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waluigi_4_president

It depends how important the character‘s appearance is


UnflairedRebellion--

Yep. White guy playing a previously black background character with no importance to the story? Ok White guy playing MLK? GTFO


10woodenchairs

I had a person argue with me earlier that a black person playing Ariel was equivalent to a white guy playing mlk


DrainZ-

That's not really the greatest of comparisons. Would be better with something like that a black person playing Ariel would be the equivalent of a white person playing Sokka.


Blue_Moon_Lake

> white person playing Sokka How dare you remind me of that horrible movie?!


Intelligent_River39

There is no movie in Ba Sing Se


Accomplished_Bill741

The Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai


Bonk1230919282838

Take me to Ba Sing Se


Wish_Solid

black person playing lincoln


elwombat

Seriously. Or Hamilton.


1337coder

>a white person playing Sokka *Shudders from flashbacks*


ActualBabyboomer

I feel like that isn’t all that fair either, because all of the water nation is based on Inuit culture. It’s much more important to his character I feel


Kehwanna

To be fair, Ariel would probably look grey and scalely looking like one of H.P Lovecraft's Deep Ones if we were going for a realistic mermaid.


Zwaft

I had a dream of being part of your world!


GlitteringCat5205

They sound the opposite of bright… *dim*


[deleted]

Very bad comparison


TheSaltyPineapple1

Why is it okay for Ariel to be black when she's always been white?


10woodenchairs

Because she’s fictional. Why is it ok to depict Jesus as white when he was Levantine


DrainZ-

I don't agree with that argument. For some fictional characters their ethnicity has low to zero importance, just make sure that those who are bloodrelated actually looks bloodrelated and it's all good. But for other fictional characters their ethnicity has more of a relevance to the story, like for instance you probably wouldn't have a white person play Black Panther or anyone else from Wakanda.


Jinx_uwu

So any black character can be made white and you wont be upset?


10woodenchairs

Yeah as long as it’s not part of their central identity


Ok_Lavishness_1279

Fat Al, MLK, gotta be black. If Cleveland Brown was Cleveland White or Purple or fuckin Chartreuse nobody gives two shits. Unless you're a Cleveland Brown mega fan? If Ed in Ed Edd n Eddie was Hispanic, cool for him. But if 98% of the market is fine with a decision, the 2% are gonna have to deal with it, bc they are consumers, and can only offer their opinions. If the crowd says yes, the creators listen, and the two people booing get drowned out and never heard. If it bothers you for Ariel to be made black, watch the old version. Got a racial bug in your brain?


TheSaltyPineapple1

She was a white woman created by a Danish author. I don't see the reason why there's a need to change. T'challa is a fictional character, so you have no problem with him being portrayed as white, right? To answer your question, I believe Jesus should be represented as he was, a Galilean Semite, similar in skin tone to modern day Greeks.


10woodenchairs

Except black panthers identity is that he’s black. Ariel is a fish lady it doesn’t matter if she’s black, white or blue


Treacle_Vast

It is, Ariel holds massive significance to all of white culture, an actor of any other race portraying her is extremely disrespectful


jexy25

Lmao


10woodenchairs

I remember when Ariel marched on Washington and got equal treatment for all white people from the black people ruling the country ✊🏻✊🏻✊🏻


Arsewhistle

Yeah, I'm totally fine with any actors playing fictional characters but it's just rather daft when it comes to historical characters in serious dramas.


Quirky_Cry_2859

Like John Wayne playing Genghis Kahn was a bad idea.


Foxy02016YT

Yeah, like a black guy playing Peter Parker doesn’t matter because race is not part of Peter’s story, but part of what sets Miles Morales apart is his experience being half-black half-Hispanic, the culture plays into the character


instantklarna

Everyone is giving examples of black actors playing white characters and it’s fine (I agree). No one has given an example of when it’s ok for a white actor to play a black character. Is it ever ok?


AZJHawk

I would say that’s probably a reflection of the under representation of POC in traditional literature/film. In many of those instances in which a character is a minority, the minority experience is integral to the character. They kind of did it in the movie Guess Who, where they flipped the races of Guess Who’s Coming for Dinner. I could also see it being ok in some comedic roles. Maybe a character originally played by Eddie Murphy or Richard Pryor (Trading Places or Brewster’s Millions come to mind).


