The Big Picture: Skin Deep
- Thread starter MovieBob
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I think I'm going to start a petition for Denzel Washington as Superman. I'm sorry, but that would just flat out be cooler than Jesus.
While I'm at it, Common as Batman wouldn't be a bad recast...
And in the interest of fairness, Vin Diesel can play Luke Cage.
Fair trade?
While I'm at it, Common as Batman wouldn't be a bad recast...
And in the interest of fairness, Vin Diesel can play Luke Cage.
Fair trade?
>.>
doods, i could totally go for a 'samurai pizza cats' ep, XD would be kinda awesome in a very odd way
doods, i could totally go for a 'samurai pizza cats' ep, XD would be kinda awesome in a very odd way
This is gonna get lost in the amazing sea of replies, but I wanted to say two things:
1) Heimdall was the MAN. I don't think we would have gotten as awesome a performance out of another actor. Screw the nay-sayers.
2) LOL, Equestria is a perfect world! Which is funny, because there's actually an undercurrent of racism there as well. I'm looking at you, Rarity.
1) Heimdall was the MAN. I don't think we would have gotten as awesome a performance out of another actor. Screw the nay-sayers.
2) LOL, Equestria is a perfect world! Which is funny, because there's actually an undercurrent of racism there as well. I'm looking at you, Rarity.
'Cept in Heimdall had NINE JOTUN MAIDENS FOR MOTHERS which are pale as hell because they live in ice so it makes no sense. Though this is in the myth I don't know much about comics.
Great show Bob! Don't agree with your opinion on double standards though. I personally, don't want them around. Yes, I know there are double standards, I just don't think we should accept them.
Now i know that not everyone will agree on this, but here's my opinion on the whole race in movies thing. I only disagree with changing a persons race in a story, if race actually factors into the story.
For instance: Last Airbender. I did mind that Katara and Sokka were white, because inuit culture was a factor in their character creation, and everyone else in their tribe was inuit. I guess you could argue that they're grandmother was from the Northern Water tribe, where there were mixed races, but that fact was glossed over so fast, I don't know if anyone remembers that part. And it really WOULD seem racist to say that the prosperous tribe is the one full of white people. Ya.
But I did not mind that Aang was white, because you don't have to be from an eastern culture to actually become a monk and the monks in the movie did have different skin types anyway. And, he looked like Aang. Technically, Chinese, Arabic and Inuit don't actually exist in the Avatar world, they were just inspirations for it.
The Fire nation i didn't mind, because i also had a bit of mixed races, and you still had those eastern influences (though casting the VILLAINS as arabic my not have been a smart move with everything going on in today's world)
And even then, i might (keep in mind that that is a very, very slim "might") have still been okay with it if the actors were actually GOOD.
Also: Goku is an alien, Nick Fury is black in the Ultimate Comics and therefore has a different backstory, Michael Clarke Duncan was great as Kingpin and his backstory never came into play (so i don't know if his nationality was a factor in his backstory), and to flip to a different subject: I don't agree with Angela Bassett playing Amanda Waller because her size is actually a character trait and she's the only other character in the DC universe besides Candy who doesn't look like a super model.
And to end what now looks like a rant: We need to stop with the white guilt. Please. Because it won't make things better. One of the arguments going on in Canada is that the First Nations continually ask for more and more, guilting everyone else into giving it to them-- to the point that some have become lazy and greedy (and before you call me racist for that, i learned about this from someone who is First Nations)
(Hopefully, all of that made sense. I'm not the best at conveying my thoughts. And please don't hate me if i got some nationalities wrong)
Now i know that not everyone will agree on this, but here's my opinion on the whole race in movies thing. I only disagree with changing a persons race in a story, if race actually factors into the story.
For instance: Last Airbender. I did mind that Katara and Sokka were white, because inuit culture was a factor in their character creation, and everyone else in their tribe was inuit. I guess you could argue that they're grandmother was from the Northern Water tribe, where there were mixed races, but that fact was glossed over so fast, I don't know if anyone remembers that part. And it really WOULD seem racist to say that the prosperous tribe is the one full of white people. Ya.
But I did not mind that Aang was white, because you don't have to be from an eastern culture to actually become a monk and the monks in the movie did have different skin types anyway. And, he looked like Aang. Technically, Chinese, Arabic and Inuit don't actually exist in the Avatar world, they were just inspirations for it.
The Fire nation i didn't mind, because i also had a bit of mixed races, and you still had those eastern influences (though casting the VILLAINS as arabic my not have been a smart move with everything going on in today's world)
And even then, i might (keep in mind that that is a very, very slim "might") have still been okay with it if the actors were actually GOOD.
Also: Goku is an alien, Nick Fury is black in the Ultimate Comics and therefore has a different backstory, Michael Clarke Duncan was great as Kingpin and his backstory never came into play (so i don't know if his nationality was a factor in his backstory), and to flip to a different subject: I don't agree with Angela Bassett playing Amanda Waller because her size is actually a character trait and she's the only other character in the DC universe besides Candy who doesn't look like a super model.
And to end what now looks like a rant: We need to stop with the white guilt. Please. Because it won't make things better. One of the arguments going on in Canada is that the First Nations continually ask for more and more, guilting everyone else into giving it to them-- to the point that some have become lazy and greedy (and before you call me racist for that, i learned about this from someone who is First Nations)
(Hopefully, all of that made sense. I'm not the best at conveying my thoughts. And please don't hate me if i got some nationalities wrong)
When Sam jackson turned out to be Fury, most people were okay with that because there was a black Nick fury in the ultimate universe.
