#joyce guy

[isabellaofparma]

cold case rewatch (13/∞)

2.13 -'Time to Crime'

[superghfan]

What happened to Phyllis? She just sort of disappeared.

[blackfemmecharacterdependency]

Character Evolution in Secrets of Sulfur Springs

This is about casting and physical attributes, not about development. This is about a show I truly love, and not one that I hate. These are all observations and thought processing about the casting of the Tremont/Dunn family in the series.

Daisy: Kyliegh Curran | Ashley B. Jones

So! Our girlie Kyliegh played her great grandmother (or great great grandmother? - I forget, Daisy, as a kid) And, I was like, "Well... it's not perfect.

You can't tell how much darker this woman is than Kylie in her photos, but on the show, she looked a tinge too dark for me to fully invest in the idea that she was well cast, but I rationalized that maybe she was inside more as a kid and then you know, was just lightskint like a light skinned biracial because of that when she was young. (I have met people whose parents tried keeping them inside on sunny days so they wouldn't get too dark), which is wild and off topic, because I don't think that would happen with Daisy, but saying IF she was simply inside a lot more as a kid, she could be that much lighter than the child actress vs the adult actress.

Harper's mama is biracial, I think. I feel like the kid that played her mom is, though Idk if the lady is or not. I do know that Kylie's character is supposed to be fully Black, even though the actress is not, irl. And her ancestor, Daisy, who she played had two pretty unambiguously Black parents and her and her little brother came out light skinned. Him, looking like his mama, her looking like the milkman's child..

Grace (Daisy's Mom): Kenneisha Thompson

Now... this happens sometimes in real life. But like I've said before - it don't happen nearly as much irl as it do on TV. So, Kyliegh as that woman - meh. Not a great casting choice, if not a bad one.

I understand they needed them to be identical to make the plot work, but I don't understand why everybody in the family is clearly Black then come her, actually biracial, and then here she come again a couple generations later, as Harper. Lol.

Her mama though Jess Dunn: Izabela Rose | Diandra Lyle

They did better in skin tone, but I would love sometimes for productions, especially big money bitches to try to do some side by sides every now and then and be like, "Are we sure this is the right choice?" or acknowledge some of the wild changes.

Where is a wide nosed sista to play this mama? Did she get a nose job at some point? We just supposed to imagine her nose was always that dainty? It has nothing to do with the plot, but Idk how I would overlook that you have such a drastically different nose in your adult life than you did as a kid. The grandmother had a wide nose (scroll up) and she had one as a kid, then it just... went small when she grew up?

I am a big nosed bitch... and my nose was SMALLER as a child, because I was smaller. I actually was quite aware of Izabela's nose when she was Young Jess because we were going back and forth in time, from her nose to Diandra's nose. BEAUTIFUL WOMAN! They are both so lovely. They just do not look like people who grew up to be that person! Ma'am you didn't contour away all that nose. (I love both these actresses).

The fact that I dwell on this casting has nothing to do with their performances and everything to do with how badly I want casting to try to get people who actually look alike when they are playing the same character, unless for some reason within the story, they somehow look different. This Is Us only magnified my fixation on this subject. Most of them people looked just like them kids.

This is the man who plays Harper's daddy, FYI:

But like we said, we rationalizing that Mama Dunn is biracial, or at the very least so lightskinned that a biracial girl could be her daughter, especially since her negro nose with Jackson 5 nostrils turned into one of them Vogue Magazine joints in her adult life.

Now this one... Baby...

It's just absurd. This is where we gotta draw the line, throw in the towel, stop rationalizing that there is a phenotype at play skipping generations or whatever else we could do with our earlier casting choices.

This photo is lighter than the woman is and you can still see that this is a whole nother human that would not in this universe that we currently know of, under any circumstances according to our knowledge of science, would this beautiful biracial baby girl grow up to be this absolutely unambigously Black, dark skinned woman!! She just wouldn't!

Two very lovely people who acted they asses off and earned them Disney paychecks and Disney better had paid them what they was worth. Because they both said that they was gon' out act whoever in this scene when Ruby got onscreen.

Whoever did this casting said, "F**k it, Girl. Call who we know," because ain't no way, Chile. Ain't no way y'all was putting no kinda thought or planning into this woman growing up from that girl. When she said she was Ruby, I said, "RUBY WHOOOOOO?"

Ruby: Jaidyn Triplett | Joyce Guy

I won't go into any further tangent about how the darkest ones cast in the family were the ones we didn't see much of, or in Ruby's case, She was the literal Magical Negro that had to save the day........................

I truly enjoy the show. It's a fave. But, yes. It has it's issues and I have mine and now that they are out of my head, because as a wise friend once said, "Misery loves an audience" (Shoutout to Noah, a Queen of Quotes) - I can now live in peace. Yes, and continue watching this, even though they have this problem in casting.

Sometimes, people think that colorblind casting only applies to when you just cast anybody for any role, willy-nilly, but this is an offset of colorblind casting, as well. Colorism casting, maybe. Where any Black person will do, despite looking nothing like the same character that they're supposed to be portraying. Or where certain skin tone versions of that character has more screen time. Sometimes, this is done through photos or short flashbacks...

