• @AVincentInSpace@pawb.social
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    6 months ago

    Personally I think a large part of the lack of outrage over the first four is that no one who watched the movies had heard of the source material. People who watch Marvel movies don’t tend to read the comics, but Ariel was a Disney movie (one of the most famous of all time) remade as another Disney movie.

    • @bassomitron@lemmy.world
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      326 months ago

      Personally, I think the lack of outrage is because the people who get outraged by black people being cast for roles that were previously white characters, aren’t concerned when it’s white people being cast no matter the source material.

        • @trashgirlfriend@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          “Personally, I just want to chalk it up for people being mad for no reason so I can feel safe in my view that racism is over because Barack Obama or something.”

          • @AVincentInSpace@pawb.social
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            56 months ago

            Could this be because people don’t tend to get mad over things they don’t know exist? Naaaaah, must be racism. Anyone who disgagrees that racism is the most likely explanation thinks racism is fake.

            What is it with leftists and making mountains out of molehills?

              • @AVincentInSpace@pawb.social
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                6 months ago

                I’d pull up statistics on movie ticket sales versus comic book sales and point out that the movie outsold the comics by (conservatively) 200 to 1, but there’s no point bringing facts into an argument against a troll.

                • @Jiggle_Physics@lemmy.world
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                  -16 months ago

                  Most of the media, leading the charge on the outrage, are people who consider themselves fans of the material, and claim they aren’t racist for being upset over the change, just mad that they didn’t respect source. Then you look over their channel and there is not one single video, where they do this, when source material is whitewashed. Even though there is plenty of that, in the stuff they claim they are only upset over, because the source material wasn’t respected.

                  These are the people who stoke this outrage, they often started as straight fan media, but found out ranting about people of color, and gay people, being in media made a lot more money. Communities centered around the fanbase, for these things, are hotbeds of this behavior. There is no way you can make this argument, about these people. The people introduced to the media, by the movies, get mad because of these people.

                  I don’t know how you can not know this, and claim enough familiarity with audience statitics to make your argument. So I agree with others saying you are likely going out of your way to make this seem not racist.

        • @bassomitron@lemmy.world
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          266 months ago

          Name one outrage among conservatives in the US when a white person was cast for a role that was any other ethnicity in the source material. Sure, it happens on the Left, Netflix is especially accused of white washing (recent example: Three Body Problem). But, conservatives don’t give a shit when it happens the other way around.

          Regardless, I truly couldn’t give a shit who gets cast for what regardless of source material. If the actor/actress is able to play the part well, I come for entertainment and couldn’t care less.

          • @Sarmyth@lemmy.world
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            186 months ago

            The best example I can think of where the race choices really got stupid to the point of offensive was the first “The Last Airbender” movie where the director race swapped the entire fire nation to Indian, made the water nation white when they probably should have been Innuit or something similar, then chose to mispronounce the main characters name to make it sound more ethnic when the source material was in English, so they knew exactly how it should be pronounced.

            Then for whatever reason, people got mad that the main character was white when it was the only character animated in such a way they could be white, and the tribe was a nomadic collection of people making it somewhat possible albeit not relevant to the nation theming of the other nations.

            Anyways, this triggered my annual Last Airbender rant, so sorry about that.

            • @bassomitron@lemmy.world
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              126 months ago

              That poor movie was a travesty on multiple levels. Why Shyamalan was chosen to write/direct that movie, I care not to look up. My off the cuff theory was that he had kids obsessed with the animated show and he wanted to destroy something they loved after they accidentally broke his one and only Golden Globe award.

          • @AA5B@lemmy.world
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            66 months ago

            People made a big deal over Sean Connery in The Highlander, although no one was really offended. It was just another joke

      • @Peasley@lemmy.world
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        86 months ago

        Personally, I think you are correct, but the person you replied to might also be correct. One likely amplified the other.

    • @FinishingDutch@lemmy.world
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      986 months ago

      Correct. Nobody was bothered by Nick Fury’s change for example, even though he went from white to black. That was a wholly unknown character for most Marvel moviegoers. And Samuel L. Jackson is awesome in that role.

