I’ve also noticed that black woman within romcoms are reduced to the “black best friend” and are only there to serve the white female lead and help give her advice and guide her with her situation. That’s usually her only purpose and we rarely get an inside look at her life and what she has going on. It’s kind of like she’s “always the bridesmaid but never the bride.”
Also the fact that black men, especially dark skin black men are frequently casted in romantic movies, only its to non black women.The divide is huge between the progression of black men in movies compared to dark skin or even just black women.
@Raihanna Very true, and as Amanda pointed out Ok Cupid (and other dating sites) show Black men prefer to date white women and other WOC instead of Black women. It is not too far fetched to assume the dating preferences data influences these kind of scripts and vice versa. White supremacy. To your point, BM go on social media sites to let Black women know they value their preferences which is why BW should stay home and stop marching. Let their preferences march and advocate for BM.
@@shortyp1000 its also crazy how the only reason black men in OK cupid had positive selection is from BLACK WOMEN. All other women do not see black men as viable, good partners no matter the media portrayals. However money helps give men social capital and desirability unlike women. Also, black men rated all other women EXCEPT black women as desirable.....this needs to change. And i mean bw one side loyalty!
@Raihanna Lmao and we are expected to mule for these men who don't even uplift and appreciate us. That's why I'm behind the divest movement, black women should start opening up their dating options. Black men are not pro-black community, they are only pro-black men and pro-biracial bw. They have absolute control over who they cast in music videos and movies as the love interests, and more often times they deliberately choose to not cast monoracial bw because they don't see us as desirable or valuable. We as bw should start supporting black female creatives such as Issa Rae, who actually care and are looking out for image. She has done so much for our public image with her movies and TV (Insecure, Lovebirds and The Photograph)
I noticed anytime a black woman has a love interest they always have "struggle love" which is soooo annoying because why do we have to struggle in order to be loved or desired?
@@ts5683 then do it bestie! i can't describe how refreshing it is to write about happy, bubbly, bright young Black women just doing their thing. writing is a powerful tool for equality AND it's hella fun
Blame tyler perry 😂. But actually I think we need healthy representations of black love. Like black families are some of the most unstable in the country and we need to have both parents in the home and to have that we need kids to see a healthy relationship between a black man and a black woman. I think we as the black community need to look and fix our own community since no one is going to fix our problems for us. I tired of seeing black men dating the white woman in the movies or the black woman dating the white man, like 80% of black people are dating other black people who arnt biracial, so the vast majority of black people are dating with the confines of their race yet the big box office movies or shows show interracial dating. Why not show black love? Not saying interracial dating shouldn't be represented, I just think that if representation and diversity is what they are going for, what they are doing isnt helping as much as they think it is.
This is why Cinderella staring Brandy and Whitney Houston is STILL such an impactful movie. Because it shows a black woman as a love interest, as a princess, as the main character, where race has nothing to do with the plot of the story. Brandy's Cinderella is a portrayal of what society does not want young black girls to see themselves as. I pray Amanda, and other talented black writers make opportunities for yourselves and just write hundreds of thousands of stories portraying black women they way we want to be seen; as people.
Because society is comfortable with us being labeled the “angry struggling Black women” undeserving of happiness and willing to sacrifice her own livelihood for the greater good of everyone else who views her as inferior.
Yep! Which is why it is important for black actresses to vie for roles that humanize and boast our social currency (e.g. playing the love interest, genius/protege, hero (not a mammy or masculine strong bw, but desirable superhero like Storm), warmhearted character, feminine character, and wife) and not dehumanize us (mammy, strong matriarch, sapphire, jezebel, strong black woman tropes). White supremacists used media and pseudoscience to rob us of our womanhood, so we'll need some serious social engineering through media (movies, books, blogs, magazine etc.) to salvage our womanhood and build up our social currency.
Not a romantic comedy but A Bronx Tale has a dark skinned love interest called Jane and she's pretty feminine. Obviously it's not a perfect movie but Jane is probably the most sympathetic character.
People always seem to forget that interracial couples don't have to be white person and insert person of colour. An interracial couple can be two people of colour.
Whites don't own the movie industry (you know who does, right?), it's propaganda aimed at whites... it isn't "pro-white", it's "pro-mixing". They don't forget, you are the one forgetting: They have an agenda. Break the mold.
@@revisit8480 Oh my God... MOM, come pick me up, I saw a racist in the wild. 'Pro mixing', Wow, are you into eugenics or something? Please tell me, who owns Hollywood if its not the 62% of white directors, 73.1% of white actors who got speaking roles and the overwhelmingly white Academy?
That's why I loved watching 'The Lovebirds' with Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani ♥️ A black woman and an Indian guy that just happened to be in a r'ship. It didn't seem forced. No bullshit agenda, no social commentary.. I LOVED seeing that.
Why is hollywood more comfortable showing feminine black men than feminine black women? It’s weird. I see soft feminine black gay men all the time but rarely soft feminine black women. The same way asian men are mostly portrayed as soft
While we do have more movies, they are all the same shitty coming out story rehashed through low budget films. So yes we have more movies, but they all happen to be trash, and only represent one sexuality.
They only want to portray black women in struggle love, and then this leaves something in black women and girl's mind that they're not worthy of love and have her desperately looking for love
What I noticed is that the only time they use dark skinned full black women is in social justice/ political films, especially when they have natural hair.
