Reflecting on the legacy of Hattie McDaniel, first Black actor to win an Oscar

In its 94-year history, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has awarded one of the industry’s most coveted acting awards, the Oscar, to just 10 black women. This year, actor Angela Bassett could become her 11th name on that shortlist, continuing her legacy that began with pioneering performer and Hollywood legend Hattie McDaniel in 1940. I have.

Bassett was nominated for Best Supporting Actress, the same category that McDaniel won for the 1939 film adaptation. Gone with the wind. McDaniel’s story has become synonymous with the long and complicated battle in Hollywood to give black performers’ careers their fair consideration and proper respect. It’s a pursuit that represents an unseen reality often overlooked in moments of triumph and hope, like McDaniel’s Oscar win.

But McDaniel’s Legacy Is Making a Show Other Than the Academy Awards, 2015 #OscarsSoWhite(opens in new tab) Social media campaigns and calls for recognition of ensemble casts and diverse human stories in the arts. In fact, the one-sided portrayal of McDaniel as little more than a historic Oscar winner is a symptom of the problem itself, says Kevin Jon Goff, McDaniel’s great-grandfather and keeper of her estate. explained.

“The gift Hattie gave me by studying her and talking to people about her is that she was more than an Oscar,” he said.

Recording this history has been a goal of the McDaniel family for generations, and the baton was passed to Goff by his father. Beyond the awards, McDaniel, 59, said she put a permanent fingerprint on every part of Hollywood she touched.

Less preserved than her Academy rating is the importance of the McDaniel family as a whole. If you look at McDaniel’s story more broadly, it would be a Hollywood name emanating from the same breath as Barrymore, Goff says.

McDaniel was born with a wealth of creativity. She began as a childhood vaudeville performer who took the stage with some of her thirteen older siblings, including Goff’s great-grandmother Etta. Her family wasn’t just about acting, McDaniel was also writing and performing music, appearing on radio shows and, to Goff’s surprise, also playing drums. In her own words, she “played everything but the harp.”

In many ways, the family legacy began with McDaniel’s father, who was born into slavery, participating in the Union’s Civil War effort, followed by her and her brother’s rebellious early performances in the unspoken It is also one of activism.At the turn of the century, McDaniel was equal Appearing in “Whiteface”(opens in new tab) A radical choice to subvert the popularity of white-led minstrel shows. McDaniel’s presence as a Hollywood mentor, charitable donor, and community builder continued long after she won the historic Academy Award.

Even after winning the Academy Award, McDaniel struggled with injustice at the hands of industry and historians. 47 years old gone with the winddomestic servant(opens in new tab)) was criticized by organizations such as the NAACP for promoting black stereotypes.Many members nationwide The black community resented her acting choices(opens in new tab) In a discussion of the definition of “racial progress.”

According to Gough, at the time, it was a limited creative reality that most black actors had to face, but training in domestic service with her mother made her personally It was also a role he was attached to. A nod to the likes of Sojourner Truth(opens in new tab).

“Most black performers were playing the submissive type of character. But Hattie wasn’t from that space. Watching her perform, she was confrontational. “Let me put my personality in there,” Goff said. It was not.

In common parlance with contemporary performers and activists, the award did nothing to change the reality of McDaniel’s life as a black woman in America.After she bought her own house, she was retaliated against by her white neighbors and later refused her request to be buried in the famous Hollywood Cemetery(opens in new tab)Her Oscar plaque was posthumously donated to Howard University as she requested, but now reportedly missing(opens in new tab)According to Goff, the academy said they would replace it just a few years ago, but that hasn’t happened yet.

Despite living in a country that, as Goff previously wrote, “has always seen us as subhuman,” San Diego Tribune(opens in new tab)it’s McDaniel’s tenacity to be foretold, he told Mashable.

“What impressed me about Hattie wasn’t the Oscars. It wasn’t the fact that she succeeded in Hollywood despite her disability. What impressed me about Hattie was that this was all going on.” While she is caring, imagine all these doors being slammed in your face.And yet you have this humanity.It’s courage.

That’s not to say we shouldn’t talk about McDaniel’s victory at a time when the black community still has to fight for representation, visibility and basic rights.This history is still in the Academy Awards mostly whites and men(opens in new tab), despite some improvements. “She made a subtle impact step by step, so when the next generation comes up with the next one, it might be even easier for them,” Goff said.

Barred from attending the world premiere of his own film, McDaniel broke the barrier simply by attending the 12th Annual Academy Awards held at the Ambassador Hotel’s secluded Coconut Grove nightclub.(opens in new tab)She attended the ceremony to the applause of reformers and activists who went against the industry elite, but shattered the precedent by accepting the first Oscar awarded to a black actor.

In his acceptance speech, McDaniel said, “I sincerely hope that I will always be a credit to my race and the film industry. My heart is full to tell you how I feel.”

But it would take 50 years for another black woman to win an Academy Award. This time, Whoopi Goldberg won Best Supporting Actress for her role in her 1990 film. GhostAt the 2002 Oscars ceremony, Halle Berry made history for herself by becoming the first black woman to win the coveted Best Actress award for her role in 2001. monster ball.

In total, only 10 black women have won Oscars, a list so short it’s easy to recite: Jennifer Hudson (Best Supporting Actress, dream girl), Monique (Best Supporting Actress, valuable), Octavia Spencer (Best Supporting Actress, help)Lupita Nyong’o (Best Supporting Actress, 12 years of slavery), Viola Davis (Best Supporting Actress, fence), Regina King (Best Supporting Actress, If Beale Street could talk), Ariana DeBose (Best Supporting Actress, west side story), in addition to McDaniel, Goldberg and Berry. Berry is the only winner in the Best Actress category.

“[Hattie] It makes me think of all women,” Goff said. You’re squashing it all the time and don’t get the recognition it deserves. That’s what Hattie went through. That’s what my mom went through. ”

The fact that seven of the 10 Oscars awarded to black women have been won within the last 20 years may give grounds for optimism, but there’s more to the picture than McDaniels faced decades ago. There are contemporary examples of the ongoing burden placed on Black performers to make difficult creative decisions. In 2011, Spencer spoke about her fear of being typecast.(opens in new tab) As a maid for the award-winning role of Minnie helpBassett was nominated for her role as Queen Ramonda Black Panther: Wakanda Foreverpreviously revealed that Halle Berry turned down the Oscar-winning role for Best Actress, reportedly calling the role “a stereotype about black women and sexuality.”(opens in new tab)

As the first Oscar-nominated performer whose role within the massive Marvel Cinematic Universe was seen by many as a film that epitomizes black pride and excellence.(opens in new tab)Bassett’s nod may represent a hope for a shift to overdue recognition. With only two nominations in his 2018 career, Bassett could well remain on the long list of underrated.

“It’s like a big machine with all this power,” Goff said. “You’re trying to jump in a vehicle and hitchhike, but at the same time you’re trying to change gears and change direction. It’s really hard.” No, he said they wouldn’t want to be kicked out if the same people were running the machines.

But in the end, the machine has as much to lose by withholding praise as the artist himself. “I think you reap what you sow,” Goff said. “If a segment of the population feels unappreciated and is going through what the industry is going through right now, can it put itself back together?

“What you don’t want is a collective of artists who have so much to give that they don’t care anymore because then they lose out on so many great stories.”