    • @acockworkorange@mander.xyz
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      26 months ago

      I dunno. It always felt weird to me that someone named Raz Al-Gul was an Irishman, or that a traditional Buddhist monk looked like a soccer mom that went all in on yoga.

  • @pseudo@jlai.lu
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    6 months ago

    That funny because when I put my non-USA definition of is white and not-white or african, this image as absolutely no meaning.

  • @Dusktracer@lemmy.world
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    216 months ago

    Scarlet Witch wasn’t originally Romani… she was originally still Jewish. You know, since she was Magneto’s daughter. The Romani thing came later. So that’s kind of a mischaracterization. The Johnny Depp as native american was super wierd, like the black face RDJ in Tropic Thunder. It was cringe @.@.

    • @FeelzGoodMan420@eviltoast.org
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      156 months ago

      Every aspect of Tropic Thunder was absolutely hilarious and if you found that movie offensive or cringe then clearly the jokes of that movie flew wayyyyy the fuck over your head.

    • JackbyDev
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      376 months ago

      like the black face RDJ in Tropic Thunder. It was cringe @.@.

      Did you actually see Tropic Thunder? It’s pretty good. His character is meant to be looked down on and the movie makes that clear. It’s more of a criticism of actors doing things like black face and playing disabled characters to chase awards.

      • @Dusktracer@lemmy.world
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        16 months ago

        I did! I will admit I don’t remember as much of it as I should have as I was not paying full attention at the time. Might give it a more genuine watch again sometime.

    • This is fine🔥🐶☕🔥
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      106 months ago

      Scarlet Witch wasn’t originally Romani… she was originally still Jewish. You know, since she was Magneto’s daughter. The Romani thing came later.

      She could still be both from each parent’s side?

      That would make her… Jewmani? Rowish?

        • This is fine🔥🐶☕🔥
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          136 months ago

          BTW I checked Wikipedia and it’s hilarious how often her ancestry changed

          The character’s in-universe backstory and parentage have changed more than once. During the 1960s, she and Quicksilver were said to be the mutant twin offspring of two unnamed parents. Later, it was said the children were given to the geneticist called the High Evolutionary, leaving their true parentage a mystery. In 1974, it was said their parents are Golden Age heroes Bob Frank / Whizzer and Madeline Joyce Frank / Miss America. Wanda then refers to herself as Wanda Frank for a time. In 1979, they are revealed to have been raised by human Romani parents, Django and Marya Maximoff. In 1982, Magneto concludes he and a human Sinti woman named Magda are Wanda and Pietro’s parents. In 2014, the AXIS crossover revealed Pietro and Wanda are not related to Magneto. In 2015, the twins discover they are not mutants and their superhuman traits are the result of the High Evolutionary’s experiments combined with Wanda genetically being a Witch, born with natural magical abilities. The 2015–2017 Scarlet Witch series reveals that Wanda and Pietro’s adoptive parents, Django and Marya Maximoff, are biologically their aunt and uncle. Their real mother is confirmed to be Natalya Maximoff, the previous Scarlet Witch, a Serbian Roma sorceress whose father was the Scarlet Warlock.

          Fucking comics smh

    • @TheFonz@lemmy.world
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      1036 months ago

      I don’t know how people got that take from Tropic Thunder when they explicitly make reference inside the movie to how messed up and wrong it was. Like, that was the joke. RDJ was playing a character so full of himself that took method acting to it’s extreme. Am I missing something? Id love to be educated

      • @Soulg@sh.itjust.works
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        86 months ago

        No, you’re not, people are taking good intentions too far like usual. The entire joke of that character was that he crossed the line

  • This is fine🔥🐶☕🔥
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    336 months ago

    I think in case of Ra’s Al Ghul in Nolan movies, the title is passed from one leader to another. He’s not a 1000 year old warrior.

    • Flying Squid
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      86 months ago

      I really don’t think it would have hurt to cast an Arab actor as Ra’s Al Ghul. And then you wouldn’t need a convoluted explanation like that.

      • This is fine🔥🐶☕🔥
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        96 months ago

        That’s true. But I wonder if the creative team thought it would be in bad taste to have an Arab guy as head of global terrorist organization so soon after 9/11

            • Flying Squid
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              -16 months ago

              For the same reason the excuse of a white character being named Mitsimu Hashimori is that it’s just a title being passed down is something people might find offensive.

