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Alesha Dixon racism in showbiz
Reading an article about this today and i was thinking.....do yoi agree...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2302878/Alesha-Dixon-opens-racism-showbiz-world--reveals-told-black-person-cover-star.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2302878/Alesha-Dixon-opens-racism-showbiz-world--reveals-told-black-person-cover-star.html
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Overall, of course there is still areas of prejudice in showbiz, as is prob reflective of life. With racisim, sexism (both for women and men, depending on what it is), homophobia, ageism and all the other existing prejudices, all we can hope is that people, like Alesha, can break down all these small and big barriers as they come along and that things keep progressing forward. Thankfully there are people now that are black in the music, film, tv and fashion industries (just as examples) that do have well known faces that can be put on magazine covers or headlining events and be relied on to bring in the same amount of money and interest as any other non black person, which wasn't always the case. And though this is not yet on a even level, I know, it is still progress at least, and while there is progress there is then still always hope.
I agree with all that
I like Alesha. She is an attractive woman who isn't afraid of a days work and doesn't get headlines for the wrong reasons.
Hmm maybe. But my only issue with this is if she is saying this now because of BGT coming back
I agree that she wasn't the best choice - but she did win the show and IMHO was NOT chosen simply as the 'token mixed race' person.
I think she's fab; has a heinous laugh but seems like a genuinely fab woman who'd be a scream on a night out. Plus, sickeningly hot.
But Shirley likes to think she's white.
But it doesn't work the same way. 99% of dolls don't look like non white children so she's not being a hypocrite at all. There was a reason I treasured my Michael Jordan doll even when it was falling apart. No white girl would ever need to throw away her doll...because it's made to LOOK like HER.
It is the same principle skin colour is either important or it is not. She complains that magazines won't put black models on covers because the predominantly white readership will reject them as the model does not look like them yet she does the exact same thing by rejecting the doll for the same reason.
She was a child when this happened (Christmas, a doll), to suggest it was racist is ridiculous. The context is key, she was young, wanted something she could identify with, and hers was a perfectly reasonable response from someone growing up in a predominantly white environment.
Re is there racism in showbiz? A resounding yes. Look at someone like Viola Davis, a very clever and versatile actress in the biz for 15+ years, and only finally, two years ago, receiving the type of recognition someone of her talent deserves. There's a brilliant 'actors roundtable' (2011 series) where she talks about this, and only a couple of the people present seem to grasp exactly how entrenched racism is.
I don't think race came into it. She got that job because she was young, attractive and popular.
Very well put
The difference is people would have to read the magazine if that was all there was. Rolling Stone said the same thing to MJ in the early 80s and he was fuming. And rightfully so.
If you're white, black, yellow, pink or green you won't get on the TV unless you can hold an audience. It's just a simple fact of life.
If you're given a job on TV because you're black, orange, purple even though you're crap then that's racist agains't the very talented green person who didn't get the job because some said there is a lack of black, orange, purple presenters.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1258129/BBC-boss-defends-sacking-Arlene-Phillips-got-young-black-woman-primetime.html
In a newspaper interview Hunt said: 'Yes, a lot of people were upset about Arlene but the flip side is, in Alesha, we have a young, black, woman presenter, at the heart of the Saturday night BBC1 schedule.
I really think her race was the main reason she was given the role.
I agree with this, She didn't get on SCD for her in-depth knowledge and experience, she got it because she's a sexy popular young woman.
I wonder if she feels its unfair only attractive women get the big TV jobs?
She doesn't though, at least not in the Mail article linked at the start of the thread. She just says one journalist said one time about one magazine: 'I did an interview with a magazine once and the journalist quite openly said they wouldn’t put a black person on the front cover because the magazine wouldn’t sell.'
True but getting to a position where you can try and prove yourself infront of a TV audience is where many people will struggle.
I don't know so much about how it is on TV but the fashion industry is notoriously upfront with its racism. Jourdan Dunn on the Jonothan Ross show the other day said she'd encountered a makeup artist who refused to do her makeup and Leomie Anderson has said on several occasions she's turned up to castings and before they've even taken a look at her portfolio or walk she's been told "We're only using white girls this season". And they've both commented on how sometimes they'll be at a show and realise they're the only non-white model.