When should an actors ethnicity be important when adapting a fictional character?

[Vicount Tinselby]

I understand that Uhura orignal character was historic for the progress of equality on screen, but the point i was trying to get at about Star Trek was that with all cultures being harmonic you could theoretically have Kirk played by an African for example and Uhura by someone Asian or Caucasian. As long as the cast was diverse, as was the point of the original show, would it matter which character was portrayed by an actor of which ethnicity? So the legacy of Uhura's character wouldnt strictly be tarred.

Why would anyone feel the need to change any of the characters in an adaptation of a show that is already diverse? The ethnicity and race of the characters doesn't matter as much in Star Trek, but that was intentional. The creators wanted to make a diverse cast because the show was set in the future, so they did.

I was mainly talking in hypertheticals just to say.

I guess my point was that there is or was no reason not to mix things up for casting the reboot films, yes in the other shows there was just as much diversity including a female lead in voyager and black lead in DS9, but new people interested in Star Trek will be watching the films.
I suppose one reason why is becuase while the cast is diverse, Kirk is still the central Protagonist and gets the most screen time. Then Spock and Bones come after him, all of whom are played by caucasian actors in the reboot movies, though i guess Uhuras more important than Bones now.
So since technically any character on the show could be played by an actor of any ethnicity, it would be more representational if they allowed the bigger characters to be played by someone who wasnt Caucasian.

In a series its less a problem as episodes can focus more on other characters, but in the films Kirk and Spock and the Villain,(both of whom have been played by white actors) are going to always be the focus.

And while a DS9 reboot could come along to have a non caucasian lead, its highly unlikely to be made.
Firstly becuase by the time they do maybe the second next gen adaption, which of course will come before, people will be sick of them and star trek as a whole will go dorment until the second round of reboots.

and secondly, i would put money on a voyeger remake before that. Its got a more interesting premise for a film or two, the original kinda needs to be remade as it was much lighter than it should have been, and having a female lead would probably be more important by that point.

 

[Angelowl]

Not the actual subject matter here, but similar. The representation of trans people in cinema and television. It is virtually impossible for an open trans person to build a career in acting due to discrimination and prejucide, if cisgendered actors win awards and fame by playing a trans character then they are building their own careers upon discrimination of the minority they imitate. Not ok.

I suspect that it is somewhat similar when it comes to ethnecity. An anglosaxon american portraying a native american, earning millions and not even attempting to aid the native population would pretty much just be a punch in the face of those who got it rough.

It is probably a lot more important if it concerns a historical character in order to respect the actual individual, if the character is wholly fictional then artistic liberty goes a fair bit further in my view.

 

[Bruce]

When the character is directly related to another in cannon - because you should probably change the race of both.

When a major part of their character involves dealing with life within a particular ethnicity.

 

[AJ_Lethal]

I for one, I don't care as long as it makes sense.

For example, our White!Sulu could have an Asian dad and a Caucasican mom. Or he could be adopted.

 

[x EvilErmine x]

No, it shouldn't even be a consideration...here's a unique and novel idea...why not cast the best person for the job and not just the best person of that particular ethnicity for the job. The only exception to this is if ethnicity is integral to the character e.g. Django in Django Unchained, Lee in Rush Hour, Storm in X-men.

 

[Something Amyss]

Ideally, it shouldn't matter. In the real world, it sort of matters when you strip away the few primary roles minorities play, less so the other way.

If, for example, the given notion of Star Trek shuffling ethnicities, yeah, that's fine. If it's just white washing yet another cast because God forbid white people have to look at another "coloured" person? Yeah, kind of annoying.

The Rock would be fun as SHAZAM! though I'm not sure SHAZAM! is going to fit with the current grimdark look of the DC superhero movies.

...SHAZAM!

Also, just wait for the storm if he's cast as SHAZAM! and some white kid is cast as Billy Batson. It will be epic and delicious and possibly the best thing ever.

[sub]shazam![/sub]

Spock-Vulcan/African.

