Since I can only take one post per day of people attacking me on my opinions on whether the sky is blue or not, I’m going to simply report the news on this one and let you draw your own conclusions. Universal Pictures recently put out a casting call for black women for the upcoming flick, Straight Outta Compton. The casting call listed women based on grades, listed as follows:
Hmmm…. Then there’s the TMZ update… The people behind the “Straight Outta Compton” movie say they’re NOT just casting overweight, dark-skinned black girls to play “poor” people in the movie … telling TMZ the casting ad was an “innocent mistake.”
The ad went viral — with the casting company inviting L.A.-based women to apply for one of several categories of extras that will be featured in the film.
The casting agency used an A, B, C, D scale to group the women. Here’s the breakdown:
A) “Hottest of the hottest. Models” (open to women of any race)
B) “Fine … Beyonce is a protoype here” (light-skinned women)
C) African American girls … Medium to light skinned with a weave
D) “These are African American girls. Poor, not in good shape. Medium to dark skin tone.”
People were upset … since the “D” group was the only group associated with an economic class — “poor” — and it was made up of only dark-skinned, out of shape black women.
But we spoke with a rep for Sande Alessi Casting who tells us … the ad was an “innocent mistake” — and when it comes to casting the “poor” people, they’re also looking for women of various skin tones and body types.
As for people who claim the A,B,C,D grouping system was racist — Sande Alessi Casting says it’s the usual method they use to look for different types of people for any project and it wasn’t meant to offend anyone. ——— Hey! It’s an honest mistake! Black women are disposable, and everyone knows there’s a color hierarchy that’s reinforced by these rappers and validated by the corporate infrastructure! No harm done! But white reporters talking about fatherlessness and how it affects black men? UNFORGIVABLE!! Hey…”innocent mistake.” Everyone knows all poor black women are fat, nappy headed and D-grade. Right? Right? Since I’m just…reporting…why do you suppose they think the women in the “A Grade” are such a good description for a movie about black men living and rapping in Compton?