Idris Elba: Black Men Not Considered “Sexy” By America

GQ Brotha · Aug 20, 2011

newandimproved said: ↑

Been lurking for a while but this is definitely a post I need to respond to.

There's a tendency as an actor or writer or director to internalize what work you're given (and what work you are not), so I sympathize with Elba but he's got it all wrong.

Elba, OP, it's not that black men aren't considered sexy, it's that black men aren't held up/depicted/celebrated as sexy, at not least intentionally (more on that later).

There's a difference between peoples' private feelings or beliefs and the world of images and representation where money and ticket sales are directly related to depicting things that are easy to stomach, but not always true.

I'd be like if I said, flippantly, black people are inferior to white people. Everyone would be up in arms and rightly so.

It's that for most of this nation's history, white people have been celebrated/held up/depicted as superior to black people. That's not reality. That's social construction.

What's interesting about Hollywood or the media in general is that even though the Elbas, the Diggses, and maybe even the Denzels have seldom seen befitting character descriptions, in spite of it all they're still considered sexy. Imagine how things would be if they were equal?!

Moreover, moving towards music and sports, those same characters (street-smart, funny, hypermasculine etc etc) have come back to bite them in the behind. LL Cool J, Lebron, Wade, Kobe, Kanye...the list goes on and on. They're all considered sexy men.

Oppression is a complicated force that comes from a lot of different directions, such that many of the things that are supposed to cut us down actually make us more attractive.

Finally, I'm reminded of when black people weren't allowed to read as slaves while at the same time were "considered" subhuman or not even human. That's probably the biggest contradiction ever.

If you're not human, you can't read so why be concerned? Why go out of your way to keep your slaves illiterate?

It's because deep down, even back then, racists knew that black people were equal.

The same thing is at work here.
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:smt023

Well stated bro, reps for this.

Its why I stated in another post if you are in a majority black country one doesn't have to hold a discourse about blacks being sexy. Think about it.

This discussion is all shaped within the context of American history, images portrayed and the social construct of society, built up over a long period of time.

Let's think about it for a second, for a white male director, producer, studio executive to depict black men as sexy on screen and present that to the American audience up and down the length and breadth of this nation is in whose interest. Certainly not his majority white audience.

When it is done on the rare occasions you have some butt hurt, racist characters that pop up to claim its Jewish propaganda and the usual litany of race based arguments to placate their bruised egos because they saw a black man portrayed in such a light, compared to what they stereotypically imagine and expect.

Knowing the history of this nation and the deep struggles of blacks, if one thing a black man has to be is confident and assertive, if he is weak willed that is his ass. No one is going to give a darn thing to you for being black. You gotta earn it each and every step of the way.

quato102 · Aug 22, 2011

GQ Brotha said: ↑

:smt023

Well stated bro, reps for this.

Its why I stated in another post if you are in a majority black country one doesn't have to hold a discourse about blacks being sexy. Think about it.

This discussion is all shaped within the context of American history, images portrayed and the social construct of society, built up over a long period of time.

Let's think about it for a second, for a white male director, producer, studio executive to depict black men as sexy on screen and present that to the American audience up and down the length and breadth of this nation is in whose interest. Certainly not his majority white audience.

When it is done on the rare occasions you have some butt hurt, racist characters that pop up to claim its Jewish propaganda and the usual litany of race based arguments to placate their bruised egos because they saw a black man portrayed in such a light, compared to what they stereotypically imagine and expect.

Knowing the history of this nation and the deep struggles of blacks, if one thing a black man has to be is confident and assertive, if he is weak willed that is his ass. No one is going to give a darn thing to you for being black. You gotta earn it each and every step of the way.
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Seems like you finally got it.

APPIAH · Aug 23, 2011

This was a waste of my time after reading all 27 pages who fucking cares if a well toned black man who acts for a living is not considered sexy by America

Inner Beauty · Aug 24, 2011

Frederick said: ↑

http://newsone.com/entertainment/newsonestaff4/idris-elba-black-men-not-sexy/?omcamp=NEWSBAR

Actor Idris Elba said that he felt Black men are not considered “sexy” by mainstream America, during a recent interview.

Idris elaborated on the issue, saying that Black actors are typically casted much differently than actors of other races, HuffingtonPost.com reports:

Here's a brother from a different country who's expressing the same sentiment that many of the American brothers here have after living and working on this side of the pond for several years. I wonder if he'll be ridiculed and called "whiny" or a "loser" by the head-in-the-sand crowd on this forum.
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Umm, I posted this topic already, but I guess since I had visuals, the content was overlooked...lol

http://www.whitewomenblackmen.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19076

Cloudkicker · Aug 24, 2011

Refugee said: ↑

I agree with jaisee, college education is WAY overrated. I have said that shit plenty of times on this board and to the HS students that I mentor. You don’t have to go to college to make a good living nor to have a great future. Also college is not really the measure of intelligence either. But if you get a scholarship be it athletics or academics or your folks are willing to fork for it, then I say go for it, especially if you don’t have any definitive future plans.
There are tons of successful ppl who never went to college or dropped out of one and became successful; Bill Gates & Mark Zuckerberg come to mind.
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Yeah and they all were going to the top 3 universities in the United States and suddenly stumbled upon riches...but next time you look for a job paying $50000 plus I guarantee you your education will be a HUGE factor.

Not every one is an entrepreneur and with black lacking in education at an all time low...its not bad to give the youth a goal to work for.

vanilla2chai · Aug 24, 2011

Well I'll say it......Black men are damn sexy

karmacoma. · Aug 25, 2011

vanilla2chai said: ↑

Well I'll say it......Black men are damn sexy
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So are Canadian white women :smt060

vanilla2chai · Aug 25, 2011

karmacoma. said: ↑

So are Canadian white women :smt060
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:smt060:heart::heart:

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Idris Elba: Black Men Not Considered “Sexy” By America

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