#racialicious

I wished that @racialicious had archived all their Addicted to Race podcast from back in the day, I used to listen to them all the time back when the show was hosted by Carmen Van Kerckhove and Jen Chau, then later on Tami Winfrey Harris.

BGN, Racialicious, Team Up with The NOC for San Diego Comic-Con

Exposure is just as important in the nomination and voting process as the quality of the movies themselves. I speak from experience, as someone whose job it was to fill out Emmy and Oscar ballots for someone during the 2011 awards season. I hadn’t seen all the movies and shows up for nomination, and in some categories I voted based on the past work of those nominated that I’d seen most of and enjoyed. Whether their films deserve awards or not, I imagine it’s easy for voters to check off boxes for Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence simply because these are people who’ve had ample opportunity to star in a variety of things that show their talent as actors. Even if you’re not thinking of Joy while voting, perhaps you’re remembering that you enjoyed American Hustle, Silver Lining Playbook, or The Hunger Games or X-Men franchises. If Leonardo DiCaprio wins an Oscar this year  for The Revenant I’ll go to my grave swearing it’s actually for Catch Me If You Can or The Wolf of Wallstreet. Jennifer Lawrence has made three movies a year since 2011. Michael B. Jordan made one movie in 2014. Despite being active in the business for longer than Lawrence, 2015 is the first time he’s released more than one film in a single year. This means she’s had triple the chance for interviews, soundbites, fake celebrity friendships, and quirky red carpet stumbles to stick in the public’s mind. Jordan’s not been offered the chance to make the same impact.

I wonder if that “omg can you believe I get to interview this person?” trope is just another kind of racially influenced narcissism – why center the words of the black woman I am speaking to when my inner dialogue is so much more interesting? There can’t be two subjects of a profile piece. And, interestingly enough, it’s anathema to the entire celebrity journalist code – the first rule is that you do not fan out, because it obscures your subject. If you are too busy fawning, you don’t ask follow up questions, and you don’t reveal anything new to your readers/viewers.

Floating down a river of think pieces on why “intersectional feminism” is important, one would get the impression that this latest wave of sisterhood has finally conquered its internal divisions around the historical fault lines of race, class, ethnicity, and nationality.  Unfortunately, when I encounter conversations about intersectionality online, the term is often uttered merely as cultural shorthand, the social justice equivalent of “You go girl!,” ready to be GIFed, Tumbled, or tee-shirted.