Ok, just initial question that comes to mind in seeing the movie ...
Do ethnic actors (especially African Americans) have to "pay their dues" in a way similar to attractive actresses before they can be considered for serious roles?
The most problematic thing in Out Of Sight is, I think, Don Cheadle's character, and the general -- and self-evident -- fact that all the criminals that are "animals" are black.
Although this is in keeping with Hollywood's tradition of ethnicizing (my word) the "bad guys", it's interesting to think of in relation to gender (what we're supposedly studying Out Of Sight for).
I knew Don Cheadle from the Ocean's movies, in which he played a criminal -- but a very different kind. He is smart in those films: he creates explosives, relying on his mind rather than his body. And he is one of the "good guys" -- all the characters in the series have the anti-hero appeal of George Clooney in Out Of Sight.
Aside from the Ocean's series, I associated him with social problem films: Traitor and Rowanda specifically. I very much considered him a "serious actor", and not one who panders.
Similarly, although I do not consider Isaiah Washingon a "serious actor", the role I know him from -- Grey's Anatomy -- is also one in which he does not pander to the "black stereotype" of violent thief.
Seeing these two actors' progressions into, if not serious, at least unstereotyped roles, reminded me of the evolution of actresses such as Marilyn Monroe. Although she is and always will be most associated with Some Like It Hot and the grate scene seen 'round the world, towards the end of her career she gravitated towards such serious works as Bus Stop and Niagara.
Interviews with the Jessica Albas and Beals of the world claiming their desire to be offered films roles in which more than their asses can act are easy to find. It seems, then, that some sort of dues must be paid ... Ethnic actors and attractive actresses are allowed into the industry because of their bodies and the associations that those figures inspire, and before they are allowed to leave the stereotype they must fulfill a certain quota of the roles that gave them access to the industry in the first place.
It's especially interesting to note that Out Of Sight and the Ocean's were directed by the same man, and compare, then, how drastically different Don Cheadle's criminal is in them.
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Interesting post.
First, I hope our readings are helping people to see that you can't really talk about gender without talking about race and ethnicity and sexuality and class. The masculine roles available to black/Latino/Asian male bodies are different (and less plentiful) than the roles available to white male bodies. Just as the roles available to white women are different than the roles available to racialized female bodies. Dyer's chapter on Marilyn Monroe does a brilliant job of talking about her femaleness and her whiteness as being equally important qualities of her star image. The heterosexuality of her star image is also key to her being able to embody the culture's preoccupations with sexuality.
Out of Sight is an interesting film because we have a Latina actress in the lead role but one might argue that she is passing for white and one of the ways her passing is achieved is to pair her with a white male leading actor and surround her with an array of racialized men that she is seen to be too good for.
Don Cheadle has had an interesting career trajectory but he will never have the leading man status of a George Clooney - even though arguably he is a better actor than Clooney His racialized body just won't allow for it. Similarly the ability of Jennifer Beals, Jessica Alba and the Jennifer Lopez to "graduate" to better roles is partially based on their light-skin - I hadn't realized that Viola Davis (who played the mother in Doubt) had a small role as Don Cheadle's long suffering girlfriend in the film - she again is arguably a better actress than the above mentioned but her dark-skin limits her ability to "graduate" to leading roles.
We'll definitely talk more about this next Monday.
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