Colour Blind casting

[ThinWomansBrain]

I know any statement that starts "I'm not racist but..." is usually exactly that, but I find colour blind casting in period drama really distracting.
I've seen two films and a play in the last week where it's been really off - why go to all of the effort of period costume and make up, and then have really implausible actors?

Wicked little letters - first Asian police woman was 1970s. not 1920s
National Theatre production - 1930s play - white couple with an inexplicably Asian Child
Catherine Booth (co founder of Salvation Army) was not black

It's particularly jarring when they are supposed to be portraying real characters.

In contrast, I saw some contemporary dance/theatre this evening, I don't even race or gender of most of the dancers.

Yes, because JK Rowling is known for not rocking the boat isnt she...

I believe that it's a specific crocus, the saffron crocus, that produces the spice, not the bog standard roadside plants. They're pretty expensive to buy relative to other varieties.

Thanks you. It was sarcasm based on a previous poster's comment.

White people shouldn’t be allowed to make paella?

I am watching Mr Mitchell's List and the colour blind casting is causing chaos in my brain! Nothing wrong with the acting - just such a mish mash of races that believing one is parent to the other is hard to credit!

YANBU, it's completely wrong to erase the ethnicities of real people.

Also, Europeans are indigenous to Europe, and that should be ok. Until last century Britain was >99% European, and had been since the Ice Age ended. It should be ok to portray it accurately.

It is totally distracting to see a non-white person playing somebody from 18th century Europe and know that they would never be there in real life. Or to see someone like Anne Boleyn being played by a black woman.

Lord knows if Europeans were playing another ethnicity from another part of the world there would be absolute uproar. The usual suspects are still raging about Liz Taylor playing Cleopatra, even though Cleopatra was Macedonian.

You're being obtuse. Just watch any ad break, then bear in mind that the actual black British population is 3%, and mixed race 1.5%.

Here's another example. 50% of the candidates on the current Apprentice series are not white British.

At least 50% of the contenders on the current Gladiators were not white British. 50% of the actual Gladiators are also not white British.

White British people make up 80% of the population.

This means that white British people were being systematically deprived of the opportunity for a £250,000, to take part in a £50,000 game show, and for lucrative TV careers. This is simply not fair.

What @slore so eloquently said.

I loved the TV adaptation of Wolf Hall, but I understand the imminent adaptation of The Mirror and the Light has some colour blind casting, so I won’t be watching (and yes I realise nobody gives a shit about me not watching a TV show, before someone points that out).

Often, the people in top positions in the TV companies want to be seen to be doing the right thing, they’re thinking of their salaries, and paying dividends to their shareholders. People who thinks that anyone, regardless of race, is always cast because they’re the best person for the role are very naive.

What % of the population is ethnic minority amongst the 20-40 year old age group that is physically suitable for the show?

Suspect your numbers are off. 71yo Lesley isn’t being denied a glittering TV career.

racism seems the obvious explanation for disliking actors who are not white playing roles. Seems between the lines in many posts on this thread.

Not if they’re the kind of people who think black people shouldn’t play certain parts. That would be hypocritical.

Are you suggesting that the contestants were chosen specifically because they are not white? Not because they are the best people for the job (entertaining, obtuse, whatever the casting brief for the Apprentice is these days)?

Next you’ll be moaning about all those Olympic sprinters and marathon runners who aren’t white.

Have you considered the possibility that the Gladiators / Apprentice contestants were the best people who auditioned?

Of course you haven’t - it could only be favouritism that made ethnic people stand out, couldn’t it?

I really enjoyed the performance of the police officer in Wicked Little Letters. She is a great actress.

Whilst we’re at it, let’s look at the presenting team for gladiators… 4 white men as co-presenters, lead referee and VO artist.

Let’s look at the screen time given to each gladiator to talk - eg Legend gets plenty of time on the mic, the episode I watched yesterday (9?) Phantom wasn’t even interviewed after beating the contestant, in a break from the format.

If you’re going to complain about ‘too many black people’ on tv, at least have the sense to look at the quality of parts.

White people from the Mediterranean region shouldn’t be allowed to use a spice that originated in the Mediterranean region?

Iran might have something to say about your origin beliefs.

I’m guessing the PP isn’t from Spain. Unless perhaps they moved to Benidorm and voted for Brexit?

What about non-white people (including on this thread) who dislike the misrepresentation of history and the "I don't see race" attitude?

Personally, I think it's great to see non-white actors in adverts and Disney. As do many people who don't necessarily always think colourblind casting is a good thing.

IM NOT WHITE.

Now I’ve made that perfectly clear I find the whole idea of casting ethnically inaccurate characters so disrespectful.

It says to me that there aren’t interesting enough black or Asian characters to make films about and we must be thrown a bone. It also pisses white people off after years of being told they must not appropriate.

I don’t need a helping hand (usually offered by hysterical white liberals who see me as poorer and stupider than them). I’ve got pretty far on my own merits.

I dislike misrepresentation, innaccuracy and lies in historical films and TV. Masters of the Air (atrocious acting, mumbling, clichéd etc) was so full of annoyance it made it almost unbearable to watch. But of course they felt they HAD to incorporate the Tuskegee Airmen (black fighter pilots) into the story in a fairly central role. They had nothing whatsoever to do with the 'Bloody Hundredth' and should not have been included as it throws the whole historical value out of the window.

The Tuskegee Airmen were absolutely first class and deservedly had two films made about them. Rewriting history in this way insults them. It's diversity box-ticking.

Bob Marley isnt being played by Bill Nighy.

that’s not what colourblind casting is. No one is throwing GM actors a bone or casting them just to increase diversity. CBC is about opening roles to anyone, regardless of race, and choosing the best one, rather than choosing the best one from a restricted pool.

If a film purports to be historically accurate, then it should be, but let’s not only hold skin colour to account - everything has to be correct.

But beyond that, does it really matter if a made up mermaid is black with a Hawaiian dad?

YABU

Black people came to Britain with the Romans, Indian people have been here since the time of the East India company in the 18th-19th centuries. History here in the UK has been so whitewashed, there were ethnic minorities here for centuries.

Black and Asians fought in world wars yet are omitted from films set during the wars.

How do you feel about Jesus Christ being depicted as White??? He certainly wasn't.

No one is throwing GM actors a bone or casting them just to increase diversity. CBC is about opening roles to anyone, regardless of race, and choosing the best one, rather than choosing the best one from a restricted pool.

That’s the official line, but no - the reality is that it’s more about ticking boxes, branding, shareholders, salaries…money, ultimately.

What’s your capacity in the entertainment industry?

Or is this just a feeling, like the PP who didn’t like so many black faces in ads?

It’s an opinion, much like your own.

I’m guessing the PP isn’t from Spain. Unless perhaps they moved to Benidorm and voted for Brexit

Considering 73% of black Britons voted for Brexit, compared to 53% of the white population, you may want to think twice before conflating race and Brexit voting