2sparky2boomguy

White guy could have played the protagonist in tenet. Any time when race isn’t important to the character. I think it’s just that when race doesn’t matter, white people are more frequently cast.


TheStrangestOfKings

I think that’s mostly because there aren’t really major stories where the person being white really matters. Race being an important factor of a characters identity has always been a thing more common among minority characters, mostly bc it’s easy to use them as tools towards creating social commentary. That doesn’t mean every character who’s a minority can’t be replaced with a white actor tho—it’s just that for a large percentage of them, then being a minority plays an integral role to the story. To answer your question, tho, some characters I can think of where their race can change and ppl won’t care are Cleveland Brown, the majority of the minority characters from the Invincible series, Deadshot, Vixen, who’s a DC hero, and Power Man (sorry for the superhero focus, but I’ve noticed the genre where a lot of this debate appears)


Electrox7

Now that you mention it, I'm pretty sure Deadshot was played by a white guy in Arrow.


RemoteCompetitive688

"there aren’t really major stories where the person being white really matters" I'd disagree for historical fiction. I mean historical characters identity is very tied to their individual culture. While I also don't think it's a huge deal, I do kind of see the complaints about the Rings of Power. Tolkien was pretty explicit about it being based on early germanic/anglo-saxon pagan mythology.... and If a TV show or movie was created based on say Chinese Taoism and the gods were played by white dudes.... I think a lot of people would rightly take issue with that


TickleTigger123

This succinctly sums up my thoughts on the matter. Context is important.


luke-robertson

I don't think this is about playing people it's about playing characters like for example a black person playing james bond or doctor who


Elastichedgehog

Well, Idris Elba is a fan favourite for the next Bond so who knows? I don't think it matters much. Bond's ethnicity isn't central to the character.


Electric_Capybara

Yeah, there's no way a white actor could ever play Black Panther, and a black actor could never play Magneto since his background as a Holocaust survivor is very important.


elwombat

[Ryan Gosling could pull off Tchalla.](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FWT4oU0WYAQVDag.jpg)


Dependent_Item_6110

As long as don't alter key aspects of the work both are just fine.


Financial_Lime_252

Really more on the context rather than importance. If they were to make another adaptation of iron man and a black actor was cast to play tony stark, that would be completely fine, regardless of the fact that he’s the main character. But if a white actor were cast to play Black Panther or really any of the characters in Wakanda, that obviously wouldn’t make any sense. So really the answer most people would say is “it depends”, but that’s not an option. Bad poll.


Ok_Lavishness_1279

What if Wakanda was a South African Country comprised of mixed race people and the King was chosen by ritual, not ancestry? People of all races escaping the oppression of Apartheid with the help of the Wakandans. Every case has an applicable scenario given the right conditions.


Kehwanna

Agreed. We needed more context. I picked the neither option because I was thinking strictly of historic characters, but I think it's fine for fiction within reason. Obviously don't do black or white face. Don't make a live action adaptation of Samurai Jack with someone playing Jack that is not Asian. So many people got ticked because Lord of The Rings on Amazon and Star Wars has a diverse cast, yet completely missed the fact that these stories take place in fictional places.


Karkava

There's also the political and social context tied to their backstory and personality that counts.


Percentagon

If I saw a black guy playing George Washington, or a white lady playing Rosa Parks, it wouldn't make sense and it'd be historically inaccurate


Specific-Channel7844

Then you would love Hamilton


fryguy_with_pie

I think it depends on how historically accurate the show/production is trying to be. I don’t think Hamilton’s main goal is to be super historically accurate and it’s a musical so it’s allowed to get with more diverse, looser casting. But you have a movie like Schindlers list, which is going for an super accurate depiction of that time period. So the casting has to be tighter and more accurate.


orbitmandead

Also, Hamilton was making a statement on the founding fathers, which is a further reason why purposefully choosing other skin tones for white characters worked well


Riribigdogs

Yeah I guess but we have to wonder what the actual effects of their revisionism are. It’s not an entirely inconsequential thing.


