So, is "casting racism" a one-way street? Because if we're going to claim that casting an actor whose ethnicity differs from that of the
original character, there's at least two classical dramas that are in trouble. Years ago (early to mid-90s, IIRC), the African-American actor who used to
be the lead on the sitcom "Benson" was cast as the lead in the Broadway production of "Phantom of the Opera," and no one batted an eyelash.
Well, not that I heard of -- I doubt the KKK's national newsletter has a theater critic. Got good reviews, too, IIRC.
And the Branagh production of "Much Ado About Nothing" cast Denzel Washington as an Italian prince, with Keanu Reaves as his brother(!), no lie. And
no one so much as blinked. And DW carried off the role with style and aplomb.
So is there, to steal a term from SCOTUS, a "bright line" where casting off-ethnicity actors is okay, and when it isn't? Is it fine to cast
Laurence Fishburn as King Arthur (hey, *I* think he could carry it off), but wrong to cast John Wayne as Temujin (okay, that *was* wrong, but not for reasons
of ethnicity)? If the Jewish Holocaust victims in "Schindler's List" weren't all Jewish, was that a racist act by Spielberg, or simply
choosing the actors that could best carry the roles? Or, heck, were the producers of "Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon" being "racist" when the
*didn't* cast Usagi and Minkao as blue-eyed blondes? From where I'm sitting, the mere act of casting "white" actors in non-white roles fails
to pass the bar for an accusation of racism.
There's a lot of questions that need to be asked and answered, IMO, before anyone can justifiablty accuse Shyamalan of racism in this matter. First,
there's the big and murky question of whether he actually *had* any obligation to cast "ethnically correct" actors in these roles. Second, did
he turn down equally- or better-qualified "ethnically correct" actors for these roles in favor of "white" actors? Third, assuming the
answer to the previous question is "no," was he obligated to *pursue* more "ethnically correct" actors for the roles, at the possible risk
of damaging the quality of the final production? Fourth, just how much, if any, should "ethnic match" between an actor and a role matter in casting
-- if the choice is (for example) between an "adequate" "ethnically correct" actor for Aang and a "perfect match" for Aang who
just happens to be "white" (or black, or hispanic, or whatever), just how big does the personality-match gap have to be before people stop yelling
"racism!"?
Now, since it's already been mentioned upthread that the "heroes" have been cast "white," but the "villain" has been cast
"non-white," okay, that's an indicator that Shyamalan's casting might bear further scrutiny in this case. And it might bear examining his
past record to see if there's an identifiable pattern of *unnecessary* "ethnically incorrect" casting. Still, I don't see any smoking guns
here yet -- Correlation does not prove causation.
Meanwhile, I'm going to go dig out my "Much Ado About Nothing" DVD again, and watch Denzel play an Italian prince with an American accent, with a
"white" brother played by a guy who's actually Hawaiian, surrounded by a bunch of Brits *also* pretending to be early-modern-era Italian nobles
(without bothering to disguise their British accents), and a 'cop' played by Michael Keaton, whose ethnicity issues are completely buried by the sheer
Odball Factor of his character.....
original character, there's at least two classical dramas that are in trouble. Years ago (early to mid-90s, IIRC), the African-American actor who used to
be the lead on the sitcom "Benson" was cast as the lead in the Broadway production of "Phantom of the Opera," and no one batted an eyelash.
Well, not that I heard of -- I doubt the KKK's national newsletter has a theater critic. Got good reviews, too, IIRC.
And the Branagh production of "Much Ado About Nothing" cast Denzel Washington as an Italian prince, with Keanu Reaves as his brother(!), no lie. And
no one so much as blinked. And DW carried off the role with style and aplomb.
So is there, to steal a term from SCOTUS, a "bright line" where casting off-ethnicity actors is okay, and when it isn't? Is it fine to cast
Laurence Fishburn as King Arthur (hey, *I* think he could carry it off), but wrong to cast John Wayne as Temujin (okay, that *was* wrong, but not for reasons
of ethnicity)? If the Jewish Holocaust victims in "Schindler's List" weren't all Jewish, was that a racist act by Spielberg, or simply
choosing the actors that could best carry the roles? Or, heck, were the producers of "Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon" being "racist" when the
*didn't* cast Usagi and Minkao as blue-eyed blondes? From where I'm sitting, the mere act of casting "white" actors in non-white roles fails
to pass the bar for an accusation of racism.
There's a lot of questions that need to be asked and answered, IMO, before anyone can justifiablty accuse Shyamalan of racism in this matter. First,
there's the big and murky question of whether he actually *had* any obligation to cast "ethnically correct" actors in these roles. Second, did
he turn down equally- or better-qualified "ethnically correct" actors for these roles in favor of "white" actors? Third, assuming the
answer to the previous question is "no," was he obligated to *pursue* more "ethnically correct" actors for the roles, at the possible risk
of damaging the quality of the final production? Fourth, just how much, if any, should "ethnic match" between an actor and a role matter in casting
-- if the choice is (for example) between an "adequate" "ethnically correct" actor for Aang and a "perfect match" for Aang who
just happens to be "white" (or black, or hispanic, or whatever), just how big does the personality-match gap have to be before people stop yelling
"racism!"?
Now, since it's already been mentioned upthread that the "heroes" have been cast "white," but the "villain" has been cast
"non-white," okay, that's an indicator that Shyamalan's casting might bear further scrutiny in this case. And it might bear examining his
past record to see if there's an identifiable pattern of *unnecessary* "ethnically incorrect" casting. Still, I don't see any smoking guns
here yet -- Correlation does not prove causation.
Meanwhile, I'm going to go dig out my "Much Ado About Nothing" DVD again, and watch Denzel play an Italian prince with an American accent, with a
"white" brother played by a guy who's actually Hawaiian, surrounded by a bunch of Brits *also* pretending to be early-modern-era Italian nobles
(without bothering to disguise their British accents), and a 'cop' played by Michael Keaton, whose ethnicity issues are completely buried by the sheer
Odball Factor of his character.....