*** In slavery movies too. Or we're either cast as the neck rolling, sassy, combative (most often overweight) best friend who's struggling to find (or keep) a partner.
And even in those struggle movies, they sometimes make a biracial be the lead (typically depicted as desirable, compassionate, and brave) e.g. blackkklansman.
That's funny because soon as they put black woman in love movies , u guys then say , you guys are being over sexualized because your black or darkskin , and that lightskins are fetishized blah blah blah the race card and colorism card never stops u guys are weird
I saw the movie “Let it Shine” where the black girl (actress named Coco I think) was actually the love interest. But yeah, I agree, we need more representation of black women as a love interest, it would be interesting ☺️🌹
Girl yes, yes, yes! Like sometimes i'm watching emma chamberlain and i'm like wow....she can really be herself and her femininity and desirability isn't questioned the way it would be if she was BLACK. It's really insane.....Not to say blk women shouldn't be themselves CAUSE THEY ABSOLUTELY SHOULD--DAMN SOCIETY but the rules are totalllly different.
@@alextroy9202 sure u do bt she still has millions of subs, fans, viewers who don't. As she should cuz i do enjoy her but the rules are just different for white girls/women...ESPECIALLY if they fit beauty standards as well--can get away with more.....
i was literally just thinking about this while looking for a romance movie to watch, it’s super unsettling and something that should be talked about more often. thank uu
Right? After I started to notice and look for romance movies and books with black woman being the protagonists just feel fucking angry at how hard it is to find them :(
@@oyinkansolaadebajo9716 jasmine guillory is a black author who wrote some overweight black protagonists, although they are not disabled, is already nice to read someone that looks more like we do 💛
I watched the whole season of Modern Love & it’s so crazy that I’m just noticing not one of the stories was about a Black woman. The only Black women with speaking roles were the best friends in two of the stories. It’s weird how normalized this is in film & tv.
What’s even more sad is that in film where black women are the love interests, theyre usually light skinned Edit: Ok, I’ve actually been pretty invested in the debate going on about my comment. So after a few days, here is what I have to say. Biracial women who happen to be of black heritage do not represent black women. Also, the casting of light skinned black women neglects a large part of the black woman’s experience. My point is that main stream media, which is honestly synonymous with white media, rejects black people who aren’t fetishized or have a level of “comfort”, that comfort being whiteness or antiblackness, within their identity.
Why is it also that there’s barely any relationship represented that involves two black people, if there’s a black love interest their partner is somehow almost always white
Yeah we need all types of representation in our partners (black women specifically black men have been shown with every race of women)black, white, asian. But yeah we definitely need dark skin unambiguous black women in HEALTHY relationship with a black male or black women
That’s true, it’s always white or Asian. The same thing happens with other races accept white. In America you can’t see a black couple in a movie except for in black made movies.
What's wrong with being white ? And if it's two black people there's always people who will complain and say that black woman are being over sexualized the race card and colorism card never stops
On tiktok there was a sound that was specifically meant to uplift black and dark skinned women "brown skin, pretty brown eyes, slim waist, but her hips kinda wide..." and for some reason at the top of the sound was white and light skinned women of color. It's not to say that they can't be celebrated but in the one moment dark skinned women had to shine, white women tried to steal the spot light. It was frustrating because the videos made by the dark skinned women were being suppressed. I'm pretty sure it's not like that now but the comment sections under those videos were a warzone.
Im glad we're talking about this because, Black woman especially dark skin black women should be able to be love interests, to be chased by people of all races on screen and taken out on dates etc. Hollywood isn't interesting anymore because of how repetitive it is, especially when you compare it to foreign films. Black women deserve to get casted in many roles even when the directors of writers aren't black, period.
Having someone that liked me but didn't respect me enough to actually be in a relationship with me because he only saw the sexual aspect of me. It honestly hurts my heart to hear that. Being seen for just my body or just a piece of meat and not for who I am as a person and what makes me, me. (sigh) 😪
Yes !!! I totally relate to this . Because regardless of how smart , funny , beautiful we are we will never be enough just because we don’t have the right color 🥺😒
I'm curious how many black women/girls are into comics because theirs alot of black women comic creators who have black women as the main character AND love interests and those stories are usually never surrounded by struggle or fight the power. Example: adorned by chi they have a black magical girl who's dark skin and a albino black girl. Dreamy pyon youtube and instagram.
Lol meeee I have a comic regarding a black girl that joins a rock band it’s a romance/drama on webtoons.com or the webtoons app it would be cool if u checked it out tho!
It’s soo sad that black woman have been targeted for hate and being put in an undesirable role to then be objectified sexual..yet it’s still a question why we are upset!?! Because it’s tiring to be put down and picked apart
Although I’m sure the UK still has a lot to improve upon regarding representation, has anyone ever noticed that Black female love interests and interracial relationships with women of color are much more common in media than in the US? Black Mirror, Skins, Lovesick, Misfits being some examples. I definitely had a phase where i watched way more British television for this exact reason.
Ofc all the examples I gave didn’t include darkskin women which sucks, but I thought that was interesting and was curious why America is particularly more whitewashed
The title is me to the Bridgerton fandom. 🤔 This is also why I did not watch Modern Love. I've noticed this pervasive behavior where the media and people that are fans of a particular show keep trying to convince Black women that they should be happy and satisfied with Black male and biracial female representation. The most recent show this is shown heavily in is Bridgerton.
