{"id":9054,"date":"2015-09-08T05:46:07","date_gmt":"2015-09-08T05:46:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/?p=9054"},"modified":"2015-09-08T15:29:14","modified_gmt":"2015-09-08T15:29:14","slug":"viola-davis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/viola-davis","title":{"rendered":"Viola Davis Calls Out Hollywood For Its Portrayal Of Dark-Skinned Women"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"a6b39195b99473d6c9dd698db2668010\" data-index=\"1\" style=\"float: none; margin:2px 0 2px 0; text-align:center;\">\n<center>\r\n\r\n<script type='text\/javascript'>\r\nfunction ShorterThan(widthMax) {\r\n                if (screen.width < widthMax) {return true;}  \r\n                else {return false}\r\n    }\r\nvar LimitWidth = 728\r\nvar MobileZoneID = 348996\r\nvar DesktopZoneID = 348995   \r\n<!--\/\/<![CDATA[\r\n   document.MAX_ct0 ='';\r\n   var m3_u = (location.protocol=='https:'?'https:\/\/cas.criteo.com\/delivery\/ajs.php?':'https:\/\/cas.criteo.com\/delivery\/ajs.php?');\r\n   var m3_r = Math.floor(Math.random()*99999999999);\r\n   document.write (\"<scr\"+\"ipt type='text\/javascript' src='\"+m3_u);\r\n   if (ShorterThan(LimitWidth)) {document.write (\"zoneid=\"+MobileZoneID);} else {document.write (\"zoneid=\"+DesktopZoneID);}\r\n   document.write(\"&nodis=1\");\r\n   document.write ('&cb=' + m3_r);\r\n   if (document.MAX_used != ',') document.write (\"&exclude=\" + document.MAX_used);\r\n   document.write (document.charset ? '&charset='+document.charset : (document.characterSet ? '&charset='+document.characterSet : ''));\r\n   document.write (\"&loc=\" + escape(window.location));\r\n   if (document.referrer) document.write (\"&referer=\" + escape(document.referrer));\r\n   if (document.context) document.write (\"&context=\" + escape(document.context));\r\n   if ((typeof(document.MAX_ct0) != 'undefined') && (document.MAX_ct0.substring(0,4) == 'http')) {\r\n       document.write (\"&ct0=\" + escape(document.MAX_ct0));\r\n   }\r\n   if (document.mmm_fo) document.write (\"&mmm_fo=1\");\r\n   document.write (\"'><\/scr\"+\"ipt>\");\r\n\/\/]]>--><\/script>\r\n<\/center>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Viola Davis has played a number of amazing roles, including the revolutionary character of Annalise Keating in the hit show <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">How to Get Away with Murder<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. The actress is pushing boundaries for how older black women are portrayed on television, and she thinks that producers can do better.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>She noticed discrimination<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Before playing Keating, Davis never had a provoking role in her career. \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">There were lot of things that people did not allow me to be until I got [the role of] Annalise Keating\u201d <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">she said. \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">And here\u2019s the thing that\u2019s even more potent: I\u2019ve never seen anyone who even looks like me be provoking on television or in film. Ever.\u201d <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">There are limited roles available for older black women on television and the characters they get to portray often do not have much range.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9105\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9105\" style=\"width: 700px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-9105\" src=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/09\/white-howtogetaway-violadavis.jpg\" alt=\"source\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/09\/white-howtogetaway-violadavis.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/09\/white-howtogetaway-violadavis-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/09\/white-howtogetaway-violadavis-85x48.jpg 85w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9105\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ak.static.sptidigital.com\/emea\/editorial\/2014-10-16\/white-howtogetaway-violadavis.jpg\">source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">{adinserter CNP5}<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>A new pressure<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Another thing Davis struggled with was the pressure women face to play likable characters on television. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">&#8220;The thing I had to get used to with TV was the likability factor. People have to like you, people have to think you\u2019re pretty. I was going to have to face a fact that people were going to look at me and say: &#8216;I have no idea why they cast her in a role like this. She just doesn\u2019t fit. It should have been someone like Halle Berry. It\u2019s her voice, and she doesn\u2019t walk like a supermodel in those heels.&#8217; And people do say that\u00a0they do.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9106\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9106\" style=\"width: 700px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-9106\" src=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/09\/21d2a290d02ef2ed9fee55453abe10d9.jpg\" alt=\"source\" width=\"700\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/09\/21d2a290d02ef2ed9fee55453abe10d9.jpg 480w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/09\/21d2a290d02ef2ed9fee55453abe10d9-410x600.jpg 410w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/09\/21d2a290d02ef2ed9fee55453abe10d9-85x124.jpg 85w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9106\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/pin\/101401429086500147\/\">source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><strong>Davis was initially terrified to play the role<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cFear would be an understatement,\u201d <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">she said about playing the character.