Black stars deserve roles in beloved franchises without fearing fandom racism

jcwkings · 2022-10-21T16:18:43+00:00

Meanwhile us Latinos are cast as the token fiery buddy/friend who gives our protagonist some street cred.

OG-DaggerSwagger · 2022-10-21T16:06:54+00:00

Please give us a Static Shock movie!

DeliCreep · 2022-10-21T15:54:21+00:00

We deserve better writers.

ih8karma · 2022-10-21T15:44:28+00:00

Hispanics deserve roles in beloved franchises.

Bill3D · 2022-10-21T16:22:45+00:00

Seems the industry is using “diversity” as a shield against legit criticism though. Plus to squeeze every last drop of life out of existing properties instead of creating new stories. That comes off as more of a form of exploitation by the industry than an honest attempt at inclusivity.

BrentHordickins · 2022-10-21T15:49:05+00:00

I don't think old franchises should be continuously regurgitated over and over again. I don't fucking care who or what is starring in the reboot, the fact it's a reboot makes it automatically shit and lesser than the original. Make something new instead.

morphoyle · 2022-10-21T16:05:15+00:00

Black actors (and everyone for that matter) also deserve fresh new characters instead of race-swapped retreads.

SoManyGoblins · 2022-10-21T16:14:12+00:00

Fan baiting.

Bunch of shit companies, Disney screams racism when people criticise their shit characters if they happen to be black even though nobody ever mentions that (Reva from Kenobi), BUT those fucks will actively hide Finn from the Force Awakens posters for China. Disgusting liars.

Altambo · 2022-10-21T16:20:26+00:00

Fin was amazing and I was so DOWN for him to become a Jedi and even be the protagonist. The directors and the script did him dirty.

dissapointingsuccess · 2022-10-21T16:06:11+00:00

Latinos the help or the sexist bastard in the movie shirtless.

Black people 1/3 of the cast and constantly injected in any remake possible. The face of diversity.

Asians put you in the back round as extras there is no quota to put them in movies tv shows or remakes.

Native Americans, shhhhh we don’t talk about them

Remerez · 2022-10-21T16:12:57+00:00

i'm so glad that the franchises I love already started out diverse. Star Trek 4 Lyfe.

Aboxofphotons · 2022-10-21T16:20:52+00:00

Because, as we are all aware, black people are the one and only minority...

sicariobrothers · 2022-10-21T15:47:38+00:00

Here’s my question. Can we more have characters written for black characters or do we need to keep having black actors playing roles obviously written for white roles originally.

Or are we saying black people have the same identity as white people and the roles should be interchangeable.

Because that isn’t working at the moment.

BlueAlpha85 · 2022-10-21T16:04:54+00:00

Here is a thought, make NEW movies.

dawgtown22 · 2022-10-21T16:16:37+00:00

Diversity now just means more black people. A movie could consist of 99% black people and it would be celebrated as being diverse. What a load of shit.

PaulieCostello · 2022-10-21T15:49:53+00:00

People don't hate black characters, they hate poorly written characters and characters whose race was swapped for marketing purposes.

BigChief002 · 2022-10-21T15:50:00+00:00

They need to focus on highlighting black characters and not making established characters black. There are a lot of people that would love a static shock movie. There are plenty of POC characters they could use rather than just rebrand. I saw a video of a family gathered around their little girl (she was black) as she watched the teaser that revealed the black little mermaid, thinking how excited she would be. As soon as she saw her she turned around and said “That’s not the little mermaid she’s white”. Little girl wanted to see the character she loves not a rebrand. I think Finn suffered from a poor story line, I liked his character but his story line seemed pointless. I really thought he was gonna emerge as a Jedi. 🤷🏻‍♂️

aj_ramone · 2022-10-21T16:26:35+00:00

Yet black actors are insulted by shitty writers that race swap instead of being given organic roles.

claud2113 · 2022-10-21T16:17:47+00:00

And moviegoers deserve original stories that are inclusive of everyone and not cynical "this thing BUT WITH BLACK PEOPLE!!!" cash grabs.

LoveNewton_Nibbler · 2022-10-21T15:58:24+00:00

John Boyega was absolutely fumbled by Disney

pete_smith1229 · 2022-10-21T15:59:44+00:00

"Black stars deserve their own original characters and backstories."

Fixed it for you.

TofuTigerteeth · 2022-10-21T15:51:50+00:00

Criticism over badly cast or badly performed characters is not the same as racism. You have to stop beating that dead horse. There are many very talented black stars that have been great. Hell the MCU has had several POC with big roles that were a huge hit. I’ve never heard anyone complain about their race.