I'm going to be 41 this year. When I was around your age I decided to remove myself from media that didn't represent me because I could feel the negative impact. It's hard but we need to take our self-esteem out of racist hands. We can make our own rom-coms. Popular culture steals from thriving culture. If *we* support and uphold the beauty of black women, they will be valued eventually in the society. Unfortunately black people also buy onto European beauty standards. Most negative comments about skin tone, hair and facial features come from black women while the other races will give positive comments. Our race is traumatised. However, just like in healing during therapy the solution is not in demanding change from those who hurt us. The solution is to heal the wounds within us and create a new life for ourselves instead. When that happens you come into your power. Then suddenly, popular culture will come running because they want to sell you stuff.
I think black women are incredibly beautiful and would love to see more films and series with them as the lead. Really wish we had progressed further as a society by now 😓 I have seen lots of films with a black woman as the lead, but the more I think about it, the more I realise that these are films with a pretty much all black cast. The only thing I can think of rn is How to get away with murder! I'd love to see more stuff like that with a black female lead in a mixed cast ❤
Reading my mind. I would say this has been my experience. I never dated, been kissed or been intimate with anyone until I was 20 in college. I've had one relationship (that was short becuz I was "mean") and multiple situationships all with Black men. I'm just tired. I appreciate Issa Raye for writing Black women in as love interests, but yes, some more people need to be putting in the work!
if ya'll want something where black women are the love interests, peep Guadagnino's (Call Me By Your Name) mini-series _We Are Who We Are_ ! EDIT: just finished the video and just wanted to emphasize, that qualities that are "attractive" are just social values. If you don't believe me, just look at how these values change through history and from culture to culture. What's "unattractive" is just reinforced through media portrayals and does perpetuate racism. Representation isn't enough **cough** Bridgerton **cough** if it's just one-dimensional as well. So basically for any future Hollywood producers out there, make movies with real and honest characters.
Yes!! I loved We Are Who We Are! The black girl love interest is sought after three different people! She's not a white girl's advice-giving sidekick. She's the main protagonist! Not that numbers matter, but it was heartwarming seeing a black girl finally romantically sought after in a coming-of-age story. :)
omg thank you for bringing up the 'spice' thing - I've always wondered what it was about having lighter-skinned woc that was becoming popular, and it's bc there's this sentiment that wyte women are 'unseasoned' (still not keen on the comparisons to food but anyway), and the 'spice' of just seeing someone who isn't wyte but isn't as aethetically far from them as other poc, as though (usually) darker-skinned women aren't white-adjacent enough, is what really grinds my gears
Black women always play the marginalised characters. Usually the defensive, ride or die friend to add to the comedic element. I remember first noticing this as a kid watching nik and Disney channel.
Somehow, in this past year and a half, I've "seen" and heard of so many disgusting and horrible stories, along the lines of this video, that it often makes me feel like I'm about to explode from rage, anger and sadness. Most men are seemingly physically incapable to even try to understand most women's day to day experiences. I don't get why it is so hard to admit that yes, while everyone in every "group" (whatever arbitrary category you wanna create) have their own struggles, there is an inherent certain type of... risk, and hardship, if you will, to going through life as a woman. And of course, depending on the region of the world you live in, and your personal circumstance it can vary, but it's always present. So just be kind, be gentle and make people feel safe around you. And if you see, hear or think that someone is in trouble or suffering or just need some support, just help them.
Yes, someone please hire her to write a rom-com about a young black woman! At this point, it's not like the talent isn't there (in black writers, filmmakers, and actresses) but it's that they don't want to encourage a shift in their own bias and thus the biases in others
This is such a great video, keep making these types of videos! I know when you are hired, you will give us black women a narrative, a perspective, and a voice. :)
great video!! this perspective is really interesting for me to hear because I'm asian and for me I'm so sick and tired of movies always making asian girls out to be "cute and lovable" because that makes it more difficult for asian girls to be outspoken or less feminine since then we'd be shamed for not fitting into our "kawaii" stereotype, so I've always wished for more depictions of asian girls as "kickass and street smart", but it's really thought provoking for me to hear the other side of things.
This must be a largely American issue, I think. In Italy we had a Netflix show featuring a black girl with natural hair as the primary love interest/character and she had a white Italian boy madly in love with her, chasing her etc. And her race wasn't even part of the plot or anything, she was just black and beautiful and, therefore, she was a delight to watch.
I agree! In Italy, there aren't many black people so having a black girl or boy starring in a movie is a breath of fresh air. I also think Italians just love women independently by race. I am Nigerian-Italian and had white Italian boys crushing on me. British movies show more black women as love interests compared to American movies and it's a shame that everything revolves around Hollywood. They should learn from the Brits entertainment industry.
Be the love interest of who? Why complain about white media, make your own media. This is the problem with black people, complaining about entertainment too much. It's like entertainment is the holy grail or a religion for too many of us. To hell with representation in white media, build your own media like many are building now. Make your own entertainment. Even though it's not Hollywood, it's YOURS. No other group complains about integrating so much. It's like you want a hug from white people.
this is one of the things that made me develop my ED since a young age. i remember the first time i got whistled and stared at at the mall and my mom had to yell at some guy bc i was literally 11. i wasn’t even aware of my body until then. as i grew up, i got more butt, boobs, and hips and i hated it so much. not because i didn’t WANT to grow, but i didn’t want to be seen as more of a sexual object bc of my shape. until about high school, i had majority white friends because of the area i grew up in and they could never relate to me whenever i talked to them about these things at like sleepovers and stuff. i can’t even walk my dog to this day without getting catcalled even when i wear triple XL clothing to hide my frame as much as i can. i just want to feel like a kid again who’s shaped like a rectangle lmao and be loved for me, not for the sexual fantasy my frame gives others.
