Psssst! Unknowing pop culture consumers, I have something to tell you. Now, some of you may have caught on by now, but clearly, most of you are confused. Queen Latifah is not relevant. Queen Latifah is not relevant in a way that is kind of unbelievable given the amount of attention she receives from 'popular culture' (read: those who don't know any better and/or non-black people taking hegemony's word for it, even though you don't really get it either).
You see, Queen Latifah has become the go-to big, beautiful black woman. She's safe, and jolly, even models for Cover Girl, and to add to her street cred, used to be a rapper! She even used to be on one of my favorite shows, Living Single. Please note that all these notable accomplishments occured in the past. Yeah, yeah, she did Beauty Shop, Barbershop, and voice overs in Ice Age 2, but let's face it: Its 2007, Queen is almost 40, and its time for pop culture to replace her with a new big, beautiful black woman. I nominate Toccara. Sure she's done a few unsavory spreads in men's magazines, and host(s/)ed a pretty horrible show on BET, but she's young, she's fresh, she's cute, and most importantly, she's not Queen Latifah. Also, she actually appeared in a hit show that aired in the last decade, and she's relevant to children and young adults alike. And men in jail.
I'm not trying to knock QL, or downplay her contributions to music/television/film. I'm just saying, Queen was hot when I was like 10, and that was a long time ago. Yeah, I was bumpin "U.N.I.T.Y" real hard in my tape player, but opening gossip magazines a la Star and seeing paparazzi shots of QL leaving the gym with her rumored girlfriend is akin to showing shots of Ronnie Devoe stepping off an American Eagle flight in the Memphis airport . . . ummm, who cares?
But I guess Ms. Dana Owens will ride this wave as long as possible. I'm just going to sit back and see how long it takes for the truth to be revealed. Because, let's face it: if she were an overweight, 40-year-old, white singer/actress who hadn't had a mainstream hit in like 15 years, would People Magazine be running pics of her on the red carpet?
Me thinks not.
2 comments:
Hasn't the Queen also become an award winning Jazz singer?
& didn't she win awards for Chicago?
Show respect to the Queen!
ooooooooooooooooooooooo
Ladies First!
Ladies First!
You are such a hater!! And if Tocarra is your nominee, I may have to stop reading this blog.. she is the worst person to appear on TV.. that game show makes my skin crawl.. and wish I could pull her vocal chords out.. :-)
Go Queen.. and my mother LOVED Last Holiday!
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