Alicia Keys plays Scarlett Johansson’s confidante in The Nanny Diaries, and, although the movie is new, the role is not. She’s the BBF — the black best friend — and she appears alongside (or rather, slightly behind) the white female lead in countless movies and television shows.
The BBF syndrome isn’t something that Hollywood likes to talk about, even as it continues to be a winking in-joke among blacks in the industry. One African American actress said that she and her actress friends tease one another about forming a support group for characters who had to help out their “woefully helpless white girls.”
But on a more serious note, the trend of BBFs underscores the limitations that African American actresses still face more than five years after Halle Berry’s Oscar-winning performance as best actress in a leading role for “Monster’s Ball.” Despite impressive résumés, solid credentials and successful achievements, many of the black actresses who have played BBFs are rarely offered the heroine role in mainstream projects. Not one black actress will star in a prime-time series on the four major networks this fall season.
Okay, great. Black women getting roles in hit movies and television shows, which is never a bad thing. But when does the black female lead ever get the white best friend? And has it occurred to casting directors who aren’t working on “black” films or television shows that, gasp, sometimes a group of friends has more than one lone black person in it. Shocking but true.
BBFs vary in personality and looks, but many share the same qualities: They are gorgeous, independent, loyal and successful. They live or work with their friend but are not really around all that much except for well-timed moments when the heroine needs an eating companion or is in crisis. BBFs basically have very little going on, so they are largely available for such moments. And even though they are single or lack consistent solid relationships, BBFs are experts in the ways of the world, using that knowledge to comfort, warn or scold their BFF.
And quite often, they are the only black character in sight.
One BBF, Kellee Stewart of the TBS series My Boys, says its offensive to lump her and other actresses into the token category when she actually beat out other white actresses for her part. I’m sure that’s true and happens quite a bit, but the writer is not trying disparage these actresses any more than critics of the Iraq War are bashing the soldiers. One day, the studios will trust audiences enough to put regularly put black and white women on an equal plain in these TV shows and movies. Just not yet, obviously.
[LAT]
Off topic, but why is Alicia much cuter in movies? Is it because she can’t dress herself?
I disagree with a couple of your points, but I’m too tired to get into it today. However I’ll say that I wish they would have cast an actual actress instead of a singer.
Thank you BMD. And meh, nothing new here. Annoying, worth noting but not new. I must be delusional because I really do think if I work hard enough and prove my mettle the roles will rise up to meet me.
Consistent roles and interesting representations are hard to come by. Being an actor is tough. Full stop. I know smart white women, gays, quirky young male actors, talented as they come all with the same gripes. It can be a horribly close-minded industry.
I actually think African-Americans have it ‘better’ than most ‘minorities’ in Hollywood (I also know that its kinda ’sick’ to attempt to quantify these things). I mean, when was the last time you saw a Native American best friend, or an Asian or even a non-Western black without their ‘ethnicity’ being a considered a character trait?
Another example of black bff’s…
Nia Long in ‘Premonition’. She was the bff to Sandra Bullock.
Blackmistress & uogivibzm:
My mom has been saying that same thing for years now! It’s a mess when there are talented people in college who study (and pay tuition!) to be professional actors yet they are passed up for roles b/c the movie company wants to hire some annoying rapper or r&b singer.
I am a big fan of seeing new faces. I think they could have paired someone up and coming like Lauren London with Scarlette. The more black faces ppl see on the screen, the more audiences will see that we have talent beyond the “black movie” or the “black role” and we will get more parts. Just my theory. I am not fully articulating it, but y’all feel me.
Never thought about it that way bmd, uog and jb, but yes, that’s a shame. The thing is that people know Alicia Keys already and she’s far more likely to get an acting gig because people know her. Same with models but to a lesser extent.
I mean, when was the last time you saw a Native American best friend…
Um, when was the last time you saw a Native American?
Well done, Colonialism.
“Um, when was the last time you saw a Native American?” On the news over building a casino and some rape charges.
Believe it or not there’s a Native American Health Center here in SF, but as far as I can tell there’s just a bunch of black folks there. Whenever I walk by I’m always trying to see the Native Americans, but nope, none. Maybe they’re the doctors?
And the scores at the beginning second millennium stand as:
Colonialism 1
Brown/black people and their representations 0
At the beginning of the second millennium, the Byzantine Empire was at the height of its power and the Islamic Empire was also thriving en route to inventing modern sciences, so I’d say the the brown/black people were doing just fine.
(nerd alert)
Nerdiness can be sexy, P-Lo. It’s ok.
this was on my mind the other day… I was like “I thought Alicia Keys was going to be the lead or at least be in the commercial”…. it’s good that their are black best friends but they need to develop them more as charachters
Black film roles as a whole, are in a negative position. Lately i’ve been purchasing a lot of Black-Centric (Blaxploitation) films. Some have been impressive, such as Waist Deep. Others have been serious B flicks (My Big Phat Hip Hop Family) and others are just plain terrible (Out Kold). But, there are a few films that have shined and will shine. Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Waiting to Exhale, The Wood, Rosewood etc. Hopefully, Hollywood will come to view Black actors and actresses are more than just profitable to a small segment of the market (a Black audience). Halle Berry’s performance in Catwoman probably didn’t help the cause though. I still love you though Halle.