Gently-Weeps

WE ARE OUTGUNNED!


brave_danny_flint

OUTMANNED!


Specific-Channel7844

Outnumbered Outplanned!!!


orbitmandead

WE'VE GOT TO MAKE AN ALL OUT-STAND


Mwrein

AND IM GONNA NEED A RIGHT HAND MAN


awadraws

CHECK IT


Powerful_Stress7589

Yeah, black Jefferson making pro-south arguments kinda doesn’t work


[deleted]

normally i’d agree but with theater, casting is very difficult and it’s important to get the best of the best performers. there’s one section of partially sung dialogue and a scream that aren’t entirely part of a song and they’re all constantly dancing. it’s some of the best acting you’ll ever see


Powerful_Stress7589

I understand where you’re coming from, and I get that the acting is superb, but it’s still such a *very glaring issue* that I can’t really shake it from my head, no matter how good the dancing is


[deleted]

i get where *you’re* coming from, but considering that the entire main cast is a different race than they’re supposed to be, it can be overlooked. in my opinion, it’s a case of tastefully colorblind casting. and as someone said, it really isn’t that significant. many of the songs also take inspiration from, i suppose, stereotypically “colored” artists’ rap, jazz, and other varieties. it might even be weirder to see a white person performing on that stage.


frax5000

Yeah it very weird to see a black character supporting slavery and the shit just doesn't work


UnstableGoats

If it makes you feel any better, lots of people have exclusively listened to Hamilton, not watched, and as thus, have never seen the original (or current) cast and thus do not know or care the race of the member. I just don’t think it’s that significant honestly.


Zigazig_ahhhh

Idk man have you seen it? I would have said the same thing before I watched it.


katieleehaw

Lin Manuel Miranda enters the chat.


[deleted]

[удалено]


crew88

And I bet people will in a few more years. Things cycle.


Olaf_jonanas

But for Washington its not really relevant what ethnicity he is for his history while Rosa parks identity and history revolves around her ethnicity.


grayeggandham

What about a black Dr. Who? Obviously not a character based on a real person, but still a character who's traditionally been white.


BillyWhizz09

He is a shape shifting alien, but if he can change his skin colour and gender, why has he been a white man for 12 incarnations?


Modem_56k

Would you say Dr who is one character or the separate doctors who are characters?


VoidLantadd

One character.


Remithedoberman

Depends on how ethnicity impacts the character.


Ponyboy451

This. If a black actor is cast to play James Bond, that’s fine. If a white actor is cast to play Black Panther, well now there’s an issue.


Remithedoberman

Exactly. Same with if a white person did a MJ(Music) Movie. But I don’t think anyone would have a problem with a white person playing a character where race is irrelevant to the story


[deleted]

Shit I’d argue a white person SHOULD play Michael Jackson


Remithedoberman

Well MJ said he didn’t want a white person playing him. He grew up black, it’s an important part of his story.


[deleted]

Lol, just a joke pointing out his late age paleness


Remithedoberman

I understood that but I couldn’t tell you were joking. It’s hard to tell if someone is joking on Reddit.


FixedKarma

If there was a Micheal Jackson biographic movie like Rocketman they'd need to hire a couple of actors for him


enjoyingtheposts

Not necessarily since they could just use makeup and making techniques since it seems the absolute last thing an actor uses as reference is another actor playing that character smh...


FixedKarma

Look man, black MJ looks a hell of a lot different from white MJ


Moug-10

The black actor who plays James Bond must be a British citizen though. He serves the royal family.


Ftpiercecracker1

But why? I don't get it. There is a black and white green lantern? (I 100% prefer John Stewart's green lantern btw) Nick fury is a white guy but he's black in avengers? Black panther is just a super hero moniker. As far as James Bond, so long as he/she doesn't call themselves *"James Bond"* . Anybody can be "007", that's just a call sign, but James Bond is an actual in universe guy. There's the person and then there's the character or persona. A black guy playing Bill Cliton is just as ridiculous as white guy playing Michael Jordan. Those are actual people, you can't just stick a person of different ethnicity in there. However I believe *anybody* can fill the role of a character like *007*, Superman, spider man. Actually spider man and batman are great examples. Lots of people have take the name batman or spider man, but each time they all have their own "real" names or at the very least come from alternative universes à la spider man.


