Viola Davis, Vanquisher of the Unspeakable
Monday, October 13, 2014 at 10:15AM Manuel here with your daily reminder that this is Viola Davis’s world and we’re just living in it. Remember Jessica Chastain (she, champion extraordinaire of actresses all around) telling us that "Viola Davis is one of the greatest actresses in the world"?
Well, it shouldn't surprise us, but Ms Davis is as graceful a person as she is a performer. She was one of several women celebrated by Variety this past weekend at their “Power of Women” luncheon. The roster alone should get you excited: Davis, Reese (don’t call it a comeback) Witherspoon, Jennifer Lopez, Jane Fonda, and producer Donna Langley. That they all got beautiful covers and editorial photo shoots is just an added bonus for us readers.
But it was Viola, being recognized for her work with the Hunger Is initiative, who once again showed us why she’s so fearless and magnetic on and off camera. Her speech below is a brave and touching call to action, and I won’t shy away from mentioning that it made me shed a tear or two. As she notes, she’s intent on getting rid of the word “unspeakable,” for everything should be spoken about, including one’s shame and one’s maybe-not-so-happy childhood. Watch her follow her own advice:
What can one say after that? Do you also wish we knew what it is that Viola's husband says to her every day? Are you just as happy that Davis is being feted left and right these days?
Reader Comments (15)
I'm an outlier, but there is something about this Viola Davis media frenzy of late that seems to place her beyond criticism or reproach. She's not limitless perfection in actress form, or even (by my estimation) one of the ten or twenty closest specimens we have to it. And for that to sound like a dig reiterates the absurd coronation narrative her press has taken in the last year.
Viola Davis: yeah, she's great! But we're setting her up as we do all "it" actresses (see Melissa McCarthy and Jennifer Lawrence) to fly way too close to the sun. And what better vehicle to show the cracks of an actor's limits and crutches than a Shonda Rimes vehicle, I'm just sayin.
Full disclosure: I'm a fan.
Hayden W: Viola Davis does not believe her own hype. No one needs you to point out the ridiculousness of exaggerated attention. If Davis did not receive this now she might as well accept the fate of a nameless faceless woman of color. Because the media is uninterested in her otherwise. Talent does not bring in the respect alone. Talent does not make them see past the standards of beauty they hold dear. Talent does not change unfair practices in a vapid institution like the movie business. Nice that you are a fan who just wants to keep it real. But in the end you are pissing on her just like those who were happy to see the black bitch slayed at the Academy Awards.
Hayden - i hear what you're saying (though i'd disagree that she's not one of our 10-20 greatest actresses) ... and HTGAWM is dangerous ground for that exact reason. But i do think she needs this kind of media attention to stay in play given that she turns 50 next year. It's just too bad she doesn't have an Oscar worthy role to follow all this up. Because then: BINGO!
We saw with Streep's eventual triumph and Mirren and Portman and so many other Best Actress winners before them that, they almost need the "coronation" effect to win, even if it also puts ridiculous pressure on them to be perfect and results in illl feelings afterwards. Blanchett's Blue Jasmine is the only winner I can think of in recent years who hasn't encountered some kind of "she didn't deserve it" backlash and anger.
3rtful,
Tone down the hate, man! There are few sites that love Viola Davis and preach for more ethnicity and diversity in movies and TV than the Film Experience... So why you need to say stuff like "the black bitch slayed"? You diminish yourself, the value of your opinion and Viola herself with those comments.
That said: Unfortunately, Viola needs to do a lot of wooing in Hollywood for a new lead opportunity to arise for her and that's both ridiculous and embarrasing for everyone in the business. Few actresses of her age have that much talent.
I'm with Chastain on this one. Let's spread the wealth :) everybody gets some!
Not everyone who thought her performance in "The Help" was sappy and undeserving of an Oscar was "happy to see the black bitch slayed at the Academy Awards." That kind of absolutist talk is a bit melodramatic. I certainly agree that women of color have been unjustly denied Oscar victory over and over again: see Hollywood royalty robbery of Dorothy Dandridge in 1954 and BOTH Cicely Tyson and Diana Ross losing to the daughter of Hollywood royalty in 1972. And Gabourey Sidibe losing to Sandra Bullock in the ludicrous white feelgood piece of shit "The Blind Side" was another outrage. There are so many other instances, we all know that.
