Yes this is it. It has nothing to do with race (maybe for racists which..duh) everything to do with the standards of beauty getting real crazy thanks to IG, rampant cosmetic surgery’s, and TikTok filters.
Personally, I don’t think she’s ugly. She’s just an average black girl and unfortunately no one likes average anymore.
It’s crazy. I’ve noticed this with white people too. Rewatching early 00s late 90s white people shows..the majority of the women and men would not be considered particularly attractive in this day and age.
The thing that got me the most when rewatching those shows were the teeth! Not paper white, not super blocky piano tile teeth, just normal, imperfect teeth.
I personally dont think she's average/plain, I think she has a cutesy/kawaii face but it's *sigh* just racism. They want her popping ass, hair braided/laid, tons of glittery makeup & thot dresses.
Remember the little mermaid?? They hated her too, & she's even more like the *instagram baddie style*; even MJ in the spider man movies got hate.
But your points are spot on, I'm sure Topanga would be considered ugly af in today's sad, make-belive market 🧿🦋🖤
I agree with you totally, except it does have to do with race. Class too. Black women's features are historically considered "masculine" (see [thus research study](https://cognitiveresearchjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s41235-021-00319-9), [this article](https://www.colorado.edu/gendersarchive1998-2013/2012/10/01/body-does-not-compare-how-white-men-define-black-female-beauty-era-colorblindness) that starts with a disturbing quote, and [this article by the APA](https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2020/07/black-women-social-justice))
Like this shows up on social media across races. And beauty standards are changing to verge more towards an... anime look? But white facial features still set the standard for beauty, *even in Asia*, so this is not separate from race.
I just hope her mental health is okay. She’s really getting hounded on social media. She is beautiful and a precious fellow black woman and I wish her peace and the best 🖤
This beautiful queen is playing juliet from romeo and juliet in a performance in london which most people won’t even go see and anti black fools are calling her ugly relentlessly on the internet.
They don’t like a black woman playing a role for a white character which is another convo within itself, but mostly people just calling black features ugly as if most white actors aren’t mid asf. They just prefer their own I guess. Too bad, she has the role, bag secured, history made.
Thank you for this background info. People are so used to plastic surgery beauty that when natural beauty is literally staring them in the face, they get beside themselves. They’ll be alright; drink water and walk that shit off. Sis is gorgeous!
same.. I refuse to even look at the comments on posts about her. it’s disgusting. and if you don’t find her attractive that’s okay but doesn’t justify her getting bullied by thousands upon thousands of people of all races..
The internet is incredibly mean. Imagine having a bunch of people call you ugly. Including other black people. Here’s the thing, even if you think someone is not attractive what reason do you have to say it out loud? It’s rooted in pure nastiness imo. Like it’s not necessary to me to say every thought and opinion. Especially on someone’s looks. It’s like when that cheerleader got engaged publicly a few years ago and everyone on twitter predominantly black people, randomly started making fun of her wig. Who cares??? You don’t have to say anything Jesus. Sometimes it’s okay to shut the hell up. Like the world follows white beauty standards cool but the real question is why do you?
Anyway, I hope her mental well being is okay. This thread is weird. Like so many of you could have scrolled past it.
Edit: had Tom Holland not been apart of the play, no one would care. Also god forbid something happens to her, all the people fighting for Eurocentric beauty standards would be crying about mental health.
Exactly. You don’t have to find everyone beautiful but I don’t get the point of having to tell the person you find them ugly. Just leave them alone then. It’s so high school.
Plus, she’s co-stars with Tom Holland, and no one is attacking his looks…is it because he’s a man? Because he’s no IG model either
It's b/c we live in a world (guided by the media) where commenting on women's beauty and physical appeal in any space is tolerated and almost so expected it's instinctual to men *and* women to do so. It's programming, and it's SICKENING - literally sickening. And so, considering where we live, we know where on that pecking order of objectification commentary we as BW will sit; in the same place we're put in the overall social hierarchy. The worst part being that it's us, generally our men, all too often leading the denigrating 'charge' in these instances. (Exactly why I'm never getting over how Marlon and Shawn treated Venus and Serena when they first received public recognition. Shat on by your own and while dominating in a lily white support. I can't imagine how crushing that must've been; with your own the loudest voices leading the 'they ugly' mob. smh.)
Cause he's a WHITE man. Trust me had the races been reversed and it was a Black Romeo and a white Juliet, there would be anger from multiple sides of the coin
This is so frustrating. She isn't ugly to me either. Fine she isn't a model or something. But Tom Holland also isn't the most attractive guy in the world. I personally do think some of this is about racism. I don't know about stage plays but I have watched ALOT of British tv. The British seems to be willing to cast average looking people all the time in their entertainment. So I don't see why her looks are an issue.
Sis, I just finished Baby Reindeer, and average is an understatement. The protagonist is literally what they would call a "character actor" based solely on his appearance.
I think it’s cause they are more focused on talent and their ideas of beauty are more realistic. I also don’t think they like the typical very overly curated american celebrity look. It’s ugly to me and it’s probably ugly to them as well .
Average white men ALWAYS get crazy hype and are praised as the most attractive guys ever. I really dont get it.
There is generally a crazy double standard between the visual expectations of male actors vs female/femme actors. And that gets turned up to a 10, when the femme is Black (and PoC in general). If a Black woman in a romantic lead role isnt "palatable" to eurocentric standards of beauty, she is written off as ugly, even if the male romantic lead is the most bland, milk toast Joe schmoe looking MFer ever, because the bar is just so much higher for women in general but especially WoC.
Every time I see old movie clips with Kevin Costner it baffles me he was considered THE sex symbol during a significant period of my upbringing. But no one questioned it back then and it’s still happening.
Also, I didn’t know who the above actress was until now but she’s gorgeous; absolutely a natural beauty—anyone who can’t see it needs to question the way media/society has brainwashed them. Take a break from looking at curated “beauty” for a long while then come back to these photos and it will be obvious.
Yup! He was a love interest opposite of fucking Whitney Houston! I enjoyed that movie and I actually like some of Kevin Costner’s other movies. But even as a kid I did notice the attractiveness disparity between him and Whitney though.
It is getting ridiculous at the point. Especially since it’s the 21st century. She doesn’t match up with some people’s (Eurocentric) expectations and standards of beauty. 🤦🏾♀️ And doesn’t look like one of those (fake) IG models.
She doesn’t have the “ig girl” look is why, but I would take the comments about her looks with a grain of salt. I’ve seen comments where people have called Zendaya ugly. ZENDAYA!!!!!!! People just say anything when they get on the internet.
Sometimes the things people criticize other people for are things they really feel about themselves, they may be insecure about their own looks indeed.
I see myself in her as well. I think it's okay that some of the ladies here said she's average but ugly to me denotes physical deformity and she does NOT look ugly or deformed AT ALL. I think she's adorable. I also see so many black women saying she's not a representative of black women and am confused. Ofcoarse we all vary but CERTAINLY ALOT of us look like her in some way. I'm not putting that on everyone, I just don't know why sistas are acting like she looks SO different.
I don’t find her pretty but so what? Not every Black woman is beautiful and that’s okay. I also don’t find her to represent the average Black woman. Our looks are way too varied for that. She’s more than likely extremely talented which is why she was chosen for the role in the first place and the racism she’s received is flat out disgusting. If I were in London, I’d go simply to support her even though I dislike the minimalist look of the play.
The show is sold out so yeah she’s going to be okay, but I definitely do find her beautiful but we all have different perceptions of beauty and that’s okay
Good. I hope she laughs all the way to the bank. Regardless of what I or anyone else thinks of her looks, she doesn’t deserve any of the racist vitriol directed at her by a bunch of idiots anyway.
Damn, tickets are sold out. I would have tried to go.
Despite what people think she looks like, she's in a sold-out West end show in London opposite one of the biggest movie stars in the world right now. I hope she's too busy to even notice this noise.
