Guess Who's Coming to Dinner Core Post #1

Other than being black superstars, Paul Robeson, Sidney Poitier and Michael Jackson are connect by “cost of mainstreaming.” Unlike, white actors in order for a black actor to be a star he has to be:
1. a stereotype, 2. above-the-stereotype or 3. non-threatening.
In order to mainstream, (read: white), a celeb is supposed to strip himself of the things that make him “black,” but still maintaining enough of what is “black” so as not to alienate his original (read: i.e. black) fans. Paul Robeson is famous for playing Shakespeare’s Othello, but his character is viewed as “primitive or barbarian veneered by civilization.” (HB, 78) Whereas Sidney Poitier has to be “the wonder doctor…in order to have the question of his marriage to a white girl discussed.” Baldwin (p78). Michael Jackson mainstreamed in part because of the “racial ambiguity…in his image” (SID 301).
Robeson, Poitier and Jackson have been criticized for being ‘too mainstream.’ The scene between Dr. Prentice’s father explains that he didn’t sacrifice all he had sacrificed for his son to go do something crazy like marry a white woman but Dr. Prentice’s father never criticizes that the idea of his black son being a brilliant doctor in the 60’s is also a ‘crazy’ thing. It’s as if there is an unwritten rulebook that says, ‘be mainstream, be above the stereotype, but don’t be too mainstream cause then you’re a sell out.’ Where is that line?
Even by today, the black star is still dealing with the costs of mainstreaming. Comedian Chris Rock jokes that he lives in a very white affluent neighborhood next-door to a dentist. To this, Chris Rock, asks ‘why do I have to be an international superstar and my neighbor only a dentist for us to live in the same community?’
For a black actor to achieve what his white counterpart achieves, he must appeal to various ethnic groups to succeed. In comparison, a white actor only has to be famous amongst white fans to be a celebrity. Then, when a black star finally makes it, they are said to have sold out. A modern day example of this conundrum would be international star, Will Smith, who is praised for being so mainstream but criticized by both blacks and whites for not doing “black movies” and for not returning to his black hip-hop roots. On the other hand, some actors, such as Oscar winner Mo’Nique, give a swift “middle finger” to mainstream audiences, because it was their ethnicity of origin that supported their career.

1. What are the rules of mainstreaming?
2. Can a black actor be a superstar without mainstreaming?
3. What are the costs of mainstreaming?