Black Women in Hollywood

 

This is an astute comment from the director of The Woman King, Gina Prince-Bythewood, that raises questions about what Black women gain or lose by playing the social capital game in Hollywood -- if they are even able to.

“People like to say, ‘Well, Viola (Davis) and Danielle (Deadwyler) had studios behind them.’ But we just very clearly saw that social capital is more valuable than that,” Prince-Bythewood told The Hollywood Reporter. “That type of power is exercised in more casual ways in social circles, where folks are your friends or your acquaintances. There may be diversity on your sets but not in your lives. And Black women in this industry, we don’t have that power."

Would doing what was needed to bolster social capital -- which might require forming alliances with players who are not known to or trusted by Black folks -- alienate Black women from their base of support? Would signing onto projects that hold little obvious appeal to Black audiences for the sake of building social capital among Hollywood decision-makers actually diminish these women, call into question their commitment or result in them being labeled sell-outs?