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Not just to white characters. It's happened to Black characters too.
My thoughts also.
Demographics is destiny. Which means, among other things, and in microcosm, individuals of given races tend strongly to display certain behavioral characteristics, to possess certain physical characteristics and abilities, and to have--or not--certain aptitudes. These facts spring from the historical verity that groups of peoples (races) have distinct evolutionary/genetic histories that are conditioned by discrete environmental circumstances regnant in the continents in which they evolved. Our own eyes confirm these disparities, and Himalayan ranges of evidence cinch the observations.
Yes, the overweening emphasis on the historical "evils" of whitey, while studiously ignoring the crushing mass of white male contributions to the civilization white males built bespeaks the obvious anti-white racism that suffuses the entertainment world. The obverse is the laughable cultural affirmative action which portrays blacks--almost without exception--as victims meriting pity, or as saintly, just and sapiental demi-gods the rest of us should bow down to and worship. If you cannot see this then you are blind, or, much the same, have been so brainwashed by the dominant culture that you are incapable of judging it.
Ladies and gentlemen, if you were to ask me to write an example of racism I'd come up with something like this. Frankly I'd be appalled if something like this were allowed to stay up. I'm sure I'm not the only person who thinks blatant racial prejudice is far more offensive than my use of a "bad word" that got censored by a mod. This is the type of thing I'd expect to read on Stormfront.
"these days you can't even say that someone's skin color determines their personality without the PC brigade jumping down your throat." ;)
Wow.
Thanks!! I have had issues with this in past threads.
You're both total idiots and I don't care if I get banned. I don't like sharing space with bigoted morons.
Mod edit: Watch the language.
Completely agree and oh yes, completely agree about Elba for Mr Big too. If there is one Bond villain he could play, it is this one.
Bane in TDKR has a mask most of the time and a foreign, somewhat Hispanic sounding accent (if I am not mistaken a nod to his comic book origins) . In any case, if the actor was a British white man, the character was not. They did turn Khan into a white Brit in the last Star Trek movie, and it was IMO a complete failure, whitewashing the villain into something generic and devoid of personality.
It is highly unlikely that they will choose a successor to Craig in his 50s, however good looking and fit he may be for his age.
Agree 100%. Khan in the last Star Trek was a complete shambles. They should not have done that. It was somewhat insulting to the character.
Elementary (The American Sherlock Holmes reboot) made Watson a woman.
No f-word allowed, but racist diatribes, absolutely fine. Good to know.
I didn't say that it would or could happen.
A woman of Chinese descent.
Shambolic travesties in all cases, in terms of pissing on the characters, no matter how good the performances by the actors.
And Cumberbatch is a great actor. He was just completely wrong for the role. I didn't expect another uberman on steroid looking Khan, but with a name like Khan and the previous actor in the role being Hispanic, one would have expected a more fitting casting than a skinny British white man.
If only Benicio Del Toro didn't turn down the role...
Good god, man, this is what I come back to? You know something, there are four or five different reasons I don't think Idris is a good actor for Bond and the least important of those reasons is his skin colour. But I guess that makes me a regular Hitler then?
Cumberbatch as Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness was one instance of whitewashing that I believe was beneficial. As people noticed Into Darkness was basically one big allegory for a 9/11 conspiracy theory. Roberto Orci himself is a "truther". Can you imagine the controversy of a Indian actor or a actor clearly portraying a Indian man blowing up government buildings? Hell Khan's first scene in the movie was him forcing a suicide bomber to blowup a government weapons facility.
The filmmakers of STID were damned if they did and damned if they didn't. By casting a white British man they were accused of white-washing. If they stayed truer to the Khan of the series/Wrath of Khan all the touchy P.C. types would up in arms calling it a racist movie with the only Indian character in the film being a ruthless terrorist.