A black Vulcan? Blasphemy!

>.>

Why bother with a Black James Kirk when Benjamin Sisko exists now?

Because Kirk>Sisko!

Why should black people have to settle for the inferior leader?

Can I say Shazam again? I really like saying it.

 

[happyninja42]

A black Vulcan? Blasphemy!

>.>

It's Supervolt!! Maybe we should just call you White Fish!! And if you get that reference, kudos on you. xD

OT: The ethnicity of the character should only be relevant when it is specific to the story/character. If you're telling a story about, for example, an African tribe and the struggles they encounter making a living, having the cast actually be of African ethnicity seems appropriate. Having them be an entire cast of caucasians for example wouldn't be fitting.

If it's just a story about Random Guy Hero, and his accidental involvement in some dramatic events, then the ethnicity is irrelevant.

 

[Robert Marrs]

Unless their ethnicity is central to the character I don't see the issue. I do see the issue in changing characters just for the sake of diversity. Its unnecessary pandering. I do have a problem with the sentiment that making a character white who was not previously white is a bad thing but changing a character who was white to a different race should be celebrated. In this case I can honestly hear The Rocks voice saying "SHAZAM!" so it could work. Hopefully they write it up well because as much as I love to rag on wrestlers becoming crappy B-movie actors Dwayne Johnson is not half bad.

 

[mecegirl]

I was mainly talking in hypertheticals just to say.

I guess my point was that there is or was no reason not to mix things up for casting the reboot films, yes in the other shows there was just as much diversity including a female lead in voyager and black lead in DS9, but new people interested in Star Trek will be watching the films.
I suppose one reason why is becuase while the cast is diverse, Kirk is still the central Protagonist and gets the most screen time. Then Spock and Bones come after him, all of whom are played by caucasian actors in the reboot movies, though i guess Uhuras more important than Bones now.
So since technically any character on the show could be played by an actor of any ethnicity, it would be more representational if they allowed the bigger characters to be played by someone who wasnt Caucasian.

In a series its less a problem as episodes can focus more on other characters, but in the films Kirk and Spock and the Villain,(both of whom have been played by white actors) are going to always be the focus.

And while a DS9 reboot could come along to have a non caucasian lead, its highly unlikely to be made.
Firstly becuase by the time they do maybe the second next gen adaption, which of course will come before, people will be sick of them and star trek as a whole will go dorment until the second round of reboots.

and secondly, i would put money on a voyeger remake before that. Its got a more interesting premise for a film or two, the original kinda needs to be remade as it was much lighter than it should have been, and having a female lead would probably be more important by that point.

Star Trek as a whole just isn't the best show to make a hypothetical case for. While things could certainly be more varied it oddly does a better job with diversity than a lot of modern shows and movies (with the exception of white washing Kahn in that last movie.)

Now Star Wars...that's a franchise that could have used a bit more diversity.

Because Kirk>Sisko!

Why should black people have to settle for the inferior leader?

Can I say Shazam again? I really like saying it.

Kirk is only praised so much for being the first. His portrayal in the movies create a much more moving chracter, but he is still out shined as a chracter by his supporting cast. I don't see how anyone can watch the original and still believe that he is the best without being blinded by nostalgia. Out of all the captains Picard was the best. And Sisko and Janeway are tied in my mind.


As for the Shazam thing. One of Shazam's main villains, Black Adam, is often depicted as an Egyptian along with his Wife Isis. Which considering their backstories is quite appropriate. But Captain Marvel, or Shazam as we are supposed to call him now, also gains the wisdom of Solomon, the strength of Hercules, the stamina of Atlas, the power of Zeus, the courage of Achilles, and the speed of Mercury. So a random mix of Greek/Roman deities plus an Israeli king. So it wouldn't hurt if he actually had a skin tone that reflected that.

 

[mrdude2010]

It should be at least consistent with the tone of the movie. For example, the actor they chose for Prince of Persia looked silly because his skin color stuck out like a sore thumb, even among Persians, who are generally paler than other Middle Easterners. I don't have a problem with things like Heimdall being black, though. It's not a bad idea to update a myth to be more reflective of the current world/culture. That's kind of the point of myths, after all.

