Florence Pugh Reflects on Past Instances of Cultural Appropriation
"I was uneducated. I was unread."
By Jordan Hoffman
By Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
Florence Pugh uploaded a three page apology concerning cultural appropriation to her Instagram account this weekend. In it, she cites examples of how she had unwittingly been disrespectful in the past, and her own white fragility when initially confronted.
"Like many, I've read, listened, signed, donated, read again, sssh'd my white fragility and really wanted to trace instances in my life where I have been guilty," the 24-year-old British actress wrote. She went on to discuss an experience she had when she was 18, when she was defensive and confused upon learning from a younger friend that white girls wearing corn rows was exploitive.
Her note continues, citing a photo in which she wore braided hair as a 17-year-old, painted a beanie with the colors of the Jamaican flag which she then posted with a caption of reggae lyrics. (Shaggy's "Boombastic," to be specific.)
Perhaps most insightful is her story of how an Indian shopkeeper showed her aspects of her culture when she was only a child, but as she grew older she fashioned herself with bindis and henna "on my own terms only, to parties, at dinner."
"I cannot dismiss the actions I bought into years ago," the Oscar-nominated Little Women actress concluded, "but I believe that we who were blind to such things must acknowledge them and recognize them as our faults, our ignorance and our white privilege and I apologize profusely that it took this long."
Reactions to Pugh's statement on Twitter was positive.
https://twitter.com/natsmoonlight/status/1276577711398494209
https://twitter.com/FadedYoda/status/1276581736646758400
Well, mostly positive.
https://twitter.com/filmsbye/status/1276601794462986242
— The 10 Best Movies of 2020 (So Far)
— Review: Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods Is Gold
— The Wild Life and Many Loves of Ava Gardner
— Inside Pete Davidson and John Mulaney's "Make-A-Wish" Friendship
— Now Streaming: Over 100 Years of Black Defiance at the Movies
— Is TV Sabotaging Itself With Shrinking Shows?
— From the Archive: Exposing MGM's Smear Campaign Against Rape Survivor Patricia Douglas
This Week In Pollen
Ariana Grande Celebrates Her Birthday Midsommar-style
The Simpsons Will No Longer Have White Actors Voice Non-White Characters
Why the Dixie Chicks Changed Their Name: "We Want to Meet This Moment"
By Emily Kirkpatrick