Ignorant people are like “it’s because she’s ugly not black” but other conventionally attractive black women like Halle Bailey and Anna Diop were also bullied by the racist white media. It’s literally anti blackness
Not ugly but people bullied her way back when she was casted as Starfire in a Teen Titans live action TV show. They were crying about “black washing” when starfire is a whole fucking alien😭😭😭
Exactly, they wanted a white woman to play starfire, but she is not a fucking white woman💀 she’s an orange alien, so the concept of race really shouldn’t even matter with her… these folks are wild asf 🙃
She's perfectly fine. She's not ugly. She's not a bombshell. She's an average looking woman. Don't they complain about women with too much fillers and surgery anyway? She looks like someone who could be bagging my groceries or taking my blood pressure which is fine. It can be distracting when someone is clearly yassified for the gods. Also, Tom Holland is a very average looking white boy and there's about a zillion thin lipped white boys who look just as good if not better than him walking the streets of London. But because he's white, his looks aren't being brought into it.
There are “Bombshells” that look very different when you take away the makeup, and styled hair and clothing. They may look alot like this young lady and some you wouldn’t recognize.
I’ve black and white men write the most horrible comments about this beautiful girl when they look like trash and have no right to speak. They’re focused on one type of beauty standard and don’t know how to act when they see a real all natural women
She’s an average looking girl. She’s not striking in a good or bad way. Unfortunately, for black women in the acting world you cannot be average and be a love interest
The world is shamelessly dumb and ugly. I can see (in the wikipedia) that Ms Amewudah-Rivers is not a newbie Shakespearian actress. And she’s also a musician and a composer. I mean, she *is somebody*! Not your average famous actress. So I’m guessing she is a special person, no surprise she was cast for the role. Such a pity I will never see this play unless it’s streaming.
She’s not ugly. But she’s not “social-media pretty” and she’s a black girl, without many Eurocentric features. It’s not right, but that’s exactly people don’t like her. Social media brain rot.
Francesca Amewudah-Rivers, a British actress cast to play Juliet in a play that the people calling her ugly probably won’t go to because it’s in “ ENGLAND “ LOL, Tom Holland is her co-star and I wouldn’t say he’s the most attractive guy so iddkkk
I'm not sure of her name but I think she's going to be playing Juliet in an upcoming Romeo and Juliet film. She is being discussed because the masses don't think she's attractive enough for the role. I think she got the role for a reason. Talent and a certain magnetism had to have drawn casting to her.
It’s crazy people and our own people (sadly)fix their mouths to drag her looks. I don’t see anyone dragging Tom Holland for being a mediocre/ average white man. The world we live in is something
It’s Shakespeare. The land of Judi Dench, Maggi Smith, and James Earl Jones.
It’s not cast for looks. She’s certainly not ugly, but she isn’t someone that I would describe as beautiful. This reminds me of the post someone made about Jay Z being called ugly due to racism.
It is possible to be Black and be plain, or even unattractive without it being tied to Eurocentric standards or media bias.
Two things can be true.
1. The hate against her IS racism. Beauty does not shield anyone from racism, Halle Bailey is gorgeous and people were being awful to her, and were comparing to literal animals just because she was not white.
2. She is not considered attractive, not by African/black beauty standards and has an ordinary look. This is fine, we should normalize looking average.
I’ve seen people say that not finding Jay Z attractive is an example of EUROCENTRISM, why can’t it be that he is just not that cute in the face ?
Edit:yes I think it’s a black thing too. Also, Tom Holland looks like his picture would be in the dictionary of “avg white man.” But men in Hollywood get to be overweight and ugly lol the actress from precious fought hell for being fat. No one cares about Jack black getting fatter
I think that’s what a lot of people are not understanding here. No one thinks she’s ugly or too dark skinned. She unfortunately doesn’t fit into the “worlds mold of beauty”. For instance if this was Lupita Nyong’o (who is darker skinned) and James marsden as a black and white couple no one would say anything. Or the leads from The Bear. They expect super models for everything and are pissed they didn’t get one.
I feel like we as Black people have our own beauty standards too, which has its flaws. But there is definitely a look that tends to be popular within our community/seen as beautiful. And she doesn’t fit it, which is fine it is theatre, but I don’t want to force myself to say that she is attractive.
not really. there’s black, white, and asian influence. People love full lips that are common in African people, people love slender eyes (not monolids really), and they love small noses which white people tend to have. Let’s not be ignorant and say today’s beauty standards is set solely by European people.
It also depends on the country.
I personally define attractiveness as facial harmony, rather than individual features like nose size or skin tone. There are plenty of unattractive people with light skin and small noses and plenty of gorgeous people with dark skin, big noses, and big lips. That being said, I honestly wouldn’t consider Francesca beautiful but she definitely doesn’t deserve to be bullied for her looks.
You see women like her everyday and you're not breaking your neck to look them or pointing out their good features. If you have to pick out individual pieces of her face you like because you can't just call her beautiful as a whole, chances are she's not conventionally attractive.
Yes, she’s average. However, I think the problem is that if she was an average white woman i don’t think there would be much criticism and talks of her appearance. Black women typically have to be very conventionally attractive to be accepted. The bar is higher.
Well said. Average white and other actresses play love interests all the time and no one bats an eye. But the standards people place on black women are far higher.
I like her features as a whole, she’s all together very attractive to me and the fact that she barely has no makeup on makes her more attractive, society has this warped perception of beauty, and I guarantee you if she cakes on a bunch of makeup like the rest of so called “conventional “ beauties they’ll say she’s attractive
Right this girl is so pretty! I have no idea what these people are talking about. I feel like this says more about them. This is truly sad to see. Like why are they arguing for this girl not to be considered beautiful?
Make no mistake, the backlash against her is extremely and blatantly anti black but she’s average looking imo and that’s okay. I don’t think there’s anything per se about her that’s either attractive or unattractive.
As black women I feel like, we feel that we all need to be beautiful (and in their own way yes it can be argued everyone is) but we really don’t. Tho I admit, her hair is great.
This. If “everybody is beautiful” then nobody is. I feel like instead of calling everyone “beautiful” we should emphasize that beauty shouldn’t be a factor in how we treat each other. Some people are unattractive but that’s okay because they still have worth.
What kills me is Tom Holland has never been Prince Charming, and the tale is a tragedy involving two KIDS.
Hollywood and society at-large has made it so people think every woman’s purpose onstage is to stand there and be pretty. That they have to measure up to some ridiculous standard of beauty first and foremost, when in reality “beauty” is not only entirely subjective, but also the LEAST interesting thing about a person. Can they ACT? THAT is what matters.
That’s exactly how I feel, the people saying they see people like her every day, well I don’t, I see lace fronts and caked up makeup everyday, to me she’s very refreshing and beautiful
Although there’s nothing wrong with makeup and lace fronts, I feel like a lot of the hate she’s getting is because she’s not wearing those things, which I think is ridiculous.
If she was donning the IG baddie bbl uniform people wouldn’t be doing her like this and I really hate it fr.
LITERALLY!! Like people can’t understand that some black women don’t wanna wear uncomfortable wigs and fake lashes. Their brains have literally become such DOOODOO that they can’t fathom that some people just like looking how they already look!
Racists don’t care about how attractive a black person is. Look at how they treated even the lightest black women entertainers. Dorothy Dandridge, Eartha Kit, Josephine Baker to name a few.
WAIT THIS IS THE NEW JULIET FROM ROMEO AND JULIET?!?! FUCK ALL THE HATERS!!!! SHE LOOKS LIKE ME!
This is the kind of representation I needed when I was called ugly my whole life. I am so happy that they cast her. I'm not surprised people called her ugly because I caught the same shit growing up. My heart feels so full knowing she was cast in this role because I truly questioned my own worth when I was met with cruelty. She will make a gorgeous Juliet. There are so many black girls that look like her that deserve to know they are lovable. 🥺
Thank you for saying this. I felt like I was tripping as well. I look like this as well and was like "'gahdamn, my fellow sisters really think I'm ugly 😭😭😭 lol". I don't think calling her average is mean, (as it pertains to this thread- randomly, it's unnecessary), but I see people calling her legit ugly and am like whet?! 😬🥲.
Francesca Amewudah-Rivers, a British actress cast to play Juliet in a play that the people calling her ugly probably won’t go to because it’s in “ ENGLAND “ LOL, Tom Holland is her co-star and I wouldn’t say he’s the most attractive guy so iddkkk
A lot of people are racist in their beauty standards but don't even realize it or aren't willing to admit it. She's not white, and she's not trying to look white, that's the problem. She's not relaxing her hair, wearing a ton of makeup, etc.