My BF has been playing Spiderman lately, & I asked him...why can't a black non-hero woman be the love interest, even Miles Morales' mom isn't black...but the dad is... Zendaya isn't black, but they will call her that. I asked him to name one comic where the love interest isn't a super powered woman. He, my bf is white, & he, a legit nerd, couldn't name one. It kinda hurt... it really hurt.. & it hurts to know that these writers, directors, & creators know...but they basically don't care.
@@aerialtaprootanalysis6117 you have one in your profile pic yet you’re complaining that girls of colour weren’t popular. Put a black celeb in your profile pic then 😂😂. Unless that’s you in your profile pic?
I'm a such sucker for romcoms and this is an important convo, everything you said resonated with me. Can't wait to watch one you write &/or produce one day✨
I think a really interesting example of a black teenage female character being the main protagonist with a love interest is a tv series I grew up watching in the UK called Some Girls. It’s a sitcom set in an inner city school in London about a group of four girls and their teenage shenanigans. It’s definitely very nostalgic to me now as it came out in 2012 and it was the the first time I saw a dark skinned black girl take centre stage in a comedy. It’s an incredibly light hearted and funny show with so many awkward moments 😂 that’s what made it so great. I look back on it with so many fond memories.
Alright this definitely opened my eyes more, so thanks for the video! It's pretty good and I can tell you truly thought about this topic and put a lot of effort into it.
I haven’t heard of Modern Love, but I’m not understanding how a TV show can make the mistake/choice of leaving out WOC in the year of our Lord 2021. Great video, I love how you got straight to the point!
They already do, funnily enough, but for some reason many of these chicks appear to be obsessed with getting validation from other groups. It’s strange and slightly embarrassing when you look at it from an outside view.
Representation is so important because when it's balanced, everyone is happy. As a white girl, I am used to seeing white people everywhere, and it's easy for me to relate to them. I'm also in the presence of black and Asian people often, so it's not hard to relate to them in romantic movies like To All the Boys and The Sun is Also a Star. (To be fair, I'm not accounting for the fact that these characters live in a world similar to mine and oftentimes act "white") However, for people who aren't white and have white families and friends, I can imagine how strange and unrelatable it would be for the vast majority of films to show people who don't look like them. My point is this: it's imperative that the media creates more balanced representations of race because we live in a diverse world. If you cater to one person, one person is happy. If you cater to everyone, everyone is happy.
I argued for this in order to see more relationships like the ones I was in when I was younger but kept getting shouted down as fetishizing black women.
We always have the same roles but there is this movie called last holiday that’s the only rom com I know with a black woman as the love interest and sought after. That’s my favorite movie.
@@outherewildinb2874 I was so disappointed at the divergent cast after heavily getting into the series and contemplating if I can sister wife with Trice for Four fine ass. 🙃
@@kindred239 So disappointing! I think Raising Dion was what broke me, they just swapped out the dark skinned mom in the trailer for someone lighter, I just expect the worse now. --and honestly, same! Just happy Christina in the books got him 🤣
A movie that I loved with a main black character is Soul. Ik the main character is a black man, but the movie wasn't about him being black, or the struggles of being black. It also showed little cultural aspects like him going to the barber shop and jazz. I would love to see this for a movie with a black women more often. It can show us just being us.
@@SuperMuneera from my comment how is that self hate? And how is that stripping them away from his blackness? The main character was literally black, what else do u want. U really thought u did sum but u didn't. Come again.
@@paige2166 Basically you want black characters to imitate white characters. Strip away anything the symbolises blackness. Do you know how warped that is? Clearly you don't pay attention to white films, they don't walk around as a blank canvas. Their whiteness is on display in various ways.
@@SuperMuneera idk what u read but I said I just would like a movie with a main character being black but his race having nothing to do with his story. "strip away anything that symbolizes blackness" so them literally being black isn't enough for u? U avoided that question before so answer it now. Why is it an issue if I don't want the basic, stereotypical black movies where black ppl are slaves, struggle or are in gangs?
also ur saying that what I described is a white trait. So only white ppl can have shows and movies like that?? And ur tryna say I have self hate when u think what I said only applies to white ppl, come back to me when ur not putting ur insecurities on others.
literally why can't we have the meet cute situations that white women always find themselves in? why is every movie a black woman is the star of have to have some sort of commentary on our social climate... don't they know how exhausting that is 😫
@Brian Bedford I dont think they meant this as them wanting a white man as a love interest. I think they meant it as just having a film for black woman that is based around romance rather than solely their race in relation to romance. (Think of all those great 90s-early 2000s black romances we used to have: love and basketball, Jason’s. Lyrics, two can play that game, etc). Their love interest can be anyone though. It’s about black women (and unambiguous ones in particular) being seen as desirable, as white woman often are. Same can be said for Asian woman. Yes they are desire but more often then not are oversexualized.It’s kinda like a spectrum of desirability. With Asian woman being hypersexualized, black women being desexualized and deemed undesirable, and white woman always seemingly a “happy medium”. Of course this is simplified since black woman can be hypersexualized as well (ie. Jezebel stereotype). It’s not about being in proximity to whiteness. It’s about being valued and depicted desirable as a woman in general. But that’s not to say, black men and other poc men should not be focused on more too. It really is a problem for us all. I (and everyone else I’m sure) would love to see more black rom coms in the mainstream. And more Asian romances like Crazy Rich Asians (where’s the sequel???). And more indigenous stories in general, etc.. And if the story is interracial, we don’t always want the the other partner to be white! Also more LGBTQ+ love stories that involve black, indigenous and poc characters! It’s so upsetting cause Hollywood churns out the same crap and misrepresents us all the time! Only thing we can do is support the films and tv shows that give us what we want and ignore the ones that don’t.
