Many rallied to her defense, noting that she had little autonomy at the time.
Social media swirled on Thursday after a viral tweet referred to the legendary actress Judy Garland’s on-screen history with blackface. The tweet, attributed to @browardbully, read: “two movies. one year apart. even b—-. kudos to Gen Z for teaching me that,” showing the late actress in 1938’s “Everybody Sing” alongside her appearing in the 1939 feature film, “The Wizard of Oz.”
The tweet has attracted over 50 million views. Many have argued that at the time, the actress was under the oppressive control of a studio and at the start of a lifelong battle with drug addiction. Others have tried to contextualize his use of blackface, which many old Hollywood stars participated in at the time. Be Kind Rewind, Twitter user and YouTube creator, tried to break down the complicated feelings viewers may have about Hollywood’s history with blackface.
Judy was asked to do it because white people found it an acceptable form of entertainment in the 1930s. It is rooted in the foundations of American pop culture. It’s deeply disturbing, especially when a familiar face makes this fact obvious, real and recent.
– bkr (@bkrewind) August 18, 2023
Representatives for the Garland Estate and Garland’s family did not respond to comments by press time.
This recent social media snafu has many people wondering if it’s appropriate to criticize old Hollywood stars, many of whom are no longer living, for the dated movie roles they performed at the time.
Many other studio-era celebrities engaged in blackface content, including Fred Astaire and Joan Crawford. It remains a complicated subject, with Turner Classic Movies regularly airing a mini-documentary on the history of the act, narrated by the Academy’s museum director, Jacqueline Stewart. Under the studio system, Garland’s roles were most often assigned to her. If she refused to participate, she could be suspended by the studio.
Others on social media have cited Garland’s own work during the civil rights movement as a way to balance the scales of her past work. Garland supported the March on Washington, remembered for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, and she regularly held fundraisers against black stars of her day.
The actress has faced many personal and professional problems. Garland died in 1969 at the age of 47 from a drug overdose.
2023-08-18 18:48:51
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