The cover of Vanity Fair's March issue celebrating "New Hollywood" has caused a bit of a stir over its lack of diversity. The issue features (from left to right): Abbie Cornish, Kristen Stewart, Carey Mulligan, Amanda Seyfried, Rebecca Hall, Mia Wasikowska, Emma Stone, Evan Rachel Wood, and Anna Kendrick. All reasonably attractive, all with promising careers, and all white. Unless Vanity Fair's definition of diversity is throwing a redhead (Emma Stone) into the mix, they need to do better in 2011.Now I'm not saying that Vanity Fair should have included minority actresses on the cover just for the sake of diversity, but come on... they can do better than this. For one thing, Vanity Fair already had both Stewart and Seyfried on an August 2008 cover heralding "Hollywood's New Wave." As you can see, this cover is also diversity-free!
Even though movie roles for minority actresses continue to be scarce, women of color are managing to make an impact in Hollywood. Here are just a few who were worthy of being featured on the Vanity Fair cover:
Gabourey "Gabby" Sidibe: Up for an Academy Award for Best Actress In A Leading Role for playing the title character in Precious, Sidibe will next be seen in the 2010 film Yelling To the Sky. As a side note, Sidibe does have an interview with Vanity Fair that's included in the issue. For her take on not being a part of the cover, click here.
Freida Pinto: One of the stars of the Best Picture Oscar winner Slumdog Millionaire, Pinto will be back on movie screens this year in the Woody Allen film You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger and is also starring in Dawn of the Gods (which is scheduled to be released in 2011).
Charlyne Yi: In addition to co-starring in the 2009 rom-com Paper Heart, the multi-talented Yi also co-wrote it, co-produced it, and helped write the soundtrack!
Zoe Saldana: She only co-starred in two of the biggest blockbusters of the past year... Star Trek and this little movie called Avatar. Slacker! Admittedly, Saldana isn't exactly new (she made her film debut in 2000). However, featuring her on the Vanity Fair issue would have been justified when you consider that Evan Rachel Wood (who's been around since the late 1990s) got a spot on the cover.
Update: Zoe was featured on the 2008 "Fresh Faces" cover of VF:
http://guestofaguest.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/cusl14_hollywood_covers0803.jpg
Let me also add that I knew Vanity Fair had done previous "Hollywood" issues that featured a diverse mix of actors/actresses on the cover. This is why I was surprised when I saw the cover of the March 2010 issue. In the spirit of giving credit where credit is due, here is a partial list of minority actors/actresses who have been featured on the cover of Vanity Fair's "Hollywood" issues in the past:
Angela Bassett
Benicio Del Toro
Will Smith
Jada Pinkett
Jennifer Lopez
Djimon Hounsou
Thandie Newton
Penélope Cruz
Samuel L. Jackson
Don Cheadle
Dev Patel
America Ferrera
10 comments:
There are so many young actresses (of color) in Hollywood that don't get the shine they deserve. This cover proves that fact. And I'm not only talking about Black actresses; I'm talking about all non-White actresses who put in twice the work for lesser roles.
But when you break it down, this cover represents what Vanity Fair believes to be the cream of the crop. And that is the saddest statement of all.
I honestly don't pay much attention to Vanity Affair or their covers but it does seem like they could have included a couple Black actresses.
There are no MEN there, either, Malcolm. I bet that the "Vanity" is a slam at women via the misquoted but still famous not a Shakespeare not a quote "vanity thy name is woman." And as they didn't include any women of color, clearly you are right about the "Fair" part being about white women. So really, the title should be Vanity Thy Name is White Women. As a white woman, I find this insulting.
On a more serious note, it does seem that they might have been able to find a few young women (and/or men) of color. I have no clue who ANY of those featured are, but there have to be some talented actresses who are young and not white.
I noticed right away on the news stands when I looked at the cover a week ago. Great post Malcolm!
I don't really care that Vanity Fair doesn't recognize any minority actresses on this cover. That's the least of their problems, in my opinion.
"Young" Hollywood mainstream is white by a long shot. Independent flicks barely get recognition unless they develop an enormous cult following like Pulp Fiction. Slumdog Millionaire and that weird movie of the chick with glasses don't fall into that category.
Even if they did, that Charlyne Yi wouldn't make the cut. She's not attractive enough.
Gabby's certainly not the image they want to sell, and if it's her skin color at all keeping her off the cover, that's about 5th down on the list.
These aren't my standards.
Zoe is knockout GORGEOUS and will certainly get her fair share of covers -- just not this one, obviously. And I will certainly lend her a shoulder to cry on if not. Hubba hubba!
The problem I see with this is there are 9 chicks there and a combined 504 pounds of body! And that's after they eat lunch.
I see no diversity there in any shape, form or fashion. I'm not even sure if any of them can act. I've only heard of 2 -- Evan Rachel Wood (I see her on an episode of Punkd and in The Wrestler) and the chick from Big Love.
Marvalus: "this cover represents what Vanity Fair believes to be the cream of the crop."
That's a great line!
When non-blacks complain about magazines such as Ebony and Latina, they need to realize that they exist because there is still a problem of minorities not being properly represented in the media.
Teresa: In addition to featuring worthy black actresses, this cover was a great opportunity to spotlight other up-and-coming minority actresses such as Freida Pinto and Charlyne Yi.
Fuzzy: There are no MEN on the cover?! Get the hell outta here!! I didn't make reference to the fact that there are no men on the cover for two reasons:
1) This blog deals with race matters, not gender ones.
2) Vanity Fair's "Hollywood" covers are usually gender-specific. However, they do sometimes have actors and actresses together.
The title of my blog post was meant as a joke. I don't believe the "fair" in the magazine title Vanity Fair is a reference to skin tone.
There are definitely some up and coming actresses of color that could have been featured on the cover. Maybe there is a legit reason why they weren't. Hopefully, the negative press that the current issue has received will cause Vanity Fair to be conscious of promoting diversity in the future.
Candy: Thanks! This cover definitely stuck out to me... but not for the reasons that Vanity Fair intended.
Josh: "Slumdog Millionaire" has gotten lots of recognition. In addition to the numerous awards it received, it's grossed over $375 million worldwide at the box office.
Although Charlyne Yi isn't going to cause Megan Fox any sleepless nights, she could have been "glammed up" sufficiently for the Vanity Fair cover. However, I have seen numerous pics of Charlyne and I suspect that she has zero interest in certain aspects of Hollywood (hair, makeup, designer dresses, etc.).
As did you, I also noticed the thinness of the actresses featured. A commenter on another forum said that all of the actresses are at a healthy weight. Clearly, that's open for debate.
I didn't realize that Amanda Seyfried was on "Big Love". She has come a long way from her days on "All My Children" (where I first saw her).
When we start OWNING our own magazines then we can start ensuring that our magazine covers have the diversity that we seek.
OWNERSHIP instead of simply renting magazines from others. That is the answer.
Ujamaa!
Villager
Villager: Thanks for stopping by. Whenever people complain about the existence of ethnic-oriented enterprises such as Ebony, Latina and Jet, I tell them that these wouldn't be necessary if white-owned mags did a better job at diversity. You are right... ownership is the key!
Greetings,
I have a question for the webmaster/admin here at diversityink.blogspot.com.
May I use part of the information from this post right above if I provide a link back to this site?
Thanks,
James
Jim: Thanks for reaching out to me. What part of this post did you want to use? Also, can you provide me with your blog/website URL? Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you.
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