NASA defines a supernova as “the last hurrah” of a dying star. But what do supernovas and Black leading women in Hollywood have in common? That’s what Philana Payton, doctoral candidate for Cinema and Media Studies at USC is searching to answer in her dissertation, “Celestial Bodies: Black Women, Hollywood, and the Fallacy of Stardom.”
Payton visited the IU campus this past February to present Claudine during the ‘Love! I’m in Love!’ film series. Payton was awarded the 2nd Annual Graduate Student Writing Prize from the SCMS Black Caucus for her essay, "Claudine, The Original Welfare Queen: Diahann Carroll and the Disruption of Respectability." Here, Payton talks about her dissertation work in detailing out the similarities in timelines of stars Lena Horne, Eartha Kitt, Dorothy Dandridge, and Whitney Houston. Payton discusses how the stark lack of structure and support built for black women performers in Hollywood led to an internal implosion and how their stardom contrasted with those of white stars. Building onto the discussion of star theory, Payton elaborates on how past Black women performers of Hollywood have shined brighter than the rest but ultimately died out too early.
Topics Discussed:
0:00-4:00 – Introductions, including clip from Julie Dash’s classic, Daughters of the Dust
4:00-11:15 - Introductions including astrology charts and the lived inspiration of feeling closer to the moon in L.A.
11:20-16:50 - Growing up in Atlanta, being an athlete, an early appreciation of art, and Whitney Huston
16:50-21:50 - Starting out in film scholarship and first readings of Bell Hooks
19:45-52:00 - In-depth discussion of dissertation beginning from how Payton first identified seeing Whitney Houston's story, with Lena Horne and Eartha Kitt as precursors. Being a black woman academic.
53:05-1:06:00 - Beyond the supernova and how Payton envisions her work extending beyond to care for present and future generations of cultural and even academic icons, discussing current icons Beyoncé, Halle Berry, and Angela Bassett.
1:05:45-1:16:32 - The impact of Diahann Carroll's performance in Claudine and how the film portrays the U.S. structure of racism and poverty.
Frame By Frame is hosted by Dr. Terri Francis
Theme music provided by BRZ with additional music from André Seewood and Deija Lighon
Production by David Carter, Deonna Weatherly and Bria McCarty
Notes and episode descriptions were written by Yeeseon Chae with additional assistance from David Carter
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