But this show had these people onscreen talking and had us getting to know them and then colorblind casted them in different eras of their life. And perhaps I only notice it in Black people, because I don't have any type of face blindness when it comes to us. If that is the issue they're having, maybe they need people who can tell the difference between Black people and their skin tones and facial features to handle that aspect of a job.

That's all I have for now. Do watch the show, though. If you can handle fw with Disney. I mean, it's out there free, but I know some people are even not for that and I commend you. I be watching some of they stuff for free still, and this lil' rant? Ramble. This lil' ramble has been sitting in my lil' brain for a time.

Idk what it is called or if there is a name for it. Whenever they do the colorblind casting or the colorism casting within the same character. It feels like it needs it's own word. It's different from when they simply change the character from one medium to the next, to be within the same universe and have a person that simply does not share that character's physical characteristics, even though they're the same character.

End ramble.

Wait. Last note: This is a Black and Black biracial people's post. Anybody else who pass through, don't get cute. I'll blast you right to the block.

[lhaaff]

LADIES NIGHT (FILM SHORTS)

Thursday, May 1st at the Langston Hughes African American Film Festival, Seattle - 7 – 8:30 p.m.

The Proposal, USA, 2011, 4 min

Julie is a school Teacher and Brian is an Engineer. They both love each other very much. After 5 years of dating Brian thinks it is time to propose to Julie. Julie, however doesn’t believe that this is the best time to get married and continues to turn Brian down.

Filmmaker: Purpelle Tramble

Earth, Water, Woman Trinidad & Tobago, 2013, 22 min

This film tells the inspiring story of a sustainable agro-forestry community in Trinidad & Tobago West Indies, called Fondes Amandes, led by a charismatic Rastafarian woman, Akilah Jaramogi. Three decades ago Akilah settled on a barren, deforested hillside, blighted with floods in the rainy season and fires in the dry season. Together with her late husband, Tacuma, they started a family and reforested over 150 acres, restoring health to the hills and the watershed just outside the capital city of Port-of-Spain. When her husband died, Akilah continued this great work, initiating the Fondes Amandes Community Reforestation Project (FACRP), training community members as stewards of the forests and waters. Today Fondes Amandes is a thriving village atop a flourishing forest of 150 acres where residents have planted about 60,000 seedlings over the past thirty years. The community is regularly visited by international dignitaries and Akilah is heralded as the Wangari Maathai of Trinidad & Tobago.

Filmmakers: Sarah Feinbloom & Alexandra Swati Guild

The Pain of Love, USA, 2012, 14 min

Pain of Love centers around a young couple very much in love. Isabella lover Marques finds a hidden letter, and the love take a turn into a dramatic ending.

Filmmakers: Justin Malachi & Austin Tovar

Rating: Some mature themes and content.

Finding Neptune, USA, 8 min

Allen (James Edward Shippy), an astronomy enthusiast, and Jennifer (Rachae Thomas), a college junior, are in the honeymoon stage of their new relationship. They are inseparable and their attraction for each other is undeniable. As they picnic on the beach they ponder all of the possibilities that their love can grow too. Within a year of taking the next big step and moving in with each other, things slowly start to deteriorate between the couple. As Allen and Jennifer’s true identities are revealed, their relationship is put to the test when Allen is caught masturbating to Internet porn. This is the last straw in a long line of missteps on Allen’s behalf. The next day he confronts Jennifer about his transgressions. But, Jennifer has already made up her mind, and is neatly packed to leave the apartment and Allen for good. She has also been drinking heavily, a bad habit exposed since they moved in together. While testing the boundaries of their love, Allen and Jennifer’s relationship slowly begins to unravel. Although Jennifer is done with the relationship, Allen makes a last ditch effort to reconnect with her on the sexual level that initially attracted them to each other. Eventually, Allen fails at this attempt with Jennifer and she finally leaves Allen at the apartment, alone. While separated, they are simultaneously confronted with the choice of going back to what was or moving on to what could be.

Filmmaker: Tosin Coker

Rating: Some mature themes and content.

Chicken Soup, Malaysia, 2013, 9 min

When a husband and his wife are unable to overcome their martial issues, their prayers are answered with the help of a messenger sent from ‘above’.

Filmmaker: Ayana Saunders

Dancing Like Home, USA/Senegal, 2013, 31 min

Dancing Like Home, a personal documentary film explores the realities of going back ‘home’ to the motherland – Senegal, West Africa. Actress/filmmaker Joyce Guy’s passion for African dance sets her in pursuit to find the meanings of the traditional dance ceremonies of Casamance, Senegal but once there her expectations of this culturally rich region are challenged. Having no firsthand knowledge of the region, Joyce decides to go on a preliminary location scout to receive permission from the village chiefs. With Malang Bayo, a former member of the National Ballet of Senegal, born and raised in Casamance, they travel ‘home’ to distinct villages of varying sizes, tribes and leadership. The story navigates through the exploration of the dance and its traditions but also the challenges she faces in Africa as an outsider who is further impeded by a language barrier, living conditions, and by being a non-Muslim woman in a patriarchal society. Encountering on the way, some realities of the motherland are not what she expected them to be. What is revealed is the depths that dance are embedded in their language of expression, whether it is communicating the birthing of children, the passing of elders, or the mediation of conflicts between people and villages.

Director Joyce Guy will be present for a Filmmaker Talkback!