Only complaints are bad acting or varying from a story line to much where it’s not true to the story. I’m thinking of the sorcerer supreme being a white woman instead of Tibetan but that was because of China…

xXCr4zie_mofoXx · 2022-10-21T16:22:13+00:00

For sure but here's an idea instead of taking a character that's already established and changing the gender or race, why not create a new original character?

I'd be pretty pissed if someone tried to spin a white Luke Cage!

HaCo111 · 2022-10-21T16:09:07+00:00

Still waiting for a static shock movie but instead we keep racebending established characters for representation.

Real representation would be having the courage to push new, interesting, characters of various identities. Not using black people as props for free marketing.

lego_office_worker · 2022-10-21T15:57:47+00:00

id argue black stars deserve roles in original content, not the 400th remake of the same anglosaxon fairytale.

no one takes african folklore and shoehorns in white actors.

inb4 someone posts a picture of some egyptian yarn from the 60's that had white people in brownface. i get it, you found the one movie that happened back when racism was socially acceptable.

its also interesting they had lucas from stranger things on here. he didnt experience racism, he experienced not being the lead actor in a popular show, and his parents gaslighted him into thinking it was racism. not the example i'd want to bring up for the purposes of this article, but ok.

Sewrtyuiop · 2022-10-21T15:58:50+00:00

I'm just tired of getting sloppy seconds. I rather a new character be created or actually use the black characters that are already established in the franchise (DC/Marvel need to do this more)

I feel like most of the race swapping is a lazy way to get online brownie points and get a quick buck. I rather time taken to do what I already said.

sjkbacon · 2022-10-21T15:49:38+00:00

No one deserves anything. Just because I'm black, why should I get the role? A good actor is a good actor regardless of race. If they make an all white movie, so what? No one seems to complain when they make an all black movie. Stop focusing on someone's skin color and focus on who they are.

pewpewpewmadafakas · 2022-10-21T16:11:58+00:00

Yes they do deserve roles. There is no problem giving them roles. But changing a race in a movie just to show face? Not buying it, just leads me to believe the only person that has an original idea is Jordan peele and Tyler Perry. I am pretty sure there are shit tons of ideas in the African/ black American community. I do not want to see remakes, I want original content.

Brokenbatmancowl · 2022-10-21T15:54:34+00:00

This thread will be locked in 3….2….

DeadFyre · 2022-10-21T16:08:16+00:00

You mean like 48 Hours? Or Return of the Jedi? Or The Matrix? Or Platoon? Or Independence Day? or Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves? or Iron Man?

Black stars have been getting roles in beloved movies for DECADES. What's happening now is not about opportunity or representation, it's about lazy, stupid, greedy studios camouflaging bad, retread movies with virtue-signaling tokenism.

Nobody cared that Finn was a black stormtrooper, they cared that the role he was given was stupid, nonsensical, and almost entirely disposable to the overarching plot. Why bother taking risks with original movies, with new stories and characters, when you can just excrete a turd of a sequel or a remake, and spray it with the Febreeze of woke politics to cover up the stench?

opinionated-dick · 2022-10-21T16:21:22+00:00

Maybe the fact so many black actors are having to take over traditionally white roles is more a point about the sheer dearth of creativity in Hollywood rather than anything else.

Maybe we should be seeing actors of all backgrounds creating new franchises instead

Torque2101 · 2022-10-21T15:55:21+00:00

Counterpoint. test drive the following headline: "Schindler's List remake to star Shia LaBeouf as Oskar Schindler, Joaquin Phoenix as Amon Goeth and Denzel Washington as Itzak Stern." "We wanted our work to reflect the world we live in today."

You can hear the groaning already.

Chen_Geller · 2022-10-21T15:32:32+00:00

Here's a thought: just look at people as individuals rather than "black guy this" or "asian woman that" or whatever?

This is true of the fans but its also true of the casting directors.

Ok_Grass_2441 · 2022-10-21T15:51:55+00:00

Idea, just make new good series with a realistic distribution instead of changing series that already exist.

