Dorothy Dandridge’s Photograph
37
‘‘Some people kill themselves with drink, others with overdoses, some with a gun,
a few hurl themselves in front of trains or autos. 1 hurled myself in front of another
white man” (184).
As a spectator, perhaps 1 have developed in the words of bell hooks an
“oppositional gaze;” perhaps my transgression of the sexual and racial construction
of Dandridge allows me to see Dandridge as the real African American star that
she was, struggling to overcome the confines of the dominant hegemony of
Hollywood. My knowledge of Dorothy Dandridge, merely reading texts about her
life and those of friends and critics was, I now know, severely limited. Now, reading
this photograph, my understanding of her exploitation by others and by self has
been greatly enhanced. The photo is about her death.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Charlene Regester
Works Cited
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