Hattie McDaniel

Black Ambition, White Hollywood

By: Jill Watts

Narrated by: Bahni Turpin

From an accomplished historian comes an uncompromising look at the pervasive racism in Hollywood, as seen through the life and times of actress Hattie McDaniel

Hattie McDaniel is best known for her performance as Mammy, the sassy foil to Scarlett O’Hara in the movie classic Gone with the Wind. Her powerful performance won her an Oscar® and bolstered the hopes of Black Hollywood that the entertainment industry was finally ready to write more multidimensional, fully realized roles for Blacks.

But despite this victory, and pleas by organizations such as the NAACP and SAG, roles for Blacks continued to denigrate the African American experience. So Hattie McDaniel continued to play servants. “I’d rather play a maid then be a maid,” Hattie McDaniel answered her critics, but her flip response belied a woman who was emotionally conflicted. Here, in an exhaustively detailed and incisive text by a talented historian, is the story of a valiant woman who defied the racism of her time.

Download the accompanying reference guide.©2005 Jill Watts (P)2021 Oasis Audio

Phenomenal book and narration

Phenomenal book and narration.
I did a whole video review of this on my YouTube channel (Josh's Bookish Voyage), but the short of it is this.

Hattie was a complex talented person who sought to change society through acting. Sadly, as she grew in popularity her control of her acting waned, and we can't help but ask if she's doing more harm than good. Nevertheless, this raises questions about personal responsibility and whether it's right to put the weight of an entire community on one person (see The Deep by Rivers Solomon).

Jill Watts gives us a compellingly written yet in depth look at McDaniel's life. I absolutely recommend this and any book by Jill Watts (see the Black Cabinet).

Conflicting figure

Loved the book and thought that Hattie was caught in a cruel system in which the only way to strive and remain an entertainer, was to forever be associated with the role of the maid. The very thing she strived hard to leave behind.