The Debate Club discussion
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Should Characters with Defined Physical Characteristics be Played by Actors Who Don't Share the Same Features?
message 1:
by
Austin
(new)
Mar 25, 2025 07:55AM
Should producers race swap historical/ fictional characters to suit modern sensibilities?
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As in for exampleSnow white
Should she be played by a white actress or
A latina actress
Should queen Ann of england be played by an african? Should zulu warriors be played by white people?
MidnightButterfly wrote: "As in for exampleSnow white
Should she be played by a white actress or
A latina actress"
i think they should be played by whatever race the movie/book had them as just so the show/movie is more realistic
Well snow white is played by a latina actress
Tessie ~face of an angel, mind of a killer~ wrote: "what"Should characters from traditional stories be swapped with other races to be more “socially acceptable/racially diverse”
MidnightButterfly wrote: "Well snow white is played by a latina actress"i dont think it really matters what actress/actor plays a character but if you're aiming to make the movie as realistic as possible you should make the race the same.
I think any race can be put in any position, WITHIN REASON. So, snow white being played as a latina actress, i believe that is in reason because there are few white women with black hair, so its not completely inaccurate. However, the Queen Charlotte movie? I personally disagree with that casting, as Queen Charlotte was very very white and you can't really switch that out that much...My personal opinion though.
Logar wrote: "Tessie ~face of an angel, mind of a killer~ wrote: "what"Should characters from traditional stories be swapped with other races to be more “socially acceptable/racially diverse”"
No T^T
Guys, the entire reason Snow White was named Snow White was because "Her skin was white as snow." It's a german folktale...
⋆⭑⚝★ Kipp ★⚝⭑⋆ wrote: "Guys, the entire reason Snow White was named Snow White was because "Her skin was white as snow." It's a german folktale..."which is why if your aiming to make it realistic you should make the actor white
✦Artemis✦ wrote: "⋆⭑⚝★ Kipp ★⚝⭑⋆ wrote: "Guys, the entire reason Snow White was named Snow White was because "Her skin was white as snow." It's a german folktale..."which is why if your aiming to make it realistic..."
or german, which could be classified as white but yeah T^T
I get that they're trying to be inclusive, but like...
just make a new character
the snow white actress is GORGEOUS
WOULD IT BE SO HARD TO MAKE AN ORIGINAL STORY AND CAST HER AS THE LEAD RATHER THAN MESSING WITH A BELOVED STORY THAT PROBABLY IS GOING TO SUCK ASS ANYWAY
you don't gotta ruin her career like that T^T
⋆⭑⚝★ Kipp ★⚝⭑⋆ wrote: "Guys, the entire reason Snow White was named Snow White was because "Her skin was white as snow." It's a german folktale..."But no in the movie they chanhed the story so now its badically shes called snow white becsuse she survived a snow storm and shes called the fairest of them all becusse they live in a communist society with a monarchy (LMAO) and she is fair and gives everyine their share ewually
Then its false advertising its not a live action snow white 😭😭
Personally i think it is context dependent. Historical character, folklore and and fantasy. Hard no hard pass. That brings up all sorts of plot holes and continuity errors. Scifi, modern settings. Id say sure no problem unless it is an established character. Like luke Skywalker should not be black. And captain america should not be black
If you want more diverse storiesMake diverse stories
Not turning previous stories
message 18:
by
Barnette ⋆˙⟡ (my girlfriend's version), Creator, Head Moderator
(new)
Mod
But no in the movie they chanhed the story so no..."
WHAT I HAVE TO WATCH THIS
MidnightButterfly wrote: "⋆⭑⚝★ Kipp ★⚝⭑⋆ wrote: "Guys, the entire reason Snow White was named Snow White was because "Her skin was white as snow." It's a german folktale..."But no in the movie they chanhed the story so no..."
they did who in the what now
so they did a fairytale rewrite to justify messing with the OG story? /genq
MidnightButterfly wrote: "If you want more diverse storiesMake diverse stories
Not turning previous stories"
exactly! :D
I think it needs to follow the story. If it’s Snow White, putting someone from Cuba or Greece or Indonesia doesn’t make sense. But if it’s something like the little mermaid it doesn’t matter imo
Barnette wrote: "MidnightButterfly wrote: "⋆⭑⚝★ Kipp ★⚝⭑⋆ wrote: "Guys, the entire reason Snow White was named Snow White was because "Her skin was white as snow." It's a german folktale..."But no in the movie th..."
You can watch the movie its flopping so badly rn becusse its so odd and rachel zeglers comments are really bad like shes loke "oh snow white shes like not thinking abiut true love shes thibking about how she wants to be a strong leader and the prince is weird so we may cut him out"
⋆⭑⚝★ Kipp ★⚝⭑⋆ wrote: "✦Artemis✦ wrote: "⋆⭑⚝★ Kipp ★⚝⭑⋆ wrote: "Guys, the entire reason Snow White was named Snow White was because "Her skin was white as snow." It's a german folktale..."which is why if your aiming to..."
YEAH EXACTLY
Lol lowkey there should be some copy-write laws made so people cant use classic names and distort the story beyond recognition lol
MidnightButterfly wrote: "Barnette wrote: "MidnightButterfly wrote: "⋆⭑⚝★ Kipp ★⚝⭑⋆ wrote: "Guys, the entire reason Snow White was named Snow White was because "Her skin was white as snow." It's a german folktale..."But n..."
ofc it is
because they're not remaking the beloved movie
they're rebranding a new story with the snow white label so they can feed off of peoples nostalgia
MidnightButterfly wrote: "Barnette wrote: "MidnightButterfly wrote: "⋆⭑⚝★ Kipp ★⚝⭑⋆ wrote: "Guys, the entire reason Snow White was named Snow White was because "Her skin was white as snow." It's a german folktale..."But n..."
