You Must Remember This

155: Passing for White: Merle Oberon (Make Me Over, Episode 4)

You Must Remember This ›

49:21 | Feb 11th, 2020

4 recommendations

In 1935, Merle Oberon became the first biracial actress to be nominated for a Best Actress Oscar, an incredible achievement in then-segregated Hollywood -- except that nobody in Hollywood knew Oberon ...Show More



Recommendations

molinos recommended:Feb 29th, 2020

I´m loving so much this miniseries Make me over of You must remember this. Every episode brings us an amazing Storie of how the beauty industry has been linked to cinema and actress from the beginning but this episode with the story of Merle Oberon has everything to make you keep listening unti the ...Show More

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alicekoMar 2nd, 2020

Thank you for this recommendation. You're absolutely. This episode has me HOOKED.

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mmMar 5th, 2020

@molinos Loved this episode. Reminded me of the story of actress Anna May Wong...

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mm recommended:Mar 5th, 2020

The only Asian woman who was ever nominated for an Oscar had to bleach her skin and erase her history and culture to assimilate into white Hollywood 😢😢😢

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aliceko recommended:Mar 2nd, 2020

A bittersweet tale of hidden identity, shame, racism, and ultimately coming to terms with your true self. Did you know that an Asian woman HAS been nominated for a Best Actress Oscar? It was just a secret at the time. Merle Oberon was the first biracial actress and ONLY Asian actress to be nominate...Show More

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rmmiller364 recommended:Dec 17th, 2020

Oh wow, I loved this episode. I was very interested in the colonial context in which Oberon grew up and how being an Anglo-Indian meant that she don’t really have a place in India. In order to be successful in Hollywood, she had to erase her past and even use skin bleaching cosmetics to pass as whit...Show More

I thought this episode was:

😢 Moving
💡 Educational
😭 A tear-jerker
🕵️‍ Well-researched
📝 Well-written
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