nursday • August 7, 1997
O The Battalion
PINION
ell out with me, oh yeah ...
\frican-American actresses buy stardom with Dorothy Dandridge biography
I0(B J
lame, immortality and
H money. These three ele
ments pervade the Amer-
iisociety in more ways than
■person can count.
bh] \lthough it is the American
am to live life to the
lest, be successful and en
tire fruits of hard labor,
ioften this sentiment is
gotten; it is turned into a
Nw j re of power, dishonesty
] immoral life choices.
But there is one place on this planet
ere a person’s aspirations can be-
nean elated dream come true
i llywood. It is the place of glamour
Iglitz; it is a region of starry-eyed in-
iduals waiting to make their big
akin show business, whether it be in
ing, directing, singing or any of the
ay other facets to investigate.
™ Hollywood is a society within itself,
hike other materialistic entities,
llywood also has a dark side; a place
(aspiring actors and filmmakers do
like to talk about — The Greed
I.This is the place where people
penjoying the art of making and
rring in films.
nstead, people begin to realize that
yhave become icons of the Ameri-
1 'll society, powerful enough to take
itrol of whatever new and uprising
nt is taking place.
bday, in what Hollywood insiders
calling one of the biggest film fias-
s, four African - American actresses
vying for the title role in the upcom-
film depiction of the life of Dorothy
dridge, the first African-American
man to receive an Oscar nomination.
Most noted for her leading role in
RS, rmen Jones, Dandridge even has a
ton the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
(her life wasn’t always filled with
moments of making movies and
xing with famous crowds. Dandridge
daproblem with alcohol and severe
pression, both which became a seri-
isdetriment to her life as her career
ileganto dwindle. Other tragic occur-
{ aces, such as the collapse of her mar-
only added to the pressure of try-
ifftoremain popular in the public eye.
Like many other film stars of her
ne,Dandridge suffered a career
imp. During this time, she turned to
nking heavily and misusing her pre-
ribed anti-depressant medications,
edropped out of the high-society
Opinion Editor
James Francis
Junior English major
scene and went back to
singing in clubs; she also had
to leave her home and move
into one that was a bit less ex
pensive for her budget.
Dandridge also saw many
tremendous and horrific
changes during her time. In
February 1965, Dandridge
learned that a good friend of
hers, Nat King Cole, had
died of cancer. Afterwards,
Dandridge began a road of
recovery. She cut back on her alcohol
intake, began using her anti-depres
sant medication somewhat more un
der control and she even had secured
a show at the New York club Basin
Street East. She was scheduled to per
form on Sept. 10.
Two days before her appearance,
Dandridge was found dead in the
bathroom of her apartment. One re
port said Dandridge died because of
an embolism: a blood clot in her right
foot, caused by a fracture. A later re
port said she died of a drug overdose
from her anti-depressants. Whatever
the truth behind her death, Dandridge
lived a life full of hopes and lost
dreams. She was a pioneer for African-
American female entertainers.
Dandridge’s life recently has been
chronicled in a biography titled
“Dorothy Dandridge: A Biography” by
Donald Hogle. The down side of this
biography is that Hollywood now
plans to create a film about her life;
the battle for the role being shared by
four of America’s “most respected and
talented African-American actresses,”
as Serena Altchul of MTV News said.
It’s great that this woman’s story is go
ing to be told, but the actresses in
question —Whitney Houston, Janet
Jackson, ITalle Berry and Vanessa
Williams — are not nearly in the right
mentality or accomplished enough in
their careers to play such a role.
Houston is not a great actress; her
success comes from grabbing the coat
tails of more prominent Hollywood fig
ures such as Kevin Costner, Angela Bas
sett and Denzel Washington. Janet
Jackson’s highest acting achievement
has been with her late co-star Tupac
Shakur in Poetic Justice. As far as Berry
and Williams, both have more com
bined acting talent in their fingers than
Houston or Jackson, but they still are
not as accomplished as someone
should be to play the role of Dandridge.
But once again, The Greed Pool rears
its ugly head in the twisted plot of this
scam for each of the actresses to garner
the role. Berry already has been chosen
as executive producer and star of a
Dandridge film that is in the works for
HBO. Houston, more deviously, has
purchased the movie rights for the bi
ography. Although the chance to por
tray Dandridge is a great opportunity,
her life should be treated as more than
just a way to gain fame or prestige in
the big loom of Hollywood.
America’s greed always has been
around, but never so much as it has
been in this case. A celebrated film ac
tress and songstress such as Dandridge
deserves more than power-hungry en
tertainers attempting to achieve status
as pioneer actresses. Every woman up
for the part in the film should have to
audition; this is the way filmmaking is
supposed to be done. Hogle, the biog
raphy’s author, should choose the per
son he feels is best suited to play the
part. In essence, he has the power, but
it would seem the batting eyelashes
and beautiful faces of a few “respected”
and “talented” actresses have won him
over in the long run.
Dorothy Dandridge died at the age
of 42, a great loss to film and enter
tainment for America and its African-
American citizens. Hollywood per
sonae need to get their priorities
straight and understand that acting is
an art form, not a battle with the goal
of receiving bragging rights.
