Rooney Mara to play Tiger Lily in Pan- Page 2

[Eris0303]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 11:03am

Besty, thanks - I don't think I've ever heard that before. I guess that makes me a PONC = Person of Non-Color. I don't really think in those terms. I just think of people and persons.

[larrystyles]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 11:15am

how is it racist, best12bars? A minority playing a minority is still better than whitewashing the role. It isn't ideal but it's better than nothing. There's still issues with it (Zoe Saldana wearing blackface to play Nina Simone is an example) but, again, it's better than a white girl playing a Native American. White people after all are responsible for the genocide of the Native Americans. See how effed up some people might find that?

Liza's Headband-please explain how white people face discrimination.

"I just think of people and persons."

You sound white. POC don't get that luxury.

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 11:17am

The problem or difference with acting and playing roles is "where do you draw the line" as far as being true to a character? This is a world of make believe.

Acting is (or should be) the illusion of truth. If the illusion doesn't work well enough, that's one thing. If it works well enough, that's another.

You could start with the race argument and say, "Only Asians should play Asian roles, only Native Americans should play Native American roles," because that's true to the character. Then you could add, if the character is 25 years old, that nobody younger or older than the character should play the part. No 35-year-olds or 20-year-olds, because that would be a lie. Then, if the character is also Jewish, you could say, "No Catholics or Muslims need apply." If the character is also an alcoholic, you can add, "Nobody who hasn't suffered through the disease of alcoholism should be considered for this part, because they would be lying about who they are." Now suppose the character was also a serial killer with five children. Do actors need to have previous experience in those areas to be true to the part?

If you start down the road, where do you stop and say, "I can live with the illusion of truth, rather than the truth itself?"

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 11:19am

how is it racist, best12bars?

You really can't figure it out? If you support one race over another, no matter what the reason or justification, that's racist.

rac·ism
?r??siz?m/Submit
noun
1.
the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, esp. so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.

[larrystyles]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 11:24am

I don't agree with you, best12bars. I don't think it's too much to ask that roles not be whitewashed for movies and TV. Minorities have a tough enough time, we don't need white people arguing that not casting minorities in minority roles is just part of the "illusion of truth" of acting. Would it really have been so hard for them to cast a Native American as Tiger Lily? Nepotism Mara isn't a big name star, she's not Angelina Jolie. No one is going to suddenly rush to see this movie because Nepotism Mara is in it. So they could have, and should have, given the role to a Native American actress.

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 11:25am

By the way, I'm not supporting or condoning the choice of Rooney Mara to play Tiger Lily.

If she is believable in the part, I'm fine with it. If she looks like a white girl in "red face," I won't be fine with it. That would be the unsuccessful illusion of an actor in a role.

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 11:28am

larrystyles--so now your backpedalling on your comment that anybody other than whitey will do?

You were fine with "any POC" as long as it's not a white person a minute ago.

[larrystyles]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 11:35am

I'm not backpedaling? I still think that any minority in a minority role is better than a white person. I mean, I don't think that a black girl would be appropriate for Tiger Lily either but it'd be better than a white girl.

I just don't understand why it's so hard for them to cast a Native American. It doesn't make any sense to me. I have to assume that Nepotism Mara bought herself the role. I know that Tiger Lily isn't a real person but it still bothers me.

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 11:37am

I'm not backpedaling? I still think that any minority in a minority role is better than a white person. I don't think that a black girl would be appropriate for Tiger Lily either but it'd be better than a white girl.

Oh, okay. You're still a racist then. I was just checking.

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 11:48am

I will also add that we have no information about this particular "Tiger Lily." Since the character of Pan as described is nothing like the original J.M. Barrie character, it's safe to assume revisions are being made to Tiger Lily, which is a fairly small role in the original story. If they're casting a well-known, Oscar-nominated actress in the part, it's also safe to assume they're expanding it a bit (or a lot) to get her to sign on.

[FishermanBob]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 1:29pm

Besty, don't try to use logic and reason with this schmuck.

"I still think that any minority in a minority role is better than a white person. I mean, I don't think that a black girl would be appropriate for Tiger Lily either but it'd be better than a white girl."

Yeah, forget their qualifications as an actor, it's just about color. You're not smart enough to understand that this approach of not caring about whether they have any talent as long as their color is "correct" does as much harm to the casting of minorities as anything else.

"FishermanBob-you're wrong. White people have never suffered from institutional racism. Ever. Your post reeks of white privilege- next you're going to be asking why there isn't a White History Month."

