HBO Apologizes for Lovecraft Country Skin Darkening Controversy
HBO has responded to the controversy surrounding Lovecraft Country and an incident of darkening an extra's skin tone, vowing to prevent it from happening again. Lovecraft Country premiered on HBO just last summer and quickly became a critical hit. Created by Misha Green, the series stars Jonathan Majors as Atticus Freeman and Jurnee Smollett as his friend Letitia as the two set out through the Jim Crow-era South to find Atticus' father Montrose (Michael K. Williams). Lovecraft Country has been praised for how it combines the fictional horrors of H.P. Lovecraft's tales and the real horrors of racism.
Despite all the positives to be found with Lovecraft Country, it has received some criticism for its handling of certain topics. For example, episode 4 earned some backlash among audiences after an Indigenous and intersex character named Yahima was brutally murdered; Green later owned up to her storytelling mistakes. Now, Lovecraft Country is at the center of another controversy, this time stemming from extra Kelli Amirah. Amirah appeared in an episode of the series as the younger version of a particular character, though she was only shown in a photograph.
Last month, Amirah posted a TikTok explaining how, when getting her makeup done for Lovecraft Country, she realized the makeup team had gradually darkened her skin so she would match the actress behind her character. Amirah stated, "I had no idea they were going to do this to me beforehand. And if I knew beforehand, I would not have accepted this job. Who thought this was a good idea?" She showed some of the images in her video so fans could compare her regular skin tone with the one she was given, which was drastically darker, and said she was deeply uncomfortable. Sunday night, HBO issued a statement to THR promising to do better. "This should not have happened, and we are taking steps to ensure this doesn’t occur again in the future," the network said.
Others connected to Lovecraft Country have yet to respond to this controversy, and it remains to be seen what those aforementioned steps actually will turn out to be. Nevertheless, this is further proof that colorism remains an issue for Black performers, since instead of simply casting an actress who fit the darker skin tone, they ended up putting Amirah in what is essentially blackface. Additionally, Amirah has apologized for her complacency in the act in a series of tweets posted over the weekend.
Lovecraft Country has yet to be renewed for a second season, though HBO exec Casey Bloys said in February he is optimistic about the show returning. The first season finale didn't feature a major cliffhanger, though there's certainly room to establish a new story. Should Lovecraft Country return for another batch of episodes, it will hopefully learn from its past mistakes and do better when it comes to representation. Its audience and those who work on it deserve much better.
Source: THR, Kelli Amirah