Over the semester we have analyzed race from both a white and black perspective. However the readings this week make us examine star image in a multicultural context as opposed to a biracial one. As we saw, Out of Sight stars Jennifer Lopez, a Puerto Rican star. However, according to the readings her racial ambiguity and fair skin allow Lopez to play a variety of racial ethnicities and often leave her race open for a viewer’s interpretation. For example, in Out of Sight, she plays an Italian character.
Racial ambiguity allows for a larger audience to identify with Jennifer Lopez’s character. While watching the movie you’re not really sure what race she is, but depending on a viewer’s own racial identity, they can project and interpret their own meaning.
In the Aubry reading, she discusses how black audiences could identify with Lopez because of her “big butt” something often associated as African American. White audiences are also able to sexualize Lopez because of her fairer skin. Aubry describes this ability for white audiences to identify with Lopez, “…[It] is more palatable to white audiences, a safe vehicle with which to indulge a café au lait fantasy. A pale face with a black butt is intriguing, titillating, as any reflection of a racial mélange has always been in this country; a black face with a black butt has always been worse than ordinary.”
The Negron-Muntaner reading takes a similar stance on Lopez’s racial ambiguity and her ability to identify with larger audiences. Lopez doesn’t try to negate the fact that she is Latina. In fact her ability to speak Spanish as seen through the marketing campaign for her movie Selena proved to be a big draw for Latino audiences who found her very relatable.
The fact of the matter is, racial ambiguity is a highly effective tool in making audiences feel more comfortable. This isn’t just seen in film, advertisers use it all the time to sell more products. Many if not most try to use racially ambiguous actors to appeal to a larger audience. I came across this commercial the other day, which makes fun of this very fact.
1. Does Mariah Carrey have a similar racial ambiguity to Jennifer Lopez? Does she idenity across races the same way?
2. Has Jennifer Lopez completely escaped her “Jenny from the Block” Latina roots?
3. Is racial ambiguity still necessary for white audiences to identify with a black star (ie Obama or does his half white heritage make him more accessible for white audiences?)
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