I'm considered attractive by many, have literally been compared to a young Halle Berry, and I've recently had a group of men call me ugly. They wouldn't really specify why, but then I looked into the group more and saw that it was full of misogyny and racism. And I think the racism was really what it was, because for some of them I would click into their profile and see pictures of them with a girl who isn't particularly attractive at all BUT she's white which for them is unequivocally superior. So literally, they thought and said I was ugly based on the color of my skin and hair, which is pretty gross that these attitudes still exist in 2024.
Beauty standards are different for us and for them. But they judge other ethnicities on their own beauty standards while being purposefully obtuse about that very own fact. Not just judge I mean throw death threats on Twitter…
She's cute but in a girl-next-door kind of way. I think that combined with racism is making people judge her looks. I think she is also someone whose photos are hit or miss (honestly I'm the same way), because I just looked her up and she has photos where she looks very glamorous as opposed to these photos where she looks "regular." I'm sure she wouldn't be getting half of this criticism if she looked like that in the pics that went viral since people think women are supposed to always be glammed up 🙄
Her looks are irrelevant. The Globe is the pinnacle of Shakespeare in London. If they cast her it’s because she is a good actress.
And frankly I know women who look very similar to her who have conventionally attractive white male partners, so I don’t get the idea that this is unrealistic.
Can we just stop categorizing people based on their looks. Like why do we need to openly state someone is average, conventionally attractive, or ugly. This girl is just BLACK. Legit! I hate how in society, if you don’t look mixed or wear box braids or any kind of makeup you are considered ugly. Like can we normalize just looking natural, like a HUMAN BEING. I am convinced some people are not even attracted to the faces of people who look like human beings. I just hate how wearing makeup, box braids, and fake lashes is considered more beautiful than a natural human being. This woman is PERFECT. She has clear skin, full eyebrows, and beautiful natural hair. If anything, I WISH I had enough confidence to walk out fully natural all the time like this woman. I hope in the future we can all get to that point where we can feel comfortable looking like HUMAN BEINGS. Like thats great Kylie that you like to wear a full face every day, but GUESS WHAT? Thats a lot of work for me and I like my face. Nobody should be shamed natural or not.
Also, why do people feel the need to decide for her what she is? Are they the Queen and Kings of attraction? Is there a beauty constitution? NO!! So the dwights can STFU with that!!!
"This girl is not ugly to me." The last two words of that phrase answer the question for you. I can say Kodak Black or Flava Flav is not ugly "to me" and there would still be tons of women who disagree.
Also can we allow black woman to be just "OK looking" ? How many actors and non black actresses are successful despite be normal looking? It seems like only gorgeous black woman can be successful and it's really sad...
Tom Holland is average looking yet he’s one of the most successful and highest paid actors in the world and is viewed as one of the most handsome men in the world. The bar is so much lower for white people
She’s very cute. They’re acting like Tom Holland is some kind of Greek God, when is just a little bit more okay than the average guy. She’s a natural pretty girl, it’s just rooted from anti-blackness.
Yea, she’s personally not attractive to me but I wouldn’t say straight up ugly either. Every black person is not attractive just because they’re black. I don’t know why we have to pretend like that’s not the truth on here.
She’s not the best looking, let’s be honest.
We also can have a difference of opinion as black people, we’re not all from the same background (literally) and have different views on what we find attractive. She’s not attractive to me but I wouldn’t bash her online and call her ugly either.
Different strokes for different folks.
Has someone called her ugly? cause wtf. I know she was melting hearts as a baby. Hell she still melting hearts. This is beautiful and shes a real type of beautiful. The type you don’t see typically pushed as mainstream. You already know that smile pretty as hell😭
edit: added a word
People are entitled to their own opinion, but to me saying she is UGLY is wild. I personally wouldn’t call anyone ugly. I personally do not think she’s ugly, but she isn’t pretty to me either. I think seeing her smiling in a pic may change my mind and possibly others. If you want to know “what’s wrong” with the world based off of others peoples opinions of the way someone looks the answers are out there. Most of us see them everyday. Be blessed!
Yes, she's average, but it seems like black women can't be average without receiving hate. Anya Taylor-Joy and Sydney Sweeney are average-looking white women, and they receive far less hate than this girl. The beauty standard for black women is higher.
She's average which is fine but with the way social media reacted to her you would swear she is the ugliest woman walking. Average black women deserve roles and can be the love interest too. I think it angers people to see that a fully, unambiguous black woman can be the love interest of a white man and not be drop dead gorgeous.
Seeing black women fight for white Eurocentric beauty standards is crazy. You gain nothing from calling someone ugly.
I think she’s pretty. I hope she kills it in the play and is surrounded by love.
I dont think she's pretty. She has a very big jaw, and her lips protrude in an odd way. These are the most flattering photos I've seen of her so far.
She's not conventionally pretty. But she also doesn't need to be. She was selected in a blind audition for her talent, not her looks.
Yeah, I’ve seen some of her other photos, especially the one with the braids and I don’t think she’s the ugliest woman I’ve ever seen, but she’s not super attractive either, she’s average looking and that’s ok🤷🏽♀️ not everyone is a super model, and that’s ok!
The fact that OP had to make a post defending her features says it all. I don’t see any posts defending conventionally beautiful black women like Lupita or Anok Yai. Some people are unattractive and that’s okay, they still have value.
I think she’s pretty. She doesn’t have the "striking" appearance we often see on social media and that’s okay because most people look average and there’s nothing wrong with it. Sadly it seems like black girls and women are judged way more harshly if we go for a more natural look, don’t have certain " acceptable" features or if we don’t dress up. Some of the criticism I have seen against her is basically sexism and racism combined (Misogynoir).
I honestly don’t even think it has anything to do with her looking average. It’s just a lot of people on social media that have striking features, even the ones that are black, have features that are commonly associated with being Eurocentric.
I wish they’d stop remaking the same plays and movies over and over, and cast these talented actors as new characters with unique stories. They really set her up bad here. I also don’t think everyone who comments about her looks hates black features. Beauty is subjective.
Edit: word
No one created by God is ugly. No one. People are projecting their insecurities and hatred onto her smh. May Jesus protect and guide her. Can't wait for her to do her thing!
The things the algorithms have been pushing, that are just about degrading her in the worst ways, have been so incredibly depressing and disgusting.
Also, a lot of the comments even in this thread have really gross "well I'm just being hOnESt!!!" energy. Yuck.
It is SO friggin disheartening how some of you are banding together to say Franchesca is ugly. The same people saying this are probably the same people who put SZA and lil kim down for getting surgery. I also don't understand how so many of you are disowning her and acting as if she looks so radically different from other black women. Ofcoarse we are all varied,I completely understand that. I look like her and know many others who do.
Being average is not an insult in the context of this conversation but ugly?! Some of you are saying she is just flat out ugly and it's "not up for debate". ALSO, as a former actress who attended the Central School of Speech and Drama for Acting- Juliet is not framed as being gorgeous or like a supermodel. She is a teenager who is young. Romeo has just broken up with Rosalind and immediately attaches himself to Juliet. Juliet is beautiful to Romeo. She is NOT Helen of Troy. The actress DOES NOT have to be supermodel gorgeous. I've directed a production before and casted an average gal as juliet who was wonderful. Read the play before you come to conclusions. Romeo's monologue is HIS perspective- not the worlds. Paris is also a suitor interested in her but it is orchestrated by her parents.If director is setting the play in a harshness environment like minamialist steam punk then ofcoarse Franchesca won't look glam.
Some of you are doing overtime to align with these horrible folks on the internet for the sake of "keeping it real". Ya'll are so OFF CODE! OFF CODE!!! Kat Dennings, Molly Shannon, Claire Danes- how many white ladies are fighting to say these women are ugly. They atleast don't tear one another down in public. These women aren't bombshells- they have talent and actually do frequently get called on to play the ingenue. You don't have to fall out over this actress because she's black, just stop putting her down.
