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Thursday, July 29, 2010

Vanity Fair's "New Hollywood" issue completely lacks diversity

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Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair

One thing magazines love to do is call dibs on who will be the new "It" celebrities in the year to come. Sometimes they pick stars whose careers are destined to take off, occasionally they make incredible calls with near-nobodies who later become A-listers, and usually the majority of their picks fade into oblivion. While we'd like to think celeb bible Vanity Fair puts a great deal of thought and planning into its annual "New Hollywood" issue, this year the editors really limited their scope when it came to choosing the next big stars. (Or perhaps they overemphasized the "Fair"? ) Every woman on its new cover is extremely thin and very, very white. Unless Vanity Fair considers one redhead to be diversity, we feel the need to cry foul.

Vanity Fair, August 2008

Vanity Fair, August 2008

The cover of the March issue features Abbie Cornish, Kristen Stewart, Carey Mulligan, Amanda Seyfried, Rebecca Hall, Mia Wasikowska, Emma Stone, Evan Rachel Wood, and Anna Kendrick. Many, if not all of these women have good reason to grace the Vanity Fair cover, and to be a part of what they have dubbed "the fresh faces of 2010." Evan Rachel Wood has garnered critical acclaim since her Golden Globe-nominated performance in 2003's "Thirteen" as well as loads of media attention from her highly publicized romance with rocker Marilyn Manson. Kristen Stewart was catapulted to fame by the mega-successful "Twilight" franchise and will star as Joan Jett in the upcoming film, "The Runaways,"  while Amanda Seyfried's career was put in motion after her role in 2008's "Mamma Mia!" But WAIT: Vanity Fair already had both Stewart and Seyfried on an August 2008 cover touting "Hollywood's New Wave." And this was also a white-girl-only cover. Were there no promising young actors of color who could have been featured in either issue?





Vanity Fair

Vanity Fair

We can think of a slew of non-white, non-rail thin actors who made a splash this year (Gabourey Sidibe from "Precious" anyone?). In the accompanying article, Vanity Fair writer Evgenia Peretz calls out the young cover stars by their best attributes: "downy-soft cheeks," "button nose," "patrician looks and celebrated pedigree," "dewy, wide-eyed loveliness," "Ivory-soap-girl features." Roles for black, Asian, and Latin actors are scarce in Hollywood, but surely Sidibe,  Zoe Saldana of "Avatar" and "Star Trek," and Freida Pinto of "Slumdog Millionaire" are having their moment. Vanity Fair may have been looking for the most promising batch of talent for their issue, but they should have been looking for a diverse group of women as well.

We reached out to Vanity Fair for comment, but as of publishing time they did not respond. [Vanity Fair][Huff Post][Jezebel]

Related: vanity fair, vanity fair, magazines, magazines, hollywood, hollywood, diversity, diversity, actors, actors

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Comments 1-10 of 18,551
  • Melissa B's Avatar
    Posted by Melissa B Tue Feb 2, 2010 1:31pm PST

    I completely disagree with this article. All of these women ARE the next up and coming actresses in Hollywood! There is no reason Vanity Fair should have to make exceptions to make a more diverse cover spread. There are many amazing diverse actresses in Hollywood, but they are not the next up and coming actresses in Hollywood. Precious has won countless awards, but has Gabourey Sidibe been cast in any other new movies? Has Frieda Pinto starred in another huge blockbuster or even a main starring role? Avatar may have broken tons of records, but has Zoe Saldana really shown that she is up and coming and worth her while? These are the reasons why it happened to be that the women chosen were Caucasian, not because they didn't want to be diverse. Also, based on the weight comments in the article, I think that is completely untrue. These women are all at a HEALTHY weight, they are not stick, sickly skinny. Amanda Seyfried and Evan Rachel Wood, have incredible bodies and curves! Overall, I think it was an absolute coincidence that these actresses were all Caucasian, they are the TRUE young Hollywood. They are the true up and coming actresses. They are all gorgeous, talented, inspirational women.

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  • Dana's Avatar
    Posted by Dana Tue Feb 2, 2010 1:35pm PST

    Annie Leibovitz is a wonderful photographer :) I love the color palette of the third photo! Try to look at these photos more objectively then maybe you can see past the what the article is about.

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  • itslilolme's Avatar
    Posted by itslilolme Tue Feb 2, 2010 1:51pm PST

    So would someone cry foul if everyone in the photo shoot were black? Not likely. How about if everyone were Asian? Nope. We can never live in a color blind society until we stop seeing everything through the prisim of race. ALL of us. So it's a bunch of young starlets. They happen to be white. Big deal. Until I actually see discrimination being demonstrated, I'm giving the benefit of a doubt. That's the healthiest thing. When I'm sure of discrimimination, THEN I'll cry foul. Loudly.

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  • Rosie's Avatar
    Posted by Rosie Tue Feb 2, 2010 1:55pm PST

    I don't know, I can see Joanna's point. And what really upsets me is that I remember buying their first young Hollywood issue back in 2003 (I think). While I agree that these are really good actresses, I do think there could be some room for diversity, just like in the 2003 issue, when they had everyone from Raven-Symone to Evan Rachel Wood. I also know that this is usually a multipage spread, and even the 2008 issue had lots of diversity (just not on the cover), and I hope they've continued that . I do wish they would broaden their choices for the cover, but I would have a bigger problem if all of the young actors/actresses featured where white. Just my two cents.

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  • Rosie's Avatar
    Posted by Rosie Tue Feb 2, 2010 1:57pm PST

    I don't know, I can see Joanna's point. And what really upsets me is that I remember buying their first young Hollywood issue back in 2003 (I think). While I agree that these are really good actresses, I do think there could be some room for diversity, just like in the 2003 issue, when they had everyone from Raven-Symone to Evan Rachel Wood. I also know that this is usually a multipage spread, and even the 2008 issue had lots of diversity (just not on the cover), and I hope they've continued that . I do wish they would broaden their choices for the cover, but I would have a bigger problem if all of the young actors/actresses featured where white. Just my two cents.

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  • Lilith's Avatar
    Posted by Lilith Tue Feb 2, 2010 2:31pm PST

    Who cares?

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  • ChaunceyB's Avatar
    Posted by ChaunceyB Tue Feb 2, 2010 2:33pm PST

    So what? Why does everything have to be about race? I thought that it wasn't supposed to matter anymore.

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  • crystal's Avatar
    Posted by crystal Tue Feb 2, 2010 2:35pm PST

    Seriously this diversity crap is getting really annoying!!! Does BET have diversity I think not.

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  • JOHNNY's Avatar
    Posted by JOHNNY Tue Feb 2, 2010 2:35pm PST

    Would anyone call Ebony magazine "Very very Black"?

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  • J's Avatar
    Posted by J Tue Feb 2, 2010 2:35pm PST

    Mandatory race in EVERYTHING... is just retarded

    people need to get over themselves.

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