From the Fauxhaus Blog:
In the article, Jackson states that black British actors are “..cheaper than us, for one thing. They don’t cost as much. And they [casting agents and directors] think they’re better trained, because they’re classically trained.”
To begin, Ben Carson has made no statement on the issue of British Black actors and whether they are actually immigrants to Hollywood, so this is pretty much a 'left attacks the left' scene. It is easy to simply say "Who cares?" and move on, but there is something here, under the surface, that is worthy of exposure: is Jackson essentially saying that black British actors playing black American roles is really a kind of cultural Blackface?
Hollywood has long been enamored of the elite British actor, to mixed results: sometimes you get Laurence Olivier, sometimes you get Jude Law. But Jackson injects money into the matter: the black British actors work cheaper. Another reading of this is that black American actors are overpaid (what's in YOUR wallet?). And -- from here -- it is not a far stretch to deduce that being overpaid means you are not doing all the work expected of you: is Jackson accusing black American actors of being lazy? Even shiftless?
Jackson also brings up the issue of the black British actors being "classically trained." Indeed, it seems that many black American actors come from another school entirely: The School of Rap. Will Smith, Ice Cube, Ice-T, LL Cool J, Queen Latifah, Method Man: all begun as Rappers. Does this particular education help black American actors 'keep it real' in a way that their British counterparts cannot do? Is the British versus American black actor divide akin to the East Coast / West Coast Rap Wars of the Nineties? Would "Do The Right Thing" work if remade in London?
There is also another subtext at work here, if you look carefully: the people hiring these black British actors are typically Hollywood Moguls: WHITE Hollywood Moguls. Or --a step further -- JEWISH White Hollywood Moguls. Is Jackson saying that Jews prefer British Blacks over American Blacks, because they are less Authentic, thus less dangerous? Are Jackson's comments just a thin pretext to show that -- Capital One ads aside -- the money-grubbing Jewish businessmen don't muthafukkin' own him?
Time for a poll:
What do you think Samuel L. Jackson is REALLY saying?
1. That British Black Actors cannot portray the American Black Experience as well as American Black Actors: it IS that simple.
2. British Black Actors are a Tool of the Man, keeping Black Americans down.
3. British Black Actors are a Tool of the Jews, keeping Black Americans down.
4. I don't see why Matthew McConaughey can't play a Black American. That'd be cool. And he's American.
5. I usually don't watch movies with black actors, unless it is Denzel Washington.
6. Do American Black Actors always seem to be angry, or is that just me?
I am Laslo.
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