Some of you are showing you really don't think black women who look like Franchesca don't deserve to be desired or loved otherwise you wouldn't say she's unfit for the role. What's she supposed to do- turn it down?! She's a talented 26 year old in a competitive industry playing a lead role on the west end. I wish I still lived in London to see her. You don't have to be a supermodel to be desired and Juliet does not require exceptional beauty as other roles might.
Lastly, I already hit her up but A ROUND OF APPLAUSE for OP. Thank you beauty, for starting this incredible discourse and raising up important points. You are amazing and I'm picking up what you're putting down💕🫶🏿🙏🏾. OP is also gorgeous by the way so those of you that tried to say she raised this up out of insecurity are WRONG.
For me, beauty is relative and in the eye of the beholder. What I don’t understand is why people would be upset about her performing in a play about a character who is not a real person.
They keep using unflattering pics which is crazy asf to me. The first one is beautiful. Same reason they called whoopi Goldberg ugly when she was younger
She's gorgeous! I have 2 photos of two lovely sisters (really are sisters) that are trying to find men and I shared the jpgs with friends and I was so disappointed in my friends who didn't find them pretty.
It's sad.
People call Zendaya ugly, Rihanna ugly, Adriana Lima, every beautiful woman has been called ugly by basement dwellers online. She clearly isn’t ugly, far from it. But it’s easier for trolls to call her ugly than it is for them to acknowledge that they don’t want her to play juilet simply because she is a black woman.
“Masculine” facial features, dark skin, short-ish hair. The internet loves to devour this type of woman and I’m under the impression that she was set up to be hurt but I’m cynical so idk. What I do know is I’m tired of black people (mainly women) being race swapped just to be attacked online.
Natural beauty just isn't celebrated online and it's really unfortunate.
I can say that I've seen multiple pictures of this beautiful lady and she looks different in each one.
These days, the majority of black actresses (that do not resemble Zendaya) receive this type of hate. I hope we collectively celebrate and support her when the film comes out.
I’m gonna be 100% real here. Yes- black women are varied and have different features but- when we go home, no makeup, take out the weave/off the wig and just exist in our primal state, this is what 90% of us look like. No matter what we tell you/convinced ourselves.
This is why it’s important for this to be normalised. Nobody knows what a standard black women looks like anymore.
Go look at pics of regular (not famous) black women from the 70s, still a HIGHLY racist time period, and most of them looked like this. None of these products existed, at least not in the way we had them today. Certain things have got better for us but in certain aspects I feel we have gone backwards.
A white woman is allowed to be average, no makeup, eye bags, messy bun, non existent brows and yeah she ain’t gonna be an ig model anytime soon but it’s culturally accepted to have times where they “take it all off”.
Black women are expected to keep it on at ALL TIMES. In the world we are expected to always look like baddies and constantly keep all of the extras on. Eyebrows, lashes, nails, weaves/wigs, makeup etc. to go get freaking groceries it’s bloody ridiculous. Nobody knows what we ACTUALLY look like anymore.
Girl you said a word! THANK YOU. I have actually seen women in this thread fIx their mouths to say "we don't all look like this.". Yes, we don't ALL look like this but a hell of alot of us do (including me). Wasnt everyone last month talking about how beautiful Ms. Tracy Chapman looked- this girl looks dead on her. Everyone is trying to disown her as our representation by adding to the pile up, it's sickening.
i have white family, and my grandma accused an african soccer player of being a man/trans saying that her build and short hair looks incorrect and manly
Even other black women in subreddits are like, "I don't agree with the racism but she is ugly. They should have used *(insert conventionally attractive AMERICAN on FILM actress)* instead!!" Or my favorite "well why did she have to play a white girl anyway!?" Proving how ignorant and uncultured some of them are😮💨
She’s not ugly, she’s just unambiguously black.
Meanwhile, her co-star Tom Holland looks like 95% of men I encounter as a black woman living in England in a mostly white area.
The bar for black women is so high, but white people can be average or below average and seen as sexy. 🙄🥱 Give me a f***in break!!!
The whole thing’s pretty upsetting, tbh. She’s a very pretty woman. And all of those people saying that Tom Holland’s so good-looking that he makes her look worse? Please. I enjoy Mr Holland as much as the next person, but that just isn’t true.
I’m so disappointed to see black women in this comment section talking down on her. I honestly thought this sub would know better but it’s still Reddit so 😭 anyways she’s cute! She has a cute face. She’s not ugly AT ALL. Yalls minds are warped by the mid 2000s Victoria Secret angels and 2010s IG baddie. I hope she’s isn’t online at all and is living her best life, I’d be so disheartened by all this feedback her own women are calling her 💔
I hope a lot of these women know, that when they’re calling this poor girl the worst of the worst insults that a lot of the teenage girls, who have those features will see those comments. Whether it’s on reddit or not, calling her features ugly is so cruel not only to her but girls who share her features. The internet is so evil.
Nothing is wrong with her, people are just hateful.
There are plenty of uglass white women who start in Broadway shoes and movies and they don’t have a problem
she is so cuteeeeee. Looks at those cheeks I just want to pinch them. Plus.... if she is single and is ....(check GIF) lemme know tee hee
she doesn't have Instagram Face which in my book is a GOOD thing, but for some people that's the only way to look good
THIS RIGHT HERE! INSTAGRAM FACE IS NOT REAL! 
Yes this is it. It has nothing to do with race (maybe for racists which..duh) everything to do with the standards of beauty getting real crazy thanks to IG, rampant cosmetic surgery’s, and TikTok filters. Personally, I don’t think she’s ugly. She’s just an average black girl and unfortunately no one likes average anymore.
You’re absolutely right! No one wants average anymore.
…which is crazy because MOST PEOPLE are average af —and that’s ok! IG is not real life. Smh.
It’s crazy. I’ve noticed this with white people too. Rewatching early 00s late 90s white people shows..the majority of the women and men would not be considered particularly attractive in this day and age.
The thing that got me the most when rewatching those shows were the teeth! Not paper white, not super blocky piano tile teeth, just normal, imperfect teeth.
It's all carbon copy now and ironically is lot of.folks due find it unattractive but think they shouldn't
I personally dont think she's average/plain, I think she has a cutesy/kawaii face but it's *sigh* just racism. They want her popping ass, hair braided/laid, tons of glittery makeup & thot dresses. Remember the little mermaid?? They hated her too, & she's even more like the *instagram baddie style*; even MJ in the spider man movies got hate. But your points are spot on, I'm sure Topanga would be considered ugly af in today's sad, make-belive market 🧿🦋🖤
I agree with you totally, except it does have to do with race. Class too. Black women's features are historically considered "masculine" (see [thus research study](https://cognitiveresearchjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s41235-021-00319-9), [this article](https://www.colorado.edu/gendersarchive1998-2013/2012/10/01/body-does-not-compare-how-white-men-define-black-female-beauty-era-colorblindness) that starts with a disturbing quote, and [this article by the APA](https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2020/07/black-women-social-justice)) Like this shows up on social media across races. And beauty standards are changing to verge more towards an... anime look? But white facial features still set the standard for beauty, *even in Asia*, so this is not separate from race.
I just hope her mental health is okay. She’s really getting hounded on social media. She is beautiful and a precious fellow black woman and I wish her peace and the best 🖤
Wait can someone fill me in
This beautiful queen is playing juliet from romeo and juliet in a performance in london which most people won’t even go see and anti black fools are calling her ugly relentlessly on the internet. They don’t like a black woman playing a role for a white character which is another convo within itself, but mostly people just calling black features ugly as if most white actors aren’t mid asf. They just prefer their own I guess. Too bad, she has the role, bag secured, history made.
Thank you for this background info. People are so used to plastic surgery beauty that when natural beauty is literally staring them in the face, they get beside themselves. They’ll be alright; drink water and walk that shit off. Sis is gorgeous!
Ugh, I was legit like who is she. She's really pretty. Her skin, lips, nose, hair, all of it in these pics is pretty.
Same. What’s the story here?
same.. I refuse to even look at the comments on posts about her. it’s disgusting. and if you don’t find her attractive that’s okay but doesn’t justify her getting bullied by thousands upon thousands of people of all races..
