Black Looks Upset By Jolie's Portrayal of Mariene Pearl?

The SF Gate has written a short piece explaining that the blog Black Looks is upset that the role of Mariene Pearl is not being played by a mixed-race woman or by a fully black woman. Here’s the article (via):

The casting of Angelina Jolie as the mixed-race wife of late journalist Daniel Pearl in the new movie “A Mighty Heart” has been heavily criticized by black rights groups.

Make-up artists are believed to have used special cosmetics to darken the star’s skin to match that of Mariane Pearl — but campaigners believe a real-life mixed-race actress should have been given the part.

Blogs on BlackLooks.org read, “I had assumed that the days when white actors took on the roles of black people had long passed away …

“There are mixed-race or black actresses who could have done a damn good job in this role.

“You can’t tell me that Halle Berry or other women of African descent wouldn’t have been a better choice — what is taking place here is an act of arrogance and whitewashing by people who think that because they are super-rich they can be anything they want.”

They chose not to link to the article on Black Looks (um, does anyone there know blogosphere etiquette?), and after 20 minutes of scrolling through the site (back to mid Sept), I couldn’t find it so I am just linking to the homepage. If you find it let me know so I can update this post.

As far as the merits of arguing over whether or not she should have been played by someone that was the same race as her (ie not black, by the way), I won’t go there. However, I’ll point out that Mrs. Pearl specifically looked for someone who could bring that movie to life and she chose Brad Pitt as the producer. He chose the beautiful and talented Angelina Jolie to play the roll. Detractors can argue til’ they are blue in the face, but that’s how it is. Mariane Pearl is said to be thrilled that Jolie is playing her. Let’s remember that since it’s her story, maybe she knows who is best to play her role.

Also, don’t get offended at her tasteless portrayal. Here are two white women who should be ashamed of themselves.

Also most of the comments were in favor of Angelina as Mariane Pearl.