Cracked.com actually did a good job of pointing out the glaring agenda the film had.
http://www.cracked.com/article_21552_5-famous-movies-with-political-agendas-you-didnt-notice.html
Elba has been pushing too hard for Bond for 2 years and has been making all kinds of self serving comments in the press. He's been campaigning way to hard. Now Pascal gives him a big assist in a way that I fear will hurt Spectre as the press could treat Craig like a lame duck Bond. That undermines Spectre. I'm now waiting for Al Sharpton (Pascal's new adviser on race) to make an idiot statement about this that will counteract the RUsh Limbaugh idiot statement. We'll then have two of the US's biggest gas bags making this mess worse.
The key point frequently noted by others in this thread, is that he is simply too old. No matter how hard Elba and his fans campaign for him to be Bond, he will be pushing 50 when Bond 26 comes out if Craig does Bond 25. The press is swooning over this leak because the press will always swoon over the next shiny new piece of gossip, until another newer shiny piece of gossip comes up.
If Craig wants to continue, it would seem that EON would want to make it clear that he is contracted for Bond 25, and that any casting decision at that time will require an actor that can make a 10 year plus commitment which would disqualify Elba, not his race. Why would EON replace Craig, an already proven draw as Bond, with an actor almost the same age and why would EON go through another always risky reboot or recast with an actor that will only last for one or two films because he is getting too old. There are other younger, very talented black actors that are potential Bonds if EON wants to take that step.
But, who knows, it could be that Chiwetel Ejiofor didn't get the Villian role, not because of money which I never believed, but because EON has another more important role for him in mind if indeed Craig does not continue.
I love Idris. He's one of the UK's finest actors (and there are dozens to speak of working today) IMO. But he isn't right for James Bond.
@StirredNotShaken, I don't see your name in any of those quotes, so thanks for playing the victim, but as you very well know, nobody here is making such accusations. Don't start twisting peoples words. Thanks.
If you have seen anything that contravenes the forum rules, flag it and we will take the appropriate action.
Here is one more thing you should know: Being "black and proud" is encouraged, or any color/culture really, except white/European. Try being "white and proud" haha and see what happens.
Can anyone hear that tiny violin?
Well, in that case all I can say is don't let your script be written by 9/11 truthers. They will get something as ridiculous as the "theory" they defend. If he wanted to avoid a controversy, he may as well have made the enemy another person than Khan. There is no point taking an original character and keeping nothing of him but his namem turning him into yet another generic British villain. There was a lot of wrong things about this pseudo-Khan, the casting was just one of them, but it certainly was one of them.
Maybe the courageous thing would have been to stay faithful to the original character and has a talented Hispanic or even an Indian actor play the role. I have yet to see an actor shy away from playing a well written villainous role out of fear of stygmatising his ethnic group. Did any white actor refused to play Iago because he was racist? Or Black actor refused to play Othello because he strangles his wife to death?
In my opinion, that's because 'white and proud' is the default position. The others are encouraged to be 'proud' because they are minorities. I agree with this. They should all be proud. No one should feel less worthy due to race or colour or minority status. It is incumbent on the majority to be lenient and accomodating of this requirement in any situation, not just a racial one. Minority groups have to be encouraged by the majority to speak up and stand up just because they may be intimidated on the basis of numbers.
However, this is completely different from suggesting that a minority group can play James Bond without potentially altering the character in a way that others may dislike. As I mentioned before, I'm sure that if a minority actor were to every play Bond, elements of his sexism will be watered down, because it would not look so proper on film, or be so sellable if a visual minority agent was also sexist. That would be a problem for me because I like Bond's sexism.
I had no problem with Obama winning the election in 2008 as an example because his ethnicity did not in my estimation alter the character of the presidency in any way. He was the best man for the job out of the characters that were running. So he deserved the win, not on the basis of his race, but on the basis of his political capability. I never understood people making such a big deal about him being black and winning. As far as I saw it, the best man won.
It's a bit different with Bond because I think they may alter the character. Some have argued on this very thread, correctly, that this has already happened in 50 + years of Bond on film. That's true, and I liked some characterizations better than others. However, it could be argued that in those cases, the characterizations were selected on the basis of the direction that the producers wanted to go in, rather than some inherent characteristic of the actor chosen, the exception perhaps being Daniel Craig's height. You could not credibly cast Famke Jansen opposite Craig for instance, because in heels she would dwarf him.