Cynthia Erivo is not considered worthy to play the role of Harriet in the Biopic about the iconic figure, Harriet Tubman by a lot of African Americans.
Slavery left an indelible mark in African History and it is a very sensitive subject for African Americans. When kanye made a statement about slavery being a choice, there was an uproar of criticisms against him. Several movies and biopics have been about slavery and the African American experience and the biopic about Harriet Tubman is the latest.
Nigerian-British Actress Cynthia Chinasaokwu O. Erivo has been accused of making wrong and disrespectful statements against the African American Community, coupled with supporting her friend who is known for Anti-African American rhetorics.
Born in England, and coupled with her past statements about the Black Community, Cynthia has been criticized for not being a slave descendant and not “in touch” with the African American experience and as such does not deserve the honors of playing Harriet Tubman.
However, this does not exclude Cynthia from the black community as stated by MBBA Global on Instagram as further explained by this Instagram post;
Landing the role of the titular character, Harriet in the powerful Biopic directed by Kasi Lemons which chronicles the life of Harriet Tubman and her escape from slavery in the 1800’s and helping other slaves escape from their masters through Underground Railroad safehouses, is a lifetime opportunity as she is already just one Letter away from the EGOT.
Responding to the Backlash , Cynthia reveals that ; “At first I was hurt because I’m human…but I understand where it’s coming from because I feel like it’s coming from a lack – we don’t get roles like this very often, roles like this don’t come along as often as they should, I’m hoping they’ll start to come along more often now.” She also states that ” I hope that this just means there are more stories about her (Harriet Tubman)that will be told, we have 101 stories about Abraham Lincoln and stories about Margaret Thatcher and all these other stories about people in history,”
She hopes that her performance in the movie which earned positive reviews validated why she was chosen and quells the fears ..”There should be loads of stories told about Harriet. I’m hoping that one, people give it the benefit of the doubt and see the film and trust that I can do the job and do the work I’m supposed to do…because I think that’s the thing that confused me the most. I know my job is to tell the story first and foremost, and not necessarily stories that are specifically about me…my job is to play the character and tell the truth of them”.
There are also other heavy criticisms about the movie from the Black community as a lot of the characters are said to have been made up and paints the black man as a deviant and betrayer as the villain in the story , A black Bounty hunter, never existed and was made up and even Harriet friend in the movie, was also Made up.
Well, MBBA thinks that, the focus of the black community should be on the twisted narrative in the Biopic and not on Cynthia Erivo.
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