Something about Lupita?
Iniko Ujaama:
I find Lupita Nyong'o is attractive on a number of levels. On two levels really which I can perceive; physically and the extent of her personality she could manifest in interviews. The physical aspect is a result of what features I have been conditioned to find attractive. The personality traits, her sensitivity and confidence are attractive as well.
However the kind of hype and attention that she has been getting in all quarters had me wondering. People seem to be beside themselves with her beauty. I know persons who look just like her in many ways and they are easily passed over or even ridiculed. So what is it about Lupita. My personal view is that it has to do with more than all of the desirable characteristics Lupita herself manifests but I would like to hear other perspectives.
Makini:
Iniko Ujaama, I just thought to add this article to this discussion on Lupita Nyong'o.
Lupita Amondi Nyong'o (born 1983) is a Mexican-born Kenyan actress and film director. She made her American film debut in Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave (2013) as Patsey, for which she received critical acclaim. For her role Nyong'o won the Screen Actors Guild and Critics' Choice Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, and was nominated for the Golden Globe, BAFTA and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupita_Nyong%27o
'Vanity Fair' Accused of Lightening Lupita Nyong'o's Skin
by Ericka Sóuter January 17
Vanity Fair is under fire for a photo it took of Oscar nominee Lupita Nyong'o. The problem is not that it's racy, but rather people are calling it racist. The trouble began after the magazine tweeted a shot from a recent shoot the 12 Years a Slave star did for the magazine. In the image, she looks gorgeous but noticeably lighter. It has fans wondering if the magazine made her look a different color on purpose. Take a look for yourself:
Readers took issue with the image immediately.
@GoldieTaylor tweeted, "Dear @VanityFair Why would you do this?"
@deluxvivens wrote, "did vanity fair seriously lighten lupita's picture? really? did this happen?"
@3ristar added, "She's a natural beauty...why did you have to lighten her up?"
Of course we don't know what Vanity Fair's intentions were. They have not released a statement about the issue yet. But there is no denying the actress looks a lot lighter than she actually is.
Source: http://thestir.cafemom.com/beauty_style/167050/vanity_fair_accused_of_lightening
Makini:
Hi Iniko Ujaama,
I also find Lupita is attractive. Her face is so rare in the spheres she is operating in now. She is not Rhianna, Beyoncé, Halle Berry or Queen Latifah. She is a minority within a minority within Hollywood. And yes, she is the beauty we all see in African, African-American and Caribbean faces, but even within our own communities a rarity because as you stated, our societies and media in particular continue to distill what is presented to us and manipulates what should be celebrated and desired.
I don’t know what you mean when you speak about her “sensitivity”, but her confidence while definitely attractive should be considered in context to her background. I don’t know who is the ‘black girl next door’ but she is not it despite the media subtly trying to bring her across as this.
It’s either we have a Precious or a Rachel Jeantel who has been abused or disenfranchised in numerous ways and we should pity her or praise her while simultaneously drowning her in condescension. Or, we have an atypical Lupita who has, at least from what Wikipedia reveals, a father who is a professor at a prominent African University, studied acting at Yale, learnt Spanish as a teen in Mexico and is from a family with a political background. And there, I think, lies her attraction. All these dainty, white-approved characteristics, to remind whites ‘we can like black folks’, when they come in packages they don’t have to feel guilty about or that remind them of the harsh reality of being black/dark skinned in a society driven by white privilege.
The fascination I think extends into the rest of who she is or may be. Her stylist (or she herself) crafts her image very ‘white’ in a white industry, to make her ‘palatable’ to the majority. There are many ways makeup artists apply make-up to make one’s face more angular, or elongated, to modify a flatter nose, to thin out African lips, ‘rouge-up’ darker cheeks and skin that doesn’t naturally ‘rouge’ and of course use lighter make up to supposedly to remove shadows or ‘even’ skin tone or just deliberately lighten skin. But, in each way, effectively modifying ethnic characteristics. This last point is evident in the Vanity Fair picture of her wearing white with the white balloon background.
I think Vanity Fair deliberately lightened her, whether with make-up, set lighting or Photoshop editing. I could imagine some Vanity Fair editing team in a photo selecting meeting, with three identical images of her, but different light exposures and the darker more truer image of her being the first to be rejected. I think that every time such “beauty” magazines modify the complexion of black/dark skinned celebrities they should be reminded that this subtlety adds up. It’s shadism, colorism and therefore tantamount to subliminal (overt if you ask me) racism – let’s just make her a little more visually palatable or acceptable. A little less ‘threatening’… Maybe they are trying in some twisted way to move beyond black stereotypes but in so doing they repackage blacks-minorities as white. As for how much she herself is a part of crafting this part of her persona, or wishes to reject this, will reveal itself in time.
Kurious Rose:
The last (Vanity Fair) image is definitely a product of Photoshop editing. The disparity in coloration in the first split image could be the result of different lighting at different locations as well as how the images were captured, for example, on or off camera flash versus no flash/ ambient lighting.
A symmetrical face, tall, slim and eloquent . . . she’s just the kind of black who would be granted token status in some white circles. She’s also the kind of black person that other blacks may “admire” because of that very fact. Until I observe her articulate her views on serious issues, the potential dangers of her acceptance by whites (and some blacks) far outweigh her physical attractiveness.
Nakandi:
In the images below is Lupita on a "red carpet" (L) and her in the role of Patsy from 12 Years A Slave (R). These images illustrate what Makini talked about in terms of what make-up can do. They also illustrate what bothers me about Lupita's natural hair. In no pictures or interviews do we see her with hair like in the image to the right. This reminds me of the racist Nivea advert some years ago of re-civilizing oneself by getting a fine, clean hair cut like the one on the left.
Lupita, a child of two Kenyans, is a production of whiteness. She has a Westernized interior and a touch of an African exterior. This is a strong reinforcement of the idea of White supremacy.
The reaction to Lupita from many black communities looks a lot like the reaction they showed towards President Obama; some blacks still strive to sit at the table of their previous masters. Once they make it there, they feel accomplishment as it proves they indeed can. So Lupita is another reminder that if we follow the rules we can get there.
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