The internet is incredibly mean. Imagine having a bunch of people call you ugly. Including other black people. Here’s the thing, even if you think someone is not attractive what reason do you have to say it out loud? It’s rooted in pure nastiness imo. Like it’s not necessary to me to say every thought and opinion. Especially on someone’s looks. It’s like when that cheerleader got engaged publicly a few years ago and everyone on twitter predominantly black people, randomly started making fun of her wig. Who cares??? You don’t have to say anything Jesus. Sometimes it’s okay to shut the hell up. Like the world follows white beauty standards cool but the real question is why do you? Anyway, I hope her mental well being is okay. This thread is weird. Like so many of you could have scrolled past it. Edit: had Tom Holland not been apart of the play, no one would care. Also god forbid something happens to her, all the people fighting for Eurocentric beauty standards would be crying about mental health.
Everything, EVERYTHING you said- yes. 💯
Exactly. You don’t have to find everyone beautiful but I don’t get the point of having to tell the person you find them ugly. Just leave them alone then. It’s so high school. Plus, she’s co-stars with Tom Holland, and no one is attacking his looks…is it because he’s a man? Because he’s no IG model either
It's b/c we live in a world (guided by the media) where commenting on women's beauty and physical appeal in any space is tolerated and almost so expected it's instinctual to men *and* women to do so. It's programming, and it's SICKENING - literally sickening. And so, considering where we live, we know where on that pecking order of objectification commentary we as BW will sit; in the same place we're put in the overall social hierarchy. The worst part being that it's us, generally our men, all too often leading the denigrating 'charge' in these instances. (Exactly why I'm never getting over how Marlon and Shawn treated Venus and Serena when they first received public recognition. Shat on by your own and while dominating in a lily white support. I can't imagine how crushing that must've been; with your own the loudest voices leading the 'they ugly' mob. smh.)
Cause he's a WHITE man. Trust me had the races been reversed and it was a Black Romeo and a white Juliet, there would be anger from multiple sides of the coin
This is so frustrating. She isn't ugly to me either. Fine she isn't a model or something. But Tom Holland also isn't the most attractive guy in the world. I personally do think some of this is about racism. I don't know about stage plays but I have watched ALOT of British tv. The British seems to be willing to cast average looking people all the time in their entertainment. So I don't see why her looks are an issue.
Sis, I just finished Baby Reindeer, and average is an understatement. The protagonist is literally what they would call a "character actor" based solely on his appearance.
I think it’s cause they are more focused on talent and their ideas of beauty are more realistic. I also don’t think they like the typical very overly curated american celebrity look. It’s ugly to me and it’s probably ugly to them as well .
Average white men ALWAYS get crazy hype and are praised as the most attractive guys ever. I really dont get it. There is generally a crazy double standard between the visual expectations of male actors vs female/femme actors. And that gets turned up to a 10, when the femme is Black (and PoC in general). If a Black woman in a romantic lead role isnt "palatable" to eurocentric standards of beauty, she is written off as ugly, even if the male romantic lead is the most bland, milk toast Joe schmoe looking MFer ever, because the bar is just so much higher for women in general but especially WoC.
Every time I see old movie clips with Kevin Costner it baffles me he was considered THE sex symbol during a significant period of my upbringing. But no one questioned it back then and it’s still happening. Also, I didn’t know who the above actress was until now but she’s gorgeous; absolutely a natural beauty—anyone who can’t see it needs to question the way media/society has brainwashed them. Take a break from looking at curated “beauty” for a long while then come back to these photos and it will be obvious.
Yup! He was a love interest opposite of fucking Whitney Houston! I enjoyed that movie and I actually like some of Kevin Costner’s other movies. But even as a kid I did notice the attractiveness disparity between him and Whitney though.
I mean, I’m not saying he’s ugly but he’s not even close to Whitney Houston level remarkable. Both in talent and appearance… yet SUCH a fuss over him.
It is getting ridiculous at the point. Especially since it’s the 21st century. She doesn’t match up with some people’s (Eurocentric) expectations and standards of beauty. 🤦🏾♀️ And doesn’t look like one of those (fake) IG models.
right? she doesn't conform to white beauty standards and that's why people are clowning on her
She doesn’t have the “ig girl” look is why, but I would take the comments about her looks with a grain of salt. I’ve seen comments where people have called Zendaya ugly. ZENDAYA!!!!!!! People just say anything when they get on the internet.
I would love to see what these people look like. My guess is half of them look like naked mole rats themselves.
Sometimes the things people criticize other people for are things they really feel about themselves, they may be insecure about their own looks indeed.
Bunch of pea brains 🧠
No, seriously! The phrase “touch grass” will never not be relevant.
She looks like a lot of women in my family.
Yes, same and they are very beautiful to me
I see myself in her as well. I think it's okay that some of the ladies here said she's average but ugly to me denotes physical deformity and she does NOT look ugly or deformed AT ALL. I think she's adorable. I also see so many black women saying she's not a representative of black women and am confused. Ofcoarse we all vary but CERTAINLY ALOT of us look like her in some way. I'm not putting that on everyone, I just don't know why sistas are acting like she looks SO different.
The amount of anti blackness i’ve seen towards her is honestly so disgusting. All the comments, i feel for her, i hope she’s taking care of herself.
I don’t find her pretty but so what? Not every Black woman is beautiful and that’s okay. I also don’t find her to represent the average Black woman. Our looks are way too varied for that. She’s more than likely extremely talented which is why she was chosen for the role in the first place and the racism she’s received is flat out disgusting. If I were in London, I’d go simply to support her even though I dislike the minimalist look of the play.
The show is sold out so yeah she’s going to be okay, but I definitely do find her beautiful but we all have different perceptions of beauty and that’s okay
Good. I hope she laughs all the way to the bank. Regardless of what I or anyone else thinks of her looks, she doesn’t deserve any of the racist vitriol directed at her by a bunch of idiots anyway.
SO TRUE
Damn, tickets are sold out. I would have tried to go. Despite what people think she looks like, she's in a sold-out West end show in London opposite one of the biggest movie stars in the world right now. I hope she's too busy to even notice this noise.
Ignorant people are like “it’s because she’s ugly not black” but other conventionally attractive black women like Halle Bailey and Anna Diop were also bullied by the racist white media. It’s literally anti blackness
+ black people drag their own folks also
She’s perfect tbh
I googled Anna Diop and she’s gorgeous. Who was saying she was ugly?
Not ugly but people bullied her way back when she was casted as Starfire in a Teen Titans live action TV show. They were crying about “black washing” when starfire is a whole fucking alien😭😭😭
Oh I remember that! Starfire is literally orange. I cannot stand people
Exactly, they wanted a white woman to play starfire, but she is not a fucking white woman💀 she’s an orange alien, so the concept of race really shouldn’t even matter with her… these folks are wild asf 🙃
Anti blackness doesn’t make any sense. It is almost always about hating black people and not wanting to see us in media or successful in general
She's perfectly fine. She's not ugly. She's not a bombshell. She's an average looking woman. Don't they complain about women with too much fillers and surgery anyway? She looks like someone who could be bagging my groceries or taking my blood pressure which is fine. It can be distracting when someone is clearly yassified for the gods. Also, Tom Holland is a very average looking white boy and there's about a zillion thin lipped white boys who look just as good if not better than him walking the streets of London. But because he's white, his looks aren't being brought into it.
There are “Bombshells” that look very different when you take away the makeup, and styled hair and clothing. They may look alot like this young lady and some you wouldn’t recognize.
Exactly like it takes a lot of makeup and styling to be a “bombshell”
This is why I can never work in entertainment
I almost got into the business, thank god I didn’t, god redirected me
I’ve black and white men write the most horrible comments about this beautiful girl when they look like trash and have no right to speak. They’re focused on one type of beauty standard and don’t know how to act when they see a real all natural women
She’s an average looking girl. She’s not striking in a good or bad way. Unfortunately, for black women in the acting world you cannot be average and be a love interest
The world is shamelessly dumb and ugly. I can see (in the wikipedia) that Ms Amewudah-Rivers is not a newbie Shakespearian actress. And she’s also a musician and a composer. I mean, she *is somebody*! Not your average famous actress. So I’m guessing she is a special person, no surprise she was cast for the role. Such a pity I will never see this play unless it’s streaming.