GoneFishingFL · 2022-10-21T16:25:37+00:00

No one "deserves" anything
Given the state of our divisiveness, many people are seeing this as an "us vs. them" being shoved in their face through their beloved stories. There are racists out there, but I would venture to say, it's more about the attack on their stories

e-commerceguy · 2022-10-21T16:07:10+00:00

They are literally using racism to deflect any and all real criticism about whatever shitty reboot they are making. There are tons of great beloved black actors that constantly get good roles. Just fucking make new interesting movies with good writing and casting. But no, they will churn out more and more shitty content and dodge all real criticism and just say everyone’s racist

jannuhat · 2022-10-21T16:19:40+00:00

No one deserves jack shit just because of their skin colour.

What viewers (and actors alike) deserve are new stories and characters written to be playable by actors from various backgrounds when it suits the overarching story being told. What no one deserves are lazy-ass reboots with 'diversity' shoehorned in.

HaCo111 · 2022-10-21T15:49:01+00:00

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2022-10-21T15:26:39+00:00

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sacred_oak_nutsack · 2022-10-21T16:25:59+00:00

No one is entitled to anything from another. You cant just force people to like something.

Rulinglionadi · 2022-10-21T16:04:26+00:00

Good actors deserve roles in movies, Period.

2022-10-21T16:03:53+00:00

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Biscuits_N_Gravey · 2022-10-21T16:24:50+00:00

Over emphasizing race leads to toxic outcomes

justjoshingu · 2022-10-21T15:32:05+00:00

I always find finn an interesting topic.

Its a little odd to have the stormtroopers be anything but white. They are analogous to german stormtroopers and have kind of a built in race war. Mostly against aliens but it bled over to other human races. But.. it was always an assumption and its the new order and not the empire and they need bodies.

As for Finn. The fans didnt do him wrong, disney did. Anyone ive seen talking about his original arc, a force user former stormtrooper leading an uprising from the bowels of coruscant! Holy shit that sounds amazing. Most subs talk about how spectacular and moving that would have been. Instead we got ...him riding a horse on a space ship. And of course "rey!"

Throw in the chinese movie posters. Yeah Finn got screwed by disney.

blahreditblah · 2022-10-21T15:58:06+00:00

I would actually love for black artists to create their own franchises. The harder they fall is the perfect example of black art but if they wanted to follow miles morales for the next spider man I would be down. What I don't want is this lazy representation that we get now.

We are marketing tools, we aren't props, we are people. We don't want special treatment we just want a fair shot. I don't just want more black actors in films I want great actors period of any race.

Ps. I am also black and you know nothing of black cinema

jarpio · 2022-10-21T15:59:26+00:00

I don’t think people were upset with Reva (just going off the picture) bc she’s black. I think people didn’t like Reva bc she was a shittily written character.

R4Y029 · 2022-10-21T16:10:09+00:00

People freak out if the race of a beloved character is changed. No one has a problem with diversity in movies.

kummer5peck · 2022-10-21T16:20:00+00:00

I think diversity is important but you don’t need to make a reboot of everything in an attempt to modernize it.

_storm_trumper_ · 2022-10-21T16:21:34+00:00

Hollywood lacking ideas for new films and blaming audiences for not accepting lesser quality recycled propaganda pieces. Please, introduce us to new stories and no one will bat an eye which skin color does character have.

Forwhoami · 2022-10-21T16:14:59+00:00

People should be treated with respect. The bar is so low.

3MrNiceGuy15 · 2022-10-21T16:19:16+00:00

The same thing can and should be said about any race.

Weary_Error8032 · 2022-10-21T15:55:43+00:00

Why do they need the sloppy seconds of white people's media? Why can't we make NEW beloved franchises with black stars? This entirely philosophy is such a disservice* to their abilities and potential.

Exciting-Listen2091 · 2022-10-21T16:12:29+00:00

Then stop trying to appropriate European stories. Start writing about African stuff. I loved black panther for this reason cause it uses African mythology. I would much enjoy an adaptation of African stuff just because it's something new to me. Like all the Latin American and Aztec stuff coming out recently. Just give me something new and stop trying to force European stories to fit your obvious bias.

Savvy-or-die · 2022-10-21T16:12:29+00:00

Remaking old movies that had white actors with black actors is thinly veiled PC pandering bullshit.….why only black actors? Why not Hispanic, Asian, Indian, east Europe, etc…

YallAre2Soft · 2022-10-21T15:51:59+00:00

Cast by color! Your skills don't matter!

Themercyunanswered · 2022-10-21T16:23:03+00:00

what about white people? Can a white person play black panther and not experiene fandom racism?

