Should they have casted a hispanic or black April for the film?

[Commenter 42]

hunh, but, maybe that would read the wrong way?

Like, we are talking about casting a young woman who routinely goes into sewers filled with excrement to hang out with mutants. Maybe it would send an unintentionally wrong message? "No white girl would ever willingly go into the sewers with the filth, lets use a black girl instead." Said nobody, ever.

I don't care what universe you pluck her from, reporter, lab tech, antiques dealer, computer whiz - she still walks around ankle deep in human waste.

On the other hand, Zoe Saldana is Sexier than Megan Fox, so...

For my money, April was just plain crazy, and crazy is race-neutral.

Also, for the record, Mirage April was based on women who frequented the bars in and around Mirage Studios. The bars in question were Lesbian clubs, if that helps.

[Jester]

So...another thread for Cybercubed to continue his gripe fest about the "whitewashing of Shredder."

*yawn* Have we nothing better to do?

[InsaneZane]

Originally Posted by BabyTurtles

yea what InsaneZane said XD
I can take Angel if I wanted a hispanic or black character :3
but changing April just to appeal to certain people doesn't seem right...

Originally Posted by chrisdude

Most of the time, it makes no difference at all, and very few people are bothered. The fact of the matter is, the main cast of characters in most of the biggest comic book franchises were created decades and decades ago, and the casts were often entirely white. Today, to members of minority races, and all-white cast sticks out like a sore thumb, and those movies are ignored. As shocking as it's been for my white friends to hear, black people really do notice, even from a trailer or television commercial, "Wow. That movie has no significant black characters." It's like walking into a party when you're the only person of your ethnicity. Those casts don't represent what America looks like, and it hurts the marketability of a film. So these changes are going to continue.

I guarantee you, Burne, or some other black character we don't know about yet, will make her way into the TMNT trailer.

I agree, but lets just hope it's kept to just 1 character per franchise, shall we?

[Jester]

Oh, by the by, "casted" isn't a word. "Cast" is the word you were looking for, Cubed.

[chrisdude]

Originally Posted by InsaneZane

I agree, but lets just hope it's kept to just 1 character per franchise, shall we?

Well, that makes it sound even more like tokenism.

If it were up to me, I would just leave race out of the casting decisions, unless it effected a characters story. April would be up for grabs to whatever actress fits the role. Shredder's race is a factor of his story, so changing it means changing his story. If people treated it that way, they wouldn't be changing people, they would just be not confining the characters of which race isn't a factor.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by omnimorphic

Like, we are talking about casting a young woman who routinely goes into sewers filled with excrement

I don't think there's any Turtle universe where the Turtles live in anything other than a drainage sewer, not a... sewage sewer.

[sgtfbomb]

Originally Posted by Jester

So...another thread for Cybercubed to continue his gripe fest about the "whitewashing of Shredder."

*yawn* Have we nothing better to do?

You could just ignore him.

[Crabfight]

Should they have? No.

Could they have? Sure. Why not. Next question.

Who the hell cares what race/gender Burne is? Same goes for April. It'd be quite a stretch, and a potentially racist one, for anyone to connect any of April's characteristics to her race or ethnicity.

The whole Shredder thing is a bit more understandable, but I think that particular topic's been discussed to death.

[InsaneZane]

Originally Posted by chrisdude

Well, that makes it sound even more like tokenism.

You misunderstand me, I mean if they are "changing" characters to just leave it 1 per franchise... by no means am I implying the character in question would be the ONLY character "representing" their race. That would be awkward and as you said tokenism.

[Metalwolf]

Originally Posted by InsaneZane

Spoiler:

When it comes to changing races in comics/movies/ cartoons etc....
I think they've covered enough, maybe even too much

Kingpin, Perry White, Nick Fury, Heimdall, Alicia (from Fantastic Four), let's not forget our own Baxter Stockman (turned white) or Burne/Burnadette Thompson
Some are somewhat unacceptable (such as Baxter, Heimdall and some would say Perry White)
but Some of these are completely acceptable since they are exceptional cases: changes that build upon the characters' backstories (ex. Kingpin from The Bronx; Alicia with The Puppetmaster as her father...)

I didnt list Spiderman and Green Lantern because they are different people all together (Miles Morales and John Stewart)
This is the way that it should be I think, if people want to introduce more black people into comics, I think it's better to make them different people with different backstories, don't just change a character people are familiar with... because no matter how much you say or believe that it doesn't matter... people are still going to find reasons to b!tch about it. Especially with characters that involve a specific location in origin such as Heimdall and pretty much all the characters in "The Last Racebender"... I mean"Airbender" Heimdall comes from Norse Mythology hence Norway , blah, blah , blah... white people... And don't get me started with the" Last Travesty-bender" movie.
I mean can you imagine a black Clark Kent?
Thats just weird...
Now a Black Superman would be cool... but make him someone else
If we continue to change pre-existing characters black (or otherwise) There won't be any white people left.... (I guess some people would consider that a good thing lol)

It's the same case for introducing gay characters.. I mean yes people change sexuality preferences, but why change characters like Selina Kyle, Barbara Gordon and Alan Scott who've been established as straight for decades when you can just create new characters that are gay?
If you're going to change a character gay or black or something else... make it someone that doesn't have an established history.

Example.. Vernon Fenwick; We never see him with a girl, there was one time he tried to trick April into giving him mouth to mouth which was probably the straightest thing we've ever seen him do... But usually he has conceded remarks about himself, he even wears pink and sounds kind of gay when he talks. I could see them making him gay for the new movie, for that matter we don't know enough about his past to care if he stays white either.

