Race in movies.

[Hmarrs]

Question how do you feel about a different race playing a character of another race?

Should it be considered artistic license as long as they play the role corectly.Or is it racist to expect the same race or think otherwise.
Or just a request for comics to remain true to source.
Ex.
Jessica Alba Hispanic woman=Sue Storm a White woman
Samuel Jackson Black man=Nick Fury White Even though he was Black in the Ultimate’s but is White in true Marvel Continuity.
Kerry Washington a Black woman=Alicia Masters White woman
Michael Clarke Duncan Black man=Kingpin White man
Jennifer Garner White=Elektra who is more ethnic looking, She’s Greek.
Now I ask you does this or should this effect the way you view these movies?
Now of course many of you will say no. But think about it before you answer:
How would you feel if a Black man were Playing Superman?
Or a White Guy playing the Black Panther after all there are White men in Africa. Or Captain America being Black (Black people are American too) and the Falcon being white?
Jennifer Lopez playing Wonder Woman? Should it matter to us or not?
And please don't say it all depends on who the Character is Because that is being hipocritacal,because what is an important character for one person may not be for another person and what is considered not an important character to one person may be an important character to another person.I’m not trying to rile anyone up. It is just a thought provoking question.
I ask it again.

Should it matter?

 

[Joker]

Unless race is important to the character, as in the case of Black Panther, then it really doesn't matter. If you make Hate Monger or Red Skull black or jewish or something though, that's when it does damage. Kingpins skin color doesnt matter at all. All that matters is that he's a big strong crime boss.

On a side note:

Dean Cain played Superman, and he's half asian. No one seemed to be bothered by that.

Nick Fury actually recently used his ultimate look as a disguise over in the 616 continuity.

There was a black Captain America, which if they ever did a movie of, would be incredible.

 

[Manic]

I don't think it's a problem with supporting characters. When they made Alicia Masters black, there didn't seem to be much complaining at all. Not nearly as much complaining as casting Alba as Sue Storm, even though Alba is like 3/4 white.

By the way, nobody wants Jennifer Lopez to play Wonder Woman based on the simple fact that Jennifer Lopez couldn't act her way out of a paper bag.

 

[nocomics]

I guess it depends on the comic character,and who the get to play them is a major key. Some comic characters it won't matter too much if they are different race,and sometimes it does matter...
To be honest and for real. I'd would hate to see superman other than white or batman(as in comics they been white and are a major cultural icons)...
I just think they have to choose wisely on what to change..Kingpin; i did'nt mind too much they made him black,as Duncan is a good actor and fit the role well.
Again, I think it depends on the character and who they get. Theres some comic characters u just don't mess with at all,and theres some its okay to tinker with....

 

[Hmarrs]

Joker
By the way In the first no-frills low budget Captain America
the Red Skull was Italion.I think they figured it would be offensive and I can see why.

Manic
You posted:
I don't think it's a problem with supporting characters. When they made Alicia Masters black, there didn't seem to be much complaining at all. Not nearly as much complaining as casting Alba as Sue Storm, even though Alba is like 3/4 white.

Manic I am not saying this is your opinion because you clearly are pointing out the fans.

So are the fans saying:
Alicia Masters is just a supporting character so I don't mind if she's black.
But Sue storm is more inportant to me don't make her hispanic.
if so why?
For the sake of the story or........????????

Nocomics
You posted:
To be honest and for real. I'd would hate to see superman other than white or batman(as in comics they been white and are a major cultural icons)...
I just think they have to choose wisely on what to change..Kingpin; i did'nt mind too much they made him black,as Duncan is a good actor and fit the role well.
Again, I think it depends on the character and who they get. Theres some comic characters u just don't mess with at all,and theres some its okay to tinker with....Again, I think it depends on the character and who they get. Theres some comic characters u just don't mess with at all,and theres some its okay to tinker with....

Please don't misinterpert me.Based on what you said.
I get that and I respect that but what if the Kingpin matters to someone as much as Superman matters to you.You care about Superman but not Kingpin.To a die hard Daredevil fan it may have mattered.Isn't this a double standard.Who's call is it.I'm not trying to diss or insult you or anything I was just wondering.
You see my point.

Yet let's look at it from this angle:Fantastic Four and Daredevil were two marvel Movies that didn't fare as well as other Marvel Movies.Could this have been a factor even a small one at that.
Also if a person feels they should remain true to character is this racist?
Or could the person just ask that characters remain true to form.
If a person said:I want the Falcon to be black or It doesn't matter to me as long as the person remain true to character.If you were a white person do mind Superman being black?
If your a black person would you mind the Black Panther being white?It could be written that way if they wanted to.The reason I ask is because are we saying ...I don't mind as long as it's not a person I really care about.