 

[faefrost]

A lot of it will depend heavily on whether or not some element of the characters ethnicity is more or less bundled into the fictional character to begin with. Just as some examples;

Captain America - For the traditional story Captain America should or must be white. The entire point is he is a white man from the 40's out of time in the present. he is in part a mirror through which we view the changes to our society in the 20th century. he is kind of nailed down by the history of race in the country and society. You can make his successor black or hispanic or asian no problem. But Steve Rogers kind of has to be the classic whitest white boy in the room. It is a critical and organic part of the character. (Similarly you really can't ethnically swap Luke Cage or the Sam Wilson Falcon, as like Captain America they are designed by nature to illustrate a certain slice of time from a certain social point of view. It's built into the characters from the ground up.)

Spider-Man - Can be race or ethnicity swapped astonishingly easily. He's just some kid from Queens. In fact today he actually works much better as a minority character (except for Miles Morales who I still hate, just not because of his ethnicity.). But you can swap in any and all and Peter Parker would still be recognizable. The core of the character has nothing to do with ethnicity or race or faith. Doing a gender swap is a little harder to sell, but it still works.

Fantastic Four - There are some radical differences in how these four can be presented. And honestly Fox is taking entirely the wrong approach.
- Mr Fantastic, Reed Richards - Can be any ethnicity whatsoever. The core of his character is "smartest guy in the room". Beyond that the sky is the limit. The only real restrictions is given his traditional character he is pretty much limited to straight male family man, otherwise things get weird. he would work great as a minority character. He also allows for a pretty broad range of ages.

- Human Torch, Johnny Storm - Ugh! Here is the big problem one. The problem is not that a black actor was chosen to play the character. The problem is that the character is traditionally very much a caricature of irresponsible white male kids of privilege. he is the obnoxious frat boy. The loud dorky class clown. The overly misogynistic asshole. He is a racial stereotype of a white boy going in. A Kennedy if you will. The problem is when you racial swap this it doesn't necessarily 1 to 1 transfer, and instead you end up with a whole bag of other racial stereotypes coming through in unintended ways. Instead of Frat Boy you end up with a "playa" or someone leaning towards the thug life. When you swap him to Spanish you get an overly macho asshole, etc.

- Invisible woman, Sue Storm - Nothing hard and fast with her racially or ethnically beyond she has to believably be Johnny's big sister. The relationship has to feel true and organic at all times and at a glance. If you need to be doing mental math to figure out who is related to who the people making the movie have utterly failed. Beyond that Sue is traditionally blonde (one of the most prominent blonde women in comics and emphasived by the fact that she never wore a mask or head covering.) which can visually limit things a bit as it is a subtle but powerful thing that can interfere with suspension of disbelief.

- The Thing, Ben Grimm - CANNOT be race swapped! Not joking on this one. Race swapping Ben is trading one minority for another, and he is one of the few of his minority represented in comics. Benjamin JACOB Grimm was quietly and secretly the comics creators self insertion character. He was and is a Jewish Guy From Brooklyn. Yes many of the early comics creators (who were little old jewish guys from brooklyn) based a lot of the characters on the stories and lore they grew up on (Superman is essentially the Moses story, not the Jesus reference some modern folks like Zach Snyder think him to be), But Ben was the only character that they actually made Jewish from the word go. he is one of the two prominent classic Jewish Superheroes in comics (The other being Kitty Pride.) Race or ethnically swapping him would be like having Storm played by a 6' blonde Norwegian chick. While technically there is no practical reason not to, it just somehow feels wrong and insulting to all involved.

