Multiculturalism in YA,Fantasy, Sci FI,Paranormal and fun books ;p discussion
Wow, it happens in cinema too!
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Wow, that is annoying and disappointing. I do not mind too much that Jake Gyllenhaal played the part of Dastan in Prince of Persia. It was different from the actual video game (the prince doesn't even have a name) and Gemma Arterton as Tamina is not part of the game either. His love interest in the game was Farah. I was more upset by the changes. It would have been nice if they did cast iranian actors though. I would have seen it because I am a fan of the game.I can accept the casting for A Mighty Heart. She was picked by the actual Mariane Pearl. I can't argue it if she honestly felt Angelina Jolie would play it best. However, for other characters fictional and real whose roles are given to caucasian actors because of weak excuses like the one given for Jim Sturges as a Korean in Cloud Atlas I do disagree with. There are a lot of great actors that are Korean.
Also, it irked me that in the Last Airbender only Katara, Sokka and their grandma were played by caucasian actors. Really? If the other people in their community had all been caucasian too I would be okay with it, but no they were not.
One more thing before I let everyone take in my post. There is a reason why I don't like books being made into films. As with Prince of Persia the story just won't be followed exactly. I understand and can overlook it, but when a character's ethnicity or appearance is changed because of some paltry excuse (look at any mentioned in the link) it ruins what one loved about it. Although I can think of one example where it was the opposite. In the Vampire Diaries show Bonnie looks nothing like the description in the books. She is my favorite character on the show, so I checked out one of the books. It was different and I didn't like it. I am curious to know what readers of the books think of the show.
Loved you incite. I agree, there are so many American born Korean actors AS WELL AS crossover actors like Ji-Hoon Jeong(Bi-Rain).
I'm sure if someone Persian explained this better to me, I would understand it better, but I always that census wise Persia was considered ethnically White. But if someone can clarify that for me, I'd completely understand the casting of a white guy.
I understand alot of it has to do with marketability. I love Zoe Saldana, and while I despise Hollywood's decision to cast her as Nina Simone, the project would not have gone forward without her bank-ability(is that a word ;p).
I will be the first to say I was the most disappointed with The Last Airbender films. M.Night(who used to be credible ) claimed he modeled the water benders off Sokka and Katara's look(whomever he cast, he choose their race to represent the nation). But that was BS as all the extras were indigenous! As a POC he set not only himself but all POC back,as Hollywood trusted a POC director and gave him freedom,and look what he did to the project! It makes me wonder how much of the show he even watched.
There are quite a few characters adapted on the big and small screen that people did respond well to(Bonnie included). I know it seem hypocritical the other way around, but what Hollywood is learning is that racebending a white character to a POC often opens a broader audience to watch as opposed to just the majority.
I'm sure if someone Persian explained this better to me, I would understand it better, but I always that census wise Persia was considered ethnically White. But if someone can clarify that for me, I'd completely understand the casting of a white guy.
I understand alot of it has to do with marketability. I love Zoe Saldana, and while I despise Hollywood's decision to cast her as Nina Simone, the project would not have gone forward without her bank-ability(is that a word ;p).
I will be the first to say I was the most disappointed with The Last Airbender films. M.Night(who used to be credible ) claimed he modeled the water benders off Sokka and Katara's look(whomever he cast, he choose their race to represent the nation). But that was BS as all the extras were indigenous! As a POC he set not only himself but all POC back,as Hollywood trusted a POC director and gave him freedom,and look what he did to the project! It makes me wonder how much of the show he even watched.
There are quite a few characters adapted on the big and small screen that people did respond well to(Bonnie included). I know it seem hypocritical the other way around, but what Hollywood is learning is that racebending a white character to a POC often opens a broader audience to watch as opposed to just the majority.
Guinevere wrote: "Loved you incite. I agree, there are so many American born Korean actors AS WELL AS crossover actors like Ji-Hoon Jeong(Bi-Rain).I'm sure if someone Persian explained this better to me, I would u..."
The Last Airbender movie ticked me off so much. I could only watch 10 minutes. I could (and have) ranted quite a bit on that one. I've tried to block it from memory. Need to have another Korra marathon.
I loooooove the legend of Korra!!!I was somewhat upset with the fact that they had an asian actor to direct it and he put himself in a position to whitewashed some of the characters. Aang to me never really looked asian, so Noah ringer did capture his outside appearance, however Katara and Sokka were total misses and don't get me started on the Fire Nation.He destroyed what could have been one of the best movies of that year!
Any thoughts?
http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/20...