Honestly I could care less about a black heimdall, but even I admit if that same actor would have been cast as Thor instead, I'd been skeptical at best about how faithful it is to the source material.
It's intriguing that I was thinking about this very issue while I was watching the Escape to the movies video last Friday, and now I get to hear bob's version of it, which I actually agree with a lot for a change.
Honestly I could care less about a black heimdall, but even I admit if that same actor would have been cast as Thor instead, I'd been skeptical at best about how faithful it is to the source material.
It's intriguing that I was thinking about this very issue while I was watching the Escape to the movies video last Friday, and now I get to hear bob's version of it, which I actually agree with a lot for a change.
PONIES!
Ponieeessssssss...!!
And... well I think a black Superman would be kinda cool. Oddly enough I don't really know why.
Ponieeessssssss...!!
And... well I think a black Superman would be kinda cool. Oddly enough I don't really know why.
it's called a two parter,
instead of crammming everything into one video, you make two. it's obvious you didn't have enough time to say everything you wanted, so why not have an extended episode on your personal site, or just say to be continued next week.
instead of crammming everything into one video, you make two. it's obvious you didn't have enough time to say everything you wanted, so why not have an extended episode on your personal site, or just say to be continued next week.
This may be off topic, but The only reason I did not like the movie version of dragon ball, was not because everybody was white, it was because the plot setting was in a maistrean American pop culture society, and that completely ruined the whole story, and character development.
A quick thought: I do like it when they stick to continuity, but in the end all that matters is if the actor gave a good performance.
100% agreement, Mr. Bob. I usually like your videos better when I disagree with them, but I both agreed with and loved this video.
Double standard is just a nice way of saying hypocracy. Saying the world is not perfect is a pretty pathetic excuse for being a hypocrite.
That being said, I really don't have a problem with a black actor being cast in a traditionally white role as long as the motivation is the actor's talent and not the color of his skin. I am against racism of all kinds and supporting anything to do with "affirmative action" would be hypocritical.
That being said, I really don't have a problem with a black actor being cast in a traditionally white role as long as the motivation is the actor's talent and not the color of his skin. I am against racism of all kinds and supporting anything to do with "affirmative action" would be hypocritical.
You rock my world, MovieBob. Great shows and great insights. May you rule over your small portion of the internet for years to come. I have to admit (anonymously, on the internet) that inaccurate racial casting doesn't bother me one bit one way or the other. I'm not an actor, I'm not a minority, and I really don't care. Hell, I'll go so far as to laugh at it when it's especially ridiculous and over the top. But even when it's really egregious in an otherwise pretty good movie (see Breakfast At Tiffanys), I hardly even notice. I didn't know until I was in my 20s that Ben in Short Circuit 2 was played by a white guy. And even when I saw the movie again recently, I loved the character so much that I still barely noticed or gave a shit who was playing him. If this either makes me insensitive or racially colorblind, I'm not sure which one it is.
Speaking of good movies, anyone ever see CSA (The Confederate States of America)? It's a brilliant little satire / sci fi piece about what would have happened if the South had won the war. It's told in a mock TV documentary style and it's alternately funny, uncomfortable, and entrancing. Well worth your time.
Speaking of good movies, anyone ever see CSA (The Confederate States of America)? It's a brilliant little satire / sci fi piece about what would have happened if the South had won the war. It's told in a mock TV documentary style and it's alternately funny, uncomfortable, and entrancing. Well worth your time.
Interesting. Strangely, still i share your point and yet I disagree. There should be no political or ethical reason behind casting, whatever some fundamentalist pilgrims and their kids did to whoever.
I am for a believable casting. Luckily we are talking about spacevikings in tights here. Where casting a great actor without regarding his skintone is no big problem.
Would it be a film based on the real myths. I would be pissed. Lets say a real life version of the cartoon classic Valhalla
Great piece of art. But a god in that movie not beeing white as snow? no i wouldnt accept it.
As i couldnt accept a whiter than snow dude playing jesus in that mel gibson movie. He lived in a damn desert. He was , if ever existant, brown as everyone living there now.
Casting for a film always always and always, has to do not only with talent, but with phenotypes. You wont cast the tall thin dude to play the tiny fat one. You wont cast a great actor as christopher lee to play a 23year old. And you wont cast a white guy, jackie chan and a woman to play 3 black men.
Just get over all that stuff. It just doesnt work in movies like it does in theatres.
A theatre play is about pure acting, mixed up and filled with the things invisible, nonpresent, added by the imagination of the viewer. Here all that matters is talent. A movie has to present the perfect Illusion, everything has to fit and work.
I am for a believable casting. Luckily we are talking about spacevikings in tights here. Where casting a great actor without regarding his skintone is no big problem.
Would it be a film based on the real myths. I would be pissed. Lets say a real life version of the cartoon classic Valhalla
Great piece of art. But a god in that movie not beeing white as snow? no i wouldnt accept it.
As i couldnt accept a whiter than snow dude playing jesus in that mel gibson movie. He lived in a damn desert. He was , if ever existant, brown as everyone living there now.
Casting for a film always always and always, has to do not only with talent, but with phenotypes. You wont cast the tall thin dude to play the tiny fat one. You wont cast a great actor as christopher lee to play a 23year old. And you wont cast a white guy, jackie chan and a woman to play 3 black men.
Just get over all that stuff. It just doesnt work in movies like it does in theatres.
A theatre play is about pure acting, mixed up and filled with the things invisible, nonpresent, added by the imagination of the viewer. Here all that matters is talent. A movie has to present the perfect Illusion, everything has to fit and work.