Batman - In theory can be done. But is incredibly hard to do without breaking the suspension of disbelief needed for any such story or movie. He is a little too well established in the common public mind. You could tell a good ethnically diverse Batman type story. But it just would not feel like Batman without a tall dark haired WASP Bruce Wayne. The same could be said of Superman. This is not to say that some things cannot be pulled off well. One of the best things to come out of the otherwise horrid Death of Superman story arc was the character of John Henry Irons, Steel, who picked up Superman's mantel to carry on the fight. It was brilliant, organic and believable. (Much like what Marvel will be doing with Captain America).

So yeah, there is no blanket answer to can a character be race or ethnicity swapped. It is almost a case by case basis. What is the character? What forms the basis of that character? What does altering the ethnicity do to the characters story? Is it still the same character? Are there any potential negatives in what happens (see Storm, Johnny)?

 

[Blow_Pop]

When it's important for a character's backstory, the actor's ethnicity should be important (it should be noted with the magneto being a jew reference up there, technically he COULD have been black because they were subjected to the same treatment and black jews did and still do exist).

If the character is written as such, it should be important (non comic reference here, all the white people, let's face it it was, going crazy because they failed to read the line about rue being black in the hunger games and seeing rue played by a black actress, who did a really good job) and when I mean written as such, I mean something like "x character has dark skin and dark hair" that would mean a non white person should portray that character. (I also read a lot of books where the race of the character is important to the story)

I would personally hate to see a white storm but that's just me and growing up on a mixture of the early 90s cartoon and the comics and seeing her as a black character. I MIGHT be ok with it if the whole cast was race bent but unlikely.

And as far as Star Trek goes, I still insist that Khan should never be played by a white actor. And Sulu needs to be of Asian decent and Uhura needs to be black.

OT: The ethnicity of the character should only be relevant when it is specific to the story/character. If you're telling a story about, for example, an African tribe and the struggles they encounter making a living, having the cast actually be of African ethnicity seems appropriate. Having them be an entire cast of caucasians for example wouldn't be fitting.

If it's just a story about Random Guy Hero, and his accidental involvement in some dramatic events, then the ethnicity is irrelevant.

Also this ^ (moreso the example because it's been done before in movies and pisses me off)

Though personally, I'm kind of tired of how many white people wind up being stars when there are better non white people to play certain roles but again that's my personal thing.

 

[kasperbbs]

If it's based on an already established character with a certain etnicity then it just looks silly and disrespectful to the source material. A white guy playing a samurai in ancient Japan just for the sake of having a famous hollywood bloke as a lead for example.

 

[ninjaRiv]

My question for whenever this topic comes up, is "Why should the ethnicity be changed?" There's no real valid reason other than "progression," which is a complete bullshit reason, in my opinion. It feels very much like "throwing the dog a bone," if anything. If studios wanted to be progressive, they'd make a Black Panther movie. Or a Luke cage one. Heck, even a Saga movie. But look at Blade! Arguably the first comic book movie to actually not be totally stupid. Spawn starred a black hero, too. While that movie was a lot sillier and not nearly as good, it was still a lot of fun and has a cult following with a much anticipated reboot on the way. Both of these movies prove people will watch a move starring a black superhero.

I recently read that one of the two protagonists in the upcoming Powers TV series is going to be played by a black actress. I see absolutely no reason for that. It seems like studios are just doing stuff like this in order to have fanboys do the marketing for them. How much attention is the new Fantastic Four movie getting because of Michael B Jordan being cast as The Human Torch?

And man, don't even get me started on the FF movie... I would have preferred it if Reed Richards was played by a black actor. I would accept that as progressive, even if it was a bullshit marketing gimmick. Because at least then they'd be challenging stereotypes by casting a black man as a father figure and a scientist, rather than turning Torch into a stereotypical black guy with swagger.

It's not progressive to use minorities as a marketing gimmick, is it?

That's not to say casting a minority as a typically white character doesn't work. Sometimes they're genuinely the best person for the part. Idris Elba was perfect as Heimdal and Jackson was perfect as Ultimate Nick Fury (Because of obvious reasons). But it's rarely the case. With the amount of talented actors in the world, it's very unlikely there's going to be only one perfect actor for any role.

