Proof that Zendaya Will Not Play Mary Jane or "MJ": Proud to Be Black

I'm not going to feed into the propaganda that it's racist to not support a black woman playing Mary Jane Watson. I'm still going to watch SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING if Zendaya is really playing Mary Jane or the new-and-improved "MJ". I think that Laura Harrier as Liz Allan is gorgeous, and I'm looking forward to seeing what Tony Revolori does with Flash Thompson.


My reason for not believing that Mary Jane was race-swapped is that Zendaya is a biracial young lady who proudly identifies as black. I think this article is particularly relevant. Zendaya spoke on her views about people who tell you not to feel some type of way when they steal parts of your culture. Here's a quote from the article that was given by MTV.com (emphasis mine):

"She [Amandla] wished society loved black people as much as they love black culture. That's the truth," Zendaya continued. "The credit gets taken away from us when we make certain statements or when we do certain things. That is the frustration. People want to be around for the positives and the things that we bring as far as culture, but they don't want to be around when we have problems or when we're getting shot in the streets. You know what I'm saying? You have to be there for the whole experience. You can't just decide when you want to be a part of our culture."

This statement was published after Zendaya was announced as playing a "key role" in SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING. It's kind of hypocritical of Zendaya to make a statement about people taking the good parts of black culture and leaving the bad, IF Zendaya is taking the role of a traditionally white redhead character that is one of the most famous love interests in comic history.


If anyone ends up reading this blog, I won't be surprised if I get hate for writing the paragraph above. Zendaya fans already know that Zendaya wanted her family members to be played by black actors on K.C. Undercover, which is an impressive stand to take since Zendaya's mother is white. Zendaya has never tried to play a white character before. She was defensive when people protested against her playing the role of deceased singer Aaliyah, because she is biracial. Zendaya was in Beyoncé's visual album "Lemonade", and she continues to support and speak about black excellence. I would think that Zendaya would be interested in playing a new character that she could make all her own, not playing Mary Jane which is only serving to be more controversy for her:

Image copied from People.com ; I don't own the rights to this picture!

I'd love to hear what you think. Sincerely,


A Comic Girl