The problem with blacks appropriating white characters like Lil' Orphan Annie

Again; So what? If all that is observed is the color of a persons skin then that is racism pure and simple. Good guys and bad guys can be any ethnicity. There are no white or black roles stereotypically.

 

Oh. Meh, there are real things in the world to be mad about.

 

I don't get that he's "condemning" anything. Stop being emotional and just read the words. He said that the problem with interchanging a black actor with what we grew up with or with what was originated as white---is that instead of appreciating the movie---, human nature will cause people to simply see the remake as a "black version". Its not a racist post---just an honest one. It WOULD be better for a black actor to originate and totally "own" a charactor. Think "Shaft". That was an awesome show and the main charactor couldn't just be replaced by a white man--cause it wouldn't be "Shaft". Try replacing the Jeffersons with a white family. You might still have a funny show...but it won't be the Jeffersons. Heck...you couldn't remake the Cosby's with a white family and still call it the Cosby. People don't just change black to white. You have to have a bit of logic in place for the person watching the show or buying the ticket.

 

I look forward to Justin Beiber playing MLK and the One Direction boys being the Tuskegee Airmen........:.it will make February a bit more tolerable.......

 

February being black history month and an unbearable time of the year for white nationalists?

 

Yes there are traditional white and black characters. Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben are black characters. Maybe it's time to make them white.

 

Ben Parker, Spiderman's uncle, is black?

Didn't Cliff Roberts play him?

 

Considering all the rioting and protests by liberals, it just goes to show that all the pandering and tokenism in the world won't appease the black liberal.

 

I'm black?

I mean, I am off Italian descent so I imagine I have a bit of African blood in me, but I don't think I am actually black. Not that I mind. It is all a social construct anyway, but I never knew that about myself.

 

It's cold and rainy outside..........

 

Ever hear of Uncle Ben's rice?

 

Yes. However, I don't think that was Cliff Roberts on the box. Perhaps you are mistaken.

 

Are we talking about you?

 

Not buying it.

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Are we?

 

why is there soo much hatred directed towards blacks, from Conservatives?

 

I would venture to say it is easier for them to justify their own failures in life by saying that others are less than human.

 

Why is there so much hatred directed towards Whites by blacks..........

 

why do many Jews hate Germans?

 

Why do so many Germans hate Jews..........think Dresden....

 

the Jews bombed Dresden?

lol!!!!

 

Given that Hollywood is going through a creativity drought right now, the problem of creating original characters for movies is hardly unique to black people. If anything, race-bending an established character is a step in diverging from the source material, however small and cosmetic.

 

white musicians have been stealing black music for decades

 

Her Whiteness is not an important part of her character the way Shaft's Blackness is important to his character. Annie is a little orphan with a big heart. She was originated as a White girl with redhair but has been re-imagined as a Black girl. Annie can be any ethnicity and the concept still works. The concept of a White Shaft doesn't work. Shaft was imagined as a man coming from an African-American cultural background. He's supposed to be Black. This concept can work the other way. I don't believe that John F Kennedy should ever be played by a Black man or any other race. He's White. It would be historically inaccurate and not fit with the character.

Let's take the example of superheroes. Batman, Superman and Spider-man were all originally imagined as White men. Their Whiteness is not important to the character so they could be easily re-imagined as another race. Spider-man in another universe was made to be Black/Hispanic in the comics (Miles Morales). Blade and Spawn are two popular comic book superheroes. They were originally imagined as Black. They could work as White characters but they were created specifically because Black superheroes were rare in comics so appropriating them to White characters would be problematic.

I don't see a problem with James Bond being played by Idris Elba. Rush Limbaugh made an issue out of this saying that Bond was imagined as a White Scottish man. Maybe the Scottish part is important to the character but I always thought of Bond's most important feature as being charismatic. He doesn't need a Scottish accent to be Bond and I'm pretty sure not everyone who has played him has been Scottish.

I do think it's good for Black actors to play original Black characters creating their own classics but it's not harmful for them to play classics that were originally White when Whiteness is not an important aspect of the character.

 

The OP is a great reflection of how hyper-sensitive Conservatives are in regards to race.

 

Well you know they didn't fly the planes and drop the bombs.......front line warfare is not really their style........LOL