The Bluest Eye Research Paper

Toni Morrison mentions actresses in the novel, and even in today’s culture, Americans tend to see them as beautiful or otherwise. As shown in The Bluest Eye, however, they were depicted differently compared to how the modern-day American depicts actors and actresses: African-Americans admired White actors and actresses. While these appearances are short, they do make a large impact on the characters. Bump makes the claim that “virtually all readers… know that they do not have movie star beauty and thus fear judging by appearance,” meaning that even today’s population yearn for this beauty created by the media i.e. actors and actresses (Bump 157). The first person to arrive on the scene is the famous Shirley Temple, who appears on a cup Frieda

In Claudia’s perspective, she doesn’t like Shirley Temple because she danced with African-Americans who were depicted in a stereotypical way i.e. a servant. However, for Claudia, it is a deeper reason behind her not liking Shirley Temple. The reason for this is because of her being “younger than both Frieda and Pecola, I had not yet arrived at the turning point in the development of my psyche which would allow me to love her” (Morrison 19). Morrison foreshadows the psyche of a person who isn’t able to comprehend compared to the older girls, whose psyche tells them to “adore” this little girl rather than Claudia’s “hate” the little girl. The final actress was mentioned in Pauline’s backstory, and her name is Jean Harlow. This woman, who was depicted in the movie, is Pauline’s final straw due to what she had did. When she was pregnant with Sammy, Pauline “fixed [her] hair up like [she had] seen hers on a magazine: a part on the side, with one little curl on [her] forehead, [and] it looked… almost just like [Harlow’s hair]” (Morrison