Postracial Stardom

Abstract This chapter examines how the movie musicals Carmen Jones (dir. Otto Preminger, 1954) and Carmen: A Hip Hopera (dir. Robert Townsend, 2001) functioned as pivotal moments in the careers of Dorothy Dandridge and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter. Their respective star turns positioned the two actors to transition from intraracial fame to mainstream, or postracial, stardom, but only Beyoncé ultimately achieved that goal. Although Dandridge came close, appearing on the cover of Life magazine and becoming the first African American woman nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, she found herself constrained by persistent racism within 1950s Hollywood and a lack of control in guiding her career. Carmen Jones was the role that both catapulted Dandridge to stardom and confined her to portrayals of the stereotypically alluring, exotic woman of color. In the more progressive context of the early 2000s, in contrast, Beyoncé pivoted from both her depiction of Carmen and beginnings in an R&B girl group to become a consummate entertainer who transcends artistic genres and racial categories. Whereas the “hip hopera” draws primarily from Preminger’s film as its model, it is Mérimée’s literary Carmen—a shrewd polyglot who embraces her Romani identity and serves as de facto leader of her associates—who seems a more fitting point of comparison for Beyoncé’s thriving, carefully crafted post-MTV career.