Nina Simone Biopic Outrage

"It is rumored that Zoe Saldana will portray Nina Simone in an upcoming biopic" said a story from the Huffington Post.

Judging by the response to this story and my Facebook timeline, the community is quite off put by Saldana's selection.  I will agree that Saldana looks nothing like Simone but, as far as how much actors resemble real life people, sometimes Hollywood gets it right and sometimes they don't. I recall several years ago when the movie "Cadillac Records" was release and Beyoncé portrayed the iconic Etta James. Now as far as every image of Etta I have ever seem goes, she was heavy, little cute round thing. How in the world did Beyoncé's "in the gym every day," "dance through several world tours," body seem to fit the bill? I was so confused. 

This makes me think that this uproar is not about how much Saldana resembles Simone and more about the fact that Saldana is of a lighter hue than Simone. Although Bey and James are not similar looking, they are similar in skin tone. I wonder...

I'm actually not at all surprised by the actions of those in Hollywood. I'm more surprised by the actions of my peers. We already know that Hollywood does not care about how Black women are portrayed in film. The most logical action seems to stop expecting them to do so. I'm actually just kind of glad Nina Simone is even getting a biopic regardless of who is cast, but that's just me.