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

[BabyTurtles]

Originally Posted by Coola Yagami

That's one way of putting it, but yes. I mean, have the Turtles in any incarnation ever acted black or hispanic or anything else that is not default white? Even if we go by the whole 'turning into the last creature they ever touched' thing, the Turtles don't even have Japanese accents or anything after touching Yoshi. Which is funny in a way, Leatherhead in the OT turned cajun cause the last guy that tried to catch him was cajun.

legit question.......
how are Black and Hispanic people supposed to act like? XD???

[DONATELLO DUZMACHINES]

Originally Posted by Coola Yagami

That's one way of putting it, but yes. I mean, have the Turtles in any incarnation ever acted black or hispanic or anything else that is not default white? Even if we go by the whole 'turning into the last creature they ever touched' thing, the Turtles don't even have Japanese accents or anything after touching Yoshi. Which is funny in a way, Leatherhead in the OT turned cajun cause the last guy that tried to catch him was cajun.

what do mean acted black or hispanic? What is default white? The turtles act like teenagers nothing more nothing less. Nothing about them points to them being a particular race or nationality, because there are no staple personalitys for different races. Someones personality is shaped by their up bringing environment and personal experiences not the color of there skin, and if were operating off of the logic of them being the nationality that voices them than couldnt we say that shredder acts black because he's been voiced by black men twice?

[Cure]

Originally Posted by BabyTurtles

how are Black and Hispanic people supposed to act like? XD???

Exactly. According to this guy there's no black leaders, or Asian hotheads, or Indian goofballs or genius level Hispanics. Nope, all white. Really stupid.

[Jester]

If anything aren't the all Asian...because...Hamato Yoshi?

[Refractive Reflections]

I think these arguments of racial identity are just the tip of the iceberg this country (United States) has avoided in discussing. As I posted in another thread:

Originally Posted by JYX

I think what the United States will ultimately need to confront, as it becomes more racially diverse, are the issues of racial identity and "authenticity" with millennials (Generation Y) and subsequent generations when their parents (Baby-Boomers and older) experienced a much more different, and divided political/racial landscape. It will prompt the questions of: How ____ (choose a racial group) are you? How do you define ____ (choose a racial group)? And how important is race to your identity?

...Then again these questions could be coming from an older (maybe outdated?) paradigm of how society views the importance of race.

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by Cure

Exactly. According to this guy there's no black leaders, or Asian hotheads, or Indian goofballs or genius level Hispanics. Nope, all white. Really stupid.

Using multi-racial voice actors would help, as well as accents and such. Does Leo sound black, does Raph sound asian, etc etc.

It's just an idea since we're on the subject of multi-racial characters. Perhaps some future incarnation will have them voiced by multi-racial voice actors.

As for Shredder, he doesn't count. He might have been played by a black VA but he played him as a Japanese guy (a heavily Americanized Japanese guy, but still). I mean there's a reason why some people to this day still don't know Uncle Phil played Shredder.

[Refractive Reflections]

Originally Posted by Coola Yagami

Using multi-racial voice actors would help, as well as accents and such. Does Leo sound black, does Raph sound asian, etc etc.

While I do understand what you are trying to convey Coola Yagami, but I'm multi-racial (and my family is composed of different races too). Not being harsh or anything, multi-racials don't really have particular accents, its all about the language used in the environment of the developing child. Or sometimes even as adults, we can pick up accents when moving to different parts of the country.
No, I'm not taking any offense or anything Coola Yagami.

When one's multi-racial, merely speaking for myself now, there's never a full sense of "belonging" in one racial group or the other, which can be annoying since society (at least American society) puts so much emphasis on it. There are so many combinations of being multi-racial, its like having many different types of "ethnic cocktails" ; at least for me, I have to draw out an ethnic pie chart of myself when explaining it to others sometimes.