We can fall into these situations in real life. We already know the Hollywood agenda, we can't rely on them for representation. Get it in real life :) And support people who are trying to change the image like Issa Rae. She has the only Black rom com I know called The Lovebirds. It's hilarious
the fact that whenever black women are casted the focus is always on their race and makes it seem like black women aren't just regular people and always need to be talking about injustices,, i would love to see a rom com with a diverse cast without having the focus be on their race
Thats why Cinderella starring Brandy and Whitney Houston, was an is so important. A diverse cast, about a classic story. just fun, no race conversations, or micro-aggressions. I dont know how Hollywood have managed to go backwards casting dark-skinned black women.
Right, it would be nice to portray black women just being women. It always gotta center around race (slavery, civil rights, "black struggle). It would be nice to see an unambiguous black girl just being loved without talking about race. Culture being incorporate is fine, but we don't need a reminder that she's black
This topic is so sad and so important. As a black actress in Los Angeles, I feel blessed that I often get called in to audition for the love interest... by black female casting directors. They are working HARD to change the narrative, and I’m excited to be growing up with the industry in this way.
Whites don't own the movie industry (you know who does, right?), it's propaganda aimed at whites... it isn't "pro-white", it's "pro-mixing". (This is copied) This is personal: Stop acting, pick any other job. You don't wanna be used and abused as a propaganda piece for their agenda. They make these movies the same reason they pay people to make rap music. It's to break cohesiveness. Rap broke the black family bond from the late 70s clean in half - it never recovered. The movie industry, for the last 30 years, has been nothing but empty "feel good" trash. "They" won't change anything for you, they will only change something when it suits their agenda.
That’s nice and all but if it doesn’t make it to the screen it doesn’t matter. I can recall ONE film in 2019 with a Black woman lead. If it’s not on the screen or a major streaming platform it basically didn’t happen.
Black women shouldn’t have to write scripts to have dark skin women be included. Casting directors don’t always have to pick the same biracial actresses & cover it up as “they’re the hottest actress out now” (they’re hot because y’all are too lazy to look for more talent). Black women need to be in more romantic comedies without the movie being considered a black film. Hollywood needs to change it up. We’re tired. Edit: I’m not saying Black creators should stop creating their work. Black women, especially should keep doing what they’re doing. This comment is directed at white Hollywood members who are all about inclusion & singing Kumbaya w/Black people, yet continue to think Black women, especially dark ones, are invisible. Can’t be a true ally, if your numerous amounts of work doesn’t back your stance. If you’re able to dismantle white supremacy within the entertainment industry the most, & want to dismantle it, then use your privileges of including more Black+POC. So when I say “black women shouldn’t have to write...” I mean it as they shouldn’t be the only ones or have to write it in order to show that I [a black woman] exist.
thinking that people are obligated to help you is the root problem. from my experience, if you want things done, do it yourself and stop waiting around for someone to save you, cause no one will. as evident.
@Mina B When I mean Black women shouldn’t have to write scripts, I’m talking about there needs to be more allies in Hollywood. It’s like every year, Hollywood discovers another Black woman exists, & they can’t seem to know to do with them. The people of Hollywood are too old, to not be educated about Blackness. There are a lot of Black women directors/writers who aren’t even big yet, but they’ve already educated & voiced their concerns. I’m not saying Black creators should stop their work; I’m just saying if you’re really all about inclusion & wanting the voices+representation of other POC seen, then your projects also have to show that.
there was one *ONE* on hallmark but after watching a video somewhere i realized they made her act “white” she didn’t have natural hair so she looked just like the other white female leads in their hallmark movies. ironic how they released a few black movies on hallmark post the blm marches. also this same black woman has a secondary role in manyyyy hallmark movies. she is always there to help the main character figure out they do love the male lead. i can’t wait till she gets her own movie.
@@prenuptials5925 they like being fetished to. They think it adds to their desirability and it kinda does, just like asian & Latina women. But if only black women knew how to use fetishes as positive promotion
that's literally why I write. i loveeee romantic movies and books, but not once, other than The Last Holiday, did I see a story that depicts a black woman as a soft and kind love interest. normally we're seen as a wise friend or a loud mouth. i didn't like that, so i started writing stories on wattpad about normal black women, just being regular without a quirk or being overly sexual
@Brian Bedford how can you speak for all women of color lol? Interracial is dating anyone outside of your race. White men are more normalize in interracial relationships but again that’s because of the climate of the generation we lived in. And sometimes it has to do with preferences other than race
@@texasrosee8631 He is speaking facts regarding interracial pairing in Western cinema. Where is the lie? Even Asians (east and south) in westerns movies are paired with mainly white counterparts. Preferences are based on race primarily and foremost. Race is the biggest determining dating preference not if a particular race or culture values monogamy or marriage etc.
i miss all the 90s/early 00s black love stories like love jones and love and basketball. it shouldn't have to be an all black film just for a black woman to be able to be the love interest but they don't make movies like that anymore. the photograph was the closest thing to what I've seen recently.
