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So a meme has been floating around the Internet. It's called the Chromatic Casting meme, wherein people take popular shows/comics/movies etc and cast them with minorities. And, um. It's kind of awesome. Here are some examples:
Harry Potter
X-Men
DC Comics
Buffy
Lord of the Rings
It should be noted that the idea is not to see how they'd do it better or worse than the originals, but to imagine how they'd play it differently (if at all). And things like this make me really like fandom because aside from the joy of seeing all the shiny, pretty people, they point out a couple things about blind-casting (and the lackthereof) in Hollywood.
On one hand, there is the point that ethnicity really doesn't have to be the big obstacle that everyone makes it out to be. If you look at the links above, a LOT of those suggestions still work without losing the essence of the character. (Case in point: Gina Torres as Wonder Woman. HELL. YES.). It reminds me of that time in high school when Othello was playing at the Shakespeare Theatre, starring Patrick Stewart as Othello. Of course it's different when you swap black and white, but the story still worked. Another example are the people in the Harry Potter fandom who point out that Hermione could have very well been black, especially given her curly hair woes (which is a big issue for black women).
The picspams also rather effectively show that there are a lot of really really attractive and talented non-white actors out there, so the excuse that you can't find them doesn't really hold much water. Just fire up imdb.com and have at it.
On the other hand, though, this meme came about from all the flailing about the rumors of Will Smith being a lead contender for Captain America. Would it matter if Captain America was black? Or Asian or Hispanic or American Indian for that matter? Well, yeah, it kind of does. Because much like Superman, he's so iconic and has been such a big part of the American pop culture identity for such a long time that any deviation from the traditional image is bound to set off the fans who grew up with him and identified with him. It's the exact reason why Racefail 2009 (fandom implosion over the controversial whitewashing of the Avatar: the Last Airbender movie) happened. Changing the ethnicity doesn't mean it *can't* work, but it does add or subtract certain nuances and flavors.
And with so few minorities as leading actors, so few stories featuring predominantly non-white casts, it's understandable why some people might get upset at casting all white actors for characters who are very clearly not. The problem has less to do with a question of talent (well, except for Jesse McCartney as Zuko. Not even I could defend that), and more to do with the idea of losing one of *their* stories.
Anyway, it's something to think about in the ongoing Cultural Appropriation Discussion of Doom that the Internet seems intent on carrying on. At least this time there's less wank and more pretty pictures of hot people.
What show/fandom would you try to recast and whom would you cast?
Harry Potter
X-Men
DC Comics
Buffy
Lord of the Rings
It should be noted that the idea is not to see how they'd do it better or worse than the originals, but to imagine how they'd play it differently (if at all). And things like this make me really like fandom because aside from the joy of seeing all the shiny, pretty people, they point out a couple things about blind-casting (and the lackthereof) in Hollywood.
On one hand, there is the point that ethnicity really doesn't have to be the big obstacle that everyone makes it out to be. If you look at the links above, a LOT of those suggestions still work without losing the essence of the character. (Case in point: Gina Torres as Wonder Woman. HELL. YES.). It reminds me of that time in high school when Othello was playing at the Shakespeare Theatre, starring Patrick Stewart as Othello. Of course it's different when you swap black and white, but the story still worked. Another example are the people in the Harry Potter fandom who point out that Hermione could have very well been black, especially given her curly hair woes (which is a big issue for black women).
The picspams also rather effectively show that there are a lot of really really attractive and talented non-white actors out there, so the excuse that you can't find them doesn't really hold much water. Just fire up imdb.com and have at it.
On the other hand, though, this meme came about from all the flailing about the rumors of Will Smith being a lead contender for Captain America. Would it matter if Captain America was black? Or Asian or Hispanic or American Indian for that matter? Well, yeah, it kind of does. Because much like Superman, he's so iconic and has been such a big part of the American pop culture identity for such a long time that any deviation from the traditional image is bound to set off the fans who grew up with him and identified with him. It's the exact reason why Racefail 2009 (fandom implosion over the controversial whitewashing of the Avatar: the Last Airbender movie) happened. Changing the ethnicity doesn't mean it *can't* work, but it does add or subtract certain nuances and flavors.
And with so few minorities as leading actors, so few stories featuring predominantly non-white casts, it's understandable why some people might get upset at casting all white actors for characters who are very clearly not. The problem has less to do with a question of talent (well, except for Jesse McCartney as Zuko. Not even I could defend that), and more to do with the idea of losing one of *their* stories.
Anyway, it's something to think about in the ongoing Cultural Appropriation Discussion of Doom that the Internet seems intent on carrying on. At least this time there's less wank and more pretty pictures of hot people.
What show/fandom would you try to recast and whom would you cast?