Hollywood is not immune to any of the social evils that corrupt the society, be it sexism, nepotism or racism. Even the most successful black people in the entertainment industry are as prone to be discriminated against as any other common black person, or worse, a non-binary person. The white supremacy is too deep-rooted in almost any given culture worldwide for it to be entirely eliminated from Hollywood.
Only a few have been able to address the problem openly as speaking up might cost them their fame or invite backlash. Most recent addition to the list of such courageous celebrities is the ‘The Doctor Who‘ star Ncuti Gatwa. During a recent interview, the star opened up about how a black person has two make twice the efforts to survive in the industry compared to a white person.
“If I’m Not Exceptional, I Won’t Be Loved”: Ncuti Gatwa On His Struggles As A White Person
Ncuti Gatwa is set to take on the lead role in the iconic sci-fi show ‘Doctor Who‘. Ahead of the show’s release, the ‘Sex Education‘ star opened up about the prejudices he endured being a black-skinned person. During an interview with Attitude Magazine, Gatwa expressed his views on how black people are always trained to be exceptional, otherwise they won’t be loved.
He noted that white people are accepted even with the bare minimum they do, but being a black person, he has always had to go overboard and still got little or no recognition for the longest time.
“We’re trained to be like, ‘If I’m not exceptional, I won’t be loved.’ Certainly, I think that was my thing. So, yeah, I think I’m just learning now like, ‘Oh, you are allowed to be loved.’ You don’t have to be excellent or aspire to that term, ‘Black excellence’. What the hell?” he said.
Asserting that a lot of white mediocrity is highly celebrated, the actor claimed that as “black people, we have to be absolutely flawless to get half of [that] anyway.”
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Ncuti Gatwa Noted That There Is A Slight Shift In The Mentality Of People
Ncuti Gatwa has made it big since he gained heavy recognition for his role as a queer high school student in ‘Sex Education‘. He also landed a role in Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster ‘Barbie‘. Being a queer person in real life too in an industry where the stigma about a lot of things still persists, Ncuti is essentially an example of a man who crashed the glass ceiling and rose above the limitations the society imposed on him.
However, it is not as shiny as it looks. The star opened up about the pressure he had to put on himself in order to keep thriving. However, he admitted to have realized the need for cutting himself some slack.
“So, I’m slowly training myself out of that and being like, ‘No shit. You deserve love just for existing.’ And that has taught me to be a lot more loving as well, in a weird way.” he continued.
Gatwa also talked about the current diversification taking place in the industry. “We do see a shift happening in casting, in positions of power and in the status quo,” Gatwa explained. “I mean, not a fast shift, things could tip over the other way a little bit quicker, but you see people kind of malfunctioning because things are changing,” he added while talking about the shift seen in the industry.
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