Seth71 said:
Alfred could also be made a black British butler. Why not? I dont think theres a rule for getting into butler school in England. Not now, not 30 years ago(1976). Dont forget we are in 2006. In 1939, I could give you that, but not in this day and age. He could be black (or anything, since British is a nationality and not a race) and still have the British accent, humor and dad like figure, which is what really makes the character. If looks was all that made the character, neither Gough or Caine is Alfred because they look nothing like him in the comics, not body, not face.
throught out my entire post i was thinking back to when Batman was created which would render characters like Batman and Alfred absolutely necessary to be white. why? they were of the only race that could attain the level of class, and prestige that was needed. and Alfred is from an older generation as well, even if he was hired thirty years ago his character would've still been older, and thus from a different generation. unless you're trying to make Alfred fresh out of training, but knowing that he's worked for the Wayne's since BEFORE Bruce was born - social history makes Alfred necessary to be white.
Going back then, yes. But this is 2006. Couldnt Thomas Wayne have married a non white woman in 1974? Off course he could have. Specially being the philanthropist and good man he was. I doubt he was attached to such low values as race. Im sure we could find many examples of whites marring other ethnicities in the 70s. In the showbiz and otherwise. Like did you know Linda Carter was part Mexican? Did it matter?
i'll address this first since it can now not be mentioned again - Lynda Carter's not being Greek is what bothered me. her being English, Mexican, and...*forgets third thing* didn't because she was already racial imperfect for the role. that show was also before my time, and i have never seen it.
but on to the other subject, yes, technically Bruce's father could've married someone of a different race, but when dealing with characters being translated from one media to another i believe that they should be translated from their point of origin, which with DC is complicated because they've all been revamped adnauseum, but Bruce's hasn't changed really. and seeing as how i hold this belief, and knowing that the character was created in 1939 - Bruce's family comes from a long line of blue blood WASPs and as such, they need to be white. and even if we did go by your logic, Thomas Wayne would've most likely married someone close to his economic standing. why? social history portrays that people tend to marry within their own class system, yes exceptions to the rule do exist, but they are called exceptions for a reason. and social class being what is was then, how many minorities were in a position of great wealth in those days? not many.
Couldnt Montoyas father be Hispanic(giving her the last name), but the mother be white and Rene looked like her mother and nobody would think of her as Hispanic till they heard her last name, or not even then ? Oh yes. I know people with Hispanic last names that are as white as it gets, with green eyes and all.
i never said she couldn't be a halfer. i'm related to several Hispanic people with red hair, blonde, blue eyes, pale skin. i just said she needed to be Hispanic. don't care if she's played by someone who's half or whole, or even if they're nationality is off, as long as their race is the right one.
Fox could be anything as long as his personality stays the same. Personalities and character make characters (maybe thats why they are called characters), not race.
i could've swore Fox's race tied into his character...something or other about his struggle to climb up the social ladder? or maybe i'm just making a real world connection...? hmm...i might have to go look this one up.