The Discussion Continues: Why Nina Simone Wouldn’t Want Zoe Saldana To Portray Her

September 25th, 2012 - By MN Editor
Zoe Saldana

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From Hello Beautiful

I remember the first time I met Ernest Green, the first to graduate Central High School of the Little Rock Nine–that group of students who made school integration in America a moment of historical and democratic note.   I learned about him watching a Disney movie, as a 10 year-old, which effortlessly offered more depth than the five pages of study on the entirety of the Civil Rights Movement allotted in my college preparatory school’s 500-plus-page American history book.  So when he shook my hand, years later as a recent college graduate, I responded, “I guess you do look like Morris Chestnut.”  We shared a laugh.

The power of Hollywood film imagery rests in the fact that not too many people  really takes the time separate biopic from fact.  So, the growing clamor around the casting choice for a film on Nina Simone, which would be the first major telling on a subcultural hero for African beauty, is worth note.

Read more at Hello Beautiful

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  • NSimonefan

    Obviously, the woman who is directing this movie didn’t like Nina. Not only due to the miscasting of Zoe Saldana, but the story line is fictional. Nina did not have a love affair with her gay male nurse. What’s really baffling is that Hollywood is about making money, yet they are going to make a movie that is going to flop due to the negative publicity for it already.

  • NSimonefan

    Wow. That’s what people say about your black mama.

  • Char

    I wanted to add something.
    I think we need to look at the BIG PICTURE here. And that is that people, someone etc, in these difficult economic times, is willing to make a movie about the life of a black woman. And that in itself is what is so special… So please do not boycot this, because the actress just because the actress is “light skinned”. When are you light skinned/ darkskinned? WE ARE ALL BLACK !!!!

    • NSimonefan

      Bigots like uncle toms like you. The White man will throw crumbs at you and you’ll be glad because he “took the time” to throw them on the floor for you to eat.

    • realadulttalk

      That’s the big picture??? That someone desires to make a film that does not adequately portray the person in any manner. Do you know anything about Nina Simone?? Your response says you don’t…and you sound very naive.

    • hiswomanandlovingit

      That is the problem, you say we are all Black but Zoe Saldana will tell people repeated that she is not.

  • Char

    OMG,… this discussion has to stop, really!! Three articles because about this on this site only? And there is a problem because Zoe Saldana is a couple of shades lighter… , really??? I’m sorry, but this only shows how narrowminded we are as a people, and how much we still need to grow! Are you guys really serious when you state that you’re going to boycot the movie because Zoe isn’t black enough? What if the roles were reversed? What if a “darktoned” black woman was asked to play a lighter skinned black woman. Would that also have been a problem? Would you then also have boycotted the movie?? Because the actress would not have been light enough? Really???
    Is being black really only about a skintone hue?? And so what if she dates white guys? Does that make you less black? And that ” She’s not black, she’s latina” comment… Latinas are also black! Isn’t she allowed to say that? She is latina, AND she is black!!
    Bob Dylan, a MAN, was played by a WOMAN, who obviously looked nothing like him. Did it matter ? NO!! But we as black people will boycot because the actress isn’t black enough, and she dates white guys. Grow up people !!!!
    Just a question, when are you black enough to play Nina? Mary J was also a bit lighter toned then Nina, but she was not a problem? Why not then?

    • NSimonefan

      Nina was a dark skinned woman. It’s about an actual and factual depiction.

    • Yay!

      You need to do your research! I’ts not about color, but accuracy. If you know anything about Nina (which you obvoiously don’t) you would know that her image meant everything to her and she loathed the fact that Hollywood felt she wasn’t white friendly enough to take a chance on. So for some Hollywood type to do a unapproved biopic about her and cast an uber white-friendly latina to play her, feels like a slap and the clearest form of white-washing to Nina fans. You will never get it.

    • realadulttalk

      No more posting from you until you know what you are talking about…

    • hiswomanandlovingit

      Look, I agree with you on the fact that someone can be Black and Latina but when she chooses to claim the Latina aspect and not the Black part as well as if she just has a really good tan/sun burn that is where I take offense.

  • ChocoBall

    This is just… I don’t even have words for it. Zoe is half Afro-Latina (I think her mom is a chocolately Brazilian or something like that). I would have never thought of her as playing one of my favorite singers. I don’t even see Mary J playing her the way I see her. I think someone like singer Tamar Kali (an awesome sistah) would play a good Nina. This is just so sad that the director is taking so many liberties with Ms. Simone’s life. It really grinds my gears

    • hiswomanandlovingit

      She is Dominican (father) and Puerto Rican (mother).

  • hiswomanandlovingit

    Zoe makes a big point to let the media know that she is NOT a Black woman but a Latina. So why is she so willing to play a Black woman now?

  • Yay!

    The fact is Nina was militant about her beauty. She often spoke about her beliefs that her wide nose and thick lips were the reasons she was kept out of the Hollywood spot-light. Nina’s looks were part of her appeal. It’s not about Zoe’s color or even her background. It’s that Zoe’s image, looks, are the antithesis of Nina’s strong thoughts about herself. There are SOOO many acclaimed black actress that could better portray Nina’s message, yet Hollywood again chooses ignores accuracy in hopes of attracting white audiences. Truly, no offense to Zoe, but Nina was a rock of a black woman. Zoe just isn’t percieved that way in Black American communities.