Woody Allen Source:  www.blogs.indiewire.com

By Sergio, Jul. 31, 2014, Blog.indiewire.com

So, you know Woody Allen, of course. The filmmaker who’s seemingly been a critics’ darling, since the early 70’s; Your typical liberal New Yorker, who also loves to play jazz. But there’s that one thing though. You know what I’m talking about. That one thing that's been whispered about, or even loudly discussed, ever since Allen’s started writing and directing his own films. And that thing is, the fact that you never see black people in his movies.

And considering that most of his films have been set in New York, one of the most racially diverse cities on the entire planet, how is it that black people are virtually non-existent in his films?

Well that's not entirely true. There have been a few exceptions. There was Sonia Rolland playing Josephine Baker in "Midnight in Paris," although she was basically relegated to the background, as an extra with no lines. And there was Hazelle Goodman in his 1997 film "Deconstructing Harry," playing... take a guess, a prostitute but of course. Maybe the most significant presence of a black actor in a Woody Allen film was when Chiwetel Ejiofor appeared in "Melinda and Melinda."

And that’s about as much as I can come up with.

So what's the problem? Why hasn’t Allen had black actors in his films, especially in starring roles?

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