What this is about is the way that Hollywood continues to pretend that no impact or history lies in the darkness of someoneās skin. Well, when I say Hollywood, in this case I mean Bryan Singer. And when I say āsomeoneās skin,ā I really mean Black Women. Brothas can fall victim to skin shade discrimination as well, but, outside of skin color, they donāt have to deal with the impossible beauty standards of women, let alone a dark-complected woman. Plenty of people will say (with or without venom): āWhatās the real issue, itās not like they cast a white woman as Storm, does it really need to be this complicated?ā Yeah, it kind of does.
Even as a fictional character, Storm is a feminist symbol for Black Women the way that most assume Wonder Woman has been for women all these years. Storm has always been powerful, goddess-like and African. And no, not Charlize Theron, South African. Her dark complexion has always been part of her appearance and itās not by accident. The same way it isnāt an accident that Storm has become a beacon and symbol for women with darker skin for decades now. The unwillingness to recognize that is just another thunderbolt in the side of a demographic of women who frankly, are plenty used to it by now.
I will say that the stigma of black women that are darker being ugly, less desirable or just plain less than, goes back a lot further than the X-Men. Unfortunately, time has done little to eradicate that notion. Itās why Lupitaās rise to fame was constantly met with, āI donāt get it, I donāt see why people think sheās beautiful.ā Or the New York Times calling Viola Davis āless classically beautiful.ā Or why there are about 17 things wrong withZoe Saldana being cast as Nina Simone, but one of the most talked about is how much lighter she is than Nina was. Black does not equate to all black. For Nina specifically (but for other cases broadly), the disregard for her struggle in the world because she was dark complected is a disregard of her daily story. Her most honest story. Now Storm is a fictional character, she does not have a daily grind, struggle and catalog of insults, dismissals and micro-aggressions that have to be accounted for. But living and breathing Black Women that embrace the idea of Storm, do have to face those things. If you look at certain movies,editorials or documentaries, youāll see this isnāt a new or unexplored conversation locally or out in the world.
Maybe Alexandra Shipp has been a Storm fan for years too. Maybe, the symbol that is Storm has been a source of power and pride for her just like many other Black Women and this is a dream come true for her. But that empathy doesnāt really do much to alleviate the consistent knocking in the back of Black Womenās skulls that have been passed over because they were too dark. To simply dismiss this as a non-starter of an issue is really just another level of āI donāt see color,ā but instead itās āI donāt see the difference between one black person to another.ā
this is reason number 1 iām bowing out going to see this when it comes out. when the first x men movie placed halle berry, i was against it (because storm is NOT a light skin black woman) but i understood why they were doing it. they were clearly hoping that her name and star power (which she honestly would NOT have if she were a dark skin black woman)Ā would attract people to the theater and add to the bottom line. i got it and even though i didnāt like it, i understood. however now thereās no excuse to do it again but a bias (a continuing bias) against our dark skin sistas.Ā
no offence to shipp but sheās a no name. āalexandra shippā isnāt pulling anyone to the theater that will impact the bottom line. therefore casting another light skin black woman in a role made for a dark skin black woman can only be due to racism against dark skin black women. period.Ā
fuck all the āweāre all black womanā bullshit. open your eyes to how dark skin black woman are treated like shit compared to light skin black women. it happens everyday, everywhere and this is just another example of it.
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