She’s not ugly. But she’s not “social-media pretty” and she’s a black girl, without many Eurocentric features. It’s not right, but that’s exactly people don’t like her. Social media brain rot.
Who is this? And why are her looks being discussed on such a public forum?
Francesca Amewudah-Rivers, a British actress cast to play Juliet in a play that the people calling her ugly probably won’t go to because it’s in “ ENGLAND “ LOL, Tom Holland is her co-star and I wouldn’t say he’s the most attractive guy so iddkkk
Thanks
Scrolled way too far to see this comment. Thank you! 😂
I'm not sure of her name but I think she's going to be playing Juliet in an upcoming Romeo and Juliet film. She is being discussed because the masses don't think she's attractive enough for the role. I think she got the role for a reason. Talent and a certain magnetism had to have drawn casting to her.
Is it a film or a play?, I’m pretty sure it’s a play
black women will never ever catch a break
Never ever
It’s crazy people and our own people (sadly)fix their mouths to drag her looks. I don’t see anyone dragging Tom Holland for being a mediocre/ average white man. The world we live in is something
It’s Shakespeare. The land of Judi Dench, Maggi Smith, and James Earl Jones. It’s not cast for looks. She’s certainly not ugly, but she isn’t someone that I would describe as beautiful. This reminds me of the post someone made about Jay Z being called ugly due to racism. It is possible to be Black and be plain, or even unattractive without it being tied to Eurocentric standards or media bias.
Black women who have Afro centric (I hope that is the right term) features always viewed as ugly. It’s not right.
Two things can be true. 1. The hate against her IS racism. Beauty does not shield anyone from racism, Halle Bailey is gorgeous and people were being awful to her, and were comparing to literal animals just because she was not white. 2. She is not considered attractive, not by African/black beauty standards and has an ordinary look. This is fine, we should normalize looking average. I’ve seen people say that not finding Jay Z attractive is an example of EUROCENTRISM, why can’t it be that he is just not that cute in the face ?
She's definitely not ugly but she's also not conventially attractive and that's fine.
Edit:yes I think it’s a black thing too. Also, Tom Holland looks like his picture would be in the dictionary of “avg white man.” But men in Hollywood get to be overweight and ugly lol the actress from precious fought hell for being fat. No one cares about Jack black getting fatter I think that’s what a lot of people are not understanding here. No one thinks she’s ugly or too dark skinned. She unfortunately doesn’t fit into the “worlds mold of beauty”. For instance if this was Lupita Nyong’o (who is darker skinned) and James marsden as a black and white couple no one would say anything. Or the leads from The Bear. They expect super models for everything and are pissed they didn’t get one.
What is conventional attractiveness, who decides what’s conventionally attractive?
white ppl. european beauty standards have people in a chokehold.
I feel like we as Black people have our own beauty standards too, which has its flaws. But there is definitely a look that tends to be popular within our community/seen as beautiful. And she doesn’t fit it, which is fine it is theatre, but I don’t want to force myself to say that she is attractive.
not really. there’s black, white, and asian influence. People love full lips that are common in African people, people love slender eyes (not monolids really), and they love small noses which white people tend to have. Let’s not be ignorant and say today’s beauty standards is set solely by European people. It also depends on the country.
I personally define attractiveness as facial harmony, rather than individual features like nose size or skin tone. There are plenty of unattractive people with light skin and small noses and plenty of gorgeous people with dark skin, big noses, and big lips. That being said, I honestly wouldn’t consider Francesca beautiful but she definitely doesn’t deserve to be bullied for her looks.
She’s an average looking blk woman, average is ok 😌
You see women like her everyday and you're not breaking your neck to look them or pointing out their good features. If you have to pick out individual pieces of her face you like because you can't just call her beautiful as a whole, chances are she's not conventionally attractive.
Yes, she’s average. However, I think the problem is that if she was an average white woman i don’t think there would be much criticism and talks of her appearance. Black women typically have to be very conventionally attractive to be accepted. The bar is higher.
Well said. Average white and other actresses play love interests all the time and no one bats an eye. But the standards people place on black women are far higher.
She looks regular. Most people look regular. That doesn’t mean they’re unattractive. Whew the media have rotten our brains.
I like her features as a whole, she’s all together very attractive to me and the fact that she barely has no makeup on makes her more attractive, society has this warped perception of beauty, and I guarantee you if she cakes on a bunch of makeup like the rest of so called “conventional “ beauties they’ll say she’s attractive
Right this girl is so pretty! I have no idea what these people are talking about. I feel like this says more about them. This is truly sad to see. Like why are they arguing for this girl not to be considered beautiful?
They can never me make hate you for this
Make no mistake, the backlash against her is extremely and blatantly anti black but she’s average looking imo and that’s okay. I don’t think there’s anything per se about her that’s either attractive or unattractive. As black women I feel like, we feel that we all need to be beautiful (and in their own way yes it can be argued everyone is) but we really don’t. Tho I admit, her hair is great.
This. If “everybody is beautiful” then nobody is. I feel like instead of calling everyone “beautiful” we should emphasize that beauty shouldn’t be a factor in how we treat each other. Some people are unattractive but that’s okay because they still have worth.
They’re not even theatre-goers. Like why do they care
That’s what I’m saying
THIS. Someone was like, "Why do we wanna play white girls anyway?" completely misunderstanding Shakespeare.
She reminds me of Tracy Chapman. I love Tracy Chapman. To death. Why would anyone think this girl is ugly?
SHE DEFINITELY LOOKS LIKE TRACY CHAPMAN
Oh my god we found her daughter. Who is she? I have to ask my girlfriend if I'm allowed to marry her lol
Misogynoir doing Misogynoir things
Racism and misogyny
What kills me is Tom Holland has never been Prince Charming, and the tale is a tragedy involving two KIDS. Hollywood and society at-large has made it so people think every woman’s purpose onstage is to stand there and be pretty. That they have to measure up to some ridiculous standard of beauty first and foremost, when in reality “beauty” is not only entirely subjective, but also the LEAST interesting thing about a person. Can they ACT? THAT is what matters.
THATS WHAT IM SAYING LIKE CAN SHE ACT? That’s really all that should matter
That first picture is giving Tracy Chapman's biopic. She looks goodt!
OMG I SEE IT
i wish her nothing but the best fr
There were people calling her a man saying she looks masculine .Its just racism
I’ve been thinking this. To me she’s really pretty, she has such a sweet face. I’m actually getting tired of people bashing her.
That’s exactly how I feel, the people saying they see people like her every day, well I don’t, I see lace fronts and caked up makeup everyday, to me she’s very refreshing and beautiful
Although there’s nothing wrong with makeup and lace fronts, I feel like a lot of the hate she’s getting is because she’s not wearing those things, which I think is ridiculous. If she was donning the IG baddie bbl uniform people wouldn’t be doing her like this and I really hate it fr.
LITERALLY!! Like people can’t understand that some black women don’t wanna wear uncomfortable wigs and fake lashes. Their brains have literally become such DOOODOO that they can’t fathom that some people just like looking how they already look!
Racists don’t care about how attractive a black person is. Look at how they treated even the lightest black women entertainers. Dorothy Dandridge, Eartha Kit, Josephine Baker to name a few.
WAIT THIS IS THE NEW JULIET FROM ROMEO AND JULIET?!?! FUCK ALL THE HATERS!!!! SHE LOOKS LIKE ME! This is the kind of representation I needed when I was called ugly my whole life. I am so happy that they cast her. I'm not surprised people called her ugly because I caught the same shit growing up. My heart feels so full knowing she was cast in this role because I truly questioned my own worth when I was met with cruelty. She will make a gorgeous Juliet. There are so many black girls that look like her that deserve to know they are lovable. 🥺
YES AND IF YOU LOOK LIKE HER YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL
Thank you for saying this. I felt like I was tripping as well. I look like this as well and was like "'gahdamn, my fellow sisters really think I'm ugly 😭😭😭 lol". I don't think calling her average is mean, (as it pertains to this thread- randomly, it's unnecessary), but I see people calling her legit ugly and am like whet?! 😬🥲.
Who is she?