Graphic: Brad Graeber
Church denominations send
message of inconsistency
ndividual churches have a re
sponsibility to their respective
denominations and members to
exhibit denominational consistency.
The cross and flame of Method
ism. The symbol looks so simple,
yet to Methodists, it means so
much. A member of the denomina
tion places a great deal of trust in
such a symbol.
Religious symbolism is by no
means peculiar to the United
Methodist Church. Catholics have similar
symbols, as do Lutherans, Episcopalians,
Muslims and Jews. Moons, stars, crosses —
tvhat do they mean? They are more than a se
ries of lines arranged in a particular way; they
are more than a catchy design.
These symbols give insight into what an
individual believes. They are a representa
tion of one’s faith, an interpretation of God.
People become comfortable in how they
worship their God.
Affiliation with a church provides some
one with a church group — for Methodists, a
family within the Christian family. This fami
ly has a specific set of beliefs in God, in wor
ship and in ministry to others. A Methodist,
therefore, should be able to visit any United
Methodist Church with a good idea of what
to expect in terms of worship.
People with similar beliefs should theoreti
cally be expected to worship in a similar fash
ion. Methodist churches have an obligation to
sing hymns, administer the sacraments of
Holy Baptism and Holy Communion and af
firm members’ faiths in accordance to the
Methodist Hymnal.
This brings to mind the case of United
Methodist churches in Bryan-College Station.
First United Methodist Church of Bryan
andA&M United Methodist Church exhibit
this consistency, adhering closely to the
Methodist Hymnal in the actual worship ser-
Mce. Aldersgate United Methodist, however,
•s a totally different story.
The worship service is in no way consis-
ient with either A&M or First Methodist. Take
! he 9 a.m. service of July 20, 1997: The service
tasted one hour and 45 minutes to the other
Guest Columnist
David Recht
Senior civil engineering major
two churches’ hour. Musical selec
tions were not from the Methodist
Hymnal, but from transparencies
projected onto a screen at the front
of the church.
During one of these hymns,
members of the church started to
dance. The minister called members
of the congregation to the front of
the church and asked them to “wit
ness” to others about their faith.
At one point in the service, a refer
ence was made to the conversion of members
of the Islamic faith.
These five items of worship are unaccept
able for a church affiliated with United
Methodism. When a church affiliates itself
with a particular denomination, it has a re
sponsibility to that denomination to be like
other churches in the family.
This provides an important service to in
dividual affiliates of that denomination.
When a Methodist church is a Methodist
church, a person is able to “judge a book by
its cover.” This empowers the individual
member to know what to expect in worship,
thus ensuring he or she will enjoy and even
be uplifted by worship.
The members of Aldersgate, without a
doubt, become uplifted by their worship.
Calling the church Methodist, however, is un
fair to fellow Methodists. The ultimate result
of this is that visiting Methodists will be need
lessly exposed to a worship service that is di
vergent from their beliefs.
Even worse, visitors to the church who
know nothing about Methodism will have a
tainted initial impression of the practice and
worship of the United Methodist Church.
The finger, surprisingly, should not neces
sarily be pointed at Aldersgate. The United
Methodist Church should be held account
able for all churches that bear its name, and
it should vigorously defend the idea of de
nominational consistency not only in faith,
but in worship.
This argument can and should be carried
out to other denominations. Individual
churches must be representative of the de
nominations they represent.
Mail Call
MSC advertisement
clouds student’s mind
*
It is amazing to me how one indi
vidual can twist an idea created by
another. Did MSC Student Programs
intend to alienate African Ameri
cans? I don’t think so. To say “I sup
pose African-Americans only are
seen as entertainers and clowns by
MSC Student Programs” is ignorant.
From reading the letter you sub
mitted, I draw the conclusion that
you are an ignorant person in gen
eral. Prairie View A&M was original
ly established as a separate but
equal college, but how many years
ago was that? And how many years
has it been since African-Americans
were first admitted into this school?
If you check admission records,
you might find that the number of
African-Americans has increased
significantly since the school
opened up to African-Americans.
To say that the University is
“slowly... deliberately and categori
cally calculating” African-Ameri
cans “out of the Aggie equation” is
once again an ignorant statement. I
am sorry that you hold the views
that you do.
I hope that you don’t believe that
white students think that you and
other African-Americans should be
in the cotton fields at Prairie View.
Your place is in a desk next to
college students of all races in Col
lege Station at Texas A&M.
So before you go off on another
tangent about how African-Ameri
cans are not wanted at A&M, re
member your own words, “Please
think before you print.”
Joe Barnes
Class of’98
The Battalion encourages letters to the ed
itor. Letters must be 300 words or less and in
clude the author’s name, class, and phone
number.
The opinion editor reserves the right to edit
letters for length, style, and accuracy. Letters
may be submitted in person at 013 Reed Mc
Donald with a valid student ID. Letters may also
be mailed to:
The Battalion - Mail Call
013 Reed McDonald
Texas A&M University
College Station, TX
77843-1111.
Campus Mail: 1111
Fax: (409) 845-2647
E-mail: Batt@tamvml.tamu.edu
For more details on letter policy, please call
845-3313 and direct your question to the
opinion editor.
SooD NkjrnWGi
spew
illM