Spendi - Not sure what you like, but there are a lot of older films from the 40’s-70’s that have black casts (or black main actors) that are worth watching also:
Carmen Jones (1954)
In The Heat of The Night (1967)
The Great White Hope (1970)
Cooley High (1975)
A Raisin in the Sun (1961)
Lady Sings the Blues (1972)
Mahogany (1975)
Claudine (1974) Dianne Carrole
Cabin in the Sky (1943) Lena Horn
Stormy Wearher (1943) Lena Horne
There are lots more…..
I appreciate the list Blackmistress. My mom has a copy of In The Heat of the Nnight. You can’t mess with Sidney Portier. I am aware of Lady Sings the Blues, but only because Billie Holiday has a song with the same name. I’ll have to check those other films out. Oh and congratulations on your marriage.
Thank you! Carmen Jones is a good one. So are the Lena Horn flicks. She was (is!) a fierce woman. Good luck and much love to you becoming a teacher. I have nothing but the utmost respect for teachers. My boy was a Special Ed teacher and now teaches as a Sheriff - so I KNOW how many prayers you will need.
I see from your profile that you’re from So Cal. Too bad it’s San Bernadino, but I like you anyway!!
Spendi,
Rosewood is one of my FAVORITE movies. I loved that an alternative aspect of black post-slavery culture was portrayed in the movie. The black people in that movie had money and were sort of respected in that town (until shit hit the fan).
BlackMistress,
Ha! I watched Cabin in the Sky with my mom about a month ago. It was a cute movie. Lena looked absolutely stunning in that movie!!
My mother also has about 90% of the movies in your list. She’s a junky. I think she has a total of about 400+ movies now, most being old classics. She’d cut someone if anything ever happened to them.
I love classic films, specifically from the mid-late 50’s to 1970. Not a black film, but Who’s Afraid of Virgina Wolf was why I got into the film business. That movie is a force of nature being played out before your eyes. It’s sad that American films rarely inspire that anymore. If you ever get a chance, check it out. The younger generation has no idea why Elizabeth Taylor was a star, but you will after you watch that movie. But, back to Lena - yes she was a beautiful young woman and SASSY! So was Diahann Carroll. We don’t have black stars like that anymore. I mean, we have Halle, but she couldn’t hold these women’s bras back in the day.
Thank you for your prayers, BMD. The Most High has been on my side since birth. So I keep payin’ him his dues and I do my best to do good works on this earth. I’m originally from Long Beach (Wrigley District) but we moved when I was 5. Lets just say that things weren’t so nice, when it comes to the events surrounding that choice.
We came to a relatively uknown suburban city called Upland. And thankfully, I’m up out of there. I am grateful for the advantages that a suburban life style afforded me, but now i’m looking foward to using those advantages to help my people. San Bernardino is in need of some serious leadership. It has the second highest crime rate in the state and the 13th highest in the entire nation. I look at cats like Cory Booker (Mayor of Newark) and I know that he’s the truth. I mean sure you have Bill Gates donating to foundations and Oprah builds schools out in Africa. But Cory Booker placed himself among his people. He is real, about helping, even though he could get far away from that depression. I want to be like him, to that capacity. I want to help my people.
As for Rosewood. The film is ill. It really angers me (so does watching Panther)…but I really respect the film. It is probably the best film John Singleton will ever make (Boyz n the Hood, not withstanding). The sad part is though, that it is based entirely on real events. Hate truly knows no depths. It is a good thing that love is also an infinite force in this world. Peace, love and respect to you, my peoples.
What, what?? Wrigley in the house! LOL! Although we moved back and forth from LA to the LBC (lots of drama/upheaval as a kid), I basically grew up runnin’ the streets in Long Beach!! I went to Millikan. Lived near 7th & Redondo. Then I went off to college and never moved back to Long Beach. My mom and grandmom still live on the East Side. And my best friend lives downtown Long Beach. Small world, homie. I was just there last weekend visiting my grandmother in fact. She is finally selling her house b/c her neighborhood is off the chains bad now. She’s moving back to KC, MO where she’s orginally from. So we threw her a big party.
Is the Tape and Record Room still open? I remember ma dukes picking up albums from there all the time. I go back to LBC at random. My cousin lives there, so I used to go now and then to watch him play ball for his schools team. But it is indeed a small world. I would have loved it if we could have stayed living in Long Beach. But for my family, the situation was pretty serious. I am blessed though. Suburban living isn’t to my liking in the cultural sense (very easy to become white washed), but God had our best interest in mind. So I grew up with opportunity. But I miss LBC, even though I left when I was so young. I’m sad to hear that your Grandma had to bounce. LBC used to be so beautiful, but it’s really getting foul. Here is hoping to the elightenment that will clean up our neighborhoods so folks don’t have to run for their lives (in both your Grandmother’s case and the case with my family).
It goes both ways though. I makes me feel wierd watching “black” movies because my group of friends doesn’t look anything like that. Maybe it’s like comparing a side street to a 6-lane highway, but I’d like to see white characters that are more than one-dimensional in black films as well. I tried to bring up to my boyfriend about how other minorities are worse off than we are when it comes to entertainment representation but he was NOT hearing me. It’s sad that the real world is struggling to diversify and change, and the big screen that supposedly represents us is still bland, typecast, and stale.
I think the bottom line is that most American films made now are just crap. Poorly written, stupid plots, lifeless characters. Regardless of the race of the cast…movies suck right now. And, the ones that don’t suck usually appeal to ppl with a brain so, of course, that excludes most of the general movie going audience.
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