(ThyBlackMan.com) I was overjoyed to see that award winning actor Denzel Washington made the cover with his wife Pauletta Washington.
At first thought I said to myself that this story on them should be somewhat of “how to” manual and tutorial on how to keep one’s marriage intact when you are a married entertainer in the shark infested waters of Hollywood.
It was refreshing to see an icon such as Denzel Washington get featured with his wife as opposed to the majority of features in lesser magazines and blogs which showcase a never ending supply of buffoonery, drama and the most embarrassing displays of Black people that only solidify the low down opinions of us in different communities.
But maybe I was the only one to feel this way, so let me share with you an official promotional quote from the article and my first feelings after reading it. Maybe I’m digging too deep into it and possibly it’s nothing to be alarmed with at all in the context of the complete article which I admit I have NOT had the opportunity to read in its entirety.
Here is the official quote by Pauletta Washington from the story on herself and Denzel:
“I live with this man. I see the down part. I see the sad part. I see every part. He has and knows he has that stability in me as his wife. That gives him strength, regardless of if he misuses it. I can’t dwell on that. But I do know that gives him a great platform to go and fly.”
Regardless if he misuses it?
Come on Pauletta! Have you lost your mind? I mean, of COURSE you have a VERY unique insight into a man that most men revere and countless women fantasize about, but do you have to hint at the fact that there is dirty laundry when all eyes are on you? You sniff Denzel’s morning breath! You pick up his dirty underwear and flush the toilet behind him when he forgets to BUT…….
…….do I smell a Robin Givens/Mike Tyson moment here?
For those of you too young to remember, actress Robin Givens, in an ABC television interview with Barbara Walters that aired September 30, 1988, who was married to Heavyweight Champ Mike Tyson at the time, threw Mike under the bus with MILLIONS watching in probably the most public
display of marital backstabbing ever recorded.
Now we as rational human beings know that when in a marriage, you will experience sides of your spouse that the world will never have an opportunity to witness, but that goes with the position. But in surfing the internet and checking out the many comments that were directed straight at Pauletta, many questioned her as to her motivations for even saying something like that when she has to know that people are going to dig deeper into it until they find an answer whether true or not.
All marriages will have their ups and downs, but unless your husband is straight beating you down, one should never insinuate anything that could be taken in the wrong manner, especially when one has such a pristine public persona such as Denzel Washington.
And yes, most people know that he is NOT perfect at all, but he is someone to be proud of and someone that we can point our kids to as a role model not only because of accomplished career as an actor, but more so how he has managed to walk the straight and narrow in his marriage with his wife away from the lens.
But I said all of that to say this, why is it that “some” Black women seem to strike at their man when the light seems to be shining on them the brightest? In this case that was uncalled for and I think it would have been better taken if Denzel himself made that statement instead of her because it seems as though she has some real tangible issues for sure.
Black love? What is that? Isn’t love LOVE? While I somewhat understand where that term is coming from, the common denominator is the word love, and when you are married to someone and love someone you want to protect them and not expose them. I don’t know what Pauletta was thinking when she made that statement and I know Ebony magazine would sure run with it in order to sell more magazines…….but DAMN…….would Michelle Obama put Barack out there like that?
Understand that the whole “Black Love” thing was created conveniently to benefit from the countless Black women who were lonely yet had the money to spend to make up for what they weren’t getting. Now maybe Denzel Washington knew this a long time ago and just maybe this is why he chose to stay with his wife for so long?
This is just a speculation as I am not stating this as a fact or even as my personal opinion. Maybe Denzel Washington understood being the heart throb that he is that Black women would be his cash cow. He DID refuse romantic roles with the White actresses that were offered to him as this would have possibly “broken the illusion” that his millions of Black female fans could have had him all to themselves.
Now let’s think out loud for a moment…….
He knew how to market himself, and he did it quite well. He rode the wave of these other magazines and blogs that have catch phrases like “Black Love” “Financial Independence” “Loving Your Skin” etc. etc. He knew to set himself up as that ultimate Black man that many women would simply give anything to be with to reap the benefits at the box office time after time.
The whole Ponzi Scheme hustle aspect of this game is that he knew that no matter how much these Black women got down on their knees and prayed for a good man, that most would not ever receive their wish all the while paying their tithes in the church, keeping their hair and nails done and making sure to keep the dream alive by NEVER missing a Denzel Washington flick! Cha-CHING!
Could the aforementioned approach to his craft and “cold hearted business like outlook” be a reality that flew over our heads?
But I hope with every fiber of my being that Pauletta’s statement is not a subtle way of saying to the world that their marriage is more of an arrangement than the “love to the end” relationship that we all accept it on face value to be.
Help me out with this one people, PLEASE tell me I’m imagining things here!