my meryl...and other such matters

so this morning i put up the following facebook status:

"my very own Meryl Streep finally wins a long overdue "Best Actress" Oscar! woohoo! but why is it that all the black women who win oscars have to be fat (minus halle berry) and play degrading roles? monique, jennifer hudson and now octavia spencer. the angry black woman syndrome is alive and well, clearly. shame"

as everyone probably knows by now, i would watch a movie with meryl streep in it even if all she does is sleep throughout the movie. i am that addicted to this woman's acting prowess. i feel blessed every single time i realized that i lived to see real acting and not the crap that beyonce everyone does these days by way of 'acting'.


for context, please find below the women i referred to in my status:
 

monique in "precious"

 monique winning oscar

 jennifer hudson in "dream girls"

jennifer hudson winning oscar 

 octavia spencer in "the help"

octavia spencer winning oscar

 

as expected, a very good friend of mine who always calls me out on my crap, made the following comment to this status:

 

"With regard to your comment about slim black female Oscar winners, what does it matter what they weigh? Does one have to be slender to merit an award, regardless of the performance? And as to humiliating roles, I disagree as well. 'The Help...' was based on a book written around the time of segregation and slavery in the Southern states in America; are we supposed to deny this period in history took place because you don't want to see a 'fat' black woman play a 'humiliating' role? As to other black winners of the best supporting actress Oscar, what was so humiliating about Jennifer's Hudson's role? That was also partly based on a true story, ie Diana Ross and the Supremes and that particular singing leaving the group in the way she did. Yes, she died of a drug overdose later but that wasn't part of the movie and it's no more humiliating that she died of an overdose that it was for Elvis presley or Heath Ledger. Monique's role wasn't humiliating and neither was Whoopi Goldberg's. So, perhaps you should take a 2nd look at those movies before branding the roles 'humiliating'."

my response to that was:

"i stand corrected "O". i guess monique's role as the 'constantly smoking, dirty, beating up my kids and allowing my boyfriend to abuse her (and remaining silent about it), lying to authorities black woman in "precious"' was the epitome of... class and glamour. also, halle berry's nude love scenes with a racist character in 'monster's ball' was the model for all young black girls who dream of winning an oscar. jennifer hudson? scorned black woman who was shoved aside and couldn't deal with the anguish of heartbreak clearly depicts the modern black woman, and the attitutde-giving, neck-bending-while-she-talks barely educated maid in "the help" are the ONLY roles worth commending with the highest honour in international acting for women of colour. yes you are right, there is absolutely no stereotyping of the average black woman (as angry unforgiving people full of needless attitutde) in movies or anything degrading about their roles. height of"

i find this exchange interesting because this line of thought is not original to me, and my friend is equally african which means it is not a line of thought commonly shared. so i would like to know which of these views is most accepted by black people (my readers). do you think its okay for black women to keep being rewarded when they act low-life, angry and unforgiving with tons of needless attitude? or is it okay because it depicts the reality of our existence/accuracy of historical events?

lemme know what you think peeps. P.S: i take back my comment about them being "fat"...no offence was intended by that observation.

see y'all around.