Many of us adore Viola Davis but loathed her work in "The Help," along with the cartoonish performance given by Jessica Chastain in the same crappy film.
I fully expect to get eaten alive for my comments. I have been before, when defending Dench, Streep or Mirren. Or disagreeing about Kidman, Pfeiffer, Chastain or Davis. Bring it on. Too bad there isn't more outrage of the ageism women of all races face in Hollywood. Or the homophobia (if I read one more time that Neil Patrick Harris was miscast in "Gone Girl," I am going to just give up). I guess its okay for straight to play gay, but not okay for gay to play straight.
My writing suffers when I'm angry Jay. If I could verbalize to another person in the immediate I could handle myself better. But when it is dashing down words over a keyboard I don't want to be polite because I want my feelings to be understood first. Even when the clouds the message.
"... those who were happy to see the black bitch slayed at the Academy Awards."
Jay, I don't believe that final sentence is directed at the Film Experience or anyone in this community, but rather at racists all over the planet and in the industry particularly. In any case, it's the rest of 3rtful's comment that should be read and re-read, because it's on point.
3rtful and Paul,
No worries :) I was merely suggesting you'd calm down because everyone here knows this is a delicate subject for you and your opinion is better stated if the comment doesn't read as abrasive. It's that I've read very valid opinions that you bring to the discussion here but they're always clouded with an angry vibe that leaves me wishing you'd relax a bit.
We're all Viola lovers here at TFE after all ;) And it's possible to love Streep and Viola and Bates and so on. I love all three of them ;)
Spread love, not hate, that's my philosophy :)
"my writing suffers when I'm not angry"
/3rtful -- than try to be less angry? It'd be good for your health. You regularly sound like you're screaming even without ALL CAPS on. This is a positive vibe site and everyone around here loves movies. The discussions in teh comments should follow suit as well. If you wonder whether something is too incendiary, please read it back to yourself before hitting publish.
Jay has a good point about the anger clouding the message. And if your goal is to be understood first, as you state, clouding the message seems a really strange way to go.
Patryk -- i shan't eat you alive but it's cuckoo crazy to suggest that Dorothy Dandridge in Carmen Jones was better than Judy Garland in A Star is Born or that anyone was better than Liza in Cabaret :) Liza may well have won because she was Hollywood Royalty born and bred but it's perfectly fine to win for the wrong reason if you also deserve to win :)
Definitely Garland over Dandridge (and Kelly, of course) in '54, but...since I don't think Liza was the Best of 1972 (nor is it her career best in my opinion) and I like the rare and unpredictable tie, here are my fantasy line-ups for '72 and '77, winners in bold:
1972—Liza Minnelli (Cabaret), Diana Ross (Lady Sings the Blues), Cicely Tyson (Sounder), Liv Ullman (The Emigrants), Susannah York (Images)
1977—Diane Keaton (Looking for Mr. Goodbar), Jane Fonda (Julia), Marsha Mason (The Goodbye Girl), Liza Minnelli (New York, New York), Lily Tomlin (The Late Show)
Blasphemy, I know.
I wish I had something more constructive to add but I really don't like that cover.
And people accuse Streep of over saturation and being all over the place...I am getting a case of Chastain and Davis fatigue :(
I've loved her since her couple minutes stint in Out of Sight some 16 years back. If HTGAWM can help up her profile and bring her much more richer roles on the big screen, then it's all good. Just glad she is being part of the conversation and in people's mind. Seriously though' FENCES and that BARBARA JORDAN biopic needs to happen.
Derreck - I agree. That cover is not as great as it could be and is even maybe strangely awful? Kinda? I can't figure it out. All the elements are there - hair, makeup, lighting, that smile! - but it's still a weird choice. It looks like a messy candid between two expressions.
I think the problem with the cover shot is the pose. It pulls her shoulders in and thrusts her head forward making her look out of proportion. It's a poor photographic choice.