Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Casting Announcement - Page 7

[Dave19]

Posted: 12/26/15 at 7:25pm

AHLiebross said: "Dave19 writes: "Audrey, whatever you believe the percentage is, it should never be a need to follow it, or being amazed by it. Talent comes first, then color, I hope.The music industry is dominated by people of color. Nobody cares about that, Do you? Because it doesn't match the percentage?"

 

Dave, percentages can be problems if people use them as quotas, and they can be useful if people use them as measures of whether they're doing enough to overcome the view that white is the default. By pointing out that the music industry is heavily dominated by people of color, you've agreed that the percentage of minority people in the general population is irrelevant, but the higher percentage of minority people who can sing.

 

In the US, we can't just rely on general recruiting because of our shameful history of discrimination. People talk about "best-qualified" as if it can be measured, but "best-qualified" means different things to different people. It's important to keep measuring our efforts, not to fulfill a quota but to be sure we're giving everyone a fair shake, regardless of whether they look like us.

 

Audrey, who favors affirmative action for masked men, as well as for ethnically diverse groups..

"

 

Thanks Audrey, I do agree with you.

The percentage is irrelevant. So one show can have 20 people of color, and the other show can have none. Neither one of those should be a problem.

 

 

 

[Dave19]

Posted: 12/26/15 at 7:27pm

Double

 

Updated On: 12/26/15 at 07:27 PM

[Dave19]

Posted: 12/26/15 at 7:30pm

FindingNamo said: ""Allowing people to think in race first."

Ah yes.  Never trust a man (and it's ALWAYS a man!) who doesn't want to "allow" people to think!!!

 

"

 

So you are racist AND sexist.

 

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/26/15 at 8:33pm

I'm a man, you're a man. Despite the fact that it's possible in the fake universe you've constructed in your brain, there is no way my calling you on your crap is sexist.  

 

Why not seek help?  Find a therapist or a professor who can help you with a good values clarification exercise.  

 

You need it.  

[SweetLips]

Posted: 12/26/15 at 10:25pm

My aging brain sometimes makes detours and can still actually learn stuff.

So-having read all and seen all Harry Potter--I have watched those young children grow to be young adults when we said goodbye to them.

Now they are coming back-all grown up[think one has children]so-I've had 10 or so years with certain identities belonging to the 3 main characters.

Should I ever have the pleasure of seeing this new incarnation[?] I feel my brain would like to see an older version of the original.

I am sure in these past 12 pages there must be a sensible argument why Hermoine can now be Black and not Chinese,Malay,Indian etc so will accept that this is now possible-as JKR approves.

I just hope the glasses and a touch of ginger is still there though.

SL...x

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/26/15 at 11:57pm

I think Gloria Gaynor put it best we she told you you will survive!

 

Also, maybe somebody cast a coolness spell on Hermione.  You know how white people are always trying to be black.  Like Rachel Dolezal and Liza's Headband.

[SweetLips]

Posted: 12/27/15 at 12:39am

Oh my God-Gloria Gaynor [forget all that poofy nonsense of hers]--I used to dance my tits off way back when with a little perfume bottle close to my nose[dance floor body odour] screaming 'Never can say Goodbye..

Thanks Namo for the memory--amazing how one can segue[?] from Harry to Gloria-same fantasy worlds.

SL....x

[Dave19]

Posted: 12/27/15 at 7:26am

FindingNamo, so I need to learn to think more in race first too? Like you?

No thanks.

[AHLiebross]

Posted: 12/27/15 at 3:46pm

Finding Namo writes: " You know how white people are always trying to be black [to be cool].  Like Rachel Dolezal and Liza's Headband."

 

Namo, you just reminded me of a true story when I was talking to my youngest son, now 21, and then about 15. He said he wished he were black. I said that black kids have the sense of belonging to a "people," but he needn't be envious about that, because, as a Jewish kid, he has the same thing. He looked at me as if I'd grown antennae, and said, "It's not that -- they just know how to be cool." So add my kid to the list that includes Rachel Dolezal.

 

Audrey Liebross

[AHLiebross]

Posted: 6/7/16 at 12:43am

Tuesday night, June 7th, when the American press will be tied up with Hillary's clinching the Democratic nomination, the British press will probably be buzzing about "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child," whose previews open the same night.

When I saw pictures of the cast members in character, I thought the makeup folks had done a good job of making Harry and Ron look the way we all expect from the books and movies; when I first saw the two male actors, I thought the casting was flipped. I also had some questions about casting someone as Hermione who looks so different from Emma Watson, but now, after reading JK Rowling's tweet that says the canon specifies Hermione as having frizzy hair, Emma Watson's hair looks inauthentic to me,.

CNN.com has an interesting story about the Hermione casting controversy, and JK Rowling's point that the canon does not specify Hermione's ethnicity. http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/06/entertainment/jk-rowling-hermione-cursed-child/index.html So, now I am rhetorically asking the obvious question: If JK Rowling says Hermione's race was unspecified in the books, and her hair was supposed to be curly, why the heck didn't the movie folks run with the obvious opportunity to cast a black kid in the role? A major movie series like "Harry Potter" should have a diverse cast, when there's no reason in the story to do otherwise.

Oh well, maybe Idris Elba will get to play James Bond.

Audrey

[RippedMan]

Posted: 6/7/16 at 2:21am

Huh? Sure, her ethnicity is left to debate in the books, so in fact, she could be white? So they chose her to be white? I'm sure in the mass minds of the world, someone speaking with an English accent would look "English." Sure, yes, that's an entirely broad term, but I can see why they cast her the way they cast her. And I'm glad now that the part is being played the way it is. It's not a story about race, so it doesn't really matter one way or the other. 

[belrowley]

Posted: 6/7/16 at 2:30am

In the first movie, they at least made the effort to give Emma Watson frizzy hair. But as the movies progressed, they made the choice to portray the character in a more conventionally pretty way, and the frizzy hair and the buck teeth disappeared.

It was actually a point of contention in the Potter fandom - a lot of young girls had identified with the canon version of Hermione, who was a plain but smart and courageous character, so it was disheartening to see the movies do away with the physical traits that made her distinctive.

Emma Watson is the Hermione I grew up with, so I'll always have some affinity for her portrayal, but it would have been great to see an actor embodying the physical traits that defined the character - no matter the race.