For the people pointing out that Tashi was also inspired by Mirka Federe, you are right, but that doesn't take away the fact that the screenwriter said Tashi was always meant to be a Black woman. Y'all are literally proving my point by saying despite the screenwriter saying Tashi is representative of SEVERAL Black women in tennis, him also being inspired by the actions of ONE white woman makes the character inspired by her instead. If that's not erasure, I don't know what is. She can have personality traits inspired by Federe, but she was always supposed to be Black.

Also it's insane that y'all are more mad about me saying Zendaya is an underwhelming actress than you are about the erasure of Black women, but that's why we are where we are. Let’s reevaluate our priorities.

Naomi Osaka is also biracial. Biracial doesn't always mean black and white. I'm glad that you addressed that.

hearing simone biles wanting zendaya to play her was crazy to me

Let’s Doechiify the media. Talk about talent! Dark-skinned women deserve to have their stories told through a lens that makes them universal. And let’s be real—their dark skin looks incredible on film. Period.

We need to talk about how, the daughters in black families in movies are always lighter: fresh prince of bel air, are we there yet ?, my wife and kids…

She's just this generations Halle Berry.

It’s so weird how everything is going backwards…

I just never understood how in the 90s you could literally every shade of black women in everything hell even in shows catered to white peoole they still had dark skin or brown skin women apart of they cast I don’t understand when we just shifted and started just casted biracial people in black roles

to be frank, Keke Palmer doesn't even get the recognition she deserves. she was really prominent in her youth, but when she transitioned to adult theater/media, said level of prominence didn't carry over. don't get me wrong, Keke Palmer was and still is extremely talented, but the opportunities allotted to her definitely declined sharply as she transitioned into adult acting. I presume this was/is due to racial discrimination POC face throughout the industry.

keep in mind she was all over kids and teens entertainment.........

I work in the industry and just want to make a quick clarification about what you said regarding Producers, etc. You mentioned that whenever Zendaya is a Producer in a project, she also insists on casting herself in the lead role, but that's not quite how it goes. She's chosen for the role FIRST and THEN she bargains for a Producer credit as well. Meaning, the casting choice happens FIRST and because she has enough bargaining power due to her name/recognition, she then makes a stipulation in her contract that she will only accept the role if she can get a Producer credit as well. Pretty much every single A-List actor or actress does that, it's standard practice in the business. And this also means that if the Studio making the film decides to go with someone else for the role, she also loses the Producer credit. So, no, she couldn't choose someone else to play her "because she's a Producer for the project" since, if they really did go with someone else, she wouldn't be a Producer and wouldn't be involved with the project in the first place. Also, these Producer credits are just that, a credit. These actors don't really contribute much (at most they will show up for 1 or 2 meetings but that's it), they really just want the credit (they get paid more if they're actor AND producer for a film/project) because it means more money for them and also the possibility of major awards to their name outside of acting.

This doesn't necessarily negate anything else you pointed out, I just wanted to clarify the thought process. Hope it made sense!

Idk why it felt Issa Rae wasn’t buying anything Zendaya was saying during that clip lol.

It’s frustrating because all black women (especially darker skinned black women) are asking is to be seen in media. And it’s become this never ending battle for representation that leaves so many of them feeling invisible, as if their stories and experiences aren’t valid enough to be told. But they are.

There's a movie called "I Saw The TV Glow" where the main character is biracial. White dad, black mom. It is not a plot point or mentioned, he just is.

The actor Justice Smith is clearly biracial, the character is biracial. All the white reviewers kept calling the dad his "stepdad." Because they saw a "black" kid with a white dad. He literally called him his dad in the movie several times, never said stepdad.

White people ignore the existence of biracial people, but they love seeing biracial actors in black roles. Even when characters are clearly biracial they read them as black. So annoying.

I’m an Asian-American woman who knew colorism existed, but this video was extremely eye-opening with how deeply-embedded colorism is in the film industry and our society as a whole.

You were introspective and through with your points, and I hope this video and your channel get the recognition they deserve👏🏼👏🏼🫶🏼

as a monoracial black woman, hidden figures, wicked, and the new pjo series have been the best representation for me.

i’ve been noticing this as well. this is the reason why the whole concept of being dark skin is still so foreign and unusual to people. we aren’t being represented properly. there’s nothing wrong with being light skin or being biracial, the issue is that those kinds of people are being made the representatives of the black community when in reality there’s way more darker skinned blacks, and besides that, black people aren’t a monolith, we don’t look one way.

needed this bad. we are going backwards in ALL avenues

Tashi would be seen differently if she had been played by a dark-skinned black woman. The character already gets a lot of hate from audiences for being toxic and the “villain” of the story. But interestingly enough, Zendaya is never labeled as the “angry black woman” stereotype. The film actually toned down Tashi’s character. In the original script she was even more cruel and awful to the men.

How would audiences react to a dark-skinned black woman being perpetually angry and treating the white men in a negative way? She would be far more demonized than Zendaya’s Tashi, who is seen by many as a “girlboss” and “iconic” and it definitely has to do with desirability politics, because if a black girl who looked like Serena Williams acted the same way, it would be a different story.

To see how black folks, specifically black women, bring out the pitchforks when their own erasure is pointed out is crazy work.

Growing up I was told Mariah Carey was black. I wondered, why don't I have silky hair and white skin like her? To see a woman like Keke Palmer be the object of desire in a mainstream movie would have been great imagery.

NOBODY defends or pedestalizes lightskinned and biracial women more than black women. Stop supporting your own erasure. Wake up!

Thats why I feel Doechii is a breath of fresh air. I think she is good for Blackwomen in General but specifically Darkskinned women need to see her shining right now.