But my rambly bullshit (Which likely doesn't make a whole lot of sense) boils down to "Why change the role at all?"

 

[Ryan Hughes]

For the most part, I tend to agree:

Take the case of the Shawshank Redemption, where Morgan Freeman's character was originally white in Steven King's novella. There is really no doubt that Morgan Freeman was simply the best actor to portray that role, as his narration and performance are near-perfect, and no one questions the decision of "race-swapping" here. I'd say that nine times of ten, it is best to use the actor best suited to the role, rather than even bringing race into consideration. But, one must remember history as well, particularly the history of ostracizing black, native American, Latino and Asians from participation in the wider western culture.

Essentially, this makes certain actions unequal when race swapping from white to minority and minority to white, simply because you can unintentionally and tacitly continue that ostracizing of minorities. In fact, whites -by statistics- will soon be the "minority" in America, and we have yet to really see Latinos and Asians really have a major representation in leading roles, Keanu Reeves and Antonio Bandaras notwithstanding.

So, on a micro level, we can see that "race-swapping" from a minority to a white can be justified, if that actor would turn in a "Morgan Freeman" -caliber performance. But, on a wider level, it is very difficult if not impossible to justify, because many questions can be raised about casting bias, auditions, and the very likely scenario that there would be a minority actor out there capable of turning in an equal performance to the white actor.

 

[Thaluikhain]

- The Thing, Ben Grimm - CANNOT be race swapped! Not joking on this one. Race swapping Ben is trading one minority for another, and he is one of the few of his minority represented in comics. Benjamin JACOB Grimm was quietly and secretly the comics creators self insertion character. He was and is a Jewish Guy From Brooklyn. Yes many of the early comics creators (who were little old jewish guys from brooklyn) based a lot of the characters on the stories and lore they grew up on (Superman is essentially the Moses story, not the Jesus reference some modern folks like Zach Snyder think him to be), But Ben was the only character that they actually made Jewish from the word go. he is one of the two prominent classic Jewish Superheroes in comics (The other being Kitty Pride.) Race or ethnically swapping him would be like having Storm played by a 6' blonde Norwegian chick. While technically there is no practical reason not to, it just somehow feels wrong and insulting to all involved.

Well...the Thing was in 2 movies already, and I didn't know he was Jewish. Likewise, Kitty Pryde.

But I take your point...though I couldn't say how many Jewish characters were in superhero stories.

Batman - In theory can be done. But is incredibly hard to do without breaking the suspension of disbelief needed for any such story or movie. He is a little too well established in the common public mind. You could tell a good ethnically diverse Batman type story. But it just would not feel like Batman without a tall dark haired WASP Bruce Wayne. The same could be said of Superman. This is not to say that some things cannot be pulled off well. One of the best things to come out of the otherwise horrid Death of Superman story arc was the character of John Henry Irons, Steel, who picked up Superman's mantel to carry on the fight. It was brilliant, organic and believable. (Much like what Marvel will be doing with Captain America).

Ah, but Batman doesn't have to be Bruce Wayne. There's been 2 or three Batmans.

Also 5 or so Batgirls, about the same number of Robins, and a Batwoman or two, but we don't tend to see them in movies, because they aren't generically dull like Batman is.

 

[happyninja42]

My question for whenever this topic comes up, is "Why should the ethnicity be changed?" There's no real valid reason other than "progression," which is a complete bullshit reason, in my opinion. It feels very much like "throwing the dog a bone," if anything. If studios wanted to be progressive, they'd make a Black Panther movie. Or a Luke cage one. Heck, even a Saga movie. But look at Blade! Arguably the first comic book movie to actually not be totally stupid. Spawn starred a black hero, too. While that movie was a lot sillier and not nearly as good, it was still a lot of fun and has a cult following with a much anticipated reboot on the way. Both of these movies prove people will watch a move starring a black superhero.