Jonestown_Juice · 2022-10-21T15:48:42+00:00

I think they should definitely get major parts in beloved franchises. But I'm not sure making an old, established character who is traditionally white a different race is a good way to go. It definitely doesn't work the other way around (remember how mad everyone was when Goku was played by a white dude? Or when Scarlett Johannsen played Kusanagi?)

It would be cooler if the source material was followed as faithfully as possible.

jeff8073x · 2022-10-21T16:16:44+00:00

To speak to the article title: completely agree.

To speak to the underlying issue at hand: I'm not sure how much if it's actually real. Seems like you could have 100 million people watch it, and they'll focus on the one tweet that some random person had and suggest that everyone is racist/sexist etc. Or that there is a huge racist backlash, when it's likely a bunch of fake/bot/troll accounts. And those trolls phish for the racist/sexist defenders who likely would have never watched the movie/show to begin with.

Studios need to stop taking advantage of actors/actresses who simply want their big break. They do this on purpose to build a shield from criticism on a project. And these stars are the one who get all the focus/criticism. But that seems by design from the studios.

akirkbride · 2022-10-21T16:18:57+00:00

No one cares about black stars in movies. They only care when u take a known character and change them in the name of equity.

Arctic_Scrap · 2022-10-21T16:11:09+00:00

There is no reason to change the gender, race, sexual preference or any other similar detail of an established character or franchise whether it’s a book, movie, or adaptation.

If you want a character with those preferences then make new content. It’s just laziness and pandering otherwise.

pighalf · 2022-10-21T16:15:19+00:00

I’d definitely watch Kevin hart as black Annie if the movie had decent writers

billyflynnn · 2022-10-21T16:24:15+00:00

This is dumb and untrue it’s all in the writing. 50 cents Power series is a perfect example of that great story writing and acting, loved by fans and mostly black actors

JustHereToPlay246 · 2022-10-21T16:25:46+00:00

Define racism

I don’t think pointing out a casting isn’t accurate to source material is racist.

We rarely see racism against original projects. As for specifically beloved franchises, just be open about what you’re doing. To me I’m just tired of the pretence that the race swapped characters were just “the best person for the job”, especially considering the statistically improbable correlation between redheads and race swaps.

I think audiences were more open to race swaps in the 2000s because it wasn’t really reflected in the scripts so there was no association between race swap and politicking. The studios screwed themselves on this because now many audiences do just inherently presume a race swap = a preachy script.

thisisinfrench · 2022-10-21T16:13:53+00:00

We should just throw this whole society away and start a new one.

applesauce_92 · 2022-10-21T16:02:21+00:00

Amazing how Michael Jordan didn't have this issue in Space Jam back in the 90's.

>invent a problem
>mandate the "solution"

Bubbagumpredditor · 2022-10-21T16:11:24+00:00

ITT people claiming it's not about race while continually talking about race.

YnotZoidberg2409 · 2022-10-21T16:23:54+00:00

Why is Finn on this list? Dude was arguably the only part of the ST that made it watchable.

DARTH_LT4 · 2022-10-21T16:00:48+00:00

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

Xeynid · 2022-10-21T15:50:42+00:00

Honest question: does anyone have an example of a film or TV series they've seen where there's a black actor that seems like a diversity hire? As in, they seem unqualified in terms of skill, and it's not just a series or film full of bad actors?

2022-10-21T15:55:16+00:00

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tailford07 · 2022-10-21T15:54:58+00:00

Have they considered just making the characters not suck ass? Or coming up with original ideas?

Mattfab22 · 2022-10-21T16:09:18+00:00

Can any of you, such as the OP, just go ONE DAY without talking about skin color and accusing over half the population of being racists? Just once?

Unusual-Election8702 · 2022-10-21T16:08:09+00:00

I agree 1000%, give every race roles in media that traditionally has not given them representation. Also, they deserve well written characters too. Don’t slack on writing and effort just so you can hide behind calling people racist for not enjoying a movie. Efforts need to be made all around.

Impressive_Tell8590 · 2022-10-21T16:27:13+00:00

Imagine living in a world… Where our top minds were forced to dig ditches because another group of people felt owed something. Meritocracy is dead

DarkLordKefka · 2022-10-21T16:04:34+00:00

When you’re switching character’s races for “representation”, that in itself is racist. It doesn’t matter if the character is white, green, blue or black, it’s still essentially saying “this character isn’t good enough as X race, so let’s make it Y race, instead.”

It’s disrespectful, of course, to those who identify as either race, as well to the creators of those IPs, and the fans of those IPs. If people want a particular skin colour “represented” more in films and television, would it not be better to create new stories, instead of potentially angering the fans of already existing IPs with an endless stream of terrible remakes that nobody asked for?

