and I think there's an argument to be made for putting that commentary up front and in the viewer's face.
That was the turnaround I had on the issue.
Man, you just get darker and darker, and the weird thing is, your aura? Beige.
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DavidS - Oct 05, 2010 10:12:57 am PDT #11406 of 30000
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
DavidS - Oct 05, 2010 10:31:56 am PDT #11407 of 30000
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
The problematic effect has to do with what I read as you calling Djimon bestial, to be precise.
I'm sorry, ita, I wasn't properly understanding your objection, though I hope I addressed it in a roundabout way.
"Beastial" was an adjective modifying "Caliban." I'm not sure how it could be construed to refer back to Djimon, but that's not what I intended.
§ ita § - Oct 05, 2010 10:37:29 am PDT #11408 of 30000
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
As an explicit endorsement of that part of the logic of the casting, Hec.
DavidS - Oct 05, 2010 10:41:04 am PDT #11409 of 30000
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
I'm curious how you felt about the casting of Maori as Uruk Hai in LotR?
§ ita § - Oct 05, 2010 10:42:45 am PDT #11410 of 30000
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
Not just the Maori Uruk Hai casting--pretty much every non-white cast member in the trilogy was cast as evil. It was not good.
DavidS - Oct 05, 2010 10:50:48 am PDT #11411 of 30000
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
Not just the Maori Uruk Hai casting--pretty much every non-white cast member in the trilogy was cast as evil. It was not good.
I'd concur, though I'd say that the racism is right there in Tolkien.
I don't know - I'm not insensitive to the issue at all. I'm still boggled that people can't see the blatant anti-semitic caricatures in the Ferengi and the Goblins in the Potterverse.
From her comments, I don't know that Taymor has thought through all the implications of her casting. I'm curious to see how she will deal with those issues in the movie. Whether she will use the casting of Djimon to dig into the issues of slavery and colonialism or whether it was a shallow dip into her own biases.
§ ita § - Oct 05, 2010 10:53:32 am PDT #11412 of 30000
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
I'd say that the racism is right there in Tolkien
That *so* doesn't have to be brought forward in the movie. Jackson was willing to mess with enough shit. He could have had Maori hobbits or dwarves or white Uruk Hai quite simply. That's on him, and not on JRR.
smonster - Oct 05, 2010 10:56:59 am PDT #11413 of 30000
We won’t stop until everyone is gay.
That's on him, and not on JRR.
Especially considering his faithful remake of King Kong which followed.
In happier race-related movie news, Racebending reports that the casting side for Nico Minoru (Runaways, based on the comic) has been revised to specify "Asian-American." [link]
Polter-Cow - Oct 05, 2010 10:58:14 am PDT #11414 of 30000
What else besides ramen can you scoop? YOU CAN SCOOP THIS WORLD FROM DARKNESS!
Good news, smonster!
Sophia Brooks - Oct 05, 2010 11:10:04 am PDT #11415 of 30000
Cats to become a rabbit should gather immediately now here
OK- is Julie Taymor my college acting teacher in disguise, because my senior year we did a Tempest with a Prospera and the only black cast member being Caliban. Which was weird, but her casting pool was pretty small (mostly white females) (hence Prospera, and also Trincula, some noblewoman, and a queen). W