I recently read that one of the two protagonists in the upcoming Powers TV series is going to be played by a black actress. I see absolutely no reason for that. It seems like studios are just doing stuff like this in order to have fanboys do the marketing for them. How much attention is the new Fantastic Four movie getting because of Michael B Jordan being cast as The Human Torch?

And man, don't even get me started on the FF movie... I would have preferred it if Reed Richards was played by a black actor. I would accept that as progressive, even if it was a bullshit marketing gimmick. Because at least then they'd be challenging stereotypes by casting a black man as a father figure and a scientist, rather than turning Torch into a stereotypical black guy with swagger.

It's not progressive to use minorities as a marketing gimmick, is it?

That's not to say casting a minority as a typically white character doesn't work. Sometimes they're genuinely the best person for the part. Idris Elba was perfect as Heimdal and Jackson was perfect as Ultimate Nick Fury (Because of obvious reasons). But it's rarely the case. With the amount of talented actors in the world, it's very unlikely there's going to be only one perfect actor for any role.

But my rambly bullshit (Which likely doesn't make a whole lot of sense) boils down to "Why change the role at all?"

One reason to do an ethnicity swap is quality of actor. In my opinion, making sure you get a good actor for a role is Priority 1. So if the best actor for a role happens to be of a different ethnicity, I feel it's ok to race swap. Now, my previous statement of "they should be ethnically correct if it's relevant to the story" does still apply, but I think some wiggle room can be allowed.

Having a black Norse God (Heimdall) in the Thor movies would break my rule of making it fit if its relevant, but given how good Idris Elba did in that role, I really don't care. But I also can't really fault those who feel it's not accurate, based on the very ethnically centered mythology of the Norse pantheon. Granted Thor's supporting cast of heroes were also diverse, but I don't really remember who they were, except for Sif.

I would rather have a character who is done well, and benefits the story, and who happens to be of a different ethnicity, than sticking to the rule I previously stated. I still feel it should be heavily considered, but at the end, if the best actor for something happens to be of a different race, and changing that race isn't going to make a huge plot hole in the story, then let it go.

 

[ninjaRiv]

One reason to do an ethnicity swap is quality of actor. In my opinion, making sure you get a good actor for a role is Priority 1. So if the best actor for a role happens to be of a different ethnicity, I feel it's ok to race swap. Now, my previous statement of "they should be ethnically correct if it's relevant to the story" does still apply, but I think some wiggle room can be allowed.

Having a black Norse God (Heimdall) in the Thor movies would break my rule of making it fit if its relevant, but given how good Idris Elba did in that role, I really don't care. But I also can't really fault those who feel it's not accurate, based on the very ethnically centered mythology of the Norse pantheon. Granted Thor's supporting cast of heroes were also diverse, but I don't really remember who they were, except for Sif.

I would rather have a character who is done well, and benefits the story, and who happens to be of a different ethnicity, than sticking to the rule I previously stated. I still feel it should be heavily considered, but at the end, if the best actor for something happens to be of a different race, and changing that race isn't going to make a huge plot hole in the story, then let it go.

I definitely agree with that, but I think it's pretty rare for there to be only one perfect actor. There's a lot of talented actors and actresses in the world.

Idris Elba, though, is actually perfect for every role ever. But he can't be in everything, for whatever reason.

 

[Schadrach]

But then Sulu is Japanese, is Japan as multiethnic as America in the future of Star Trek? John Cho isnt Japanese or of Japanese decseant but George Takei said that Sulu represented all of Asia on the Enterprise. But then does Sulu even have to be portrayed by someone Asian?

yes, for the simple fact that Sulu is a minority, to white wash him would be to take away what is unique about him

OT: I'm all for "race bending" charachters, it might make us reconsider our assumptions

...except when "race bending" a character that by canon isn't white, right? Then it becomes something else entirely and bad, wrong and evil because "race bending" is not about whether or when we should hold to canon or instead be colorblind but about making more existing characters something other than white (because we can't make new characters, all out, done, forever).