              • @Soulg@sh.itjust.works
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                26 months ago

                I think artists can make whatever they want (within the bounds of the law) and that it’s up to the consumers to decide whether they like it or not with their wallets.

                • Flying Squid
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                  06 months ago

                  When did this become about what people can do and not about whether or not they’re being highly offensive?

                  It is legal to make and distribute a movie where a guy just yells the N-word for 90 minutes. I assume you would find that offensive. Most people would.

          • This is fine🔥🐶☕🔥
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            46 months ago

            Bruh. Since it is a title, it doesn’t matter who is holding it. Even comics Ra’s Al Ghul doesn’t mind that considering he wants Bruce Wayne to be his heir.

            • Flying Squid
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              -36 months ago

              Yes, again, you can come up with that convoluted after-the-fact explanation that wasn’t in the movie or you can not piss off Arab people.

                • Flying Squid
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                  -36 months ago

                  Good thing the character isn’t a terrorist then. The head of a cult of assassins is not a terrorist. Assassins target specific people for specific reasons, not to create terror.

      • Skua
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        26 months ago

        Ghassan Massoud (the guy that played Saladin in Kingdom of Heaven) would have been perfect

    • @CyberEgg@discuss.tchncs.de
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      -26 months ago

      No, I don’t thinking would work since his daughter’s called Thalia Al Ghul, indicating Al Ghul is a family name.

      Also,we don’t need to make up apologies for whitewashing.

      • This is fine🔥🐶☕🔥
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        116 months ago
        1. He literally says 'we have been around for 1000 years and since Nolanverse is devoid of any fantastical elements, passing the torch is the only possible explanation.

        2. Her name is Talia Al Ghul from Doylist perspective but not from Watsonian.

        For all we know, she doesn’t have any last name/family name in-universe and uses the alias of Miranda when she’s globetrotting for a bit of terrorism.

        • @CyberEgg@discuss.tchncs.de
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          6 months ago
          1. He literally says 'we have been around for 1000 years and since Nolanverse is devoid of any fantastical elements, passing the torch is the only possible explanation.

          I always thought he meant the League of Shadows, not a single position.

          1. Her name is Talia Al Ghul from Doylist perspective but not from Watsonian.

          She calls Ra’s Al Ghul her father. It may be an interpretation that Al Ghul is a name, but so is the title interpretation. And imho the name is far less of a stretch.

          • This is fine🔥🐶☕🔥
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            16 months ago

            Yes. He is referring to League of Shadows. However, very early in the movie he says “If you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal, you become something else entirely” so it seems obvious in hindsight that this applies to Ra’s as well as if applies to Batman.

            Hell, I always thought Ken Watanabe was Ra’s Al Ghul and the title passed on to Liam Neeson after the former died.

            • @CyberEgg@discuss.tchncs.de
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              06 months ago

              However, very early in the movie he says “If you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal, you become something else entirely” so it seems obvious in hindsight that this applies to Ra’s as well as if applies to Batman.

              But that doesn’t mean Henri Ducard became a Ra’s Al Ghul or Ra’s Al Ghul became the League of Shadows. It’s like a religious thing, like christians consider themselves reborn after baptism.

              Hell, I always thought Ken Watanabe was Ra’s Al Ghul and the title passed on to Liam Neeson after the former died.

              I can see where you’re coming from, I’d expect some quote like “I am Ra’s Al Ghul now” or something.

              Again, I can see your interpretation, but I think Ra’s Al Ghul simply being a name is far less a stretch and requires fewer assumptions.

  • Phoenixz
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    426 months ago

    If it’s bad to use white actors for black (or other colored) roles then it’s bad for black actors to do white roles. If it’s okay to do those switches then it’s okay for all. Forget colors it shouldn’t matter.

    Having said that, Disney just did the Ariel thing ffor the “look at us being sooooo progressive, please give us your money for this utterly shit movie” instead of trying to just make a great movie

    • @Ragnarok314159@sopuli.xyz
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      126 months ago

      The original actress/singer for Ariel absolutely dominated that role as well, and really the whole cast was damn near perfect. It’s one of the few Disney Princess movies that should have been left alone.

