Surprise! Vanity Fair Prefers White People for Hollywood Issue
Let's see, what day is it? Jan. 31? Oh, then it must be time for everyone to fulminate over the Vanity Fair Hollywood Issue, specifically its lack of diversity among the featured cover stars. It's a seasonal ritual almost as inviolable as Groundhog Day, with equally severe implications of who made the cover (and where). To wit, a lot of white chicks. Cue six more weeks of winter! At least in the grocery checkout aisle, anyway.
It's hard for me to get exercised about this tradition anymore -- especially in 2012, after so many years of black, Asian, Latino and other young talent of color being routinely nudged aside for the likes of... Lily Collins. Of course, let's be fair: Pariah star Adepero Oduye is in the center of the spread's second page, and Paula Patton is there on the third page. And if we think of breakthrough actresses of color whom VF missed and should have included, it's kind of a short list, isn't it? As in: I can't think of any off the top of my head. Which likely says more about Hollywood and/or me than about VF. Kind of. Placement is placement.
Anyway, suggestions welcome! And: I'm fully expecting Viola Davis on next month's cover to coincide with her imminent Best Actress Oscar win.
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Comments
Paula Patton is black? I saw her in M:I and elsewhere before that and still I couldn't tell.
Well, I guess that explains why they included her in Vanity Fair.
"Vanity Fair's Hollywood Issue", lol.... how redundant.
Jessica Chastain is also a member of an ethnic minority (redheads), and Mia Wasikowska is an awfully foreign-sounding name.
One can argue about there not being enough racial diversity but people on other sites claiming there are no "ethnic" people need to learn English. Ethnic is not a synonym for minority. Every single person has some kind of ethnicity.
Nicole Beharie from "Shame"
I did think of her, but hasn't she been around a while? Not that she's old news at all, I guess I was just thinking of 2011 revelations. I remember being struck by NB back in American Violet like four or five years ago.
Nothing is imminent. Only death and taxes.
Hollywood prefers white people for Hollywood, so the Vanity Fair cover never comes as a shock to me.
I'm more appalled at them giving Paula a Princess Leia bun-do. WTF?
Dial up the liberal outrage machine. Although i prob give this a 3 screaming libs out of 10.
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An important thing to decide is exactly what volume of covers you choose.
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