The racist backlash to The Little Mermaid and Lord of The Rings is exhausting and extremely predicta

Comedy and satire is a completely different discussion because the "distraction," the "juxtaposition" is the whole point.

If you're doing a serious movie on Greek mythology, you don't want the audience thinking too hard about "why this person is Aphrodite." It takes the viewer out of the film and starts questioning the casting choice in their head in a way that nobody would question if Aphrodite was depicted by Margot Robbie for example.

In any acting setting outside a satire or comedy where that is the whole point, we would call that the actor "not pulling it off" or a "poor casting choice for that particular role."

 

Those are comedic actors, why would they be case in any "serious" movie if that was the intent? I think this discussion is reducing casting to a purely "representative" thing as if there aren't 1000 other things to consider in a production. Like you probably wouldn't cast John Cena as Superman either, unless it was a more slapstick version.

 

My hypothetical is exclusively taking their physical profile into consideration. Humor me and don't change the hypothetical.

Comedy and satire are wild cards when it comes to this story-telling rule. The fantasy genre is meant to remove people from reality, not remind them of it. Comedy and satire have these wink and nod reminders of everyday life and poke fun at them. Very different kind of story-telling.

 

Seems like another way of saying whatever "rules" there are on appearance in casting, arent hard and fast, and are subject to exceptions based on the artistic intent of the production.

 

We need more movies like this because fair is fair …

 

Well yes.

But there are still "some" rules and "standards" that exist. You CAN make whatever you want, that doesn't mean people will enjoy it. The more you stray from the unwritten rules of filmmaking, the more likely they are not to enjoy it. And if people don't enjoy it, what's it really worth?

Hollywood is free to produce multi-million dollar movies just to stroke their own ego, audiences be damned, but they'll continue to leave money on the table for it... and in some cases lose money.

 

There aren't when it comes to capitalism! "All that is solid melts into air, all that is sacred is profaned ..."

 

Well, I did my best. If you can't see that there are these unwritten rules to storytelling and filmmaking then I can't help you. Some are more important than others and almost all of them aren't so rigid that they can never be broken. But one would be hard-pressed to break all the rules and standards and simultaneously write a compelling story.

It has to offer something, it can't just be these random acts, random characters, with no direction and no story and no logical explanation for anything. Even Seinfeld which is advertised as a "show about nothing" revolves around the lives of these characters who have personalities and quirks and are somewhat consistent with these quirks... and that's a huge part of the humor. Every episode even has a plot, however silly it may be, that always comes full circle in the end in a way that makes the audience laugh. It's using story-telling devices to make the audience laugh. That's following rules.

 

I'm not disagreeing with that, I'm just saying the market forces of capitalism are the enemy of tradition, norms, unwritten rules, art in general, etc.

 

Not exactly.

Capitalism doesn't necessarily have a stake in tradition, norms, unwritten rules, art, etc. It can work against these things, but it can also work in their favor. It depends on the culture.

 

Audible divergence as well. I believe the James Bond character was expressly English (London), but Sean Connery was Scottish and had a different accent. Not sure why skin color would be more important than the accent, for example, even assuming a Scottish man would have even gotten the Bond position.

 

I can come back and say "he's been represented by all of those people, but never a Black role, stick to what's been done in the past."

That to me is about equally compelling to "he's been all of these characters, why not a Black British guy?"

I don't know. Flip a coin?

 

You know we're backwards when the media demands harsh and cold reality in film and entertainment, and fantasy (political correctness) in real life.

 

Seems to me that to the extent it has, its because of counter-market forces, censorship and protectionism. Is there no porn and swearing on TV because its capitalism working in the culture's favor or because there are restrictions in place on what content can be broadcast to a TV audience? I dont think people want to surrender themselves to the market, that's why you are complaining about Disney after all. And Disney isnt even dealing with one culture, its market is literally the entire world, thats who they generate content for.

 

Yeah, I just don't see race being central to the character. There's been talk about Idris Elba playing Bond. He was born in London, and I think he'd do a good job. I could understand more pushback if they cast Will Smith, Jackie Chan, or Matt Damon for the part since they're not British.

 

They've already made some of the supporting characters gay, women or minorities, that just seems more to me like that those people are actually part of the security state now more so than when the first books were written.

 

It wouldn't matter to me because I wouldn't notice. Sylvester McCoy, David Tennant, Peter Capaldi have played Doctor Who and are Scottish. If I hadn't been told I wouldn't know. It might be a bigger deal in the UK.

The last doctor was female and the next will be black (and Scottish). I did and will notice the difference in gender and race. The ratings have bombed but I don't blame Jodie Whittaker. I blame Chris Chibnall.

It's moving to Disney+ and I won't pay extra to watch the new one. I wish then we'll. They are bringing back Russell T Davies so it should improve.

I heard once that Whoopie wanted to play the Doctor. That would be an abomination. Not because she is black but because she is American. I could not accept an American, German, French ... Doctor.
Indian maybe but definitely has to have some tie to the old empire.

 

You can't just say that "capitalism is against traditional norms" just by highlighting media that violates traditional norms. There is also media that reinforces traditional norms.

It goes both ways. It depends on what people gravitate towards which goes to cultural preferences.

If the market demands mainstream deviance from traditional norms, the results from market demand are a symptom, not the disease. The underlying problem is the culture itself, not capitalism.

 

True...and actually The 4th Pirates of the Caribbean movie showed us that they are multiple colors.

 

Tell that to this guy.