Quote:
Originally Posted by omnimorphic
MY original point, was that switching the ethnicity does nothing to enhance her character, or detract from it, and what's more, it's no big WIN for racial equality in any sense, because every film of late has been comfortable placing minority actors in supporting roles that were previously played by white actors.
Again, if we want to talk about color blindness, we should be talking about leading roles.
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Exactly. True 'color blindness' really comes from when it doesn't matter who plays a character of a certain race. Even I kind of find the idea of race a bit dumb because the definition of a race tends to shift all over the place and to suit certain political environments.
'Irish' used to be considered a 'race.'
'Hispanic' was a term created in the 1960s during the Nixon Administration. Under forensic and anthropological science, many Hispanics are actually considered Caucasian/White. There is no such thing as a 'Hispanic race.' They're Whites. (Although there are Black Hispanics, but they are forensically considered Black then, not 'Hispanic.')
Listing someone's race down to to the umpteenth degree is sort of a remnant of the 'one drop rule' that used to have wide usage when it came to who was considered black. It's now popular to do this with other race groups, but now because it adds a bit of exotic 'flavor' instead of just listing yourself as just boring black/white.
That's what I know of the stuff on race. Pretty much I kind of find it funny that people get a hernia over race, since race is little more like a breed. Take Chihuahuas and German Shepherds. They are the same species, yet look dramatically different. They might have different health issues, different personalities, but they are still both dogs. And they get listed as being part this and part that, but it changes little of what they are at their core.
So when someone asks that April be this or that, is it something that will bring something to the character, or will she really be a bauble to show off, to appease some old tinge of guilt, after years of portraying her as a 'politically incorrect' race?
If she happens to be black or white or asian, don't make it about her being a particular race.
Make it about her being April.