Not all of us are into black love.....if u miss it so much go rewatch those old movies. Or better yet watch the movie “Boogie” coming out on March 5th ☺️
Definitely femininity due to black men not taking care of their responsibilities. But desirability nope black women are definitely the most desired media just wants you to think otherwise.
@@wazzupyall7378 70% of black women are single, so if we were the most romantically desired we wouldn't be single to this extent. Most black women struggle to date so no, unfortunately, we are not the most desired romantically
I realized that there’s no representation of women with features like wide flat noses or big noses. Since I never seen that before, I believe it took a huge toll on my self-esteem too because I was surrounded by someone who mostly had smaller noses and people would pick on me because of my nose. Things have to change but at some point we are going to get tired of talking about this and taking action when nothing is changing and it’s getting worse. I hope and do believe that we have what it takes to change this but it starts at home.
I love the research you added because this is literally stuff we’re talking about in my Race in Film and Literature class right now. It’s so frustrating how we as Black women are simultaneously hypersexualized and denied our femininity unless we have features that fall into more Eurocentric beauty ideals (ie lighter skin, smaller nose, looser curls or wavy hair) and the white washing of dark skinned Black women in book to movie adaptations (like The Hate U Give and The Sun is Also a Star) sends that message to young dark skinned girls that they are somehow less worthy of even telling their own stories
I was such a fan of T.H.U.G (the novel) and even met the author... I literally fell in love with the book for many reasons but also because the girl on the cover literally looked like me. When I went to a book festival we filmed a talk with the author about the inclusion of Black girls in all forms of media and when I saw the trailer for the movie I was literally shocked to see Amandla. I haven't watched the movie nor will I ever because I can't ruin the experience for myself. No shade to her but it literally felt like erasure smfh.
@@laurendunn434 I love Angie Thomas and I actually did end up enjoying the movie, aside from the casting. I don't blame her for it because I'm pretty sure she had no real role in casting or the script. I'm guessing that when the publishing house sold the rights to the filming agency there was nothing in the contract giving her major say in the production
@@alextroy9202 I think that also comes from it being harder for authors of color to have any real say in the film productions unless the contracts give them room there. Producers should respect the source material
I experienced racism, sexism, and misogyny in elementary school, middle school, High school. I was also a victim of sexual assault multiple times in college even though I told them I did not want to have sex and the police did not take it serious. It took me years to admit to my boyfriend that I was raped before I met him.
OH NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M SO SORRY YOU WENT THROUGH THAT!!!!!!!!! *NOBODY DESERVES THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!* I'm going to send you some good vibes and an undying support for you. ❤️❤️♥️♥️❤️❤️♥️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️♥️❤️♥️♥️♥️♥️❤️❤️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️❤️❤️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️❤️❤️❤️♥️♥️♥️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️♥️♥️♥️♥️❤️❤️❤️♥️♥️❤️♥️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️❤️❤️❤️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️❤️❤️❤️♥️♥️❤️♥️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️♥️❤️♥️❤️❤️♥️❤️♥️❤️♥️♥️❤️♥️❤️♥️❤️♥️❤️♥️❤️❤️♥️❤️♥️❤️♥️♥️❤️❤️♥️❤️♥️❤️♥️❤️♥️❤️♥️❤️♥️❤️♥️❤️♥️❤️♥️❤️♥️
I notice quite often that interracial love stories in media tend to be black male-white female. It kind of sucks that we barely ever see black female-white male or black female-any race other than her own. Not that black love stories aren't beautiful, but it is nice to see a black woman desired by other races of guys too. I say this as a middle eastern Canadian woman though, so what do I know about race relations and representation in American media? 🤷♀️
@Brian Bedford I want to see my people represented too, of course. I'd love for all people to be represented in film and tv. And I have no problem with black guys dating white girls, I literally couldn't care less. I don't really know what your point is here... Why is it that I seem more preoccupied with black female issues since I'm not a black female? I don't think that's true, I'm just being an ally. As for why Arab/Turkish/Kurdish women are not represented in American media specifically, there just aren't a whole lot of us in writer's rooms. I hope that changes though 😊
I know what you mean I also want to see it because I'm getting tired of the movies when a black woman is in she always has to either have a relationship with a black man or be alone 🤦🏽♀️
this is a weird take considering like 90% of relationships black women are put in on television tend to be with a white man. what’s rare now is to actually see two black people together which is sad. we don’t need more black/white in media. it’s tired and uneccesary at this point
All I have to say is, you can’t tell me I’m unattractive or undesirable when half of these other women copy everything I do and am. They want us to believe we are undesirable, but I believe it’s quite the opposite. People capitalize off of BW’s low perspective of self and they want to keep you that low. This is an issue that is deeper/bigger than we know.
@Alice Carole It’s deeper than that. White supremacy is an illusion. It’s not real. It takes the majority believing it’s real for it to manifest in the way it has. Let’s not pretend like bl*ck men aren’t the main perpetrators of making bl*ck women feel less than and further encourage us being put in a bad light. At some point people have to take accountability for their actions. Yes, wh*te people have done their part but I believe everyone can “get the smoke”.
