Color Blind casting?? — Page 4

Besides, some black people aren't "African-American" at all. What about Jamaicans? What about blacks from Europe? Is Mel. B - Scary Spice whatever an "African-Brit"?

And people get confused when it comes to me.

I'm not a full out Caucasian. I have white skin, but I have a Filipino mother, so I'm multiracial. Jesus man, just call me WHITE.

Oh come now! Racial slurs are one thing when used in context to be hurtful, but language itself is nothing but words. Words themselves have no power to be good or bad except for what each person/culture attaches to them.

But Christ, saying someone is White or Black or American Indian is not going to offend them unless it's untrue or they are out to get offended.

Terms like "African American" and "Caucasian" and "Native American" were invented by guilty white people to allow them to refer to the character trait "skin color" without the stress and risk of admitting they actually pay attention to such things. But everyone does, the same as noticing hair color, height, and breast size, and it's only something to be ashamed of if you have something to hide.

This culture just assumes you can achieve tolerance and understanding by overcomplicating the language to the point where everything can't help but be soft and passive. All that does is create the illusion of progress as long as everyone can remember the rules. Once that bulging list of forbidden words starts to overflow, people find themselves constantly offended and alienated but unable to explain why. That's the two cents of this Chinkie-Honky Mutt.

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Okay, I'm not going to sit here and go through the entire thread..... a few things though.

Yes, June Havoc is still very much alive and kicking. I don't know if having a black actress playing her or her sister in the show would offended her... if I think of it the next time I see her personal assistant (who's a friend of mine) I'll ask.

As for the initial question.... take Little Shop for instance. The Street Urchins (or 'the trio') are typically played by black actresses. I was recently Ronette in a production of LSoH and I'm most definitely not black. In Grease, the girl we had playing Jan was black... typically she's cast as a white female.

Look at Chicago as well... There have been both white and black actors and actresses in the leading roles.

I don't so much find casting to be color specific in a show unless it's imperative for the story line. Ie: Seaweed in Hairspray wouldn't be played by a white man.

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Some characters based on real people dont need to look like the real person. Im not sure what Annie Oakley looked like, but I doubt that both Bernadette and Ethel Merman looked like her.

There are times when colourblind casting is appropriate (as mentioned earlier for fictional characters) and times when clearly it is wrong. The post that started all this mentioned a black Marilyn Monroe impersonator, as Monroe is an American icon (and was white) I personally consider that to be wrong.

When I went to see Miss Saigon on Broadway a few years back, the role of Ellen was played by an Asian actress. I thought it was brilliant, and added a completely new subtext to the play.

Ellen is the woman Chris marries years after escaping Saigon and believing Kim was dead. She is usually played by a white actress, and the inference is just that Chris remarries. By casting Ellen as an Asian woman, it brings all these other consequences into the show: maybe Chris was seeking to find a replacement for Kim, in which case imagine what Ellen must feel like as a Kim facsimilie; or maybe Chris just has a thing for Asian women; or maybe it's all coincidence, etc.)

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Updated On: 8/22/04 at 12:03 PM

I was listening to MAN OF LA MANCHA w/ Stokes this morning and was just disgusted that they would cast someone like him in that role!

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a born again virgin who has reverted back to his/her slutty ways...

Boy, you guys must have missed the 'Audra McDonald can't perform in Sunday in the Park with George' thread. That was a doozie!

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Ernestine Jackson was a hilarious Adelaide in that all-black "Guys and Dolls" revival.

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In this case I'm not sure what to think- it seems to play too much into the attitude that "all Asians look alike." Which *sigh* they don't.

I'm Asian, and I have no qualms that a Chinese actress (actually, a predominantly Chinese cast) is playing Japanese roles in Memoirs of a Geisha. It's the same as a French actor playing a Greek character, or an English actor playing a Polishman. The differences aren't that apparent.

At least they're not casting a white actor as an explicitly Asian character (hello "Kung Fu: The Legend Continues").

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it's early, I'm sleepy, and I didn't finish reading. BUT, here's my take on it.

If the race of the character is important to the storyline then the part should be cast accordingly. However, if the race is not at all relevant then it shouldn't matter. For example, Derrik Williams understudies Fiyero in Wicked which works fine, it wouldn't work to have Kristin Chenoweth playing Caroline...

just make thoughts.

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