White privilege? I grew up in Washington Heights where if you didn't speak Spanish, you were a minority. For years, I refereed Summer League Basketball in Harlem and in Roxbury (Boston) where I was just about the only white face for 10 blocks in any direction. I have more street cred than you do. You're just an ignorant hater and a racist who tries to justify it with the "well all white people are racists too" routine. Real people of stature in the minority community detest people like you cause you do more harm to the cause of racial equality than any 10 prejudiced whites put together.



Updated On: 3/14/14 at 01:29 PM

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 1:50pm

Couldn't have said it any better FishermanBob. We both come from similar backgrounds it seems.

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 2:22pm

I hope she's not as awful in this as she was in Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.

[Jungle Red]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 2:29pm

OH MY STARS.

Who said I was white? I could be an Eskimo for all you know.

For the record, the woman who played Tiger Lily in the Hogan version of Peter Pan is Haida, which is an indigenous tribe from British Columbia.

Would you object to a Mayan or Incan woman playing the part? Or does it have to be someone from Oklahoma?

And ErikJ: I thought she was awesome as Lisbeth. What didn't you like about her?

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 2:37pm

I didn't like anything about her. But that might have to do with my dislike of the film as a whole. Thought it was the worst film of that year.

[Jungle Red]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 2:58pm

Have you read the novels? I'm wondering how you feel about her as a character. I thought she played it really well. (Although, she's no Noomi Rapace.)

And what about Rooney Mara makes her a nepotist?

[Jungle Red]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 3:06pm

Did my research. I'm not a sports fan, so I had no idea who the Mara family was. Is there proof that her name got her the part?

And OMG I just realized who her sister is. I love Kata Mara!!

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 3:10pm

She got Dragon Tattoo because of her bit (though quite memorable part) in Social Network. Both are directed by Fincher. I don't get the nepotism claim either.

I have to say I am a huge fan of hers and I'm looking forward to this film.

[Jungle Red]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 3:17pm

Her sister, Kate, is a big player in the Ryan Murphy world, but I don't see how that has anything to do with Fincher.

(I'm surprised Kate has never been on GLEE, but I digress.)

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 3:33pm

House of Cards is produced by Fincher, so I'm assuming being sisters with the girl playing the lead in his latest film helped on her part. Both are extremely talented, so it seems like a case of being in the right place at the right time.

[JerseyGirl2]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 4:00pm

No one could play Lisbeth better than Noomi. She was pretty much perfection. Rooney just ddnt come anywhere near the depth of what I saw in the books.

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 4:14pm

Funny, I thought Noomi's Lisbeth was extremely forced and lacked the traits that made me fall in love with the character in the first place. I'm a huge fan of the series (and Rapace) and am looking forward to the 4th book.

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 4:35pm

This thread went from on-topic to racism to nepotism. Seems about par for the course around here.

[Taryn]

Posted: 3/14/14 at 10:45pm

Oh my God. This is not about "the best actor for the role" or "the illusion." Racism against people of color and discrimination against white people is not equal, because of distinct historical and societal context. The point isn't that we should just be nice to everyone, it's that the playing field IS NOT LEVEL. The point is that white actors have a huge bowl of candy and minority actors have like two pieces AND people still yell at them about it. The point is that racism is an institution of systematic discrimination, and white people have not experienced that. It's not about realism, it's about representation.

And by the way, most of the time when white actors get cast in roles that were minorities in the original source material, the casting people ONLY SEE WHITE ACTORS TO AUDITION. This isn't about suitability or acting talent, because there's no level playing feel to judge. We're not in a situation where everyone is being given a chance at the roll and all of the white actors just happen to be better.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 3/15/14 at 2:50am

best12bars, I'm sure that when Spielberg remakes West Side Story and doesn't cast Puerto Ricans as the Sharks that people will raise hell.

And they'll probably insist on PR actors, too, no other Hispanics. I remember when Nuyorican J.Lo was cast as Chicana Selena Quintanilla-Perez. There was an uproar from the Mexican-American community who felt that the part should've gone to Mexican star Salma Hayek even though Hayek was 5 years older than the real Selena and has a thick Spanish accent. Selena was born and bred in Texas and had a bit of a twang; in fact, she didn't learn to speak Spanish until she was in her late teens. Before that, she learned all her songs phonetically.

Updated On: 3/15/14 at 02:50 AM