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Why? We have had a Black Thor,Black stormtrooper in Star Wars,Black Annie,Black actor was Nick Fury the director of S.H.I.E.L.D,Black cinderella,Black Johnny Storm in the Fantastic Four,Red in the shawshank redemption MOVIE was black in the book he is white,
Ya get the drift...blacks have taken over white roles,so its equal when whites take over black roles. A white Shaft would be cool!
Quote:
Originally Posted by dexter75
Are you serious? None of those people are REAL!! You would have a point if there was a black guy cast as JFK...
This in response to Nomad's post...
It is hilarious to me that many whites like to claim fictional characters should always be white.
In regards to black stormtroopers, the majority of the original storm troopers were Maori, indigenous people of New Zealand. They were not all white.
And fictional characters are not the same as portraying a real person.
It would be like JFK being black above, or Hitler being black, or some other real person being switched from white to black.
But FWIW, even though I thought it weird, I am one who is for "arts for arts sake" and I thought it interesting that a white man would be case. I too wonder what it added or took away from the play, which is a very good play.
I think many may see it as a distraction and be weirded out by it and as a result I do think that people will further think about message of King as it relates to race in America.
I'm all for pushing boundaries, even though I'm sure I would have had my own bias seeing a white man as King. Those biases though would be a part of the theatrical experience IMO.
The director stated that he used this casting as a tool “to explore the issue of racial ownership and authenticity". Essentially, it was performance art, and many times art is used to display and explore controversy. It appears the director cast the part properly if performance art was indeed his purpose.
If the play were meant purely as a biopic, MLK should have been played by a black man.
My guess is that if the director chose to cast a black woman in the part of MLK “to explore the issue of gender ownership and authenticity” this wouldn't even be an issue.
I agree with your assessments and understand your view point, but on the bold above, the play indeed, is meant as a biopic of MLK. The author of the play did not agree with nor like that this director cast a white man. This is a pretty well known play.
Would these same people complaining be willing to see a movie with a black person portraying Christ? After all, was there not a description of feet like brass burned in a furnace? Speak!
I agree with your assessments and understand your view point, but on the bold above, the play indeed, is meant as a biopic of MLK. The author of the play did not agree with nor like that this director cast a white man. This is a pretty well known play.
From the article, referring to a new part of the contract to perform this play in the future: “Both characters are intended to be played by actors who are African-American or Black. Any other casting choice requires the prior approval of the author.”
I can only imagine the outrage if a white playwright had that put in a contract for a play, that "characters are intended to be played by actors who are Caucasian or White." We would have missed plays like "The Wiz". No one seems "outraged" when entire plays/move are recast with black actors -- i.e., "Steel Magnolias" with Queen Latifa as M'lynn." Or "Annie" with Willow Smith? "The Karate Kid" with Jaden Smith? "Cinderella" wth Brandy and Whitney Houston? "The Nutty Professor" with Edde Murphy? Then there's "Romeo and Juliet" with Orlando Bloom and Condola Rashad . . .
We have been told over and over and over again that the color of the skin doesn't matter, and popular entertainment reflects that. OK. Done. Color doesn't matter.
But apparently, it only matters if the person is "supposed" to be "black". So what the people objecting to this casting are saying is that it's only equal as long as blacks can "appropriate" traditionally "white" roles? Reviewers are even smacked down if they dare even NOTICE that one of the actors in a traditionally white role might be black, because that's racist . . .
Can't have your cake and eat it, too. I think the director/producer using a white actor was an interesting juxtaposition of King's words against the tempo of the times.
Again, all of these are fictional stories or fairy tales.
In regards to "Annie" that was not Willow Smith, it was Quevenzhane' Wallis (lol thinking she was Willow, she looks nothing like Willow, not all black kid actors are Will Smith's kid).
This play is about the last day of the life of MLK, a real person who was black. Again, this would be like casting Morgan Freeman to play JFK in a play about the last days of his life. That would be kind of ridiculous. As stated though, I do get the artistic endeavor, but I feel it is weird and pretty disrespectful to take the most heroic modern historical figure of black America and make him white. None of you can provide any examples of something similar occurring with a black actor. Even though people do see MLK as "American" he was first and foremost a black man in America, he is "Black American" and I do feel that in a way he "belongs" to us and our subculture within America moreso than whites in America. MLK was pure black IMO, he is a representation of our entire experience in America in regards to our culture and experience in America. Let's also not forget that he was murdered by a white man pimarily due to being a "racial agitator." He was followed around by the FBI due to being considered a black nationalistic terrorist. Him being black was the reason he did the work he did and the reason why he died. Due to this play being about his last days and especially considering that historically, he even gave his own eulogy the night before he died, it is just pretty shocking and disrespectful for him to be played as a white man.
May be a biased opinion, but it is mine and I do admit that if I went to the play and didn't know about the casting before hand, I would probably make a scene lol.
Anyone remember the "outrage" of Canadians for portraying the key player in the Argo as an American or turning the story of U-751 from being British to an American action?
So its OK to have black actors in traditionally white roles but not OK to use a white actor in a black role? Yeah......get over it. Plus MLK said to judge people by content of their character not color of their skin. Remember that? Jeez talk about doing the man a disservice by going against the very thing he was for.
To be fair, MLK is not just any person from our nation's historic past.
It is a play, not a film. And the time elapsed was probably around 12 hours, not the man's life from birth to death.
Come on.
Sorry with that, it is biographical in nature is what I meant. And FWIW, I have seen it, it is not historically accurate but based on an historical, biographical event.
Regardless though, he was a real person. He still has kids and grandkids alive and I see it as disrespectufl, though, as stated, I do get the director's reasons as stated, but I feel that MLK does belong to black America moreso than America in general. And the director IMO knows this, which is why he did it and made the comments that he made about his intent with the casting.
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Plus MLK said to judge people by content of their character not color of their skin. Remember that? Jeez talk about doing the man a disservice by going against the very thing he was for.