A White Black Guy In Hairspray? — Page 3

"fact is tho white looking african slaves is simply ridiculous and rather amature."

I might be completely barking up the wrong tree, but I *think* if the slaves in Aida (and I know nothing about the show, never seen it) had been all cast as black, there would have been outrage among the black community that black people played slaves with white people playing the rulers. I could be wrong. From where I stand it's a very difficult track, no matter what you do, someone is going to be unhappy.

Black actors have been playin period roles forever on broadway. there would have been no outrage. if that were the case then the community would have outraged over the character AIDA who was a slave as well.. or the few blacks that were playing slaves in the enemble. thats not a justifiable reason for that casting at all. its just another expample of how its considered interchangable when it comes to black rolse. slaves were not white.

Updated On: 5/3/06 at 11:21 AM

At the risk of stirring the pot...

Ozone, I get what what you're saying. But...given the plot of Hairspray, it just wouldn't make any sense for a black swing to sub for one of the "Nicest Kids in Town" white kids. The whole point of the show, and Tracy's mission, is that whites want to be homogenous and only once a month let any black kids near. It would be moot if a black kid was, in fact, in their ensemble. That's why Lil Inez didn't get an audition. For this particular show, it just wouldn't work.

Sometimes, as in the case of the "Hairspray" storyline, it doesn't make sense for white actors to play black roles and vice versa. Please go back and study some history if you are not aware of the racial hatred and fear of other races that existed back then.

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um.. ALOT of black people look white????? woah.lol. i really dont even know where to start with that. just wow.

Updated On: 5/3/06 at 11:50 AM

lol. there is SOO much wrong with what you said. but dont think you understand that. In this country of the United States Of America its about what you LOOK like not about what your blood percentage is. if you look white u are judged and treated with whata comes along with being WHITE in the USA. if you look BlACK you are BLACK and treated and judged accordingly. anyone who deosnt think there is a difference is foolishly mislead.
Nude colored pantyhose at your local store ...whose nude skin? white or black or a shade in between? tell u this much, they are not brown or any shade in between or close. so we know who they are designed FOR. simple example of how color is EVERYTHING in America.
but.. we've digressed.

Updated On: 5/3/06 at 12:00 PM

ozone, i've got a feeling that NYC4life was making a point that you seemed to have bulldozered over, too quick to take offence before thinking.
he she said "It is sad that people have not realized after all these years color really doesn't mean color. It means if you have any black blood in you, you are black". it might be a bit of a sweeping statement, but i understand what the point he's trying to make is. there are varying shades of colour, from easy sunburn irish to ebony, and its your frame of mind/heritage/upbringing that help to define how you feel about yourself. for instance, your argument about looks would mean that an albino african american would not be allowed to think of him or herself as black.
the problem is that by saying some of the things that you are, you are a. jumping on to any sentence that could be twisted and taking it as a full racist slight and b. just working to confirm negative attitudes.

also, if you look through a lot of the posts on this subject you'll see that you've continually repeated yourself despite people making points on all sides. you seem to keep emphasising he fact that there is double standards, that it would not work on both sides. i actually believe that no matter what, it should be both ways, but it should be in accordance with the subject matter of the piece.
eg. can't have a white othello becuase of the multiple racial elements and central themes.
however, where we start to get into grey areas is where the theme means it doesn't matter about colour, but its not realistic to period of the piece. i suppose if we stick to this too rigidly we would never have interesting and innoviative casting, but it can sometimes go too far one way or the other.

that was a long rant!

basically, lets get back to the theatrical issues!

just to contribute to this discussion... when i went in for Hairspray the woman running the auditions made an announcement that "Hairspray is a show where you need to be either really really white, or really really black" and so anyone who appeared to be "mixed" or an ethnicity of asian decent wouldn't be right for this show.

Now, i was a bit offended even though I understand that becaues of the nature of the show, she wasn't wrong. HOWEVER, Shelly (the female ensemble member) has been played by girls who have been Jewish, Italian, Hispanic, etc...

and now i will leave the floor open for discussion...

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yes, i agree with you. however, they do look ethnic. No one can say that shoshana bean doesn't have an ethnic look. This woman was basically insinuating that you have to have caucasion features or african american features to be in the show.

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"It means if you have any black blood in you, you are black."

That's weird. Then how come I'm not all bright red?

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I'm curious as to what songs/scenes were cut as a result of numerous people being out.

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Sorry to jump in, but:

I'm not white. But I LOOK white. And no, the way you're treated doesn't exclusively have to do with how you look. I've had many experiences of people treating me one way, and then COMPLETELY changing when they learn I'm Puerto Rican. Because to them, I don't *look* the way Puerto Ricans *should* look.

It's never an issue with Latinos. Because we know we come in all shapes, sizes, and skin colors. But white people tend to have preconceptions about ethnicity, so they're surprised to see a blonde, blue eyed Puerto Rican. When they think I'm "white" they speak to me in one way, and upon hearing my accent, or learning where I'm from...they completely change. Whether it's overt racism, or not, it's still noticeable.

This is a generalization, of course. Just wanted to respond to the idea that racism is exclusively about skin color. Because no, it isn't.

Updated On: 5/3/06 at 04:10 PM