ExcellentWaffles · 2022-10-21T15:50:10+00:00

It’s Hollywood’s fault they just want to reboot everything. They could take a risk and make a new ip and stop bastardizing things people already love.

shsu6 · 2022-10-21T15:56:03+00:00

Dam doesEVERYTHING have to be about race

chrishammhamm · 2022-10-21T15:59:42+00:00

It's not racist to say that a character that was conceived a certain way should stay that way. That's why new art is important. We are losing creativity nowadays and instead of creating new art with inclusive ideas, we are shoehorning these ideas into pre existing franchises that we built without these ideals in mind. At the same time, certain franchises I believe would make sense. If Dr. Who or 007 changed to black characters I think it would be fine since they are resurrected and a code name respectively.

Penguator432 · 2022-10-21T16:04:59+00:00

Stop making progressiveness a shield for being lazy then.

Mattfab22 · 2022-10-21T16:16:35+00:00

Seriously, why are you guys so obsessed with race? Can't even scroll through a "movies" forum without being accused of racism or watching people accuse others of being racists. Stop trying to divide the country and start uniting. 99.9% of fans of these franchises aren't racists. They just don't like politics being shoved down their throats by studios.

stuckinsanity · 2022-10-21T16:17:18+00:00

Holy shit, how is the point of the article going over everyone's heads? This isn't an opportunity for you to voice your opinion on casting decisions, it's about how actors and actresses shouldn't be subjected to racist harassment.

funplayer3s · 2022-10-21T15:46:14+00:00

This world wasn't built on who deserves what. It was and still is built on who earned what, whether it be through building a nation, or building a business.

fsamson3 · 2022-10-21T16:14:31+00:00

If there’s one thing reddit is good at, it’s telling black people that treating them with decency is too tall of an order to deliver on

oniluis20 · 2022-10-21T15:56:55+00:00

black actors deserve better rolls than being used as inclusion tokens and marketing strategies (and talking bout the little mermaid specially)

Mechanik_J · 2022-10-21T15:59:32+00:00

No one is entitled to anything, go work for it and pay your dues. I also just want hollywood to concentrate on making great stories and content, without having to worry about identity politics or agendas. Just make good shit, or fun shit to watch.

Chemical-Fun3063 · 2022-10-21T16:21:45+00:00

So with this outlook, it would be perfectly OK for Taylor Swift play the role of Rosa Parks right??? Seriously as long as she portrayed the events accurately it’s shouldn’t matter who plays the part correct???

Psychonaut84 · 2022-10-21T16:13:04+00:00

Black stars deserve to not be shoehorned into existing lore and franchises to be exploited by Hollywood for the color of their skin to push a social engineering project. And these woke movies are all trash written by marketing teams.

TheInconspicuousBIG · 2022-10-21T15:54:21+00:00

holy shit just create new franchises where you can write the story however tf you want.

BroodyWall15 · 2022-10-21T15:53:51+00:00

I don’t think anybody “deserves” a role. It should go to the person who’s best for the role.

Spiritual-Put-9228 · 2022-10-21T16:18:00+00:00

I think it's racist to just change a characters race just to tick a diversity box. Let me put it like this, if they made an actual lord of the rings show set after the movies and casted a black guy as aragorn, I wouldn't be angry because he's black, I'd be angry because it's lazy to just change the race of a character to fit diversity when you could create a cool new character that was black, or asian, or whatever you wanted.

People of color need roles of their own they can look to without having to stand on the pre-established fans of characters, it's setting them up to fail, and sometimes I feel like they want it to fail so they can stop trying or shield their work from criticism by calling the critics racist.

Ilskur · 2022-10-21T16:19:33+00:00

When genuine criticism of bad movies/shows is written off as racism, you know you're living in a clown world.

StopDoingThatItsDumb · 2022-10-21T16:10:51+00:00

How dare people ask not to be victims of shitty racists on line? Obviously r/movies can't stand that!!!

Seriously though. You are all fucking morons. This can't be your reaction every time a post like this comes up.

K-Toon · 2022-10-21T16:02:09+00:00

I feel the quality of writing is today's biggest hindrance. An actor can only do so much with what they are given.

suns253 · 2022-10-21T15:53:16+00:00

The role should go to the best actor of any race thats the most fitting for the character. The role shouldn't go to the best black actor for the role and a character shouldn't be changed up to the point that its obvious race was thought about.

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