You might’ve noticed... no Misidentified Black People lately. Hey, I’m as stunned as anyone.Has the corporate media finally gotten itself together? No more confusing Serena Williams with Beyonce? Have we entered an Enlightened Age?
Then I got an email from Comb & Razor. Thank you, Comb & Razor.
The folks at VH1, as part of their “Hip Hop Honors” hype, wrote a little blurb about RZA (from the Wu-Tang Clan) at VH1.com. Only they didn’t put a picture of RZA with it. They put a picture of DJ Quik.
Oopsies! Wrong black man.
This is the RZA:
5 comments:
I usually find this feature hilarious as the people usually look absolutely nothing alike. But, aside from the facial hair, DJ Quik and RZA do share a resemblance to me. DJ Quik looks like he could be RZAs younger brother.
I love Quik and RZA is my third husband, but even I have to admit they sorta look alike in some features...on the same token, it is completely unacceptable that a station that is 100% pop culture has no one there to make it their business to know the difference.
Indeed, they look sorta alike... And I'm not deep enough into hip-hop to have known what RZA looked like before I searched for his photo. But I do know DJ Quik when I see him. He is so distinctive-looking to me that even when I saw RZA's picture, I said, "Yeah, okay... but still."
Like you say, IW, if Parade magazine made this mistake, we might could let it slide. But this is MTV/VH1... and they got a honkin' big "Hip Hop Honors" logo on this page. Completely unacceptable.
The initial culprit is Getty Images, a photo service that takes a gazillion celebrity photos and sells them to the media. They're always getting young black celebs mixed up.
Maybe if there's an "action point" here for the media, it's to double- and triple-check the identification of black celebs when dealing with photo services like Getty Images.
Invisible Woman and Undercover Black Man, to you I say, agreed. Not defending the mistake, just saying this time they look similar.
To paraphrase a Freud, sometimes a mistake is just a mistake. These two cats look like they come from the same loins. The only time I find this kind of mistake really pissy is when mags can't discern between a R&B singer and a rapper.
Post a Comment