Gabrielle Union has thought about what part Isis could play in the movie Bring It On. She says that she feels bad about his part.
The Hollywood Reporter says that Union talked about her new point of view on Good Morning America to sell her new book, You Got Anything Stronger? She said she could have led the Clovers cheering team in any way she wanted, but she chose “respectability politics.”
I was in charge of Isis’s part in Bring It On. “I thought that by being a good example of respectability, decency, and sophistication, I could help her become the kind of Black girl that society should accept,” she said. Black girls shouldn’t act angry because it’s not cool. I could see that she was too angry, so I told her to shut up.
Union came to this decision after talking with co-star Kirsten Dunst and the film’s director and writer, Peyton Reed, about making a sequel to Bring It On. The second movie would be about Isis and the Clovers, and a Black scriptwriter would write it. Union said that after these talks, she understood how much of the way she played the role was a “mistake.”
“I knew I had to be honest with Isis about my flaws and accept the truth. She said that while she was under my care, I made her more “appropriate.”
She also wrote a piece called “Dear Isis,” which was published in The Cut. It was a message to the Egyptian goddess. She talks about how hard it was to get Isis to go to UC Berkeley in the story.
Union wrote that to get from East Compton to the UC system, you had to work twice as hard as Torrance Dunst. You need to feel like you can’t lose. You are not only a great cheerleader, but you are also a great student and a respected part of the community. To do well, you had to hide that you were Black. Tell me again how I was meant to help you in this situation. At the age of 26, I was aware of the extra work I had done. In 1999, when we started making the movie, I hadn’t been away from UC for very long.Like you, black women have always been told that they can’t be anything but beautiful.
Her note just said, “I’m here to say I’m sorry.” “I was wrong to tell you that you hadn’t gone far enough today. I’ve hurt both you and myself. Even though I was only the fourth star, my face was big and bold on the sign. Everyone made fun of you because you didn’t have a name. Even though you were only in the movie for a small amount of time, I now know that I need to fight for your story to be as important as that of any other character. I think we Clovers are little bits of Black resistance that were dropped in the milk, which is why people remember your most famous meetings with us so well.
The truth of what you say is that you are very angry. She said, “With all of your different emotions, like your pain and broken heart. Never because you were mad at them or because you wanted to hide them. My only regret is that I didn’t let you be the great Black woman that you are without any special treatment. I wish I were that right now.