I have a pet peeve when it comes to accents. A horrendously sounding Jamaican accent (especially when one grew up among West Indians - both here in the U.S. and in the Caribbean) is offensive to my ears and is enough to ruin an entire movie (as Taye Diggs did for me when I watched him get it on with Angela Bassett in How Stella Got Her Groove Back). Last night was no different when I tuned in to HBO's new series, No. 1 Lady Detective, starring a gorgeously plump Jill Scott as Botswanian private detective Precious Romotswe and her comedic sidekick, played by Anika Noni Rose (the overlooked third girl in Dreamgirls).
Sorry if I seem harsh, but the fact that non-African American black actors - the accomplished crew from the U.K., including Chiwetel Ejiofor (Talk to Me, American Gangster), Sophie Okonedo (The Secret Life of Bees), and Thandie Newton (Norbit, Crash) - have all mastered their "African American" accents while hiding either their African or British ones means that U.S.-based black actors need to try harder. Or, at least, their directors need to demand more (or is it that all black people sound alike to them?).
Granted, I realize that this is indicative of U.S. imperialism, in which the dominance of the American film industry has meant that non-American actors need to master their American-sounding accents while American-born ones don't really have a need to sound like anyone else (with the occasional attempts that white American actors might make at sounding "British" for some prime period piece drama). Still, I am nitpicking because, despite the phony accents, which detracted from my overall enjoyment of this new series, there were glimpses of a promising TV show.
Now, far be it from me to get into those ethnic debates in which various marginalized groups quibble about "authenticity," the kind that we've seen when Asians and Asian-Americans get upset because Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi portrays a Japanese geisha in Memoirs of a Geisha, or when Chicanas and Latinas do battle when Jennifer Lopez is pitted against Salma Hayek to portray Mexican painter Frida Kahlo in Frida (Mexican actress Salma Hayek eventually won that battle). Even worse are the problems that arise when white filmmakers go out of their way to hire "authentic" exotic others, as in the case with Kite Runner and Slumdog Millionaire, in which the child actors involved were suddenly placed in precarious situations in their home towns, for no other reason than that said filmmakers were caught up in featuring the "real Subaltern," rather than hire a brown child actor (preferably from the U.S. or the UK) who would not cause the same problems.
All of these scenarios are caught up in the politics of authenticity, which I'm not big on advocating, precisely because we don't encounter the same kind of racial or ethnic drama when a white actor portrays a different ethnicity or nationality. We barely bat an eyelid when white Australian actors like Hugh Jackman, the late Heath Ledger, Nicole Kidman, or Naomi Watts portray regular white Americans. More than that, we reward white actors all the time for crossing these cultural boundaries - think of recent Oscar winner Kate Winslet, who portrayed this year both a German seductress with a Nazi past and a frustrated New England suburban housewife. Granted, when white actresses cross the racial divide - think Angelina Jolie who portrayed a mixed-race woman from the French Caribbean island of Martinique in A Mighty Heart - issues of authenticity are again raised. But, doesn't this have to do with access and privilege? There are so few roles being imagined for people of color within the Western film industry that when they do pop up, they must be defended at all costs and, yes, reserved for the few people of color participating in the industry.
So, with the politics of authenticity in mind, one would think I'd be super excited to see HBO develop a series based in the southern African country of Botswana and starring an attractive, big-boned black actress like Jill Scott no less. Just from the pilot episode, the African jazz and neo-soul music featured in a number of the scenes earned it mega points in my book. Still, there is the question of representation. There are some accomplished African actresses who come to mind who might have filled this role more convincingly. Like the South African actresses Terry Pheto (who was featured in the Oscar-winning Tsotsi) and Leleti Khumalo (star of Yesterday and Sarafina!).
Again, I have issues with saying that Africans should get first dibs at "African" roles (especially when said African American actors can't do a convincing accent), but since it's obvious that white actors can play any role of any character of European descent around the world with no problem, I don't think it's wise for communities of color to make certain arguments for authenticity. For me, the issue isn't authenticity, as it is about being convincing. A phony accent takes me out of the drama in the most jarring manner.
That said, is there a reason why Jill Scott and Anika Noni Rose couldn't have portrayed a ladies' detective agency somewhere in rural or urban Black America, for example? The drama (and the music) would have been just as cool if the action had been somewhere in rural Georgia or Louisiana, or even up north somewhere, like urban Philly or some other equally nifty chocolate city. Unfortunately, that takes us away from the story itself, which is adapted from the popular novel series by British author Alexander McCall Smith. Which might present another set of issues since we essentially have a story imagined by a white male author with a cast of African Americans playing at being Africans. Is this an example of what both Spivak and Gramsci have described as "American expansionism [using] African-Americans to conquer the African market and the extension of American civilization"?
At the end of the day, do we get a glimpse into the livelihoods of Africans, via a funny, light-hearted yet meaningful, "Miss Marple" type detective story in which African women take charge and address a number of mysteries - from philandering husbands to kidnapped children? Or, are we just getting recycled stereotypes?
Just from the first episode, I can see enough subversive elements in the story to keep me interested in checking this series again. But, good grief! Those accents need to go!
Updated: 3/31/09.
Updated: 3/31/09.
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