Roger Porter
April 9, 2011
I was watching an old school Bell, Biv, Devoe video posted by a friend on facebook when I noticed a familiar face wearing a sexy dress with a bass guitar in her hand. I looked a little closer and realized it was none other than the respected actress Ms. Nia Long. This was the video for Do Me Baby which came out in 1990, almost a year before she was introduced to the world in the film Boyz in the Hood.
Nia Long of course is not the only one. Both Jada Pinkett-Smith and Vivica A. Fox starred in music videos before making the leap to the silver screen as well, which compels me to pose the question "Whatever happened to actresses being able to use music video's as a vehicle for their burgeoning careers?" I don't know exactly when but at some point all women in music videos became "video hoes" destined to be nothing more than big bootied strippers for the rest of their days. I mean could you imagine any of the girls in Nelly's Tip Drill video or Buffy the Body playing a supporting role in the next Tyler Perry movie?
It's kind of sad actually because I'm sure every woman who dances in a video is not turning tricks in the back of a strip club or making pornos for a little extra money. For all we know some of them could be world-class thespians who graduated from Julliard and are trying to pay back their student loans. It doesn't matter anymore though because the stigma now associated with dancing in a video is way too strong. It's like a trap that young women can't seem to get out of these days.
As if breaking into the industry wasn't hard enough already. It's really unfortunate.