US singer Beyoncé is allegedly penning and starring in her own film based on the life of South African Khoi San woman, Sara Saartjie Baartman, The Sun reported.
Baartman suffered severe exploitation at the hands of Europeans in the 1800s. Her derrière became an “object of fascination” for the European male gaze and her body was displayed in exhibitions and freak shows in Europe.
She died in 1815 and the Musee de l’Homme in Paris “ took a deathcast of her body, removed her skeleton and pickled her brain and genitals in jars” and displayed them in the museum for about a century. Her remains were returned to South African in 2002 and she was buried in the Eastern Cape, where she was born.
According to The Sun, Beyoncé has hired a team of acting coaches and writers to work on film about Baartman, in a bid to be taken seriously as an actor in Hollywood. The Grammy award-winning singer has starred in films such as, Austin Powers in Goldmember, The Pink Panther, Dreamgirls and Cadillac Records, where she played the role of US blues singer, Etta James.
Despite her previous roles in Hollywood films, news of Beyoncé producing the film has been met by mixed reactions.
Speaking to talk radio 702 today, the chairperson of SA Actors Guild Jack Devnarain said: “For me, the main concern is: are we doing justice to the person. Are we taking a careful and conscious look at what Saartjie Baartman’s story was all about and will that be served? I’m not particularly convinced that Beyoncé is that right actor for that particular role”.
See social media response and other entertainment news in Mail & Guardian
