ethnicity in movies

[Mikman]

Do you like when a character's ethnicity changes in a film adaption? Do you believe that it's right or acceptable in anyway?

I don't really like it very much. I've always supported multiethnic casts and diversity in film, and I believe that bigotry still exists in the movie industry, but I don't believe that "race-change" is right because it disrupts the artistic integrity of the adaption. When a character is adapted it should be done so faithfully. However, I can mostly ignore it if the character's ethnicity isn't integral to his/her personality.

I bring out another point which is the real aim of this topic. A big controversy always erupts when a non-white actor plays a white character in a superhero movie adaption, but not the reverse. I heard much outcry over the casting of Heimdall and Nick Fury, yet little over Ra's Al-Ghul, Bane, or Storm, and most people only complained about the Mandarin because of "political correctness," not obvious racism. Is that fair? I don't believe that the viewers are racist, but something is wrong here.

[Slime Slayer]

I had when movies change anything from whatever they adapted from. Those god awful transformers... /shutter.

[Dudebro]

Is this really something people will debate? Seems like it's just a matter of personal preference and lots of answers will be basically "yes" or "no". I'll move it to chat for now and if it develops into a debate I can always move it back.

As for my answer I don't really care about it as long as it doesn't distract too much from the movie. One that annoyed me was Will Smith as the guy from I Am Legend. There was no reason to recast the character from the book. I like Will Smith but they could've easily cast a white dude to keep in line with the book. But they destroyed the story anyways so I guess it doesn't really matter.

Why would anyone be mad about Storm?

[Slime Slayer]

I don't see Black, White, Hispanic or Asian, I see Human.
It's not about being racist, it's about accurate portrayal. I'm pretty sure that you'd think it was dumb if a new Fat Albert movie came out and the entire gang was white.

[Mikman]

I prefer to think of people as Human as well, but that's difficult in certain artificial contexts.

By the way, I intended that I put this in "Chat," but I mistakenly put it in certain"Debate." I realize that this isn't an intensely important topic, but I just wanted to know others' opinion on the subject.

[Kong]

If it is a real person like Gandhi or Richard Pryor then there shouldn't be any changes.

If it is important to the characters story such as Django or Tonto or Mohinder Suresh from Heroes then they shouldn't make changes.

If Leo and Fox changed roles in Django it would have ruined the movie simply because the color of their skin would not work with the story.

If it doesn't matter to the story or characters then I don't care if they make changes. Super Man and Spider Man can be any color from any country.

[Mikman]

I believe that people make too big a deal of a character's ethnicity sometimes.

Here are some related questions. Do you believe that an actor should play a character of another ethnicity?

Do you like when a character's sex is changed?

[Dudebro]

Do you believe that an actor should play a character of another ethnicity?
http://www.retrouprising.com/img/2013_05/2346.jpg
Huh?

[joz]

Do you like when a character's sex is changed?

Hannibal tv series does this with the reporter. In the novel, the reporter is a man.

[Mikman]

That movie parodied those kinds of roles, so it's not really the same thing. But in a serious movie, I believe that it's mostly wrong. I really dislike when a mixed-race person plays a single-race person, because that implies the continuation of archaic "one-drop rule" attitudes, which have no place in modern society.

As for gender change, I dislike it because it seems like tokenism to me, although I dislike it less if the character is minor or the gender isn't important to his/her persona.

[Dudebro]

So is that why you had a problem with Storm? Halle isn't black enough because she's bi racial? I agree that casting her was bad but not for that kind of reason.

[Mikman]

Actually I disliked her because she didn't act convincingly enough like an African woman or a powerful superhuman. In this case, she's just an example of this problem I have with movies, which is that mixed people can play black people but not white people. That's my problem with Storm and others like her.

[Dudebro]

I'm kinda afraid to ask but now I have to, how does someone act like an African woman?

[FudgyDRS]

Ethnicity in not my concern, I just don't like Halle Berry's acting in any movie (an exception would be Monster's Ball).

[Mikman]

I'm kinda afraid to ask but now I have to, how does someone act like an African woman?

By that I mean that she didn't convincingly play an African person. When an actor plays a character of another ethnicity, he/she should seem as if he/she is of that ethnicity, because that's what an actor does. Mostly it was her accent.

[DrunkN]

When an actor plays a character of another ethnicity, he/she should seem as if he/she is of that ethnicity
http://www.retrouprising.com/img/2013_05/2379.jpg

[Dudebro]

How about Ben Kingsley as Gandhi?
http://www.retrouprising.com/img/2013_05/2381.jpg

Now he's set to play The Mandarin in Iron Man 3, a character who's Chinese in the comics. It's hard to doubt his acting ability but those are odd roles for a British guy right?

[Mikman]

I agree that Ben Kingsley isn't the right choice even if he's a good actor. Remember, though, that the Mandarin is half English and half Chinese, with some Mongolian ancestry. Really they should have cast a mixed European-Asian actor, although I hear that some final twist in IM3, which I've not seen yet, explains this, so I don't know if I'm wrong.

Ultimately my point is that if an actor plays an another ethnicity then he/she should do it right.

[Dudebro]

You don't think Kingsley plays a believable Indian? It was a trick question he's half Indian. He was born in England but his birth name is Krishna Pandit Bhanji. So is he still a bad choice?