      • @celsiustimeline@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        86 months ago

        Literally every single live action remake that Disney has created has been inferior in every single way to the originals. Aladdin, The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, all terrible cash-grabby productions (esp. TLK, good lord it’s bad).

    • @MonkeMischief@lemmy.today
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      6 months ago

      It’s definitely a cynical move by Disney no matter how you slice it.

      • “If you think we’re super woke, you go support the movie. We get money.”

      • “If you hate it (because we thought a superficial change would cover the fact we barely tried), it’s because you’re a nasty racist bigotface, your opinion is disregarded, galvanizes our first crowd into giving us more money, and angry actually-racist bloggers probably hate-watch it while advertising it for free. We get money.”

      Ain’t the culture wars grand (if you’re selling to both sides like a proper arms dealer)? :D

    • @celsiustimeline@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      566 months ago

      I think people need to figure out if the race of a character is culturally significant in any way in the context of the story and IRL. Like, part of Black Panther’s whole deal is he’s from Africa. Hard to budge on that character’s ethnicity. Ariel from the Little Mermaid could literally be any ethnicity and the story would remain the same. Crying about white erasure is pathetic when no actual culture relevant to white western people is being lost.

    • @Shadywack@lemmy.world
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      156 months ago

      The virtue signaling just backfires. “Rainbow washing” is a thing now. Companies never gave a fuck about a progressive message, they care about trendy things to cash in on.

        • @celsiustimeline@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          36 months ago

          It’s too bad they don’t have ownership of their company any longer. They sold B&J to Unilever and now they have a reduced platform to share progressive values. Any progressivism out of Unilever is cynical corporate pandering.

    • Maven (famous)
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      206 months ago

      A big issue here, especially with the MCU stuff, is that it’s not a skin color thing with those changes. They updated the whole character in order to make them into races that are more friendly to China. They’ve done this repeatedly and stripped identities and character traits from characters over and over again.

      Every single Romani character that’s appeared in an MCU movie has had their heritage removed and replaced with generic white. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are good examples (since they’re the ones in the meme) but I don’t see any way that Robert Downey Jr is going to be able to do the complicated Romani backstory of Dr Doom very well.

      I agree that Ariel was swapped for marketing reasons (and arguably specifically to cause outrage and get people talking) Ariel doesn’t have a racial heritage that plays into her life and identity… She’s a mermaid from the sea… Not a member of a group with a large history of being discriminated against.

      • @Maggoty@lemmy.world
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        36 months ago

        Maybe that’s for the best? It’s a bit weird that MCU went so big on Romani people in specific. That said unless a Romani person identifies themselves, you’re going to have trouble picking them out of a crowd. They are as diverse as the regions they’ve traveled through.

    • @SLVRDRGN@lemmy.world
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      56 months ago

      I personally think it isn’t wise to use an actor of any race in substitute of another, if that character’s race is part of the story. The only reason I could think of to change the character’s race, gender, status, etc. would perhaps be to tell a different story, but then it should be renamed and be a different story. But if a character’s race, gender, status, etc. is tied to that character’s story, then it shouldn’t be discarded frivolously.

      From what I see, I feel that a lot of the disconnect is based on whether people find an attribute (in this case, race) important or not as part of the character’s story.

      • @milicent_bystandr@lemm.ee
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        26 months ago

        I feel I half agree with you. The other half of me thinks, there’s a lot of things we change for an actor acting a character. After all, it’s an actor, playing a character. Someone called Ben can play a guy called John; your grumpiest aunt can play a sweet grandma; often we have actors in their 30s and 40s playing ternagers and 20s; and men playing women even used to be a thing.

        I think you have a good point, but I also think it’s okay to have an acceptable disconnect of, this is people acting out a story, not the real thing happening in front of me.

  • @Mongostein@lemmy.ca
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    6 months ago

    Yup. Characters should remain consistent if it’s important.

    Tonto should not have been played by Johnny Depp. Gross.

