Black women are notoriously under-represented in Hollywood. According to The Center For The Study Of Women In Television & Film, African-American actresses make up roughly two percent of starring roles in Hollywood films. A new video from Funny Or Die, starring Jurnee Smollett, Alfre Woodard, and Loretta Devine, posits a reason for this: Black women are too busy controlling Hollywood to have time to write or direct or star in movies.
The video shows Smollett being kidnapped from the premiere of “My Sista’s Wedding” by a coven of black actresses (including Tracee Ellis Ross, Meagan Good, and Retta), run by Woodard, who asks Smollett why she thinks black women are so often given smaller parts and fewer opportunities to write or direct. Smollett’s reply (“Racism? Sexism? Both?”) is dismissed in favor of the obvious truth. Black women are flying under the radar so that they won’t get blamed for Hollywood’s mistakes.
It’s a wonderfully nasty bit of satire, with the fact that many of the actresses featured are recognizable, by face if not name, from numerous small, thankless roles only adding icing to the cake. The video ends with Smollett being given her new assignment as part of the scheme to maintain complete control of Hollywood: She’ll play George Clooney’s sister’s nanny in an upcoming film.
Black Women Run Hollywood from Funny Or Die