The Screening Room
The Curious Career Choices of Taraji P. Henson
By Jimi Izrael
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Taraji Henson is up for a Oscar for her turn as Queenie in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (based on the Fitzgerald joint), an over-rated adaptation movie bereft of all drama and surprise but chocked full of good story-telling. The script was a beast, but this sci-fi turn on Forest Gump left me limp, and wishing better things for Henson. Not for nothing, because I like the roles she’s chosen thus far. They are roles she’s had to choose to stay employed: she’s been the sassy  sista, played the hoe, the dyke, and now the Mammy.
 Sad for me, whenever a black actor plays into a stereotype or colonial narrative especially well, it is worthy of an award. Henson is an actress with broad range. I hate to be that uppity nigga, but can we get some Desdemona or Cleopatra jumping off in this bitch? We done seen ‘em skin and grin-Ayo, Hollywood, can we get some roles for black actors and actresses that take chances and test their classical range? I can live the rest of my life and never see black actors playing servants, side-kicks or quasi-paternal mystics and all-knowing hoodoo artists steering whitey through the world by way of wit and wisdom. Good luck for Henson— if she does win, I hope her Oscar does better for her than it did for Hometown.
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jimi,
reading your thoughts left me limp. her performance was phenomenal in benjamins buttons. her range is no joke and every character she plays, she owns. queenie, shug in hustle and flow, yvette in baby boy.
she tore common’s video, testify, out the frame w/out speaking a word!
“they are roles she had to choose…”? who are you, her agent?
i agree that i’d like to see hollywood stretch the range, but don’t take the shine off of what this precious lil’ flower did in that film.
and until we can get some cleopatra and desdemona jumpin’ off, fall back and let someone else give some folks respect where it’s properly due.
“sexual chocolate!”
> bookman
She played a loving and supportive wife in Tyler Perry’s The Family That Preys. While Sanaa Lathan on the other hand played the disrespectful sister-b!tch. So all of her roles haven’t been stereo-typical.
> Ms. T
Mark my word & remember that I said it. 20 years from now, people will be speaking about Taraji Henson as one of the greatest actresses of our time (as long as she doesn’t f–ck it up for herself). I’ve seen he rplay a diffedernt character in each role i’ve seen her in. She even makes the right facial expressions for whatever role she plays 7 to me, that’s big. I hope she wins the Oscar and I’m looking forward to seeing her in more different roles.
> Carl Elliott
Mark my word & remember that I said it. 20 years from now, people will be speaking about Taraji Henson as one of the greatest actresses of our time (as long as she doesn’t f–ck it up for herself). I’ve seen her play a different character in each role I’ve seen her in. She even makes the right facial expressions for whatever role she plays & to me, that’s big. I hope she wins the Oscar and I’m looking forward to seeing her in more different roles.
> Carl Elliott
i doubt it….
> dewfish
KEEP doing your thing Taraji !! Look forward to seeing more of you.( Mainly playing the bad girl)
> nae
KEEP doing your thing Taraji !!
> nae
You have to plod and ply through the industry .. filling the holes left out by the writing which is usually devoid of Black to get to that place to do what you want or love .. i’m glad she chose that role over one with lex steel for westcoast productions. Big-up’s to Taraji ..
> Lucien
Taraji has definately at this point deserves respect and an Oscar.
> Nayla
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