Video Girl

I just came across some very interesting information over at Brown Sista. Reportedly, actress Meagan Good (Eve's Bayou, The Game, Biker Boyz, Stomp the Yard) is set to release her first film as a producer. My initial reaction would usually be that of happiness and pride. It's good to see an underrepresented (and typecast) black woman taking control of her career and not waiting be handed a part in a film that will likely portray some sort of stereotype that we can't seem to shake. But, after taking a look at the trailer of her film titled Video Girl, I wasn't so sure that my feelings of pride would persist once the film was released into theaters (doubt it) or straight to DVD (likely). Despite my concerns about the possible lack of depth of the film, and though this film seems stereotypical, painting black women as one-dimensional individuals whose highest aspirations are to live glamorous, Hollywood lives by shaking their full hind parts in music videos, maybe it is a step up for Meagan. But would this step up for Meagan inadvertently be a step up for black women in Hollywood? Probably not. But should she even feel the pressure to bear this responsibility? I can’t say yes or no.

A few weeks ago, I read another article over at The Grio covering Essence magazine’s Black Women in Hollywood luncheon. The comment made by actress Angela Bassett about Hollywood being “cold” to black actresses seemed to be an all-too-familiar reality to her peers. In black Hollywood, there certainly isn’t a lack of talent, but a lack of opportunity. Consequently, actresses, who have been passed over for parts that they likely are qualified to play, must create their own opportunities by directing and producing their own films. There has been a number of quality films directed and produced by women of color within recent years such as Something New (Sanaa Hamri) and Cadillac Records (Darnell Martin), so there’s not a complete lack of films that depict black women and black culture in a way that we, but not others are accustomed to seeing us. And that is as professional, family and goal-oriented, well-spoken, emotionally healthy, and financially stable. I guess my greatest question is if this film will further ingrain within the minds of people the stereotypes about black women and the black female experience as a whole that has been presented to them for probably their entire lives.But, perhaps the real question should be of whose experience it is that the film is aiming to depict. If it’s just a glimpse into the life of a singular video girl, then there may not be too much harm in that. And though I believe that we are constantly portrayed as hypersexualized beings in the media, perhaps I shouldn’t feel as though it’s a gut punch to entire black female population.

I’ll watch Video Girl and give it a fair shot before I judge, but I must admit that I’m not very optimistic about the quality. Whether or not Video Girl is a blockbuster, my hat is off to Meagan for making things happen for herself because Hollywood sure wasn’t going to do it for her.

Watch the trailer and weigh in!



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For class purposes :
Twitter is the social platform that I use most to connect with friends and the community. I initially jointed Twitter to share my blog posts because I believed that it had a farther reach. I could add hashtags to tweets that could be found by readers even outside of my followers and circle of friends. Facebook didn't seem to have that ability. Friends and followers can also retweet my blog posting tweet to their followers, and so on. I can better use this tool by engaging more of my friends and followers by posing a tantalizing question before the link to drive them to my blog. People can't resist a provocative lead, so I believe that is vital to garnering more readers.