Posted: Tue 08 Aug 2006 06:11 Post subject: Christina Milian Experiences Racism in Romania on Film Shoot
(Note that Milian who is a dark-skinned mulatta is described as a dark-skinned Cuban-American. I do applaud the Sci-Fi Channel for posting this article.)
Pulse Star Mixed On Romania
Christina Milian, the singer/songwriter-turned-actress who co-stars in the upcoming supernatural horror film Pulse, told SCI FI Wire that she had a mixed experience filming in Bucharest, Romania. "I don't want to put it down, because you can't blame people for being the way they are sometimes," Milian said in an interview. "I did meet some very nice people, I will say that. And then I did some people that were disrespectful, but you deal with it. You know you're going to be there two months, and this is their home, so you keep going on about your business."
Milian plays Isabell, a college student, opposite Kristen Bell. They find that some of their friends and acquaintances begin disappearing after electronic devices such as computers and cell phones begin channeling what appear to be supernatural creatures. The movie derived some of its bleak look from the poverty-stricken area where they shot.
Milian, who is a dark-skinned Cuban-American, said that she encountered some racial discrimination. "Yeah, we did have some bad experiences," she said. "Or not nice. They weren't nice. I mean racism that was just direct, in your face. ... I couldn't believe it. I've never experienced that in my life. It's like you can't even saying anything. What am I going to say? I'm not going to change your mind overnight, and there's 50 people around you that feel the same way." She added: "And 70,000 wild dogs that are running around everywhere, just wild dogs, and they're just everywhere. So it was different. But I'm just happy I've gotten home safe. That was my whole thing: 'Please let me get home.' Those two months felt like two years." Pulse, which is based on the Japanese horror film Kairo, opens Aug. 11. —Patrick Lee, News Editor
CHRISTINA'S ROMANIAN NIGHTMARE: Milian Deals with Racism and Nick Cannon's Cheating in Eastern European Country.
August 7, 2006
Christina Milian *A reporter at the junket for Christina Milian's new film "Pulse" asked the star if traveling to Romania to shoot the film was one of those many perks that come along with the job. The actress-singer responded with a short burst of laughter before dropping her smile and asking, "Is that a joke?".....
And no one knew that Milian, the 24-year old daughter of Afro-Cuban parents, was experiencing all kinds of racism during her stay in the country.
"I wouldn't say it was a perk. It was an experience I will have in my mind forever and hopefully I won't get to experience it again," Milian finally told the reporter. "I'm not one that's easily like, 'prejudice!' I don't' easily point the finger that way, but when it's blatantly in your face, it's just depressing to see that it still goes on."
Milian said that among other things, there were Romanian people laughing and pointing at her while barking the words, "Black! Black! Black!" She also described an incident in a mall where she was the only one of her white crew sweated unnecessarily by security.
"Rick Gonzalez is another actor in the film as well, and he dealt with it too," she said. "It took me to another place, I'll tell you, because when I got back home from the movie, I had a huge appreciation for home. But, at the end of the day, it's like how can you blame these people, sometimes? What are you exposed to? You don't know what they're being exposed to."
Milian, a native of Jersey City, NJ who grew up in Waldorf, Md., said she decided to channel the anger and frustration of the experiences into Isabel Fuentes, the character she plays in "Pulse."
It's a damn shame Ms. Milian had to experience such ignorance and hate...
It also makes me think about what life must be like for Afro-Romanians who live there 24/7. I'm not talking about the handful of celebrities who may (or may not for all I know) get a "free pass" but the average ones. Those in poverty, the orphans, etc...
I agree with you that the Afro-Romanians must experience similar hell just as the Roma (Gypsies have for centuries.) It's always amazing when countries like Romania that has a horrorific history of mistreating their children look down on other people.
Several of east European countries like Poland and Latvia are experiencing nationalist revivals that have spawned racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic attacks. Of course, the U.S. still has it's own sick freaks, like the Rev. Fred Phelps...So, that story about stones and glass houses still applies here.
Many, if not most, countries in the non-Western parts of Europe are, for all intents and purposes, backward, isolated, xenophobic, and tradition-bound. These crude displays of bigotry shouldn't be a surprise to us. My sister experienced similar, though less obnoxious and hateful, treatment in China.
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