    The original Ancient One was a poor stereotype of a Tibetan person and Tilda Swinton is cool so I’m ok with this one.

    Liam Neeson is a great actor with a ton of gravitas and he pulled off the role well, but yeah shoulda found a middle eastern dude. Maybe that hot Djin dude from American Gods can be the next Ras Al Ghul.

    Anything to do with Scarlet Witch’s background is a retcon, she was originally introduced as Magneto’s moustache twirling daughter. Despite her tan in the referenced photo she’s more often depicted as white, but I could see her being middle eastern, but it would make sense that she’s half Jewish at least, given her father’s background.

    Lastly, she’s a fucking mermaid. Who gives a shit? How many of the dude bros bitching even watched it?

  • @borgertwo@ani.social
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    206 months ago

    Believe me, white folk do get offended about non-white characters being changed to white, in fact they the most likely ones to be offended, especially when it comes to historic figures. All this meme is doing is framing an inaccurate depiction of white folk to suit a biased narrative. Keep in mind also, a minority few cannot represent an entirety. Just as all black or asian folk are not alike, same holds true for white folk. This an era where a difference in race is not the concern, but rather the upper class rich people that use ethnic label stereotyping to have us fight among each other as distraction. Don’t fall for their trickery of dividing us.

  • HubertManne
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    116 months ago

    if white is being used this generically then romani should be listed as white and arab should be middle eastern and tibetan asian if not lumping both as asian.

  • @LouNeko@lemmy.world
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    236 months ago

    My issue is that we are pairing nationality with skin color or ethnicity here. Those are not mutually exclusive. There are 2nd or 3rd generation Asians immigrants in Mexico, just as there are Mexicans living in Ireland, and Irish people in India, etc… Somebody could be a fully integrated national but not part if the nations major ethnicity. Even saying AFRICAN-American is kind of pointless, like it matters where your grand-grand-grand-grand-parents came from. They’re as much American as anybody else. We don’t call everybody else European-American for comparison.

    • @Malfeasant@lemm.ee
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      16 months ago

      AFRICAN-American

      Well, that started out as a euphemism for “black” because some people decided that made them uncomfortable… Of course in the literal sense, Elon Musk is African American, even though everyone knows that’s not what’s intended…

    • @Maggoty@lemmy.world
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      66 months ago

      In movies meant to be historically accurate though it would be very weird to switch things up. Especially when so much was based on appearance at certain times.

    • @seejur@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      Tbh I’m perfectly fine with other races picking up any roles, except for historical movies.

      Another thing on historical movies that irk me to no end is the perfect posh English for every effing Roman or Greek movies

      • @Death_Equity@lemmy.world
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        16 months ago

        Somewhat relevant to your second point, I don’t like it when they speak English and it doesn’t make sense.

        Breaking Bad bothered me so much with how often the native Spanish speakers were talking in English, while in Mexico, with other native Spanish speakers. It isn’t like they didn’t allow Spanish in the show, there was a fair amount, they just arbitrarily decided that the scenes where it made the most sense to speak Spanish that English was the right language.

  • @TimewornTraveler@lemm.ee
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    106 months ago

    Valid point. Although I bet there would have been some outcry if they had cast anyone without red hair TBH. Some people are just obsessed with red hair.

    But there would definitely have been less outrage if they casted a blond white lady instead of a black lady. Still relevant point.

  • @TheEighthDoctor@lemmy.world
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    446 months ago

    I only care when it’s stupid, like Medieval Poland being full of black people, not even modern day Poland has that many black people.

    You can call me racist if you want but casting a black guy to play the president of the USA in like 1910 would be as stupid as casting a white guy to play Nebuchadnezzar.

    • Cethin
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      136 months ago

      It’d be as bad as having people of color play Hamilton and associates!

    • @Blackmist@feddit.uk
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      416 months ago

      The Witcher isn’t in Medieval Poland though, it’s in a fantasy land.

      Rings of Power was far more dumb because there’s black people, but only in a few extremely important roles. Almost as if there’s some sort of reverse curse going on, where a baby pops out black, and they immediately make it their king/queen. Or more likely, they realised very late on that they’d made a very white cast, and made a few last minute changes.