I completely agree! You nailed it. I can say this from my own experience. I don’t view myself the way society wants to view as a BW(not ideal) I’m very much seen as well spoken, feminine and confident, once you see yourself ideal, you don’t limit yourself. I do understand that It can be very hard to not view yourself as the ideal because society is consistently telling BW we are not.
it colorism and most temperate nations the men look for pale women. Colorism has clear effect in china that most chinesse have fair skin despite large part of china being in the subtropics.
Thank you Nina. People can only do what you allow. Nobody can make you feel unattractive or undesirable unless you allow them the access to do so. Allowing society or “statistics”, to frame your view of self and your innate God-given worth is self-destructive and will ultimately lead to your downfall. Learn and know yourself. Don’t allow this world to define you.
I can relate so much to wanting a rom-com about a young black woman without race being the center of the film... can we not just get a cute movie with a cute black girl & her love interest???
Ikrrrr, just a simple rom com would be nice, race is always the focus of coming of age films with black characters, it’s always that their best friend gets shot and they become an activist. I’m not saying that this doesn’t happen, but I just want a basic coming of age film, not always a political statement
Like a black To All The Boys series. I think those movies are adorable. Her Korean culture and race is recognized in those films, and she even struggles with the death of her mom. However, she's still a girl who grew up in a close knit family, has a nice circle of friends and found love. Imagine a story like that of a Nigerian American teenage girl.
Watch the photograph with isss rae or lovebirds with Issa rae watch what men want with taraji p Henson or beyond the lights with Nate Parker another good one is the new movie with yara shadi it came out last year i forgot the name it’s several movies!
Whites don't own the movie industry (you know who does, right?), it's propaganda aimed at whites... it isn't "pro-white", it's "pro-mixing". (This message is copy pasted, I want people to notice the actual problem here) This is personal: I'm sure you'd be a great actress, but if the owners (I really do hope you know who I mean) of the movie industry don't change, there won't be much future for yourself with that career path - unless you want to play roles of historically white women to be a propaganda piece that is also "anti-white".
I grew up in Africa...when i moved to Europe, i found myself more and more searching for movies where black people fall in love...thankfully there are good examples in Africa. I do not know how black people born in this majority white environs function...sometimes we in Africa feel unlucky but i am very happy that i grew up in Africa and appreciate the beauty within a black woman.
That's what really needs to take place first. But most don't see it. *Healthy* No petty-ness/ No Back-stabbing. Real friend-ship a real sister- tribe. We don't have that as bw as a whole & it's sad.
@@cloudyheart5148 Ah, I'm dreaming up a story in my head similar to the Winx Club... not similar in story, but in representation. I'd love to see more black characters as love interests and friends!
I was thinking about this while going on a binge of classic romcoms. clueless was really the only movie that showed a black girl in a relationship and didn't make her whole personality about facing racism.
does the bodyguard count? cause like Whitney houston plays like the main role and falls in love with the bodyguard and all that but idk yeah sad that there barely is any movies with a Black woman as the love interest
@@gglovesgorillazmj7784 yes. All of Whitney's movies count, all of Gabrielle's movies count, Nia Long's movies, Sanaa Lathan's movies (I count Blade twice), Vivica A Fox's movies, that great one with Kelly Rowland (the seat filler) Angela Basset's, Lynn Whitfield. I think the question is less how did we historically get here and more of a study of what stopped it from continuing. Because things that are inherently racist/systematic don't just stall like that for 20 years. What stopped it and how do we get the engine running again is the question. Even down to us doing it to ourselves, Simone Biles herself said she wanted Zendaya to play her in a movie.
wow okay, ["A Boy. A Girl. A Dream."], A Thin Line Between Love and Hate, About Last Night, An Oversimplification Of Her Beauty, Baggage Claim, Beyond The Lights, Black Lov, Boomerang, Brown Sugar, Catching Feelings, Daddy's Little Girls, Deliver Us From Eva, Girls Trip, Good Deeds, HavPlenty, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, How To Be A Player, I Can Do Bad All By Myself, I Think I Love My Wife, Jumping The Broom, Just Wright, Last Holiday, Love & Basketball, Love Jones, Nappily Ever After, Nobody's Fool, Our Family Wedding, Phat Girlz, Poetic Justice, She's Gotta Have It, Something New, Soul Food, Southside With You, Temptation, The Best Man, The Best Man Holiday, The Brothers, The Incredible Jessica James, The Perfect Guy, The Perfect Match, The Photograph, The Preacher's Wife, The Wood, Think Like A Man, Top Five, Two Can Play That Game, Waiting To Exhale, Why Did I Get Married (1 and 2),..
yepp we can never have a movie that doesn’t have some type of struggle at the center of the story. that or the movies w bw as love interests are all old. even clueless was nearly 20 years ago
I love this video. I’ve turned to books to read about Black women in love. I recommend the books by Talia Hibbert, a Black female author who writes cute and quirky romances (no struggle love) with Black women in both interracial and monoracial relationships. “Take a Hint, Dani Brown” is my fave. Black women are going to have to be the change we wish to see in the world
Ahhhh I absolutely love her book. The Brown sisters are my literal idols (I want to be Danika and Chloe okay) and Zafir Ansari and Redford Morgan are too precious for this earth.
