Viola Davis’ Legacy Being Erased

Oh! So, they’re inviting us to a ‘Viola Davis is Over party’? They want to convince us that all of a sudden Viola Davis is a bad actress? They want us to think that Viola Davis has questionable acting abilities? 

Oops! Sorry, I’m not coming to that party. Viola Davis did a good job portraying my favourite lawyer, the Honourable Michelle Obama. The internet is up in arms right at this moment, complaining about Viola Davis’ performance in the the HULU series, The First Lady.

Pfff! At this point, I am not surprised that she is getting so much ‘hate’ from “the critics”. This is not a new story. It’s a story we have seen several times before. 

We have seen it with Beyoncé. We’ve seen it with Serena Williams. We’ve seen it with Nicki Minaj. We’ve seen it with Naomi Campbell. We’ve seen it with Meghan Markle. We’ve seen it with Michelle Obama herself.

Basically, every black woman who is at the peak of her career gets slapped with 1 million times negative criticism …more than anyone in the history of her chosen field. They will nitpick her. Criticise every move that she does. Set unreachable expectations for her. Expect her to be not human. And once she shows an itsy-bitsy part of human nature, then she immediately gets cancelled. 

Today they’re telling us that Viola’s mistake was mimicking the facial expressions of the Honourable Michelle Obama. Which, apparently, erased all of Viola’s glory as one of the best actresses in the world. 

Apparently, highlighting subtle expressions that people do is now one of the worst things that an actress can do. 

But, let’s be real for a second… if this was done by someone else, I bet that it would have been titled ‘cute’.

It’s a shame that the world is yet choosing to ignore the actual message here.

The highlight of the series came from the words that Michelle Obama said regarding racism and injustice …even towards the Obama family during the time of their running for presidency. 

Michelle Obama, as we see through this series, has always been aware of social injustices, and was not afraid to raise her voice about such. This is something that she continues to do beyond her First Lady duties.

But no…. the world chooses to not focus on those important parts. They choose to focus on criticising and diminishing one of the best icons in the acting industry. The black woman, Viola Davis.

Published by Mitta Xinindlu

Mitta Xinindlu is an author of books in fiction and nonfiction genres. She is a versatile writer and researcher. Her qualifications in academics include a Master of Science in Project Management and a Six Sigma Green Belt. A multilingual writer with a knowledge of ten languages. Her language skills range from elementary to native. She also knows Tech languages such as R programming and Python. Her work in writing has been featured in digital and print media. Media platforms include Parade Magazine, Thought Catalog, Psychology Today, and Your Tango Magazine, In 2019 PoemHunter selected one of her poems as a Poem of the Day.

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