      • @TheEighthDoctor@lemmy.world
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        126 months ago

        The Witcher isn’t in Medieval Poland though, it’s in a fantasy land.

        So by that logic it’s fine to make Wakanda full of white people because it’s fantasy land right?

        • skulblaka
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          76 months ago

          Sure it would, if the writers had written it that way. South Africa is full of white people, it might have even made sense.

          But since they didn’t do that, and then wrote their entire storyline around having not done that, this is a poor argument.

        • 🔍🦘🛎
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          46 months ago

          I mean yeah. If the writers wanted to make Wakanda have white people, that would be fine.

      • @andros_rex@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        I sometimes think the token representation is on purpose. Riles up the “anti-woke” and means that internet discourse about your show is all about how there’s some black people, not about how shit the writing is.

        Like I really don’t give a rats ass if the dwarves are brown or purple or pink. (Although the lack of bearded dwarf women is unacceptable.) The other changes in Rings of Power are actually bad.

    • androogee (they/she)
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      6 months ago

      Representation matters. Giving the few traditionally non-white roles that get written in Hollywood to white actors is an actual problem.

      Getting mad about the existence of black characters in fiction fucking stupid. Really fucking stupid. Unjustifiably fucking stupid. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

      • @TheEighthDoctor@lemmy.world
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        206 months ago

        100% agree, but what should be done would be to green light projects by writers of other races based on different cultures and folklores diversifying the pop culture space (for lack of a better term).

        What is done instead is treating minorities as a checklist that needs to be checked in every piece of art even when it doesn’t make sense for them to be in that story.

        • @MonkeMischief@lemmy.today
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          56 months ago

          Exactly. If the roles are the problem, write better roles! I’m surprised it’s not seen as an insult if a role is just token-swapped and “pity given” as some kinda EDI-initiative for culture points.

          I would love to be exposed to more genuine characters that reflect their backgrounds. But I get a bit annoyed at this bizarre box-ticking tokenism that’s clearly pervading Hollywood, as if they ever gave a crap about anybody in the first place.

          Stoking identity conflict makes them money. Lots of it. It keeps them relevant at the forefront of “the discussion” in a world where cultural relevance is literal currency.

          The same corporations that’ll “champion diversity” with a “palette swap” on screen, will outsource their VFX from places with horrible working conditions, for instance. It’s all a big show and apparently lots of us are still falling for it.

      • @Ibaudia@lemmy.world
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        166 months ago

        Getting mad sure, but it is definitely a dumb creative decision to have characters be random races that don’t make sense in the historical context and it’s fine to criticize it. If it’s a purely fictional world with no basis in reality then no one should care.

        • androogee (they/she)
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          6 months ago

          No. Fuckin stop it. Its unbearably stupid.

          Historical fiction has existed for a long time.

          Y’all ain’t out here throwing a pouty parade when someone adds technology or magic or monsters into historical fiction.

          But black people? Existing? If that’s where you draw the line, it’s really clear why. Make all the excuses you want.

          • @Ibaudia@lemmy.world
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            176 months ago

            Historical or alternate history fiction falls under pure fiction imo. That’s fine as long as it makes sense. If it’s meant to be some super grounded realistic historical slice-of-life then it would just make me think “when are they going to bring up the fact that there’s X type of person walking around here” for the whole story.

            Not exclusive to black people. If there were a story that took place in 12th century Mongolia and there was some Nordic guy walking around I would be like “huh, what’s his story” and then be confused when it was never mentioned. That’s how I feel about a lot of these creative choices.

            • androogee (they/she)
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              6 months ago

              That’s literally just a longer way of saying that it’s okay if it’s magic but it’s not okay if it’s black people.

              & yeah, I’ll hold my breath for people getting equally upset about white people in fiction. Any day now. I’m sure.

              I can’t disapprove a hypothetical, I guess, but a hypothetical isn’t proof of anything either.

              • @SLVRDRGN@lemmy.world
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                6 months ago

                But magic doesn’t have any grounding or association with the world as we know it. Neither does aliens. We can only use the world as we know it as a frame of reference for a story.