So in conclusion, Changing races (or sexuality) in a fictional universe can be acceptable under the right circumstances as long as it brings something to said character...
Now April O'Neil.... I cant really think of anything that demands that she stay white other than the fact that People have probably started to change too many characters' races. (Well that and her easily recognizable red/brown hair) Let's be honest, if people saw a black April... most people wouldn't recognize her as April...
Most People: "Who the $#!+ is that?!?!"

April doesn't need to be black when they can just bring in Angel as a more dominant Turtles ally...I kinda feel like Angel is mixed or something, but she could be black and people wouldn't p!ss and moan and b!tch like they would over their precious barbie doll, April because of what I mentioned earlier:
Perfect example: April vs Angel, Angel's backstory benefits from her not being white; April's doesn't. Angel isn't as much of an iconic character hence people wouldn't care about the racial change... unlike April.
Plus they already changed Burne black and into a female... so more than 1 character being changed is just too much (unless They're aiming for making a Tyler Perry's TMNT)(did I actually just say that? God help us)

As far as Shredder being white is concerned....I agree they shouldve cast a Japanese man,(for the record, I think that's almost as bad as the racebending in "Airbender" and I HATE that he's called Eric Sachs; I'm trying to be optimistic about that being an alias or something) but I'm pretty sure that still doent apply since he looked and talked white in the OT (which is odd since James Avery AND Kevin Michael Richardson are black people)
Anyway he wears a mask most of the time and he doesnt look Japanese... and the new movie is loosely based off of the OT.

I agree with what you said. It does get annoying, especially when a major character or well known comic book character gets changed just to show 'inclusiveness.' It shouldn't be that hard to come up with a new character for that stuff, unless the visual arts have become that bankrupt of ideas...

[InsaneZane]

Originally Posted by Metalwolf

I agree with what you said. It does get annoying, especially when a major character or well known comic book character gets changed just to show 'inclusiveness.' It shouldn't be that hard to come up with a new character for that stuff, unless the visual arts have become that bankrupt of ideas...

Yes, exactly

[Shark_Blade]

Slap her some yellow and I'm sold.

[Candy Kappa]

Originally Posted by InsaneZane

people are still going to find reasons to b!tch about it. Especially with characters that involve a specific location in origin such as Heimdall and pretty much all the characters in "The Last Racebender"... I mean"Airbender" Heimdall comes from Norse Mythology hence Norway , blah, blah , blah... white people...

Not really sure why all of the Norse gods needs to reflect the appearance of the people worshiping them.

Especially when Vikings where well aware of people with different skin color. Since they have traveled to America, Africa and the Middle East with their trading and raiding routes.

[Lord Nightwalker]

No. April isn't black or Hispanic. That would be like having wombats instead of turtles. Or an African James Bond. It's not broken, Don't screw with it.

[Commenter 42]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

I don't think there's any Turtle universe where the Turtles live in anything other than a drainage sewer, not a... sewage sewer.

...

Really? is there a difference in New York sewers? The city is filthy!

The point was simple - I can't think of a single woman I know who would willingly, routinely, go into a Sewer.
In fact, most guys I know wouldn't either. It's gross and full of toxins, airborne and otherwise.

My second point, was that this entire thread is ridiculous. Every argument about Changing/not changing race is troll bait.

And if we're going to consider changing the race of a notable character in Comics, April O'neil is hardly the character I'd consider.

Wonder Woman would be a better place to start. An empowered role model, strong, fearless, etc etc.

April's always a whiny damsel in distress who clearly has no aversion to trenchfoot. Sometimes she's a butchy computer nerd (2k3), or a lonely assistant, or a skilled ninja warrior etc...

She's very two dimensional, as proven by her origin story in Mirage.
Sure, cast any ethnicity, but casting just to include another race that serves no purpose to the story, is no different than the stunt casting of Megan Fox.

It should actually be a question of "does this actor bring something to the role? Can she elevate a 2D character and make her come alive on the screen?
Can she do what Sam Jackson did for Nick Fury? What does this actor offer that the others don't?

Like I've said before, This is in no way a definitive TMNT film, so really, who cares? And even if it was the pinnacle of TMNTness, same question.

Maybe in the future we'll get our Avengers version of TMNT. For now, it's Sharktopus, and Shredder is a white dude.

Life goes on.

[Powder]

Originally Posted by Lord Nightwalker

No. April isn't black or Hispanic. That would be like having wombats instead of turtles.

So blacks & Hispanics are a different species from whites? Wow. The ignorance of some people.

[Zachatello00]

I have to echo those who are more concerned with the strength of the actress (or actor, for that matter) playing the character. As long as race isn't an essential part of the character's essence. I couldn't for example, stomach the idea of a white guy playing Black Panther in an Avengers sequel.

But April would be perfectly fine, so long as whoever played her is skilled. I'm more put off by the white Shredder than the idea of a non-white April, as Shredder's Japanese origin is part of the character's essence.

[Candy Kappa]

On one hand, with an African American April in a live action movie, all the comic nerds could reference that one colored Mirage issue where April do have dark skin.

[Xav]

Originally Posted by omnimorphic

Also, for the record, Mirage April was based on women who frequented the bars in and around Mirage Studios. The bars in question were Lesbian clubs, if that helps.

Really? I never heard that before.

[Raphael232]

they should also turn the turtles black/hispanic instead of green. I can see it now "yo homes, check out my nunchucks esse" OR "fo shizzle my nizzle as I slice you with my sizzled katana" it would be too stupid. lol definitely would skip that movie.