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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?
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I kinda loved the genderswap of Frodo too. Maybe it's because I love Jasika as Astrid on Fringe, but she could totally sell the innocent but focused Frodo. Hehe, and Morgan Freeman as Gandalf is PERFECT.
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But Naveen Andrews as Sirius? Hell YES. Also Gina Torres as Wonder Woman would be effing awesome.
Blah. All this does is remind me how much work I have to do in terms of all this stuff when I'm raising my kids in Aryan Nation. Blergh!
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Oh and HELL to the YES on Naveen Andrews as Sirius. She chose an awesome picture too.
Funny thing that I just realized is that for all that I'm all *woe* not enough minorities in 24, it actually does a better job than most, particularly in the first two season (see: Jamie Farrell, Alberta Green, the Palmers, Tony, Carrie, Michelle).
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Not so much a casting choice as a general comment: Why so little interracial dating on 24? There are two pairings I can think of offhand: POTUS David Palmer and Anne Packard in Day 3, and Hassan/Reporter Lady in Day 8.
Yes, we all love Annie, but maybe a Black!Renee?
One thing that irritated me about TV Star Trek: Black Vulcans married other black vulcans, etc. In one AU Deep Space Nine ep, Jake Sisco married a Black Bajoran, so he could marry out side his species but not his race. Not a problem for Klingons, who were burried under so much makeup you couldn't tell the ethnicity of the actor.
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And dude, do you know how few interracial relationships there are on TV, period? 24 actually has more than most.
Dude, Annie's my girl and all, but Black!Renee could have also been awesome, as would an Asian Chloe. 24 gets more love from me though because they do also like to spin things on its head, like with Marie Warner and at least they cast handsome black and Asian agents as field agent redshirts. Plus, you know, the Palmers. And Agent Baker.
You know, science fiction has a much better track record for interracial dating, so your comment surprises me a little. Maybe in TNG and TOS it wasn't as prevalent, but in DS9, not only did you have the adorable O'Brien family (MOLLY!), you also had Jadzia Dax and Worf, Ezri Dax and Dr. Bashir. On Voyager, there were B'Elanna and Tom Paris, and as much as I hated it, Chakotay and 7of9. Plus Harry Kim had that huge crush on 7. So, while still not great, at least it's there and part of the major plot.
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I noticed the Asian field agents too. We could use an Asian POTUS just to blow our minds, much as i love Taylor
On both The Border (the Canadian 24) and Battlestar, Grace Park didn't seem to play specifically Asian characters. I personally don't think she's a great actress, but I do give her props for going against type.
TV has more interacial dating than film, one of the many reasons I prefer that medium.
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Not to mention how much more complicated it would be if they casted someone of Chinese descent.
Damnit. This is going to stick with me for a while. I love Annie and Kiefer the way they're playing it, but now I'm wondering what a Chromatic Casting of 24 would look like. Right now, of the Americans, the only non-white regulars that I count are Hastings and FPJ.
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The answer is no.
Here is what I have to say on the subject. What I realized after kind of letting this post kick around in my head for most of the day is that it's easier for me to allow for recasts in my head when I'm less invested in the characters. Black Buffy didn't work for me either, but you know why? It has nothing to do with color. It has to do with the fact that as Buffy, to my way of thinking, you simply cannot replace Sarah Michelle Gellar. Yes, you could still have a good show, but it would be an entirely different show, and that holds true if any of a thousand white actresses had taken the role, too.
I feel the same way about Annie AND Kiefer. I mean shit. Kiefer IS Jack Bauer. It's not about making him black/Asian/any other minority. It's about making him something other than what he is. He isn't Jack Bauer because he's white. He's Jack Bauer because he's Kiefer. To me, same with Renee. She doesn't pwn that role because she's white (although dude what would your recaps be w/o the Scully jokes? :-P), but because she's Annie. I can't imagine anyone else in that role.
Oddly, even though I very much enjoy the HP universe, I was entirely fine with the thought of almost all of the characters being replaced. Ben Kingsley as Dumbledore would fucking RULE. But for some reason I think this is because I attach less association to character and actor in this fandom. For me, there, it's about the story, the myth, the alternate universe. It's not about people who work a role precisely because they are who they are.
Woah I have no idea if I'm making any sense. Also, I need to ditto what Joan said about appropriate period pieces and such. I mean Pride and Prejudice would be a little weird with an Asian cast. This says nothing negative about Asians, only that P&P is about snotty Brits in the early 19th century, and they were um, white. Whether or not that is a GOOD thing is another subject entirely.
I adore colorblind casting. Nothing makes me happier than the very few interracial relationships I've seen on TV where it's not even an issue. And now I"m going to shut up before I stick my foot even further in my mouth. I hope you're taking this the way I mean it.
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Interestingly enough, they did do a (well HALF) Asian version of P&P. I believe they called it Bride and Prejudice, since it was a Bollywood version of P&P. And for the most part, that one worked. It was just a matter of adjusting the context. After all, Clueless had Stacey Dash and Donald Faison in it and it's nothing more than a modern adaptation of Emma. Shoot, Baz Luhrman even managed to sell John Liguizamo as Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet. But I suppose in all of those cases, we're changing things around and bringing them forward in time to allow the change to be believable. Still, the stories are pretty much the same.