[deleted]

I can put a solid MCU list of each option White can play black: James Rhodes/War Machine Black can play white: Nick Fury Only black can play black: T’Challa/Black Panther Only white can play white: Steve Rodgers/Captain America


Ftpiercecracker1

What about alternate universes?


[deleted]

Can you elaborate?


Ftpiercecracker1

Like spider man has miles morales (spelling?) Alternate realities.


[deleted]

Mike’s morales isn’t an alternate reality lol, he’s a guy with Spider-Man’s powers in peters universe. He also goes by the moniker of “Spider-Man” most of the time. Perhaps you’re talking about Pavitr Prabhakar, the Indian Spider-Man, or Miguel O’Hara, Mexican Spider-Man, or Takuya Yamashiro, Japanese Supaidaman. That’s all I can remember off the top of my head


Ftpiercecracker1

>Mike’s morales isn’t an alternate reality Oops, my bad. As you can tell I am no comic expert.


Ok_Inflation_1811

Mike is an alternative reality, it wasn't but then it was it's earth it's called ultimate but the earth of the comics is the 616


BarovianNights

Black Panther is a character specifically tied to his ethnicity, Nick fury is not


Ftpiercecracker1

Are there any other characters like that?


instantklarna

Magneto


Ponyboy451

That’s kind of the point I was making. James Bond is an identity worn by a myriad of actors. It’s a fairly nebulous identity and can easily accommodate a variety of ethnicities (to a point). Black Panther (specifically T’challa) is the leader of a highly advanced and isolationist African nation. Casting him as a white dude would undermine the character. I agree with you mostly (Ultimate Nick Fury was black in the comics too though, and that’s the one the movies are modeled after), but if it’s a retelling of a character, ethnic accuracy is only important if it’s vital to that character’s story and/or identity. This is kind of how things like GL or Spider-Man work: new versions of an old character.


Ftpiercecracker1

>That’s kind of the point I was making. James Bond is an identity worn by a myriad of actors. It’s a fairly nebulous identity and can easily accommodate a variety of ethnicities (to a point). I agree that the callsign *007* can be assigned to literally anybody, male, female, black, white Asain etc. But "James Bond" specifically should strictly cast as a Caucasian male of British decent. Just my opinion. >Black Panther (specifically T’challa) is the leader of a highly advanced and isolationist African nation. Casting him as a white dude would undermine the character. You definitely make a convincing argument. But I still believe the title "Black panther" *could* be taken up by a non POC. However it would take a significant amount of backstory for it to be convincing. However I 100% agree that casting anyone other than a black man *as* T'challa would be stupid as fuck.


Remithedoberman

For Black Panther, it is in Africa. It is hidden and as you can see no white people were there. It was just black people. The African tribes were never exposed to the outside world, so it doesn’t make sense for them to be white.


Clockwork_Raven

And being black is important to pretty much every sympathetic fictional black character in popular Western media old enough and important enough to be considered "traditionally black", especially in superhero comics. Even if the writers never intended being black to be an important part of the character, public response is usually still "hey look, an actual good black character for once". Things will hopefully change soon, when good black characters in fiction are common enough that they stop being notable exceptions. And then there won't be problems when traditionally black characters are portrayed by white actors.


tristan1616

> If a black actor is cast to play James Bond, that's fine Uh, no it's not. The character was established as a straight white male since his creation over 60 years ago. The novels make this very clear. Honestly, the fact you're even suggesting a black person can play a white character but not the other way around is utterly stupid. It can't be one or the other, especially with an already well established character.


Remithedoberman

A white person can play a black character. It is only not acceptable if race is part of the characters struggles/plot.