                I’d argue in lbaudia’s example that it is confusing if in 12th century Mongolia, there was some Nordic guy walking around, I’d imagine there to be a backstory of some kind. If there wasn’t, then that would definitely be an example where I’d be annoyed at white people in fiction.

                I thought a great example of casting was the TV show “The Expanse”. To be able to cast someone as specific as Bobbie Draper so well - these studios have no excuse to whitewash as they do except laziness.

                • androogee (they/she)
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                  6 months ago

                  People made these exact same arguments about the inclusion of a black samurai in an Assassin’s Creed game.

                  A black samurai who was based on a real person who actually existed in history.

                  The game they’re playing is very obvious to anyone who’s actually paying an ounce of attention, and it has nothing to do with caring about historical accuracy.

                  It’s bullshit. It’s an excuse. It’s foolish. I do not suffer it gladly.

                • Cethin
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                  16 months ago

                  I’d argue that magic does have grounding in our world. Sure, we understand today (at leady most of us) that it isn’t real. For most of our history people have believed magic was real though, and attributed real events to magic. We have the word because it has a long history of people thinking it exists. If a story wanted to use “magic” to explain events, that’d be pretty realistic to the times it’s taking place in.

            • Cethin
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              6 months ago

              Except there actually were people of different cultures/ethnicities/nationalities in other places in the past, often without anyone caring that much. Sure, it was often notable but it wasn’t always exclusionary. Implying this shouldn’t be done is the real historical fiction.

              • @Ibaudia@lemmy.world
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                36 months ago

                “It happened” and “it is good writing” are different imo. I just want diverse characters in typically mono-ethnic settings to have a story as to how they got there. I feel like that’s just good writing.

                • Cethin
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                  06 months ago

                  It could be part of good writing. It absolutely isn’t required. We don’t get the background on most characters. Why should they have to give detail they wouldn’t provide for other characters just to satisfy you?

    • @bouh@lemmy.world
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      66 months ago

      Meanwhile middle age fantasy had black knights and it was fine.

      Racists are gonna be racists is all there is.

      • @Maggoty@lemmy.world
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        96 months ago

        The actual Middle Ages had black knights in Northern Europe and Scandinavians in the Middle East. Forget fantasy. That actually happened.

    • @Maggoty@lemmy.world
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      26 months ago

      That depends on what you’re doing with it. If Abraham Lincoln is a vampire hunter by night then I don’t think anybody’s going to care who plays the character. It’s obviously beyond reality. If you’re doing the story of Black World War 1 veterans fighting the KKK then you’re going to want representation before the NAACP starts picketing your studio.

  • @Maggoty@lemmy.world
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    366 months ago

    I absolutely remember people being mad about the first one.

    The others not so much. The fantasy movies don’t really matter the same way as a historical movie about slavery does. The fantasy characters are even gender swapped without a problem at conventions.

    And yes that means the racists who got mad about Ariel are dumb.

  • partial_accumen
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    116 months ago

    What really confuses me about the outrage over casting a black actor to play the little mermaid is that a mermaid is a fictional creature. Why are people so upset that a fictional creature doesn’t fit what their particular preference is?

    • @nightofmichelinstars@sopuli.xyz
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      6 months ago

      It should be as realistic as possible. My Ariel is fish colored for the same reason fish are. Maybe greenish blue for water camouflage, or grayish for sea floor camouflage, or brightly patterned if she lives near coral reefs or is poisonous. I’d love a cuttlefish mermaid for the flashing colors but I guess that’s not technically a fish, not sure if it matters.

    • Yeather
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      26 months ago

      Something something Danish folklore means white mermaids.

      • @Cypher@lemmy.world
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        66 months ago

        If African folklore had a mythical character played by a white actor wouldn’t they also be criticised?

        • Yeather
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          26 months ago
          1. The Little Mermaid has changed so much since Hans Christian Anderson it cannot really be considered Danish anymore.

          2. Yes they would and rightfully so. I dislike the casting of the movie, it just so happens the movie was bad enough on its own.

  • @chrischryse@lemmy.world
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    146 months ago

    I complain about all of it. Yeah I’m sure it “doesn’t affect the story” for most things, but I feel either get someone who is the correct race or make a new character.