Who is Paris Jackson playing?
As soon swarm fell on Prime Video, it quickly took over the discourse on the internet. Viewers took to social media to discuss the miniseries references beyonce, Donald Glover‘s life afterAtlanta, Chloe Bailey‘s and Dominique Fishback‘s performances, Billie Eilish‘s acting debut, and the sheer fact that Mali Obama wrote one of the seven episodes of the series. Amidst all the excitement surrounding pop stars and former presidential daughters, one conversation slowly took on meaning Paris jackson‘s role in the series. the daughter of the king of pop, Michael Jacksonplays a very important role in one of swarm‘s previous episodes, and lovers of the show couldn’t stop talking about her. But who exactly does Jackson play? And why is her role so controversial?
What is “Swarm” about?
Created by Donald Glover And Janine Naber, swarm is one of those shows that it’s better to walk into without knowing anything about it. Nevertheless, we will try to give you a general impression of the plot. Best known for her role as Deborah Johnson in the 2021 historical drama Judas and the Black Messiah, Dominique Fishback Stars in the series as Dre, an extremely socially awkward young woman who is obsessed with Beyoncé-like pop star Ni’jah (Nirine S. Brown). Dre shares this fangirl love with her sister and roommate Marissa (Chloe Bailey) – or at least she thinks so. After a series of events, Marissa turns down Dre’s invitation to a Ni’jah concert to meet her boyfriend going on a trip, the two sisters get into a fight, and Marissa decides it’s time for her to move out.
Devastated by her sister’s sudden decision, Dre finds some solace in the surprise release of Ni’jah’s latest concept album, Festival. However, on the same night that the music video for the title track is released, Marissa takes her own life. convinced that her friend Khalid (Damson Idris) cheated on her. This is a reference to a real-life rumor spreading around the internet about a girl who committed suicide after listening to Beyoncé’s 2016 album Lemonade The Most Beautiful and Powerful Woman Alive was cheated on by her husband that she did just can’t stand it anymore.
Marissa Jackson’s suicide was never real, but on the show it has some pretty serious implications for Dre’s worldview. Angry at Khalid for his alleged betrayal and outraged by the many gruesome comments online about Marissa’s death, Dre embarks on a murderous road trip to meet her greatest idol.
Who is Hailey, aka Halsey, Paris Jackson’s character in “Swarm”?
On one of the first stops on her road trip, Dre meets Paris Jackson’s character, a stripper named Hailey — or should we say Halsey? Entitled “Honey”, Episode 2 of swarm has Dre relocate from Houston, Texas to Fayeteville, Tennessee about a year after Marissa’s death. In order to make some money and find a man who has been posting a series of mean tweets about Marissa’s suicide, she takes a job at a local strip club. Bullied by her co-workers for her awkward dances, Dre finds a friend in another stripper, who goes by the stage name Halsey. Or maybe we should say that Hailey finds a friend in Dre.
Extremely pushy, Halsey invites herself to Dre’s hotel room to pamper her abusive boyfriend, Sir (Casey Mills), and it’s all downhill from there. Fearing being involved with Hailey for the rest of her life, Dre makes the decision to get rid of Sir. When Hailey stumbles that she’s digging a shallow grave for Sir’s body and suggests they become Black Thelma and Louise, Dre decides it’s time to get rid of Hailey as well. I guess that’s what you get when you pretend to be someone’s best friend so you can get into their hotel room…
But before Hailey dies, she and Dre have a very revealing conversation. Remember a few lines ago when I mentioned that Hailey wanted her and Dre to become Black Thelma and Louise? Yeah, the problem is, looking at Hailey, one would quickly conclude that she would make a very white looking Black Louise (or Thelma, I don’t know which one she would go for). But as it turns out, she doesn’t think she’s white. While sitting at a diner with Dre, Hailey claims to understand what it’s like to be an outcast because she’s black too. Dre is completely shocked by the statement, but Hailey quickly clarifies: “Half my father.” A few seconds later she adds: “That’s why my stage name is Halsey.”
‘Swarm’s Halsey is a dig at the real Halsey
Hailey’s stage name is a nod to a true singer-songwriter Halseyknown for her songs “Without Me” and “Closer”, a feature featuring The Chainsmokers. Born to a white mother and black father, Halsey was frequently questioned about her ethnic identity. In a 2017 interview with playboyThe singer explained that even though she looks white, she “feels like a black woman.” At the same time, however, she declared: “I’m white-passing. I accepted that about myself and never tried to control anything about black culture that wasn’t mine.”
In 2020, Halsey came under fire for not speaking out loud enough about the Black Lives Matter protests that were sweeping the United States, despite claiming to be at least partly black. The singer accepted Twitter, where she wrote: “I’m white over. It’s not my place to say “we”. It’s my place to help. I feel pain for my family but no one will kill me because of the color of my skin. I’ve always been proud of who I am, but it would be an absolute disservice to say ‘we’ if I wasn’t subjected to the same violence.
Paris Jackson, on the other hand, has always maintained her black identity as the daughter of black pop icon Michael Jackson. In conversation with Rolling Stone, the actress explained that despite her white appearance, she considers herself black. According to Jackson, “Her father looked me in the eye and pointed his finger at me and was like, ‘You’re black. Be proud of your roots.” And I’d say, ‘OK, he’s my dad, why would he lie to me?’ So I just believe what he told me. Because to my knowledge he never lied to me.”
Many took on the role of Paris Jackson swarm To attack Halsey, however, there’s more to the joke than meets the eye. What the show seems to be aiming for is a broader discussion of race and who gets to be black in our current society, where blackness is so despised yet so commercialized. At the end of the day, both Halsey and Paris Jackson are daughters of black guys, but they’re both very white, too. Should we laugh at them calling themselves black? Are they entitled to claim that identity considering, as Halsey puts it, no one will kill them because of the color of their skin? These are not easy questions, and swarm does not attempt to answer them, although it does point out the ridiculousness of someone who looks like Paris Jackson and claims to be black. And considering her Responding to fan reactions on TwitterParis is pretty much okay with that.
https://collider.com/paris-jackson-swarm/ Who is Paris Jackson playing?
