Viewers Weigh In on “Lackluster” #LightGirls Documentary
Bill Duke’s documentary Light Girls - a follow-up to his acclaimed film, Dark Girls - aired last night on OWN. Leading up to the premiere, women of all walks and shades side-eyed the trailer and teasers, skeptical that the doc would capture the nuances of colorism — you know, white supremacy, privilege, systemic racism and oppression. Others wondered if Light Girls would be a “woe is me” cry from fair-skinned sisters. Last week, out actress and child star Raven-Symoné caught some criticism for her comments about tanning.
“It’s funny, one of the lighting guys came up — I love him to death; I love him, oh my goodness — he goes, ‘Raven, I need you to stop tanning. You’re getting too dark, and we have to re-light the whole entire show,’” Raven recalled. “I was like, ‘Sorry. I was just trying to be pretty.’”
Critics dismissed her story (along with the stories of many featured in the film) as superficial, simply scratching the surface of deeper issues, and far from a “struggle.” Last night was no exception when viewers took to social media to weigh in further. Black queer women writers and activists were among those that sounded off.
Check out what two of our favorite social commentators, Politini’s Danielle Moodie-Mills (@DeeTwoCents) and editor/filmmaker Blue Telusma (@bluecentric), had to say:
What did you think of the documentary?
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