We need to also hold older black women accountable to the hyper sexualization of black girls. The number of black women I see calling young girls/teens fast just for simply existing or trying to look cute always makes me 🥴 But they will never take that attitude with their sons
Exactly, young white girls can experiment and explore in their youth (clothing, relationships, interests etc.) and still be seen as teens but black girls do anything and it's sexualised. It's harmful
@@basicradical3581 can you explain whats sexualised? I hear this rhetoric and it just doesn't mean anything. What about what you do is sexualised? Most black girls are more sexually conservative than white girls? I dunno as a black guy I'm confused it just seems like raging jealousy which only makes those who you're jealous of look better, so i'd advice you all stop this because it's actually unattractive and comes off as self-hate.
@@r1234233 You literally don't know what you're talking about but are attempting to give advice. Here's some for you, get a clue. It's better to shut up and be assumed a fool than speak up and prove it!
@@dansaidthat7942 I guess it came off as harsh but I can't see how filling your head with all this nonsense is healthy. I'm sorry but a lot of what I see from black girls on the internet is negativity and you all projecting your insecurities on to other people, is that good for you? does it make you attractive? I say things like this so you can see how it comes off to some people. Your girlfriends will give "supportive words" whilst letting you wallow in your victimhood and I can't see how that's healthy, but I'm a guy so what do I know.
I dated this amazing black girl in high school (we’re both bisexual), and she was insanely beautiful. Like I can’t understate just how stunning this girl was, so many people agreed that she was easily one of the prettiest girls at my fairly big high school. Not only that, but she was smart as hell, played varsity sports, just radiated good energy and had lots of friends. Before we dated, I’d crushed on her since 8th grade, and because I saw her in such a way, I was seriously shocked to find out that she’d struggled with her love life to the point of anxiety and self image issues, and I was even more shocked to find out that in our sophomore year of high school, I was her first kiss. I was naive at the time, so I couldn’t conceive of how someone like that didn’t have an army of simps falling over themselves for her, but the thing is, we went to a majority white high school, and she was black. And the fact that she was made to feel less valuable for one of the features that made her so beautiful will always infuriate me.
Actually (not that one or two films make up for it) Eddie Huang's film BOOGIE depicts a romance story between a black woman and an asian man. I havent watched it but it comes out in March!
Honestly, as a hopeless romantic I can’t believe I haven’t notice the dearth of rom-coms for us. As always be excluded from film history just gives gals like us more chances to be The First Black Women to _________.
As a white dude who rarely watches rom coms, the only example I have off the top of my head is "the incredible jessica james". which is an OK movie, but yeah, most of the genre is about white people.
Whites don't own the movie industry (you know who does, right?), it's propaganda aimed at whites... it isn't "pro-white", it's "pro-mixing". You are misunderstanding WHY this is the reality you are living, and you are ignorant as to how to fix it. Movies never preached a message as in times like this, and you need to be fully aware of why it's happening.
Okay, I am almost done with the video and I agree with pretty much everything. I have watched some cut videos (cut is a channel on youtube) where people rate other people's looks (it's really weird tbh) but what I have seen is a lot of black women that I found really beautiful were rated lower by the men. It's really sad how the course of history has hurt the way people view black women. And also I am pretty sure the question "does he even like black girls?" has crossed every single black woman's mind at some point in life. It is so sad.
I agree and I find it horrible that when young black girls bring this up, older ones will gaslight them and tell them to get some self esteem or sense without ever addressing the world they know we all live in and affects these young girls who are learning to navigate their environments.
I haven't watched the "Cut" episode your referring to. but I'd even imagine that because they were getting filmed they were giving black people pity points so they aren't viewed as racist. I've been watching "Are you the one" and its sad to see that the black women is always the one nobody wants or the two black men there are the only ones willing to pick them. Then when the topic is brought up in interview they plays it off as though she they're not expressive or talkative enough.
☕️. I do that. It’s part of why I’m extra reserved when it comes to people I’m interested in. “Will they like me even though I’m black?” ALWAYS is my first thought. Even with other black people I’m into 😅 I end up just keeping to myself. Which I probably shouldn’t do, but, whatever.
@@astoldbynickgerr I do the same thing. It feels dehumanizing to ask myself if they like Black women and I don't want to deal with the pressures of performing extra "likability" to combat other people's internal biases. I'd rather leave it alone altogether than feel like I have to prove my worth as a human to people who choose to overlook it.
We're either joked about, sexualized or expected to be the nurturer or best friend. Probably stems from tending to other folk's kids. Then I remember when they thought we didn't feel pain so they cut into us, yet they want so much from us except romantic love. Scary world we live in.
I’m a hopeless romantic and I love Romcoms but of course there will always be a disconnect because I can never see myself in the women playing these romantic interests. It was the same when I read Wattpad in middle school and it’s the same now (in everything else). if there is a black love interest then racial tension will have to be involved in some way and I can’t just enjoy the romance... I’m tired.
Lmao the thing about Wattpad is that the book cover will typically feature a darkskinned black woman yet when you start the reading, the character is described as a biracial woman with loose curls and fair skin. It's really depressing how we, monoracial black women, undervalue ourselves. Most black female Wattpad authors are monoracial black women yet they would rather write stories about biracial women being the love interests.
The struggle is real. I love when I read a book and it's just about two people falling in love without race being such a huge factor. Occasionally, and I do mean occasionally, you may see it in a movie or tv show where race doesn't impact the relationship. Brandy as Cinderella is one of the best examples.
OMIGOSH SAME. It’s literally like I have to use so much mindpower to conjure up an alternate reality where I can see myself as the white girl with long blonde hair