The only thing I can think of that actually follows Chromatic Casting in the originally envisioned time period is the BBC's Merlin, which casted a black Guinevere and as random black actors showing up all around. Of course, that series plays fast and loose with the legends (aging down Merlin, switching Gwen and Arthur's origin stories), has completely anachronistic tomatoes, and Gwen invents feminism in episode 10 of the first season- but then again it's a series with a talking dragon and magic. So it doesn't seem to really care that it is anachronistic and thinks you shouldn't care either. I kinda love it for that reason.
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On a semi-related note, why can't I see Sparticus in Canada? *cries*
Back to our topic: Denzel Washington was cast in a delightful version of Much Ado About Nothing back in 1993.
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I can also see the whole cast of LOTR this way, because the story creates an alternative universe. (The choice for Legolas is hot.) Same deal for something like The Wizard of Oz. A black or Asian Dorothy would not affect the story.
For stories that are set in cultures and universes that are diverse, that diversity should be reflected in the casting. So any of superheroes are fair game, especially the American ones. Captain America represents a perennial now (or slightly future) America, and that is going to change as the face of America changes. Crime shows, romances, medical dramas and comedies should all have diversity.
OTOH, If the writer is writing about a specific culture, I think it is respectful to cast a movie with people from that culture. Eat, Drink, Man, Woman would not have worked with a white cast. That is, it would have been a good movie, but it wouldn't have been the same story. Agatha Christie was writing about uptight middle-class English people. Casting a Hispanic as Miss Marple would change the whole psychology of the story.
Which naturally leads to the consideration that perhaps the problem is not merely about casting. Maybe also there need to be more roles written for Hispanic female detectives in England. It's like Joss Whedon's discussion of strong female characters. Why aren't more people writing them? As we've seen with Dana, casting a strong female actress in a weak role does nothing to promote equality.
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. Captain America represents a perennial now (or slightly future) America, and that is going to change as the face of America changes.
Intellectually I agree with you on the matter; however I also contend that when you are dealing with the image of already established, beloved characters, people get awfully possessive of them. Using another example, Superman is supposed to stand for Freedom, Truth, and the American Way, but how many people do you think would get upset if they casted a Chinese-American dude to play him? I'm guessing a lot. Getting people to wrap their heads around that would be a little difficult because of the way cultural identity has been represented.
It's interesting that you picked Eat Drink, Man Woman, because there's a Mexican-American version of that movie that came out, Tortilla Soup (it had Hector Elizondo in it). In that case, it switched cultures, just not to a Caucasian one. Thoughts on that?
And oh yes. As I said towards the end, it's not just casting that's the problem. The lack of stories out there for minorities (be it gender, ethnicity or sexuality) as the leads is contributes hugely to the issue.
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I think playing around with the cultural context of a story is fine, if you change the whole thing. I haven't seen Tortilla Soup, but it sounds cool. Thing is, then it becomes an examination of that storyline from a Mexican American cultural perspective. If they had tried to still set it in Chinese culture but with a Hispanic cast, then it would all go horribly wrong.
While sometimes the Wonderbread casting of popular culture makes it difficult at times to distinguish between pop culture and 'white' culture, White people of various nationalities do have legitimate cultures that are not interchangeable with any other.
If you cast an Asian Emma, you'd have to change the other elements of the cast and setting as well, so that it would become an entirely different interpretation of the story. You couldn't pretend that it made no difference. But if you do change enough other elements, you could have an Asian version of Superman, I think.
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THIS. I think where it runs into the most problem is in the United States, to be honest, and it has to do with how the country was colonized and ideals under which it operates. Britain, Australia, most of Europe, and Canada handle it a lot better than we do.
If you cast an Asian Emma, you'd have to change the other elements of the cast and setting as well, so that it would become an entirely different interpretation of the story. You couldn't pretend that it made no difference
Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I don't understand why that doesn't bother me on Merlin. They made Gwen black for no apparent reason, and they give no explanation as to why Gawain or Aglain were black either. Or why Lancelot is Hispanic (He's played by Issac from Heroes). It's the only only show I can think of where they just went, "Oh well, we're gonna keep most of this the same, but we're going to change this. And not explain why. Because we can. It's all legend anyway." Sometimes I get the feeling they hide behind the magic and talking dragons because they didn't want to explain that they just really liked the actress.
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(Oh, man, how much do I love applying Religious Studies to pop culture? {-----this much!----} Because what is Rels if not the study of pre-mass-media pop culture? Well, a lot of things, actually, but work with me here.)
That's also why Shakespeare works so well in different settings, and it's almost become a trope to play with the setting. (Romeo and Juliette as 1920s gangsters! Macbeth as Chilean Dictator!) He deals with universals. If a story, such as Emma, becomes Clueless, the aspect of the story that they are focussing on is the universal. A period piece that explicitly emphasizes the specific aspect of the story could not have a Black Emma.