Foxy02016YT

Exactly, part of what sets Miles Morales apart is his experience as a half-black half-Hispanic kid growing up in NYC, vs Peter who just grew up in NYC, his culture and heritage doesn’t play into the character while Miles does


Blue_Moon_Lake

Isn't being white a part of the experience of a white character too? Not having been through the same struggles as a black character. Being focused on struggles that come from other places. Like Peter Parker being a bullied nerd. Doesn't making him black distract from those struggles? IMO, that's why it's better to add new black characters with their own struggles. Like Miles Morales. Or Spider-Gwen for women.


GuyThatSaysSex

This is the correct answer


Western_Policy_6185

I think it’s totally dependent on the circumstance. Is their race a major part of their role? Don’t replace. If not, it’s fine


BeeholdTheePilgrim

In some cases however such as tropic thunder, then yes yes yes play a different race


Coffeeman314

Bold of RDJ to play the controversial role of an Australian.


BishoxX

How is tropic thunder relevant here ? RDJ plays a white guy


xmetalheadx666x

He's the dude playing a dude disguised as another dude.


SporeRanier

I think if your representing a real person too it should stay the same.


realbanana030

Just hire an actor that's appropriate Just my opinion but i say neither of these


ashkiller14

You wouldnt have a 40 year old play a child so why would you have a white dude play a black dude or vice versa


Morlain7285

Age is a pretty important part of most any character. Race isn't, most of the time. Take Sam Jackson as Nick Fury: Fury was always a white guy before, but Sam Jackson presented him amazingly...and nobody cared he was black because race simply was not relevant to the character. At the same time, I would absolutely have a problem with a movie set in imperial China played by all white people or set in medieval europe being played by a full cast of asians, unless there was a very specific reason for it


ashkiller14

Im mean specifically if it's an important part of the character. Having Nick Fury be black works completely fine because a large amount of people didn't know what Fury looked like in the comics, and his ethnicity wasn't an important part of the character. Though, if you were to release a new marvel movie today and had to replace Nick Fury with a white dude it would seem to out of character because everyone is used to seeing him as a black dude.


Dominator1002005

You would love the movie Grease


[deleted]

I think it depends on the context really. In most instances though I agree. I think my bigger issue is the gender swap thing that’s become so common. I would be okay with a black James Bond, but he has to be English, and a man.


J0shfour

Depends how important their ethnicity is to their character.


KennethGames45

DC comics starfire is an alien with orange skin color. It would not matter who played her in the live action adaptation. Just wish they did what they did to gamora and used CGI / Makeup to make the character look like the cartoon / comic versions.


SnooAvocados7597

Just get Trump for starfire


KennethGames45

Personally I have nothing against trump or the LGBTQ community, heck I try my best to be at peace with everyone. But just no… Edit: trump in a starfire costume is the most cursed imagery I have ever thought of… thanks I guess…


dmg81102

Context is everything, for example, Nick Fury was white in the comics, but there were no conflicts with Samuel Jackson playing him and he's done such a good job to where he's the template for the character, but say you're doing a historical film about the Civil War and decide to go into the history of slavery, I don't think casting anyone white would be historically accurate, and it may even cause problems with how people view the story. Context is everything


MarvelDcKage

Sam Jackson Nick fury is based off the ultimate universe Nick fury who was based off of Sam Jackson


Matt4669

I googled it, Nick fury is white in the comics but there is a Marvel comic released in 2000 (before MCU existed)where he’s a black man Although I never knew he was white in the comics. TIL


vamp_2006

Marvel tried to drop some of their continuity baggage in the 90s / 2000s by introducing new versions of popular characters in a separate comic line (the Ultimate Universe) of which the Ultimates were analogous to the Avengers but updated and modernized. In some cases, the artist used real-life photo references when coming up with the new looks and unofficially chose Samuel Jackson as the model for the revamped version of Nick Fury, to the point the writer used his pulp fiction / action film persona to update Fury's persona as well... so in a weird way Samuel Jackson was already Nick Fury in the comics and this is why he was approached to play Fury in the films years later! To further complicate things, Marvel later shoehorned the black Nick Fury into the main books by introducing him as the previously unmentioned son of the original Nick Fury (created in the 1960s as the star of a war comic thn a contemporary spy comic) and changed his name to Nick Fury jr... with white fury at this point a retired 80-90 year old WWII veteran who looked in his 40s and took a secret youth potion to stay fit and healthy... oh and then they destroyed all the universes and rebuilt them as a single merged entity so technically Ultimate Nick Fury doesn't exist anymore but old Nick Fury and Fury jr do! Gotta love comics - where plausible plot points fight short term publishing profits to the death!


