Since the beginning of his career Denzel Washington is rarely seen kissing white women in films until recently. Even still it is rare for this to occur. Washington is a very conscious man and there is an admirable reason we seldom see him kiss a white woman on screen. Washington recognizes the bias in Hollywood and chooses not to feed into it.
NYDailyNews reported this about Washington’s choices to keep his on-screen kisses off limits with his white female co-stars:
Allison Samuels reveals in her new book, “Off the Record” (Amistad), Denzel Washington turned down a love scene with Julia Roberts out of respect for his female African-American fans. Washington nixed the steamy segment even though Roberts insisted that he be cast as her co-star in “The Pelican Brief,” writes Samuels, a respected Newsweek reporter. Washington explained: “Black women are not often seen as objects of desire on film. And they have always been my core audience.”
Denzel also recognizes what women as a whole are faced with in Hollywood:
“Black or white, there seems to be a cut-off for women,” he said. “Don’t have a couple of kids; you’re out the door. They’re constantly looking for the younger one, the younger one, and for African American women, women of color, it’s doubly hard. And then for dark-skinned African American women, it’s even more difficult.”
You really can’t be upset with his stance because of how valid his reasoning is. Of course some will try to flip it to fit their narrative but we know and see the bias in Hollywood.
