheel of misery by finding and embracing a truth that is your own. Because it’s ultimately your own standard, you will never find yourself feeling like you’re falling short ever again.

In “No Lies Told Then”, Sandra is caught up in the lies and they are affecting her happiness, and even her ability to do the thing she loves most. The truth finally hits her when she sees everything that tells her she isn’t good enough for what it really is: a narrative of lies that doesn’t benefit her in any way.

The truth is, we’ve been lied to, taught to doubt and be unkind to ourselves. Black women have been told that their features are ugly, but the truth of their beauty is revealed when the very same things they were taught to loathe about themselves are now being appropriated by other races. Women were taught that venting their frustrations and anger made them difficult but other groups can do this and get applauded for their honesty. As a woman in the world you quickly realize how fickle and judgmental society can be, and while keeping up is an option, all it will do is tire you out and leave very little time for yourself. Finding your truth is an act of bravery and you can be your own heroine. It starts with you and the fruits it produces are way more precious than anyone’s approval.

How to Start Finding your Truth

1.  Communities - Growing up, I always felt different.  I was raised in a small town and people I met were basically the same.  When I discovered internet communities, I realized there's a whole world full of weird people from different backgrounds.  I think sharing passions, ideas, engaging in conversation with different types of people has helped me discover who I am, accept myself and build my confidence.

2.  Reading - I no longer rely solely on American news sources (i.e. CNN).  By opening up, I realized there's an entire world out there of people who need help, who are suffering, who are marginalized and voiceless, and I think reading different perspectives has helped me broaden how I see things.  It's no longer through the American lens, it's through the human lens.  Through that, I now see where I can contribute to society in a positive way.

3.  Narrowing my inner circle - I'm a loner by nature.  I'm friendly with everyone and I'm sure many people would consider themselves a friend of mine.  However, not everyone you meet has good intentions or wants the best from and for you.  I've created concentric circles in my life which represents the degrees to which people know me and the amount of time and effort I will invest in cultivating our relationship.  My squad is my innermost circle.  It's about four or five people in whom I can confide and vice versa, we always support each other, uplift each other; there's no competition, only love.  They will tell me the truth and I will always tell the same.  

4.  Blocking out the noise - There are people who aren't going to like me no matter what.  They are constantly negative.  There are also people who will try to tell you what you can or cannot do, but I block them out.  If a person's only contribution to the world is negativity, I want no part of them.  They become noise that I just ignore.

5.  Accept myself - Acceptance grows into love.  I'm imperfect and I accept that.  We grow up with society's expectations foisted upon us, especially girls.  As we get older, hopefully we learn to accept the things we cannot change and those perceived flaws are embraced. 

                                                                                               - Torri .R. Oats

Join in our #LadiesWhoFilm Twitter Chat

Hollywood wasn’t built by women and to a certain extent it wasn’t built to serve us in the same way it serves men. It’s a system that favors white males at the expense of women and minorities. This has always been a fact of the politics that govern the film industry, but 2015 has proven to be pivotal for the movement that questions Hollywood. This year it was forced to look inward at its own culture and lack of diversity both in front of and behind the camera.   In short, the status quo became untenable as voices were raised universally demanding representation and change.   

2015 lifted the curtain of the Hollywood machine, exposing just how deeply white, male privilege runs in the industry and the perceptions perpetuated by it. From Colin Trevorrow’s comments about women not wanting to direct blockbusters to #Damonsplaining, the need for more conversation to shift the culture has revealed itself and women across the world have boldly risen to the challenge of leading these conversations.

When we created social media profiles for our film, we knew we wanted to be involved in this important conversation. Part of the core story of No Lies Told Then is “giving a voice to the voiceless” and women and minorities are nearly voiceless in the film industry. We also took notice of the talented film industry women who were engaging with us, and the idea to bring these voices together in a chat was born.

#Ladieswhofilm is a corner where women who work in film, or aspire to work in film can freely chat, vent, discuss issues, share inspiration and network with other women. We’re all connected by our love of film and desire for women to get the space, credit and respect we deserve. There is so much knowledge to share and talent to be excited about, and this conversation will provide a platform for #Ladieswhofilm to unite! this We’re looking forward to talking with all the wonderful women who’re participating in #Ladieswhofilm and you’re invited too! Join the conversation on Wednesday November 4 at 7pm EST. If you have a question you want us to ask, fill in this questionnaire buff.ly/1OhY3J7.