Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard of the controversy surrounding Nina, the new Nina Simone biopic set to drop April 22nd. Zoe Saldana stars as Nina Simone in the film with the talented David Oyelowo (from Selma) playing the role of Clifton Henderson, Simone’s nurse and manager. Nina has hit several rough patches since its inception. Originally, Mary J. Blige was slated to play Simone but after conflicting issues with scheduling, Saldana was chosen as her replacement. The trailer for Nina dropped yesterday and since then, the film has yet to garner praise or support from…well, anybody.
The trailer itself for the movie actually doesn’t look that bad. Oyelowo will undoubtedly do a wonderful job as Henderson and the cinematography and costume designs for the film are pretty dope. But these positive aspects of Nina are inevitably overshadowed by the elephant in the room- Saldana’s awkward and painful makeup job. If you can make it through the trailer without wincing at Saldana’s dramatically darkened skin, the prosthetic nose on her face and the fake teeth she struggles to mumble around, then you’re probably blind. There’s no getting around the fact that it looks like Saldana is wearing blackface.
The issue here is the disregard for Simone’s legacy, as a musician, an artist and as a dark skinned black woman. From the time she was a child to her blossoming music career, Simone faced criticism for her dark skin, her wide nose and coiled hair. Racism affects all black folks but colorism, the insidious cousin of racism, ensures that darker skinned black folks face more malicious forms of racist injustices and criticisms. Simone struggled with this all of her life and sought to speak out against these injustices through her activism and music. The fact that Cynthia Mort (the director of the film) thought it okay to perpetuate the erasure of dark skinned women in our culture by casting a light skinned woman as Simone is shameful. What’s even more shameful is Saldana’s refusal to acknowledge all the wrongs with Nina. The actress took to her Twitter to show her support for the upcoming film with a quote from Simone but Nina Simone’s estate was not having it.
.@zoesaldana Cool story but please take Nina's name out your mouth. For the rest of your life.
— Nina Simone (@NinaSimoneMusic) March 3, 2016
Even Simone’s daughter, Simone Kelly, had problems with the film since the casting was announced four years ago. In an interview with The Los Angeles Times, Kelly said, “We can go all the way back to when she (Simone) was a child and people told her her nose was too big, her skin was too dark, her lips were too wide” and in an interview with The New York Times, Kelly asserted that the casting was “…not the best choice”. Kelly felt so strongly about the misrepresentation that was bound to happen in Nina that she put her energy into crafting a documentary about her mother’s life entitled “What Happened, Miss Simone?”. The documentary was nominated for an Oscar in 2015.
Take a look at the trailer below to see what all the controversy is about. If it leaves a bad taste in your mouth, which it should, check out the emotionally and historically riveting “What Happened, Miss Simone?” on Netflix.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWVJns4HNlk&w=560&h=315]