<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> \u201cWhen I saw myself for the first time in the pilot episode, I was mortified. I saw the fake eyelashes and, &#8220;Are you kidding me? Who is going to believe this?&#8221; And then my big &#8220;aha&#8221; moment was: &#8220;This is your moment to not typecast yourself, to actually play a woman who is provoking and do your investigative work as an actor to find out who this woman is, and woman up and put a real woman on TV who&#8217;s smack-dab in the midst of this pop fiction.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9107\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9107\" style=\"width: 700px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-9107\" src=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/09\/49184c6444b07da21e4b286dadfe9433.jpg\" alt=\"source\" width=\"700\" height=\"969\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/09\/49184c6444b07da21e4b286dadfe9433.jpg 560w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/09\/49184c6444b07da21e4b286dadfe9433-434x600.jpg 434w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/09\/49184c6444b07da21e4b286dadfe9433-85x118.jpg 85w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9107\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/pin\/145944844150323258\/\">source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><strong>Pushing boundaries<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But now, she has gotten over her fear. She no longer cares about what people think. \u00a0Davis will continue to push the boundaries of what older black women can play on television. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">When people say they\u2019re tired of hearing that, I always say, \u2018Okay, well, you give me an example and then I\u2019ll stop talking about it. But I\u2019m gonna talk about it until you hear it&#8230;I don\u2019t want anyone putting any limits on me. \u00a0I am tired of it. Because as a human being, there are times when I don\u2019t know who the hell I am until the situation presents itself<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9108\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9108\" style=\"width: 700px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-9108\" src=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/09\/a36e2b14d2bed4153740f847362daa51.jpg\" alt=\"source\" width=\"700\" height=\"1051\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/09\/a36e2b14d2bed4153740f847362daa51.jpg 682w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/09\/a36e2b14d2bed4153740f847362daa51-400x600.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/09\/a36e2b14d2bed4153740f847362daa51-600x901.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/09\/a36e2b14d2bed4153740f847362daa51-85x128.jpg 85w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9108\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/pin\/250372060508225138\/\">source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><strong>Powerful moments<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Over the course of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">How to get Away With Murder<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, the actress challenged stereotypes about black women while remaining strong, yet vulnerable. There was a particularly powerful moment in the series last year when the character slowly removed her makeup and wig. This impacted not only the character\u00a0but was also a powerful moment for black women on television. <\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_9109\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-9109\" style=\"width: 700px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-9109\" src=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/09\/6bc20303252e4fd6cc6f93b28862615e.jpg\" alt=\"source\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/09\/6bc20303252e4fd6cc6f93b28862615e.jpg 650w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/09\/6bc20303252e4fd6cc6f93b28862615e-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/09\/6bc20303252e4fd6cc6f93b28862615e-85x48.jpg 85w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-9109\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/pin\/529032287451896089\/\">source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.afrizap.com\/en\/violence-drc\">SEE ALSO:\u00a0She Is Fighting Violence Against Women In The Democratic Republic Of The Congo.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<!--CusAds0-->\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Viola Davis has played a number of amazing roles, including the revolutionary character of Annalise<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":9109,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[45],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Viola Davis Calls Out Hollywood For Its Portrayal Of Dark-Skinned Women<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" 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