Your point is kinda offensive to be honest. It's like you expect the actors to play up the stereotypes to get the role the way you think it should be.

[Jason L. Davis]

LOL..... Dope Topic, Im Havin' A Ball...hahaha

[Slime Slayer]

I really don't like it when they transform an actor/actress to play a role.
I'm supposed to be impressed that Christian Bale gained 150 pounds to play a role? No, I'm pissed they did'nt give some dude who already weighs 300 lbs a chance.

[Mikman]

You don't think Kingsley plays a believable Indian? It was a trick question he's half Indian. He was born in England but his birth name is Krishna Pandit Bhanji. So is he still a bad choice?

I meant the Mandarin, not Gandhi, and I know that he's half Indian and that he played that role very well.

Your point is kinda offensive to be honest. It's like you expect the actors to play up the stereotypes to get the role the way you think it should be.

How is my point offensive? My point is that an actor should play the role well, not that he/she should portray a stereotype, which is the opposite of my intent. I'm offended when filmmakers cast roles with people who aren't of the right ethnicity because actors of all ethnicities exist and should be given the chance so that they can perform important roles, and shouldn't be passed over for someone who just looks like the character because it's convenient. I promote diversity and you say that's it's offensive. Wow.

[Dudebro]

But you're saying they should play that nationality without explaining how they'd pull it off. How could someone play an African woman? How could they portray a Chinese man? It seems like the only answer is to play up the stereotypes. Obviously I don't mean the mean spirited exaggerated kind. So help me understand, what would you suggest Hallie could've done to seem black enough like an african woman.

[Mikman]

Essentially her accent was weak, which I suppose isn't much but I've heard when other actors have used more realistic accents. What bothered me really was that the filmmakers didn't bother that they find a capable actress who could playan African. My ultimate point was that I dislike how filmmakers seem that they believe that all black people are the same, which isn't true. Of course, Magneto should have a Polish accent as well.

[Dudebro]

But if she tried to put on an accent(which would have to be a stereotypical accent to be recognizable) then people would've complained that it was offensive or strange.

How do you "play African"? I've asked something similar a few times and you haven't explained it.

Lots of characters in the Xmen movies were off. Did Hugh Jackman sound Canadian? Was Xavier supposed to sound like he's of French lineage like Patrick Stewart? It's the same in most shows/movies you pick the best actor for the role instead of worrying about minor points only die hards will care about, like Wolverine saying aboot every now and then.

[sora2k10]

there a lot that can be said on this topic .

one thing I will say is I did not like the movie the honey mooners cuzz they made the entire cast black when the tv show the cast was white . I think that was dum . it bombed really bad and that made me upset cuzz that was one of my fav tv shows . and one of my fav comedys of all time.

[Dudebro]

Did you see this?
Inner Tube-King Of Queens - YouTube

[sora2k10]

i don't hate against it i was just bringing that up . i mean yeah they decided i guss to put cedrick the entertainer and other big time black comidains in the movie . but still it did not do well and i know a lot of big time honey mooner fans were outraged at it why i brought it up . in this topic . seeing it fit well .

i usully don't care about things like this . i just brought it up cuzz i remember all the talk about it back in like 2005 i think the movie came out

[Mikman]

Okay, so I don't really have an explanation on how one acts "African." I just hate how Hollywood trivializes ethnicities. By the way Wolverine did sound somewhat like a Canadian, and Prof X isn't French. And actors who fake accents aren't stereotyping if they sound right. If a character is from a certain country then he/she sound like that.

We seem that we strayed from the original topic, which is race-change. My purpose here was that I point out the double standard on mixed-race actors.

As for race change in remake, as in the preceding post's example, I can understand that why some filmmakers do that. I like ethnic pluralism in films, but I'd rather see that in an original film than a remake because it seems otherwise that blacks only achieve something if they rehash what whites did, instead of that they create their own films. However, that someone would hate an entire film simply because of race change is stupid. Ultimately we should judge each film by how it's made and how good it is.

[Dudebro]

Maybe it's for the best that they don't strictly enforce the characters ethnicity. Some examples aren't so good, like Storm, but then you have stuff like The Walking Dead. The lead actor is very british but you wouldn't know it from just watching the show. If they would've went for only american actors they might've picked someone bad for the role.

Hugh Jackman doesn't sound Canadian, he sounds like he's unable to hide his aussie accent. You're right about Prof X/Patrick Stewart not being French, I was thinking of his character in Star Trek. I should've known better, he was born to play that role.

How about one of the most ridiculous examples of changing the characters race?
http://www.retrouprising.com/img/2013_05/2395.jpg

John Wayne as Genghis Khan. It's so bad I can't even bring myself to watch it.



@Sora- I was just asking if you'd seen that because I think it's great and very faithfully done.

[Mikman]

I agree on Genghis Khan. I like many of Wayne's movies, but this just looks bad, although I haven't actually seen the movie yet.

By the way, American, Australian and Canadian aren't ethnicities, but nationalities, and people of British descent live in each of them. I just wanted that I clarify that, but your point on actors' accents remains. I simply want that actors and filmmakers portray the characters properly with respect to both the films themselves and the real world.

Do you notice that British actors usually can do American, Canadian and Australian accents fairly well, but not vice versa?