The Disposable Black Gf Trope

 

        The Disposable Black Girlfriend trope is a damaging narrative often seen in media. These characters experience a handful of microaggressions and are used as a stepping stone in the narrative. Let's dive into not only the history behind the trope, but how it's affected black women's perception of dating and interracial relationships.  

        Firstly, What is the Disposable Black Gf Trope? To put it in simple terms, I’ll give an example. Let's say the main character of a romance movie, whom we’ll call Jackson, meets a black female love interest, Alex. They fall in love, but the relationship goes through ups and downs before Jackson's main love interest, Rebecca, comes into the story. A white actress, or at least white-passing, almost always plays Rebecca. Instead of having Alex be replaced by another African-American woman, she’s replaced by someone with polar opposite features. 

        Even worse, to make the audience root for Rebecca and Jackson, rather than Jackson and Alex, film directors will portray Alex to be “mean” or “obnoxious” so the audience dislikes her. In the end, Rebecca and Jackson live happily ever after. Whilst Alex is used to reinforce harmful stereotypes, perpetuating the idea that black-girls can never be seen as more attractive than their white counterparts. 

        Adding on, the Disposable Black Gf is often painted three different ways. First, the most common way that directors write the trope; by making the black love interest into the villain. This character will likely be spiteful, jealous, and will be used to show the main character what he doesn’t truly want. Her character won't have any depth or ideals, and her sole purpose in the story is to be the main love interest's enemy. Not only is this plain bad writing, but plays into the “angry black woman” stereotype. 

        Secondly, the black love interest is portrayed as unattractive. This is when wardrobe and makeup come into play. The majority of the film's costume budget will go into making the main love interest the star. On the other hand, the African-American love interest will wear ill-fitting clothes and have their hair or makeup intentionally unflattering. Some films even include casually prejudiced scenes, having the black character wear her hair straight, but then wearing it curly whenever she's going through a rough time. This can be seen as offensive, as it is insinuating that curly and coily hair is messy and unkempt. 

        And third, the black love interest is depicted as a “second choice”. This can be spun a million different ways by filmmakers and often isn’t recognized by the audience, but still plays into the trope. For example, let's think back to Jackson, Alex, and Rebecca. The protagonist, Jackson, is in a love triangle between the two women. He wants to choose Rebecca, as she’s his “true love,” but something keeps them apart, so he ultimately settles for Alex.  Even though he's ending up with a woman of color in the end, she’s not who he wants. So, Alex is cursed to be with a man who's emotionally cheating with another woman, yet producers will illustrate this to be some kind of “happy ending”. This version of the trope is by far the most hurtful of the three, especially since it flies over so many people's heads.

        But it doesn't stop there; this trope can easily bleed into real life, making many women of color apprehensive about dating outside their race. As a black-girl who's grown up in predominantly white areas since childhood, this trope has been the story of my life. It didn’t matter how passionately I pursued someone; there was always that thought in the back of my mind about whether or not I would be abandoned for whatever shiny new toy came along. 

        To make matters worse, I experienced all three versions of the trope. I was critiqued and intimated by my white-colleagues, as they were shocked that someone of my skin tone could be chosen over them. I was made out to be a mean girl and a gossiper. And when push came to shove, and the relationships came to an end, it didn’t matter if it ended amicably or messily; everyone would take his side and make me out to be the villain. Moreover, I was always the guy's “first black girl”. Rather than being treated respectfully and taken seriously, I was treated as an experience. I was a one-time thing for fun before they’d ultimately leave me for some blue-eyed blonde. This is why so many women of color are apprehensive about dating outside the black-community. The differences in culture and upbringing can be difficult for partners to work through, not to mention it's even harder to get past the self-doubt. 

         In order to take hold of the narrative and force Hollywood to better depict black-women in romance, we need to uplift movies that allow the black-lead to be desired and worked for. Some great recommendations are: A Bronx Tale, Where Hands Touch, Scandal, Challengers, and The Photograph. 

        Hopefully, this helped give some insight into what the Disposable Black Gf Trope is, and how to spot it in Film & TV.