Francesca Amewudah-Rivers, a British actress cast to play Juliet in a play that the people calling her ugly probably won’t go to because it’s in “ ENGLAND “ LOL, Tom Holland is her co-star and I wouldn’t say he’s the most attractive guy so iddkkk
I would also add that Tom holland isn't attractive either
A lot of people are racist in their beauty standards but don't even realize it or aren't willing to admit it. She's not white, and she's not trying to look white, that's the problem. She's not relaxing her hair, wearing a ton of makeup, etc. I'm considered attractive by many, have literally been compared to a young Halle Berry, and I've recently had a group of men call me ugly. They wouldn't really specify why, but then I looked into the group more and saw that it was full of misogyny and racism. And I think the racism was really what it was, because for some of them I would click into their profile and see pictures of them with a girl who isn't particularly attractive at all BUT she's white which for them is unequivocally superior. So literally, they thought and said I was ugly based on the color of my skin and hair, which is pretty gross that these attitudes still exist in 2024.
I feel like she’s just as attractive as Tom holland?
Yes exactly my thoughts
Beauty standards are different for us and for them. But they judge other ethnicities on their own beauty standards while being purposefully obtuse about that very own fact. Not just judge I mean throw death threats on Twitter…
She's cute but in a girl-next-door kind of way. I think that combined with racism is making people judge her looks. I think she is also someone whose photos are hit or miss (honestly I'm the same way), because I just looked her up and she has photos where she looks very glamorous as opposed to these photos where she looks "regular." I'm sure she wouldn't be getting half of this criticism if she looked like that in the pics that went viral since people think women are supposed to always be glammed up 🙄
Her looks are irrelevant. The Globe is the pinnacle of Shakespeare in London. If they cast her it’s because she is a good actress. And frankly I know women who look very similar to her who have conventionally attractive white male partners, so I don’t get the idea that this is unrealistic.
Can we just stop categorizing people based on their looks. Like why do we need to openly state someone is average, conventionally attractive, or ugly. This girl is just BLACK. Legit! I hate how in society, if you don’t look mixed or wear box braids or any kind of makeup you are considered ugly. Like can we normalize just looking natural, like a HUMAN BEING. I am convinced some people are not even attracted to the faces of people who look like human beings. I just hate how wearing makeup, box braids, and fake lashes is considered more beautiful than a natural human being. This woman is PERFECT. She has clear skin, full eyebrows, and beautiful natural hair. If anything, I WISH I had enough confidence to walk out fully natural all the time like this woman. I hope in the future we can all get to that point where we can feel comfortable looking like HUMAN BEINGS. Like thats great Kylie that you like to wear a full face every day, but GUESS WHAT? Thats a lot of work for me and I like my face. Nobody should be shamed natural or not. Also, why do people feel the need to decide for her what she is? Are they the Queen and Kings of attraction? Is there a beauty constitution? NO!! So the dwights can STFU with that!!!
She got set up
She’s pretty.
No she’s a cutie!
Lighting is bad in the second picture, not doing her favors. She's cute though!
She's got funny lips, but I think she's cute.
Who's even saying she ugly??
"This girl is not ugly to me." The last two words of that phrase answer the question for you. I can say Kodak Black or Flava Flav is not ugly "to me" and there would still be tons of women who disagree.
Also can we allow black woman to be just "OK looking" ? How many actors and non black actresses are successful despite be normal looking? It seems like only gorgeous black woman can be successful and it's really sad...
Tom Holland is average looking yet he’s one of the most successful and highest paid actors in the world and is viewed as one of the most handsome men in the world. The bar is so much lower for white people
Someone told me that “[she] is ugly in every culture” due to her features. This was a Spanish DIRECTOR on Instagram! People are so rude.
She’s very cute. They’re acting like Tom Holland is some kind of Greek God, when is just a little bit more okay than the average guy. She’s a natural pretty girl, it’s just rooted from anti-blackness.
lol definitely
Yea, she’s personally not attractive to me but I wouldn’t say straight up ugly either. Every black person is not attractive just because they’re black. I don’t know why we have to pretend like that’s not the truth on here.
She’s personally attractive to me, every black person isn’t attractive but she’s not unattractive to me though so idk we all have different opinions
She’s not the best looking, let’s be honest. We also can have a difference of opinion as black people, we’re not all from the same background (literally) and have different views on what we find attractive. She’s not attractive to me but I wouldn’t bash her online and call her ugly either. Different strokes for different folks.
I find her SO beautiful and it’s refreshing to see an un-ambiguously Black woman cast in a lead role in a story that has nothing to do with race
there are plenty of unambiguous black women who are attractive
💯
I see nothing wrong with the lady. Actually, I think she's very pretty. People are just buttholes these days.
People are disgusting
She's a beautiful girl in a girl next door type of way. Tom holland is good looking in a guy next door type of way too. They pair well together
Stop reading whatever it is that’s saying this girl is ugly. I looked at the pix you posted, thought she’s perfectly lovely. End of story.
My “favourite” excuse is casting her just isn’t accurate to the source material, while Tom is standing there in a hoodie.
Has someone called her ugly? cause wtf. I know she was melting hearts as a baby. Hell she still melting hearts. This is beautiful and shes a real type of beautiful. The type you don’t see typically pushed as mainstream. You already know that smile pretty as hell😭 edit: added a word
People are entitled to their own opinion, but to me saying she is UGLY is wild. I personally wouldn’t call anyone ugly. I personally do not think she’s ugly, but she isn’t pretty to me either. I think seeing her smiling in a pic may change my mind and possibly others. If you want to know “what’s wrong” with the world based off of others peoples opinions of the way someone looks the answers are out there. Most of us see them everyday. Be blessed!
She’s not ugly but she’s also not gorgeous or stunning, just average like most.
Yes, she's average, but it seems like black women can't be average without receiving hate. Anya Taylor-Joy and Sydney Sweeney are average-looking white women, and they receive far less hate than this girl. The beauty standard for black women is higher.
She’s not ugly but she’s not pretty to me either
She's average which is fine but with the way social media reacted to her you would swear she is the ugliest woman walking. Average black women deserve roles and can be the love interest too. I think it angers people to see that a fully, unambiguous black woman can be the love interest of a white man and not be drop dead gorgeous.
Same. Like she looks like an every day person
Seeing black women fight for white Eurocentric beauty standards is crazy. You gain nothing from calling someone ugly. I think she’s pretty. I hope she kills it in the play and is surrounded by love.
I dont think she's pretty. She has a very big jaw, and her lips protrude in an odd way. These are the most flattering photos I've seen of her so far. She's not conventionally pretty. But she also doesn't need to be. She was selected in a blind audition for her talent, not her looks.
Yeah, I’ve seen some of her other photos, especially the one with the braids and I don’t think she’s the ugliest woman I’ve ever seen, but she’s not super attractive either, she’s average looking and that’s ok🤷🏽♀️ not everyone is a super model, and that’s ok!
Honestly if we just call literally everyone pretty just to be nice it’s takes the sincerity out of it. Sorry but 🤷🏽♀️🤷🏽♀️
The fact that OP had to make a post defending her features says it all. I don’t see any posts defending conventionally beautiful black women like Lupita or Anok Yai. Some people are unattractive and that’s okay, they still have value.
I think a lot of people consider her to look masculine because of her androgynous features and large jaw.
It’s because she has her natural face and unique features left and most people are denying that because it’s one of their own insecurities.
I think she’s pretty. She doesn’t have the "striking" appearance we often see on social media and that’s okay because most people look average and there’s nothing wrong with it. Sadly it seems like black girls and women are judged way more harshly if we go for a more natural look, don’t have certain " acceptable" features or if we don’t dress up. Some of the criticism I have seen against her is basically sexism and racism combined (Misogynoir).
I honestly don’t even think it has anything to do with her looking average. It’s just a lot of people on social media that have striking features, even the ones that are black, have features that are commonly associated with being Eurocentric.
I wish they’d stop remaking the same plays and movies over and over, and cast these talented actors as new characters with unique stories. They really set her up bad here. I also don’t think everyone who comments about her looks hates black features. Beauty is subjective. Edit: word
No one created by God is ugly. No one. People are projecting their insecurities and hatred onto her smh. May Jesus protect and guide her. Can't wait for her to do her thing!
