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Last week, I watched part of "Dragon Seed" (1944) about Japanese invasion of China - all majors parts for Asians were played by white actors - Katharine Hepburn ( New England Wasp) playing Asian wife?
the actors trying to sound "Asian" - what a white person thinks Asian should sound like.
The movie was horrible.
Different time, different place. IMO kinda silly to judge yesterday's works by todays standards. I mean have you seen really old monster movies, are you really going to put them up against todays modern monster movies with their computer graphics? You have to be willing to look at them in a historical context, otherwise what's the point?
Usually I agree with your posts but here we part company. What about a color-blind society? I agree with not going out of the way to cast white actors in Native or Asian roles but what if that person is the best available? Would you make allowances for, say, summer-stock theater in Whitefish, Montana? Would they somehow have to find a appropriated "raced" person?
You raise a good point. When I've given my answers on this thread, I was envisioning motion-picture studios or national stage companies. A local company might not have the demographic diversity necessary for completely accurate casting, so they should be cut some slack.
As for the broader point of a color-blind society, while I understand the point, I prefer factual accuracy. Any given historical figure was of a certain race, gender, etc. and ought to be represented as accurately as possible, when possible. A fictional character whose appearance is described in a certain way ought to be portrayed in that way, again in so far as it's possible. Fictional characters whose race and/or gender are not described can be played by anyone. And I agree with the caveats as noted above, that if the production is being mounted by a local school or company, other considerations (availability of "right-raced" actors, equitable stage time for all members, etc.) do come into play.
You raise a good point. When I've given my answers on this thread, I was envisioning motion-picture studios or national stage companies. A local company might not have the demographic diversity necessary for completely accurate casting, so they should be cut some slack.
Thanks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bus man
As for the broader point of a color-blind society, while I understand the point, I prefer factual accuracy. Any given historical figure was of a certain race, gender, etc. and ought to be represented as accurately as possible, when possible. A fictional character whose appearance is described in a certain way ought to be portrayed in that way, again in so far as it's possible. Fictional characters whose race and/or gender are not described can be played by anyone. And I agree with the caveats as noted above, that if the production is being mounted by a local school or company, other considerations (availability of "right-raced" actors, equitable stage time for all members, etc.) do come into play.
Again here we continue to part company. While I have no truck at all with "white privilege" or similar bleats, if we go the route you are suggesting we wind up limiting the opportunities of truly aspiring minority performers. Bad idea.
Again here we continue to part company. While I have no truck at all with "white privilege" or similar bleats, if we go the route you are suggesting we wind up limiting the opportunities of truly aspiring minority performers. Bad idea.
An obvious solution would be to mount more productions showcasing minority characters.
Again here we continue to part company. While I have no truck at all with "white privilege" or similar bleats, if we go the route you are suggesting we wind up limiting the opportunities of truly aspiring minority performers. Bad idea.
Instead of compromising historical accuracy for the sake of aspiring minority performers, maybe a better approach would be to cultivate playwrights and screenwriters who are willing to create new fiction that will incorporate a greater share of minority characters. And/or mine the histories of non-white societies and create plays and movies based on those stories.
EDIT to add: Frostnip, somehow I missed your comment when I was writing mine, but I certainly agree with what you're saying.
An obvious solution would be to mount more productions showcasing minority characters.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bus man
Instead of compromising historical accuracy for the sake of aspiring minority performers, maybe a better approach would be to cultivate playwrights and screenwriters who are willing to create new fiction that will incorporate a greater share of minority characters. And/or mine the histories of non-white societies and create plays and movies based on those stories.
EDIT to add: Frostnip, somehow I missed your comment when I was writing mine, but I certainly agree with what you're saying.
Nobel idea but I think the audiences may be lacking. When Broadway was open a sizeable minority of the shows were revivals. Also, true classics such as Shakespeare run highly white. You can tinker with some shows, such as putting on a Hispanic production of West Side Story or maybe using some East Asians or Pacific Islanders in South Pacific, but I think any doubts should be resolved in favor of integration and color-blindness. That is the society I want.
Why should Shakespeare run mostly white? Many of the most popular Shakespeare plays aren't historical...there's no reason for something like A Midsummer Night's Dream not to have a diverse cast. Sure, take Othello or Merchant of Venice where race/ethnicity - and gender, for that matter - are highly relevant to the plot, and yes, race needs to be a consideration in casting. If Othello is Native American and Desdemona is Cambodian the plot doesn't make sense. But beyond that... at this point it's super common to set even the history plays, and the tragedies with historical roots, in times and places other than the original...like, if you're doing Macbeth set in a 1980s corporation, at that point does the historical ethnicity of any of the characters matter?
I experienced something similar at my kids' school's production of a Dickens story, I think it was Les Miserables, but it might have been A Tale of Two Cities. In any case, the lead character was played by an Asian boy. And I must admit, this took me out of the story, because I don't think Dickens had any Asian characters in those stories. However, contrary to what I stated in an earlier post, I accepted this "mis-casting" because, hey, it's a school play. The typical school only mounts two productions per year, and it would hardly be fair for the Asian student to never get to perform if the school chooses to mount shows that were written with only white characters in mind.
Les Mis is Victor Hugo. The characters aren't defined by being white, they're defined by being French.
I mean, the Asian kid can't have been the only non-French actor in the play, right? Is it really much odder or more ahistorical to have an Asian person playing Jean Valjean or Javert than to have, say, a Slav or a Scandinavian?
Right or wrong, that was acceptable in Olivier's time. For one thing, there were very few (if any, other than Poitier and Ossie Davis?) black leading men in Hollywood. And it's probably important to differentiate because it's such a loaded term ... it wasn't "blackface" in the sense of the minstrel performances meant to mock black people. It was brown makeup so Olivier could play a serious role performing a Moor amongst white people. Definitely not something that is appropriate today, but accepted at the time.
Don't forget Paul Robeson, who also played Othello, although onstage instead of on film. He was in the 1936 film version of Show Boat, singing "Old Man River. "
It doesn't bother me except when they cast radically different races as close relatives. Like brothers played by Asian and Black actors, with a White mother and Hispanic father.
I seen to recall at least one movie that was nearly that bad. I am willing to suspend disbelief, but you gotta work with me.
I do get kind of annoyed at old tv shows and movies where White actors portray every race.
For instance, an episode of Bonanza featured Marlo Thomas as a Chinese woman.
Native Americans were often played by Italian and Hispanic actors.
Did West Side Story have any real Puerto Ricans?
See if you can get a copy of Lon Chaney's films Shadows, or Mr. Wu. Definitely not yellow face acting. If you skip over the opening credits you'd think you were watching a Chinese actor playing the roles Chaney was playing in both films.
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