Emma Hanson explores how the black celebrity's fall from fame is problematic and symptomatic of larger racist issues.
Scandal is often an intrinsic part of a celebrity’s career, but it seems even more prevalent in the black celebrity’s career. In 1995 Hugh Grant was arrested for public sexual activity with a prostitute, but his career was not hindered at all by his sexual scandal – he went on to film About A Boy and Love Actually, among other successful films. The public has completely moved on from Grant’s actions in 1995. I mention Grant because, as a white man, he serves as the racial opposite to the black male celebrity. In the case of the racialized male body, the narrative shifts after a scandal - sexual or otherwise. This shifting narrative is particularly interesting in two very different examples: Shakespeare’s Othello and the world-famous golfer Tiger Woods.
Fame is fickle, as the famous saying goes, and easy to lose your reputation once you have it. But why is this so much more the case with black celebrities?
Shakespeare’s famous General Othello was a Moor, which in other words means he had darker skin than the rest of the cast members. In the context of the play, ‘Moor’ is a descriptive term, but in modern society this word is often used in a derogatory sense to refer to Muslims. Whilst this play is fictional, it is still significant as popular culture and society at the time will have informed the events of the play to some degree.
Othello is the sole black character in a white play. Despite being racially other, however, the descriptions of Othello’s character demonstrate a favourable reputation in the eyes of the Venetian state. The Duke of Venice refers to him as ‘Valiant Othello’, implying how he is invaluable in his military prowess to protect their empire. Othello himself uses language which reflects his self-confidence at his status and acceptance in society: ‘my parts, my title, and my perfect soul shall manifest me rightly’. He is presented, and evidently considers himself, equal to the white men surrounding him.
The turning point of the play, and Othello’s reputation, is when he believes his wife has been unfaithful to him, and his sanity begins to dislocate. As he descends into madness, the language used towards - or against - him becomes more racialized. He is referred to simply as ‘Moor’ by Emilia in the final scene; his name is revoked and the characters reduce him to his ethnicity as his once great reputation shifts. The modern use of the term ‘Moor’ as a derogatory word surfaces here. Othello becomes an empty shell, with a clearly ‘other’ exterior. This becomes an increasingly significant moment in the play due to Emilia’s presentation as a morally sound and balanced character. When she resorts to racialized language, therefore, Shakespeare is making it clear that Othello’s reputation has completely broken down. The shift in language – from ‘not seeing colour’, to being defined by it - suggests a correlation between racial language and his fall from fame.
Shakespeare’s Othello is an uncomfortable watch, but what is even more disturbing is how real-life events mirror the events in this Renaissance play.
Tiger Woods’s great golfing career and subsequent sexual scandal is an example of a real-life racialized fall from fame. Before the knowledge of Woods’s multiple affairs surfaced in the press, he was a poster child for cultural assimilation in America, described as a ‘colour-free emblem of a new America in which racism is dead’. Tiger Woods, just like Othello, had been accepted into white society. The public viewed them as an equal, and did not see the colour of their skin as any different from their own. This ‘colour-blindness’ is problematic and racist in its own way; it turns a blind eye to systemic racial oppression, ignoring the hardships and obstacles which these people have faced due to the colour of their skin. Thus, even when black celebrities are considered equal, there is a problematic ignorance of racial issues. As soon as Woods became involved with scandal, he ‘became the poster child for self-destruction’. Unlike Hugh Grant’s ability to resume his acting career after formal arrest for his public sexual act with a prostitute, Woods’s reputation never quite recovered. He has always been viewed in the light of these scandals since. How significant, therefore, is it that Tiger Woods is a black male celebrity?
The racist views of the black body can be seen in the way we view a celebrity’s contribution to society. Chris Rojek, a cultural theorist, writes about celebrities that they ‘fulfill a craving, or set of demands in society that, so to speak, anticipated or craved them’. We can see that once scandal has dented a black celebrity’s reputation, society seems to divorce itself from associating with these figures. When they are performing well, they fulfill these cravings, as Woods did with his golfing career and as a symbol of racial assimilation. Othello’s breakdown in sanity means he was no longer the respected leader they once looked to. Woods’s subsequent break from professional golf meant that he was not contributing to the sporting world for some time. The implicitly racist opinions that permeate society criminalize these bodies once they are no longer serving society.
It is human to make mistakes, and it is normal for a celebrity career to undulate as the demands and desires of people in society change. But using these two examples as case studies, it can be said that society holds black celebrities to a higher standard than that of white celebrities (in both fiction and real-life), marginalizing them when they no longer adhere to society’s standards. Black celebrities must be seen as contributing to society in order to be valued. Once black celebrities are exposed as human, their career cannot seem to recover the way a white celebrity’s, such as Hugh Grant, can.
The interaction of race and celebrity interacts with the attitudes of society, and the discriminatory attitudes that still permeate white thought.
As long as implicit, often explicit, racism exists, the black celebrity career will ultimately be affected by this. How can we consciously work to change this? Well, I think the answer is in the word ‘conscious’. If we become more aware of how systemic racism contributes to our own subconscious biases, and be brave enough to admit this, then we can deconstruct our immediate reactions and work towards equality within the celebrity world.