Actor Harold Perrineau (The Matrix) takes issue with the criticism directed toward his daughter, Aurora Perrineau, who stars in the new movie Jem and the Holograms.
Mr. Perrineau wrote an open letter to The Wrap expressing his anger at people who say Aurora — who is biracial — is not “black enough” to play a black character in the film based on the animated series.
“When I was a kid, if I got angry, I’d get REALLY angry,” Perrineau writes. “My dad would say ‘Boy, you can’t see but five minutes in front of your face.’ He was right. I’d be blinded by my anger. Well I’m really angry now but I’m an adult and I’m trying really hard to see the bigger picture … to see beyond that five minutes.”
Perrineau said Aurora “worked extremely hard” on Jem and the Holograms, but he said she is now “the target of a lot of people’s anger.”
The reason I’m so angry right now (and I’m sure that many people will be able to understand this) is that I feel like my daughter — MY CHILD — is being attacked. She is being harshly and unfairly judged during a time when she should be relishing her accomplishments. You see my daughter, Aurora Perrineau, decided to become an actor like her old man.
And while I know the many pitfalls that she may encounter, my wife and I have tried to shield her as much as we can. We’ve taught her to work hard and to respect her gifts by training and making her art important to her. We’ve taught her to respect herself and others. The road of the artist is long and arduous.
Her blackness or lack thereof is so offensive to some that they’ve written articles about it. They’ve gone onto social media and spewed their vitriol directly at her. Some went so far as to suggest that she “kill herself” for taking the role. All, without ever seeing her work in the role. All this anger based solely on the color of her skin.
Photo: INFevents.com
