Friday, April 25, 2014

5 Actresses that COULD HAVE been Shana in the JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS Movie



First off, this is no hate on Aurora Perrineau. Just wanted to get that out of the way

So, they cast a bi-racial woman to play Shana Elmsford, one of the Holograms in the Jem and Holograms movie.

Is that good? NO! Not at all!

So, you may say "Why is that a problem? She's part Black." Yes, that's totally true, but Shana isn't bi-racial... She is a Brown-skinned African-American.

Some may say, "Well, it's no different when they cast Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury." Ah, but it is.

This Light-Skinned/Dark-Skinned issue has plagued our community for hundreds of years. The old belief is the Lighter shade of Black is better than the Darker shade. That notion was used a lot during slavery and managed drift all through time to the current generation.

Again,  this is no shade on Aurora. I'm sure she is a competent actress with a bright future ahead of her.

But her casting brings up so many deep rooted issues with Hollywood and their depiction of Black people in film. Many girls and boys were happy to see a character that looked like them and challenged a lot of stereotypes besetting Black folks. To see this change, kinda breaks many Shana fans' hearts.

With that said, I found some actresses that could have played the part. They are listed after the jump.


China Anne McClain
Keke Palmer

Amandla Stenberg

Coco Jones
Shavon Kirksey






4 comments:

R.J. said...

I completely get this. In the Latino community, we have the same problem. Those who look European, not Indian, get the gigs on telenovelas. This is also true for movie roles and other high-visibility jobs, too.

I also look Italian, so I get the "You're not a real Mexican!" a lot because of it.

Anonymous said...

I agree with you 100%!
Please I'm begging you, make a youtube video of this. I'm so angry with this casting I don't know what to do. It's like they are trying to eradicate black girls from existence.

Anonymous said...

I understand how you feel. I'm new to the Jem movie because it finished before I was born but it annoyed me that she isn't black and that she should have be. I agree with all of the cast except for China Ann McClain because she look young and Amandla Stenberg because she is young and is in the lighter shade of the black spectrum. (I have no hate toward her but you did contradicted yourself but adding her in) But I understand what you are saying.

Anonymous said...

I understand how you feel. I'm new to the Jem movie because it finished before I was born but it annoyed me that she isn't black and that she should have be. I agree with all of the cast except for China Ann McClain because she look young and Amandla Stenberg because she is young and is in the lighter shade of the black spectrum. (I have no hate toward her but you did contradicted yourself but adding her in) But I understand what you are saying and I think you should make a YouTube video about this

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Viktor is a small town southern boy living in Los Angeles. You can find him on Twitter, writing about pop culture, politics, and comics. He’s the creator of the graphic novel StrangeLore and currently getting back into screenwriting.