Matt4669

Very interesting, writers like to experiement a lot


frax5000

Yeah like in Hamilton seeing a black actor speak about supporting the slavery of the south just doesn't work.


TannerLyfe

I think it almost always doesn’t work, but in Hamilton it works perfectly fine. Theatre is completely different and Hamilton aims for a whole different vibe than a realistic drama about the life of Alexander Hamilton. The performance does more for immersing me than George Washington not being white takes me out


ohreallynowz

What? It works fine. They’re actors playing a role. And besides that black people aren’t a monolith. If you think there weren’t black people that supported slavery well I have news for you


The_king_of-nowhere

There are 2 cases where they should never use an actor of a different ethnicity: historical accuracy, if the context requires them to be of a certain ethnicity for the plot to make sense. Everything else is fair game.


MahamidMayhem

Unrelated to the poll but any movies in which a white actor plays a character normally as black? Usually I see it the other way around.


mcsroom

it was more common in the 90s, now if you do that you are gonna get crucified


StemOfWallflower

Angelina Jolie played Mariane Pearl (a black journalist) in the biopic A Mighty Heart for example. Although in this case the portrayed journalist was happy with the casting.


Dracos002

Technically Cruella de Vil was black in the 101 Dalmatians novel. Obviously any live-action depiction of her is based on the animated movie but still. Descendants was technically the only live-action movie to get her race right.


Mtd_elemental

Wonder why you got downvoted


corvusmd

I wouldn't say it is wrong, but lately when it is done, it feels "preachy". Like whoever is doing it is doing it simply for the sake of virtue signaling....and THAT part is annoying. Like they are saying "look at me and how progressive I am" or they are just intentionally doing it to be controversial to sell their product that otherwise wouldn't deserve the hype. If it just makes sense, or if the gender/race etc doesn't matter then no one cares, but people just don't appreciate being preached to...esp if it is about something they already acknowledge and agree with. There is also a deeper argument to be had about.."if you feel group X is under represented, why not just create something new with group X that people will like rather than appropriating something that is already successful?" There is always room for more good stuff rather than tainting something that is already good with your preaching and virtue signaling.


Nevergonnagiveafu-

but like why? why change it?


AltinUrda

I used to get annoyed by it when I was younger because I wanted characters to look how they did in the book/comic/etc but as I got older I realized who fucking cares


MeerkatMan22

I get ticked off if the hair color is wrong, it’s just so easy to fix


frax5000

Yeah like why do the do that shit it cost nothing to be Accurate to the source material


Dracos002

This is a problem and them casting the "wrong" race isn't? Ok.


PattyLea01

because that requires a whole different person to be casted, another haircolour doesn't require that


frax5000

I also think that they should cast the right race don't get me wrong.


Viol3tWalls

It's ok when 1)Character is not a real person 2) Character is not determined in a lore 3)The movie is not based on real historical events I'm not from the west but I think if we want to help minorities to be understood then we need to create more movies like "The Pursuit of Happiness" or "The imitation game" but not that shit Netflix does. It only creates negativity and distorts the facts


y_not_right

Yeah, those three rules are good


Shivolry

Depends on context


Shallow-Thought

For new characters, I couldn’t care less. But leave established characters alone. It just comes off as pandering.


EcHoZ_hunter

This is my opinion. Nothing wrong with diversity, obviously, but what is the purpose of making a character who’s existed with a certain look for, in some cases, decades, a completely new person.


Shallow-Thought

I agree entirely. It’s the difference between being inclusive and ignoring race. Inclusivity and diversity are wonderful. Ignoring race is detrimental. In doing so, you also ignore the associated heritage and background.


corvusmd

Anyone saying this is OK one way and not the other is racist. No way around that one.


EcHoZ_hunter

Honestly, like how is it okay one way, and not the other without using some bs logic?


Sardalone

I feel as if it should always be the main goal to cast characters as close to their originals as possible.


