The “Dark Girls” documentary that premiered on OWN over the weekend was quite the loaded conversation. The film looked to explore the biases and attitudes towards darker skinned women, asking people within the Black community and out of it, their feelings on women with a darker skin tone.
As with most live television, I hopped on Twitter to join in the conversation that was bubbling up under the #DarkGirlshashtag. What I found was shocking. Twitter users mostly used the hashtag for good, but there were a few violators who took it upon themselves to open up a personal dialogue that completely muddled the original purpose of “Dark Girls.”
“Dark Girls is a fascinating and controversial documentary film that goes underneath the surface to explore the prejudices that dark-skinned women face throughout the world. It explores the roots of classism, racism and the lack of self-esteem within a segment of cultures that span from America to the most remote corners of the globe. Women share their personal stories, touching on deeply ingrained beliefs and attitudes of society, while allowing generations to heal as they learn to love themselves for who they are.”
While I believe the documentary was a success is perpetuating a heavy conversation, I do believe it missed the mark for many viewers. Here’s how.
1. Rants & Raves
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Unfortunately because Twitter is an open forum, there’s no policing what tweets show up while using particular hashtags and phrases. The abuse of the phrase, “Dark Girls” was almost sickening.
The fact that people are using the Dark Girls hashtag to rant and preach their own sermons instead of commenting on the movie…—
There were a lot of disappointed people on Twitter. I can’t be sure, but I would have to assume that they thought this film was going to be the great big answer to the rhetorical question the documentary asks, “Are dark skinned girls able to love themselves despite the attitudes of society?” This documentary was merely here to start and/or continue the conversation, it was not offering a solution to this ever-growing problem.
I feel like there was no resolution to #DarkGirls, it just relied heavily in individual experiences—
I understand having to “pay the bill,” but the multiple commercial breaks really took me out of the film. You felt like you barely got in a good stride in the documentary before your concentration was cut again with more words from the sponsors. Speaking of–the placement of an ad for skin correcting cream was just…weird.
4. Ignorance Reigns Supreme
From the guy in the documentary who claimed that “Dark skinned girls look funny beside him,” to the two friends in the documentary who made difficult-to-understand jokes about dark skinned girls being mean to most people, I was shocked that these men were chosen to offer their opinions on the topic.
LMFAO RT @PrinceHAK33M: LMAO nigga said he noticed light skin girls first because its dark in the club. I’m out of here—
I do believe the counter argument for light skinned girls would be an interesting topic of conversation to open up alongside the dark skinned girls chat. However, to use this forum as a chance to spark up a battle is ridiculous. This documentary is to continue a taboo conversation, but starting a baseless battle takes the potency level down a few notches.
When light skin girls act crazy it's sexy. When dark skin girls act crazy it's animalistic.—
