On Black Male Comedians & "The Dress"

 I'm only writing about this angle of the Katt Williams interview because I haven't really seen/read it elsewhere recently, and I had to look for older articles for references.

I don't believe the "wear the dress" phenomenon is strictly about "acting gay." There have been plenty of men in Hollywood (gay, straight, bi, trans, or otherwise) willing to wear a dress in front of the camera for reasons other than pressure from the writers/directors/producers. There are heterosexual actors willing to play gay or trans characters, just like there have been gay actors who have played heterosexual characters.

I also don't see it as (pardon the pun) black-and-white race issue. As many have noted, there are plenty of white make actors playing women in movies or on television. I will add that while not in every case, most often it's plot relevant, like Adam Sandler playing twins (a boy and a girl) or Robin Williams trying to watch over/gain custody of his children as Mrs. Doubtfire. Also, as many have pointed out, Denzel Washington has not had to wear a dress.

I do see this as something that seems very specific to black male comedians/black comedic actors. If you hear these men tell their story, it's about a scene in a movie that the studio (writers/directors/producers) think will be HILARIOUS but has no real impact on the plot of the story. To them, it's just a funny scene, and they will cite plenty of black funnymen who will say that's it's nothing more than a rites of passage that can lead to financial prosperity. And while there are prominent black men who have done it, we have to acknowledge some context (like Chris Tucker's Ruby Rose hooking up with a female flight attendant and Wesley Snipes' Noxeema Jackson actually being a drag queen). 

So yes; Flip Wilson did it, but Sidney Pointier didn't. Why? Why is there this intersection with humor, blackness, femininity and cross-dressing? Why does Hollywood insist that heterosexual black male comedians wear the dress to be funny? 

Could it be a form of control; some variation of the "casting couch" that so many actresses endure to find "success"? Is it a subtle way to insult black women (imagine a movie wear, instead of a man wearing the dress, that role/scene is played by a black actress) and/or the trans community (using one minority to attack/mock another is not a foreign concept)? Is it simply arrogance; the idea that Hollywood thinks that "black man + dress = funny" and will never change their mind on this? 

Maybe it's some combination: a way to gatekeep comedy, mock women and/or trans people and humiliate aspiring black entertainers. 

Whatever the goal or motivation, it seems a very specific target.