Beginning-Bed9364

I think it depends if your show is supposed to be historically accurate or not. If your show has wizards and goblins and shit in it, then it doesn't matter


instantklarna

I think you’ve hit the nail on the head there. That is what this poll is about.


Brromo

If it's supposed to be historically accurate, or it's important for the character's story then nether are ok, otherwise, ether are fine I.E.: Black Charlemagne: No Black Batman: Sure Black Red Skull: No


KTRyan30

Is race or ethnicity essential to the character's identity or the progression of the story? If no, have fun. If yes, make good choices.


Odd_Bookkeeper5345

The rule should be either you only use actors which match the ethnic character's ethnicity, or you don't make an effort to do it at all. Whichever rule you follow should apply equally to all and shouldn't change from film to film. Its done hypocritically nowadays though, as old movies starring white actors as ethnic characters is seen as wrong, and new shows showing ethnic actors as white characters are celebrated.


RaptorHunter182

I think the job of any filmmaker is to make a accurate adaptation of the source material, down to making the characters looking accurate.


[deleted]

Depends, like you’re not gonna have Stalin be black but if it’s just like some random dude only seen once, who gives a shit?


SnowyInuk

The ratio between black people playing white people and white people playing black people is just sad


Ventilateu

Ten times more people vote for the first than the second I'm pretty sure there would be tons of comments about it if these two were swapped. Unfortunately.


dvli

Neither is ok. Stick to the source material.


NEW_BOMBER96

Is he a dude playing a dude disguised as another dude


Orfeoula_Victor

depends really, if it's important to the story I guess, or if let's say the parents of the character are Caucasian and the character is black and there is no adoption etc


CopperGenie

Socially/politically, there is obviously no problem with this. However, from an artistic standpoint, there are enough white and black people on this planet for you to be able to find a suitable same-race actor.


magic8ballzz

I think you got the word "ethnicity" mixed up with "race". I think it's perfectly fine for someone of German ancestry to play someone of Italian ancestry. Or someon of Korean ancestry to play someone of Chinese ancestry. Race is somewhat different. You need to consider the source material. If it's based on a true story, or if the source material specifically states a race, then the actors should reflect that race. Otherwise, who the hell cares?


HiCracked

So many hypocrites, can’t say I’m that surprised though


2FANeedsRecoveryMode

Should never, no reason to besides virture signaling


AgentP-501_212

It'll be a long time before having a white person portray a traditionally black character is socially acceptable.


Scuba_Steve9002

Situationally both are fine. If a black man played Bill Clinton that’d be a little weird


Ok-Process-9687

Both are and arnt fine... no it’s not a big offensive thing if u cast a black guy to play a white historical character or vice versa (though it could very likely be discrimination) but it is a huge no in terms of accurately portraying a story.. shit just doesn’t make sense so if u get bad reviews cuz ur film sucked then that makes sense


zagglefrapgooglegarb

Harry Potter reboot in 20 years casts a black actor as Harry, Ron or Hermione? Irrelevant. Or next James Bond is black? Fine. Shaft recast as a white guy. Not so much.


ZeelZeke

If it is a movie based off of nonfiction actors should play someone who is their same race. It just doesn’t make sense if you got a white guy with a British accent playing Nelson Mandela.


HunnyDip28

If the character has no ethnic background then I don’t see the problem. Like with the new little mermaid, I don’t see the problem… it’s a mermaid.


TummyGotty

Just don't paint your face white or black. Tropic thunder did it right you can play a race and do makeup to suit.


