Danielle Deadwyler

 

Of the two, Danielle Deadwyler's absence from the list of best actress nominees is worth reflecting on more than Viola Davis's supposed "snub" by the Academy.

Davis did receive a nod from the Hollywood Foreign Press for her leading role in The Woman King, a good though not outstanding picture, IMO. Woman King shared some of the same aesthetics, narrative elements and vibe as Wakanda Forever, the other Black female warrior picture from last year.

To my eye and ear, Deadwyler's performance as Emmett Till's mother, Mamie Bradley, was pitched perfectly and fit the tone and temperament of the film, which was roundly praised by critics.

It was (is) an earnest and important picture, I think. Was it the best released last year? No. But it's a film of high-quality, in the tradition of Hollywood pictures from the Golden Age, immaculately constructed and by the numbers. Scrupulously composed.

Even so, people didn't go to see it. Till lost money, and a lot of it. One of my friends said he wouldn't go because he remembered seeing Emmett Till's body in the Black press back in the day. The film would be too disturbing, he said.

That was disappointing to hear because I'm convinced he would have thought Deadwyler was the true embodiment not just of Mrs. Bradley's grief but that of countless Black women who have lost sons to racial hatred.

Yes, Deadwyler's Mamie Bradley was restricted for most of the film to the space of grief and devastation, but that doesn't mean her performance did not have range and nuance.

Why it failed to resonate is truly curious to me. Maybe in some way folks thought giving Deadwyler an award would cheapen the story of the boy from Chicago who went south and was kidnapped and killed by white men and his mother's crusade to make America face the hate. Maybe they thought it would somehow diminish the meaning the picture should have for the country.

I don't know. It's a mystery.