Watch out—there’s a storm afoot. Of Alexandra Shipp’s own making.
In “making something out of nothing” news, Shipp tweeted something on an otherwise innocuous Monday evening.
“Black twitter is so powerful,” she mused beside her freshly polished tiny violin. “One second we’re trying to rally and define why our lives matter, the next we’re making each other feel like we’re not worthy of one. I’ll only spread and give love, no matter what tone my skin falls under.”
Now, a reasonable person probably read this out of context and wondered if yet another news item came out about a little black girl being bullied for her skin tone. Oh no, friends. This tweet dropped after KiKi Layne expressed interest in portraying Storm, the bad bitch mutant of the X-Men franchise.
“She was an image of myself, of a powerful chocolate black woman, and I just think that’s an amazing image to have and I really want to play Storm,” the If Beale Street Could Talk actress recently told Variety.
After tossing the subtweet in a huff, the actress ended it with, “Bless up y’all ima [sic] go back to work.”
Girl ... what?!
Shipp has already proven she has a chip on her shoulder, to the point where even the mere mention of a constructive conversation regarding Storm’s complexion triggers an alarm.
“[I tweeted back] at people who criticized me for not having dark enough skin for my role in X-Men because we’re not going to have this conversation about a cartoon character,” she said in a 2018 Glamour Magazine interview. “You’re not going to tell me that my skin color doesn’t match a Crayola from 1970. Growing up, when I was reading the comics, I pictured her looking like me.”
With that in mind, Layne’s quote appears to have sparked yet another fire and ignited Shipp’s beige rage. In fact, ever since news hit of Disney’s proposed acquisition of 21st Century Fox, many X-Men fans were excited at the possibility of reviving a long-critiqued franchise. And yes, that meant finally treating Storm properly for a fucking change, instead of the diluted damsel we’ve been served.
In other words: the timing of Shipp’s tweet was fishy, and it appeared she felt a way.
But here’s the thing: That’s usually how mergers and acquisitions transpire, in any industry. It’s a tough pill to swallow, but once the M&A is finalized, the new overlord company often starts fresh by firing all of the existing employees or retains its existing employees with similar roles. I have a very strong feeling Disney/Marvel would love a fresh start from what Fox has (unfortunately) done to the X-Men franchise.
Utilizing “Black Lives Matter” for her personal agenda, plus continuing to show her tone-deafness regarding the importance of a dark-skinned actress portraying Ororo Munroe is a double-whammy of “oh no baby, what is you doin’?” Thus, Black Twitter’s figurative lightning bolt struck her.
Sigh.
Alexandria, since this has become a pattern and you have shown no intention in unpacking the very valid reasons why people desire a dark-skinned actress that looks like the actual Storm portrayed in comics, please stop saying things. Once you get over yourself, boo, Storm shall meet you at the monorail.