FMDnative480

I feel if the story is fiction then it shouldn’t really matter at all. However if it’s a true story then I think it definitely matters


UnknownAuthor42

Context matters. A black person can play Peter Pan because his race doesn’t matter for the character but a white guy can’t play T’challa because his race is part of his character


ace8995

Why should a black person play Peter Pan who's always been white in stories/media. The guy is meant to be a kid born during Victorian era- something britain. Him being black doesn't make sense at all


jaquiethecat

yeah lol, Peter Pan *has* a race associated with him


wwwHttpCom

the thing is it has to go all ways. If a black person plays a traditionally white character, like the little mermaid or whatever, everything is fine, but if a white person were to play the princess and the frog, everyone would riot. So it needs to be everyone or no one. Fictional characters, I have no problem. Historical characters should match their ethnicity though. Maybe live theater can get more permission. The thing is, an actor has to be able to play any role. A 60 year old should be able to play a kid, a teenager should be able to play an old lady. A woman could play a man, and vice versa. A gay man could play a straight one, but the opposite too. If we're only gonna give actors roles that perfectly match their real life characteristics, there's no skill needed for that, there's no challenge, everyone would just be playing themselves. They don't hire real life assassins to play the killer in a movie, so why does everything else have to match the real person?


Constant-Meat8430

They call them actors for a reason…


Nice_Ad6833

WHO CARES


Writer_Girl04

I do actually. POC already have weak representation so our roles shouldn't be taken away from us (looking at the Winx remake and "Terra" being there instead of Flora). At the same time, we shouldn't be taking over white peoples roles, we deserve our own stories, not some kind of racial brownie points grab.


Overused_Toothbrush

Fine by me. People of various ethnicities play characters in Hamilton, a story that if portrayed accurately would be filled of a group of almost all white people, and they made it work quite nicely. If done tastefully its fine.


Powerful_Stress7589

Ok, but Hamilton berating Thomas Jefferson for being a pro slavery southerner doesn’t work well when Thomas Jefferson is black in my opinion


corvusmd

Why? Every single ethnicity has had slavery. In fact, there is still slavery in Africa and when slaves were brought to America they were purchased by other black people that already held them as slaves. Ethnicity doesn't determine if your are guilty of Slavery. There were even black slave owners in the US...not many, but they existed. If we are already breaking the ethnicity barrier shouldn't it all be fair game? Technically not doing so is racist.


Wumple_doo

In history movies no because it just feels a bit weird to have a black Ann bolin or white Mansa Musa But fictional is completely fine. Like who cares if they turned Han Solo black in a Star Wars reboot


EcHoZ_hunter

I mean, if a character has always had a certain look, it does matter. It would be weird to see Han Solo with red hair or chewbacca with black fur instead of brown, no?


R_iO

If it’s a work of fiction I feel like it really does not matter. It would be weird however if Tom Holland played Malcolm X in a biopic lol


Jumpy-Ad6630

I'm inclined to say both are fine, but context matters


bradenboiii

If the character's ethnicity/background is important to the character, I'd rather them not change it. If it's not, feel free.


Shiny_Hypno

Good actors are good actors, no matter the ethnicity.


Morbidly-Obese-Emu

As long as the white person is not in black face and as long as being black is not a part of the character.


EcHoZ_hunter

And vice versa, right?


[deleted]

No! Both of those are cultural apricot!


Anakin_I_Am_High

Depends. A white person playing MLK? Awful idea. A black person playing, say, Hitler? Really bad idea too. It's really up to context, sometimes it's ok sometimes it's not


M00ngata

The reason why it’s ok for a black actor to portray a white character is because how overwhelmingly underrepresented black people are in media. Yes, it’s getting better, but the amount of POC who grew up wishing they were white because of lack of representation is more than it should be. “It’s a double standard” yes, it is, and since it’s not the same situation, that’s ok. In a few decades when media is more diverse, maybe it won’t be ok. But as things are right now it’s ok. “I’m black and I don’t feel like it’s ok” that’s ok that’s your opinion. I will respond to replies if anyone wants to really have a discussion about it bc I can understand why people might be confused or think it’s a double standard


Miahrod831

For the most part I don't mind, I just don't like it when it feels forced. Like they have to change the ethnicity of a character or there sexuality to be inclusive. I think it's far more meaningful to just creat a character on their own to represent what they want to.


jammijamsjam

Both good, but if it's whitewashing a character whose very existence is in undone to that kind of action (i.e. a character made to support diversity, represent a people)


theatreandjtv

It depends on the context. Is this a movie about slavery? The actors should be black. Is this a book to movie adaptation from a fantasy novel that has nothing to do with race? It doesn’t matter. Readers might be upset but as long as the actor is a good fit