WHICH IS RETARDED. BC YOU CANT MAKE A SNOW WHITE MOVIE AND NOT BE LIKE SNOW WHITE
ALSO
why am i yelling
Also, not only that but its so dumb because the directors literally cast an actor who HATES snow white...
like
you really couldnt find ANYONE else???
Another thing about the snow white is that why use cgi dwarves that look like polar express animation when you could use literal dwarf peopleNot only would it make interacting less awkward, itd also make it more realistic
Austin wrote: "Lol lowkey there should be some copy-write laws made so people cant use classic names and distort the story beyond recognition lol"Precisely!!!
Yeah well often times the director hates the property they are working on so miscasting is the goal
౨ৎ Chadwick ౨ৎ (Sylus's Version) wrote: "Another thing about the snow white is that why use cgi dwarves that look like polar express animation when you could use literal dwarf peopleNot only would it make interacting less awkward, itd a..."
yes!!
If disney wanted to be inclusive, they'd cast a better actress for snow white and include individuals with dwarfism [praying I spelled that right] to play the dwarves!!!
⋆⭑⚝★ Kipp ★⚝⭑⋆ wrote: " ౨ৎ Chadwick ౨ৎ (Sylus's Version) wrote: "Another thing about the snow white is that why use cgi dwarves that look like polar express animation when you could use literal dwarf peopleNot only wou..."
Exactly!!
Austin wrote: "Yeah well often times the director hates the property they are working on so miscasting is the goal"Sad
Comparing the Disney live action remakes to the trailer of the HTTYD remake is like comparing a smurf to Beyonce. Disney twists the story, fucks with the characters, and messes up the plot, pretty much making it a completely new story. However, the HTTYD remake looks and sounds like, well, a remake!! I'mm 100% sure that HTTYD is going to do better because it stayed true to the story, characters, and cinematography.
ExactlyMy main complaint is the actors for Ruffnut and Astrid......
Like tuffnut is spot on fr
but the actor for ruffnut is a literal redhead and looks nothing like tuffnut. and im gonna be a little mean here but the actor also looks kind of fat
And astrid's skin is fine but like....... at the same time.... the hair is just............ no
Anyway, other than that im pretty excited for it.Hookfang looks fricken awesome
౨ৎ Chadwick ౨ৎ (Sylus's Version) wrote: "Another thing about the snow white is that why use cgi dwarves that look like polar express animation when you could use literal dwarf peopleNot only would it make interacting less awkward, itd a..."
And give little people a rare opportubity to act on a major movie?
Little people is the term that is preferred by them
MidnightButterfly wrote: " ౨ৎ Chadwick ౨ৎ (Sylus's Version) wrote: "Another thing about the snow white is that why use cgi dwarves that look like polar express animation when you could use literal dwarf peopleNot only wou..."
yep! disney is acting like they're being all inclusive and shit but THERYE the ones who made the choice to cut out the little people [because yes, there was originally one dude, and they cut him out-]
Selective inclusivity!
⋆⭑⚝★ Kipp ★⚝⭑⋆ wrote: "MidnightButterfly wrote: " ౨ৎ Chadwick ౨ৎ (Sylus's Version) wrote: "Another thing about the snow white is that why use cgi dwarves that look like polar express animation when you could use literal ..."Wow
MidnightButterfly wrote: "Selective inclusivity!"exactly!!
especially with Disneyland
they've been removing accommodations for disabled people over the last few years and its driving me NUTS
i did not at all read this section BUT stories and real life are very different. there have been many variations of snow white and cinderalla throughout the world but at the end of the day, if you reimagine the story with a chinese person or a latina woman the overall story stays the same and i don't understand what effect it makes on the story.
are we losing the authenticity? what authenticity? this is a bloody fairy tale there's a teenage princess who lives with dwarves and a witch-queen who dances in red hot shoes. i can't see how race plays a role in this.
on the other hand, the people you mentioned, queen anne, zulu warriors, these are real parts of history and changing these aspects is disrespect to culture and history.
my only, only problem with httyd is that the twins look nothing alike. like cmon 😭 theres gotta be at least one pair of twin actors that could play them
message 44:
by
Barnette ⋆˙⟡ (my girlfriend's version), Creator, Head Moderator
(new)
Mod
Yeah 😭
Yeah the race swap for snow white was actually the least of peoples concerns
But even generally, why take a character of someone clearly of one race and swap it? Just make a completely different story! It isnt that hard?! 
you mean rcta?? if so, i dont support rcta,
oh, my bad lol. im not really sure how i feel. i mean, i know the people doing this are doing it for a good reason. to show diversity. but a lot of people view this behavior as 'woke', and modernized (the little mermaid, percy jackson the show, annie, etc.)
lizzie ୨୧ wrote: "you mean rcta?? if so, i dont support rcta,"oh god every time i hear about this it makes me want to die a little please 😭😭🙏 talk about internal racism omg
In retrospect, does the race of the character matter to the plotline? For example, I'm all for "race" swapping in media if it's ethical, but think about how snow white's actress LOOKS. We often associate Latinx people with more tan, sun-kissed skin, but she has fair skin, and fits the appearance of snow white, and if the movie was the exact same as the original, would her being latinx mater? No, because she's still fair skinned, and fits the description.For example, Princess Tiana shouldn't be played by a non-black actor because the role of her race effects her story, The treatment and struggle of black citizens, and women are the main focuses of her story, and changing her race to something else defeats the purpose of Tiana being black in the original film.