I am not trying to get a debate going but I think it's people like us who should be discussing these types of issues.Not Holloywood who really don't care much about the characters but the mighty dollar.But us the fans. I would rather have your insight.I think it might help us to see the characters in a differant light because to us the are real.As fans I mean.

 

[Manic]

Manic
You posted:
I don't think it's a problem with supporting characters. When they made Alicia Masters black, there didn't seem to be much complaining at all. Not nearly as much complaining as casting Alba as Sue Storm, even though Alba is like 3/4 white.

Manic I am not saying this is your opinion because you clearly are pointing out the fans.

So are the fans saying:
Alicia Masters is just a supporting character so I don't mind if she's black.
But Sue storm is more inportant to me don't make her hispanic.
if so why?
For the sake of the story or........????????

I think it's for the sake of accuracy. Needless to say, people like it when the movie counterparts of comic book characters actually resemble the comic book characters. Of course, a whomping 90% of all popular comic book superheroes are white-- and I'm not blaming anyone for that; they were mainly created in the 40s, 50s, and 60s by white writers and artists. So in quite a few instances, characters are going to be changed into minorities.

You can't make Superman black. You can make him white and Asian, apparently, as long as he still looks white. Why? Because people want to recognize Superman. I'm black, and I'd raise hell if Superman was played by a black actor. By that same token, you can't even make Superman blond. He can't be short, either. Hell, lots of us complained because Brandon Routh was too thin. So really, it's not just about race. We're a picky bunch, us comic book nerds.

 

[Joker]

Joker
By the way In the first no-frills low budget Captain America
the Red Skull was Italion.I think they figured it would be offensive and I can see why.

Honestly, I think they had probably never even seen a Captain America comic book, and that's probably why he was itallian. That's probably the reason for about 90% of the things in that movie, really. Although, honestly, the Skull being a facist instead of a nazi isn't TOO far of a leap. It's just it was carried out so poorly, like the entire movie, that people hate it.

 

[Tony Stark]

Jennifer Garner White=Elektra who is more ethnic looking, She’s Greek.

You do know Greek people are white?

 

[Rac]

Question how do you feel about a different race playing a character of another race?

Personally I don't like it when the source material is not respected. Kingpin ain't black thug.

 

[RockSP]

It seems to me the people who get upset about it only get upset when it is a character going from white to black.

I saw no complaints when Fox from Wanted went from black to white, for example.

Or Gail in Sin City went from white to latina.

Then again, I haven't seen any complaints about Sam Jackson playing the white Octopus in The Spirit, so who knows. Depends on a person's personal racial hang ups.

 

[Tag279]

There are some characters that would not work being portrayed in movies as a different color. Michael Clark Duncan was good as the King Pin his ethnicity IMO was not a stretch from the comic.

On the other hand Superman, Batman, Steve Rogers Captain America, Thor, or Iron Man would not be right if their color was different.

I think you have to consider the back ground and the character and a given actors ability to portray a character. The King Pin works as a black person where the Joker would not.

It is reasonable that a crime boss employs a very large black guy as a hitman. It is not reasonable that a white guy be born a native African Prince and become the Black Panther.

In some cases it works in others it would not. When MCD was selected for King Pin his acting ability, grasp of the character, and yes his size got him the job. Marvel productions was not trying to be PC he just beat out the other candidates for the job.

 

[Hmarrs]

I Posted:
Jennifer Garner White=Elektra who is more ethnic looking, She’s Greek.

Tony Stark you posted:
You do know Greek people are white?



I know but I meant more of a Mediterranean look.
Darker,dark hair and dark eyes like she is in the comics.
Again more Mediterranean.There was a Greek actress from long ago named:
(Irene Papas) check her out in terms of Elektra.
http://www.vangelishistory.com/Papas.jpg

 

[Hmarrs]

I always Thought Butterbean the Boxer would have been perfect for the Kingpin.
He can fight too.Any damage he would have put on Ben Aflick would have been really been believable.
Check him out.
http://paxarcana.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/butterbean.jpg

 

[RockSP]

I always Thought Butterbean the Boxer would have been perfect for the Kingpin.

But can he act?