 

[gargantual]

Hi there all, im sorry if this has been a Topic before on the forums,( which it undoubtably has), but with the recent rumours going about that Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson is being considered for the role of Cpt.Marvel/ Shazam in an upcoming Movie ive seen in a few places people questioning this choice because Johnson is not Caucasian and Shazam has typically been portrayed as being so.

This confuses me beyond belief, because while Billy Batson/ Shazam has always been drawn as Caucasian, the characters ethnicity is not an integral part of his backstory.

The Character of Billy Batson, while orignally portrayed as homeless in the 1940's , is a typical boy living in modern day America; A multi ethnic society. Billy Batson is not widely known to acknowledge any privalges or contend with any disadvantages due to his ethnicity as a part of his day to day life.

Thus there is no reason why the casting for these two characters shouldnt be colourblind.



This is where i get to the crux of the issue, sorry for waffling ive never put up a discussion on a forum like this before, and it is not a simple topic.

(This is of course unless the director is setting the story as it was originally shown, if its set in an alternate universe or culture/time then there are no rules).

The way i see it, an actor should only 'have to be' a certain ethnicity if:

A- The characters ethnicity is central to the drama of the story, or was in the past.
For example: Virgil Tibbs, Atticus Finch & Tom Robinson, The Red Skull.


B- The character is a national from a REAL country or part of a country which would not be considered particulalrly multiethnic or multicultural at the time in which it is set, to the point that it would break suspension of disbelief if said character was of an ethnicity other than those of said country.

For example: Light Yagami from Death Note, Ororo Monroe/Storm, Imhotep from the Mummy.

C-The Plot takes place in a fictional Universe, but racial predjudice (not cultural) is still important to the drama, and ethnic groups are a direct analogue to those in the real world.

On the other hand, I beleive cases where an actors ethnicity is not important at all are:

A- When the character is an Alien, from another world/ dimension/ alternate universe, or has been stated to be so.
For example: Superman, Goku from Dragonball, Heimdal in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

B- When the original plot is set on earth, but the adaptation has changed the setting to another culture or time, this has been done many times with Shakespeare characters.

C-When the major characters are human but the plot takes place in an alternate world where earth as we know it does not exist. Wether the cultures shown are inspired by real world cultures or not and racial predjudice (not cultural) between humans is not addressed.
For example: The cast of Star Wars, the cast of Naruto, the cast of Avatar the Last Airbender.

D-When the producers have specifically stated that their adaptation of the story will ommit any references to racial predjudice as an issue, and informed the audience of colourblind casting in order to prepare to let them prepare their suspension of disbelief.

For example: the BBC's adaptions of Arthurian Legend 'Merlin', and its Robin Hood Adaptation.

What are peoples thoughts? i know that many people will disagree with me on some examples, andthere may be other cases where an actors ethnicity probably should or should not be considered that i hanvt thought.

There are also examples which may be too complex an issue, for example the cast of Star Trek.

Captain Kirk is American is he not? and while his orignal actor was Caucasian, being Caucasian isnt central to his character as Star Trek is set in a world without racial predjudice between humans, so who says he has to be played by someone Caucasian?

But then Sulu is Japanese, is Japan as multiethnic as America in the future of Star Trek? John Cho isnt Japanese or of Japanese decseant but George Takei said that Sulu represented all of Asia on the Enterprise. But then does Sulu even have to be portrayed by someone Asian?

Pretend Billy got a tan I guess *shrug*. Rock's got the 'chin' or 'jawline' if that's more precise. I presume this visual aspect is essential to the overall look. Hence we got Batfleck in attempt to 'Frank Miller' ol' Batsy's look onscreen.

If only DC's cinematic universe was centered around the Bat instead of SupeDupe. Love Clark's endearing persona, but frankly Bruce is the glue. The guy researched a full doc on how to eliminate every last one of the JL in a worse case scenario, and Darkseid was more worried about HIM than anyone else.

If Tony charged up the MCU, lesson is you gotta focus on the 'entrepeneurial' tactical heroes to draw everyone together for crossover stories. Its just builds better ground that way.