The press tour for The Color Purple remake is in full swing ahead of its Christmas day release and as a result, the cast is making the rounds on a variety of shows for promotion. This is standard industry practice of course, as there’s no way to reach the full potential audience of a film without giving the media notable quotes or funny moments. We saw with the actor’s strike what can happen to a movie with no actor promotion (looking at your expend-four-ables). However, this press tour has been anything but standard as an important conversation has re-spawned from an appearance given by Taraji P. Henson regarding the continued unfair treatment and pay of black women in the entertainment industry.
In an interview with Gayle King, Henson broke down when discussing the refusal by studio executives to acknowledge her achievements and pay her accordingly, so much so that she almost turned down The Color Purple itself. She also expressed that she had been considering quitting acting because the costs of maintaining a public-facing image (i.e. makeup, styling, representative agent, etc.) outpaces the amount she is offered for roles. It’s not hard to imagine that once she’s paid everyone their due, including Uncle Sam, Taraji is probably making just barely enough to keep a roof over her head. Which is absolutely galling considering all of the years of amazing work that she’s done including movies, shows, talk show appearances, and hosting. When you think about the magic she made out of her less that 5 minutes of lines in Four Brothers and how that movie came out 18 YEARS AGO, Taraji has been giving us 100% for decades now. It’s honestly distressing to know that she is still being made to prove herself and beg for a livable wage, just to continue entertaining us. However, she isn’t the first black woman in recent memory to bring this issue to light.
Viola Davis, a notable actress and one of my personal faves, expressed a similar sentiment at the “Woman of the World” event. In the 2018 talk, she laid bare her incredible achievements while pointing out that her career has not seen the heights it probably would’ve seen if she were a white actress. She’s completely right, of course. There was a time where publications were literally referring to her as the “Black Meryl Streep” as if the industry would ever force Meryl to prove herself constantly like they do Viola. I say this all to say, it became almost a joke of how accomplished Viola Davis was without seeing a fraction of the reward. We also can’t forget the campaign Mo’Nique went on to receive fair compensation from Netflix in 2019 in which she was ridiculed and shortly blackballed from the industry (I haven’t seen her in anything since, have you?). It’s obvious that Hollywood continues to refuse to pay the black women that bring so much life to their projects. Almost like they’re allergic to paying black women what they deserve.
Even though allergy probably isn’t the best word for it, I’m going to go ahead and call it that anyway. Especially since millions seem to be so afflicted. While it’s common knowledge that White women make 73 cents to every dollar White men make, it is less commonly known that Black women make 67 cents to that same dollar. Similar outcomes can be found across education as black women with their PhDs make 65 cents to every dollar a White man with a doctorate makes. This means that as a Black women in America, you can almost guarantee that you are being underpaid. Many of us know we’re being underpaid as well. I can think of several examples in my own life where even though I was assigned more work, I found out that I was making less than everyone around me. Sometimes making less than people I was directly supervising. An allergy can be defined as an antipathy which is a deep-seated feeling of dislike or an aversion to something. I think that sums this phenomena up pretty well.
So what can we do? Well, first I believe we have to acknowledge the problem in the most brutal terms possible. Hollywood executives look down on Black women and are fed up with not only the popularity they have, but with feeling forced to work with them because so many are so talented and beloved. Whew. See that wasn’t too bad. In fact it feels really cathartic to admit. This sentiment however is not new to the Black women all over the country that are underpaid yet over-relied on, but it still needs to be said so that the wider world can begin to understand the kind of predicament Black women are in. Next, as fans of Black women in entertainment, we can step up. We as fans have more agency than we realize. Not only can we support their projects materially, we can also advocate for them in public forums. This year I saw the full extent of collective fan power for good, specifically during the LOONA boycotts. Even though it was for the fair treatment of Korean pop idols half way around the world, I got to witness firsthand how effective fan-led boycotts and collective advocacy can be. I think the Black women we know and love to watch could really benefit from that effort. Of course, this isn’t just to help celebrity Black women. When the most visible Black women begin to attain better treatment, that treatment is slowly normalized in the minds of all who employ black women. Or at least that is the far-fetched hope I choose to cling to.
Great piece, Whitney! It really is an allergy, unfortunately.
So unfair! Thanks for letting us know.