 

[Hmarrs]

I have nothing againt Duncan I think he is an awesome actor and I loved him in The Green Mile.
As a Daredevil Villian I think he would have been awesome as the Gladiator he definately has the build.As far as Butterbean is concerned it really doesn't take much acting to play Kingpin.He really doesn't do much in the comic but give orders and fight.In fact the less he can act the better he might actually be.Kingpin is very two dimonsional.In the comic he may say two or three lines that's it.Actually if you have ever seen Butterbean or watched him in an interview he already is the Kingpin.He really doesn't have to act all he has to do is be himself.The fact that Duncan is such a good actor actually makes him overshadow Collin Powell as Bullseye I think.Kingpin is really the a big figure behind all of these crazy cooks that he sends in to fight Dardevil.He should be the ringmaster,now the people he sends in to fight daredevil need act and take the spotlight.The less we know the better.Until the end.Just like in the comics.If the actor is two deminsional even better. Kingpin is not known for his depth.Just his ruthlessness.Kingpin is actually defined by his Payroll Villains.

 

[RockSP]

I'm not saying Duncan was the ideal Kingpin or anything. Daredevil sucked, IMO. Not Duncan's fault...just a bad movie. I disagree that having someone who couldn't act would have been okay though. If Butterbean couldn't pull of the lines convincingly, he wouldn't have helped an already bad flick (shrugs).

 

[kirbyfan]

The Director's cut of Daredevil doesn't suck, in fact that version is one of the best superhero movies ever made!

Everytime I show the DC version to my friends they are surprised at how good it is and ask why that version wasn't released to the theatres.

As for race in the movies, yeah some characters can be changed, by I really like when they stick with the source material.

The Black Panther should be black and Superman, well I always found it interesting that an alien from another planet is white?

 

[Manic]

People from other planets tend to come in a lot of colors. Starfire is orange. Martian Manhunter is green. Superman is white.

No brown or black aliens, though. Hmm...

 

[Hmarrs]

RockSP you posted:
I'm not saying Duncan was the ideal Kingpin or anything. Daredevil sucked, IMO. Not Duncan's fault...just a bad movie. I disagree that having someone who couldn't act would have been okay though. If Butterbean couldn't pull of the lines convincingly, he wouldn't have helped an already bad flick (shrugs).

Speaking of Butterbean.

I feel what your saying.What I'm saying is Kingpin doesn't say much.
Remember the Villian from Superman 2 the Big guy.
Remember Lurch from the Adams Family.
Remember that guy from 007 the Asian guy who threw the hat.
Remeber that big guy from thr Punisher that he fought.All of them not a Word.
What I'm saying is big guys who don't say much don't have to worry about how they act.
Even if Kingpin stood in the background as a siloutte it would have worked.It's not Shakesprere
But at the very same time I give you credit you may be correct.
Really what I am saying is way before the movie came out.I always thought he looked like him.Also he is fit you can't just be big and heavy you must be fit for the action scenes so I thought he was perfect.Acting? I couln't tell you but I don't think it would take much.
But who knows?There could be more to it than meets the eye.

 

[Manic]

Hmarrs, press the "Quote" button under someone's post whenever you want their post written inside of your own. It'll save you the work of copying and pasting.

If you want to quote multiple people at the same time, press the buttons that look like little quotation marks right next to the "Quote" button. It'll turn red. Then click the "Post Reply" button, and those posts will all show up in the text box.

 

[Hmarrs]

Thnx

 

[Tony Stark]

I Posted:
Jennifer Garner White=Elektra who is more ethnic looking, She’s Greek.

Tony Stark you posted:
You do know Greek people are white?



I know but I meant more of a Mediterranean look.
Darker,dark hair and dark eyes like she is in the comics.
Again more Mediterranean.There was a Greek actress from long ago named:
(Irene Papas) check her out in terms of Elektra.
http://www.vangelishistory.com/Papas.jpg

Dude, I'm Greek and I have blond hair and blue eyes.

 

[Manic]

Which comes back to my point: it's more about recognizability. Yes, Superman is white. That doesn't mean any white person should play him. He has to have black hair, blue eyes, be tall, and have a muscular frame. People would freak out if Superman was blond in the same way they'd freak out over changing his race.

We could find out Jennifer Garner was Greek right now, but that wouldn't make her a better choice for Elektra than she was a couple years ago. She just doesn't look like Elektra.

 

[RockSP]

People from other planets tend to come in a lot of colors. Starfire is orange. Martian Manhunter is green. Superman is white.

No brown or black aliens, though. Hmm...

Gonna have to go indie for that.

 

[Hmarrs]

Tony Stark you posted:
Dude, I'm Greek and I have blond hair and blue eyes.

Okay let me try this again.She could very well be Greek but she doesn't look elektra Greek.I expected a dark haired Greek woman.
Just like a blond man with blue eyes doesn't look like Superman but he's still white.