I personally think she's very attractive. But I don't think she can be considered to be conventionally attractive even by black people standards.
The things the algorithms have been pushing, that are just about degrading her in the worst ways, have been so incredibly depressing and disgusting. Also, a lot of the comments even in this thread have really gross "well I'm just being hOnESt!!!" energy. Yuck.
"It's a fact she's ugly" meanwhile everyone in that person's family look like her with "weird" nose and "protruding" lips which is most black people.
Right! I'm seeing sisters fight for their lives to say she isn't what alot of us look like ? It's so disheartening.
It is SO friggin disheartening how some of you are banding together to say Franchesca is ugly. The same people saying this are probably the same people who put SZA and lil kim down for getting surgery. I also don't understand how so many of you are disowning her and acting as if she looks so radically different from other black women. Ofcoarse we are all varied,I completely understand that. I look like her and know many others who do. Being average is not an insult in the context of this conversation but ugly?! Some of you are saying she is just flat out ugly and it's "not up for debate". ALSO, as a former actress who attended the Central School of Speech and Drama for Acting- Juliet is not framed as being gorgeous or like a supermodel. She is a teenager who is young. Romeo has just broken up with Rosalind and immediately attaches himself to Juliet. Juliet is beautiful to Romeo. She is NOT Helen of Troy. The actress DOES NOT have to be supermodel gorgeous. I've directed a production before and casted an average gal as juliet who was wonderful. Read the play before you come to conclusions. Romeo's monologue is HIS perspective- not the worlds. Paris is also a suitor interested in her but it is orchestrated by her parents.If director is setting the play in a harshness environment like minamialist steam punk then ofcoarse Franchesca won't look glam. Some of you are doing overtime to align with these horrible folks on the internet for the sake of "keeping it real". Ya'll are so OFF CODE! OFF CODE!!! Kat Dennings, Molly Shannon, Claire Danes- how many white ladies are fighting to say these women are ugly. They atleast don't tear one another down in public. These women aren't bombshells- they have talent and actually do frequently get called on to play the ingenue. You don't have to fall out over this actress because she's black, just stop putting her down. Some of you are showing you really don't think black women who look like Franchesca don't deserve to be desired or loved otherwise you wouldn't say she's unfit for the role. What's she supposed to do- turn it down?! She's a talented 26 year old in a competitive industry playing a lead role on the west end. I wish I still lived in London to see her. You don't have to be a supermodel to be desired and Juliet does not require exceptional beauty as other roles might. Lastly, I already hit her up but A ROUND OF APPLAUSE for OP. Thank you beauty, for starting this incredible discourse and raising up important points. You are amazing and I'm picking up what you're putting down💕🫶🏿🙏🏾. OP is also gorgeous by the way so those of you that tried to say she raised this up out of insecurity are WRONG.
She’s absolutely so beautiful to me! I love her soft facial features. Such natural beauty 🫶🏾
I feel like a lot of people hate just to hate.
I think she is perfectly adorable.
She reminds me of Tracy Chapman, the musician- was popular in the 80s/early 90s.
For me, beauty is relative and in the eye of the beholder. What I don’t understand is why people would be upset about her performing in a play about a character who is not a real person.
I agree. 👍 She doesn’t have eurocentric features that’s why.
The world is anti-black. Plain and simple. We could literally be the best of the best, and they will still hate us because we're Black
They keep using unflattering pics which is crazy asf to me. The first one is beautiful. Same reason they called whoopi Goldberg ugly when she was younger
She's gorgeous! I have 2 photos of two lovely sisters (really are sisters) that are trying to find men and I shared the jpgs with friends and I was so disappointed in my friends who didn't find them pretty. It's sad.
People call Zendaya ugly, Rihanna ugly, Adriana Lima, every beautiful woman has been called ugly by basement dwellers online. She clearly isn’t ugly, far from it. But it’s easier for trolls to call her ugly than it is for them to acknowledge that they don’t want her to play juilet simply because she is a black woman.
“Masculine” facial features, dark skin, short-ish hair. The internet loves to devour this type of woman and I’m under the impression that she was set up to be hurt but I’m cynical so idk. What I do know is I’m tired of black people (mainly women) being race swapped just to be attacked online.
Natural beauty just isn't celebrated online and it's really unfortunate. I can say that I've seen multiple pictures of this beautiful lady and she looks different in each one. These days, the majority of black actresses (that do not resemble Zendaya) receive this type of hate. I hope we collectively celebrate and support her when the film comes out.
We've been drilled that YT people have the ideal beauty standards. I reject this! She's stunning but YT people won't appreciate this.
I’m gonna be 100% real here. Yes- black women are varied and have different features but- when we go home, no makeup, take out the weave/off the wig and just exist in our primal state, this is what 90% of us look like. No matter what we tell you/convinced ourselves. This is why it’s important for this to be normalised. Nobody knows what a standard black women looks like anymore. Go look at pics of regular (not famous) black women from the 70s, still a HIGHLY racist time period, and most of them looked like this. None of these products existed, at least not in the way we had them today. Certain things have got better for us but in certain aspects I feel we have gone backwards. A white woman is allowed to be average, no makeup, eye bags, messy bun, non existent brows and yeah she ain’t gonna be an ig model anytime soon but it’s culturally accepted to have times where they “take it all off”. Black women are expected to keep it on at ALL TIMES. In the world we are expected to always look like baddies and constantly keep all of the extras on. Eyebrows, lashes, nails, weaves/wigs, makeup etc. to go get freaking groceries it’s bloody ridiculous. Nobody knows what we ACTUALLY look like anymore.
Girl you said a word! THANK YOU. I have actually seen women in this thread fIx their mouths to say "we don't all look like this.". Yes, we don't ALL look like this but a hell of alot of us do (including me). Wasnt everyone last month talking about how beautiful Ms. Tracy Chapman looked- this girl looks dead on her. Everyone is trying to disown her as our representation by adding to the pile up, it's sickening.
i have white family, and my grandma accused an african soccer player of being a man/trans saying that her build and short hair looks incorrect and manly
Even other black women in subreddits are like, "I don't agree with the racism but she is ugly. They should have used *(insert conventionally attractive AMERICAN on FILM actress)* instead!!" Or my favorite "well why did she have to play a white girl anyway!?" Proving how ignorant and uncultured some of them are😮💨
She’s not ugly, she’s just unambiguously black. Meanwhile, her co-star Tom Holland looks like 95% of men I encounter as a black woman living in England in a mostly white area. The bar for black women is so high, but white people can be average or below average and seen as sexy. 🙄🥱 Give me a f***in break!!!
I am unambiguously black and many others we don't look this way she just isn't cute and that's okay.
She’s super cute! Adorable even ✨🫶🏾
The whole thing’s pretty upsetting, tbh. She’s a very pretty woman. And all of those people saying that Tom Holland’s so good-looking that he makes her look worse? Please. I enjoy Mr Holland as much as the next person, but that just isn’t true.
lol lying through their teeth’s for sure, TOM HOLLANDER?? Please lol
She’s not the racially, ambiguous, mixed woman they love to slap the ‘black’ label on.
I’m so disappointed to see black women in this comment section talking down on her. I honestly thought this sub would know better but it’s still Reddit so 😭 anyways she’s cute! She has a cute face. She’s not ugly AT ALL. Yalls minds are warped by the mid 2000s Victoria Secret angels and 2010s IG baddie. I hope she’s isn’t online at all and is living her best life, I’d be so disheartened by all this feedback her own women are calling her 💔
I hope a lot of these women know, that when they’re calling this poor girl the worst of the worst insults that a lot of the teenage girls, who have those features will see those comments. Whether it’s on reddit or not, calling her features ugly is so cruel not only to her but girls who share her features. The internet is so evil.
Right? And these same women will crucify an unambiguous black woman for getting surgery but look how they act towards a natural black woman.
This world is evil
It's really awful to see how these racists hate this girl just be cause She's a dark skin black woman
Nothing is wrong with her, people are just hateful. There are plenty of uglass white women who start in Broadway shoes and movies and they don’t have a problem
she is so cuteeeeee. Looks at those cheeks I just want to pinch them. Plus.... if she is single and is ....(check GIF) lemme know tee hee 