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by JYX

While I do understand what you are trying to convey Coola Yagami, but I'm multi-racial (and my family is composed of different races too). Not being harsh or anything, multi-racials don't really have particular accents, its all about the language used in the environment of the developing child. Or sometimes even as adults, we can pick up accents when moving to different parts of the country.
No, I'm not taking any offense or anything Coola Yagami.

When one's multi-racial, merely speaking for myself now, there's never a full sense of "belonging" in one racial group or the other, which can be annoying since society (at least American society) puts so much emphasis on it. There are so many combinations of being multi-racial, its like having many different types of "ethnic cocktails" ; at least for me, I have to draw out an ethnic pie chart of myself when explaining it to others sometimes.

Cool, I meant no offense either. I'm of mixed races myself, though I was born in the US so always stuck more with American customs and traditions. Many people I know don't believe that spanish is my second language.

But yeah, when I said multi-racial, I kinda meant like... Raph being voiced by a black guy, Leo by a hispanic, etc not Raph being voiced by a black mixed with hispanic, though that would have been interesting.

It is interesting though, I have seen some drawings on DeviantArt of the 'what if the Turtles were human' and such, Leo is usually Japanese and Raph is sometimes black.

[BabyTurtles]

Originally Posted by Coola Yagami

Cool, I meant no offense either. I'm of mixed races myself, though I was born in the US so always stuck more with American customs and traditions. Many people I know don't believe that spanish is my second language.

But yeah, when I said multi-racial, I kinda meant like... Raph being voiced by a black guy, Leo by a hispanic, etc not Raph being voiced by a black mixed with hispanic, though that would have been interesting.

It is interesting though, I have seen some drawings on DeviantArt of the 'what if the Turtles were human' and such, Leo is usually Japanese and Raph is sometimes black.

maybe Raph could be voiced by Donald Glover he did an awesome Marshall lee! ----> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AATGCGy0sLc

....then again Marshall lee sounds too suave to be Raph

[Commenter 42]

Originally Posted by Xav

Really? I never heard that before.

Kevin Eastman did an interview years ago, in which he talked at length about his life's journey with the turtles - it was for a comic magazine back in 2001 I think...

He's rather candid about his influences and specifically April in the article, which is a really good read. If I can find it and post, i will.

[Commenter 42]

Originally Posted by Jester

If anything aren't the all Asian...because...Hamato Yoshi?

This - though wouldn't Japanese be a little more politically correct?

I have friends who are Chinese, and they really hate being called "Asian".

[Candy Kappa]

That sounds silly, I'm Norwegian, but I am still an Scandinavian, because Norway lies in that region. And an European, because Norway lies in that continent.

Anyway, back on topic. The turtles would probably adopt whatever speech patter and accent from what they learn from TV, Radio etc. Ethnicity debate on the turtles is silly, sicne they don't go under the Homo Sapiens Sapiens definition on ethnicity and race. They aren't even human. At best, they have human mutation in them (depending on which incarnation), stemming from a Japanese man. But that don't mean anything on how they speak or sound.

and back on the actual topic. April's skin color really don't matter to me, I guess as long as she decent from Irish immigrants anything is okay. But names don't dictate skin color.

[Commenter 42]

Originally Posted by MsMarvelDuckie

Actually, YES, there IS a difference. NYC may be dirty but it's hardly the fault of their sewer system. And for the most part, the drainage part would be relatively safe and dry unless the city is experiencing a heavy rain. Which is probably why the green boys live there. It's relatively comfortable for the most part (after some modifications, of course, is easier to remain unseen than say, the subway, and not many people would venture in due to most people not knowing the difference.....

Yeah... can't agree with you on that. People don't live in and around sewers without getting sick. There are thousands of diseases, and no, the sewers are not a safe dry place that with a little elbow grease make a good home. Real New York is Real, not a cartoon.
My point is still that the girl, to me is crazy, same as Casey Jones is crazy. Real people do not behave the way these two do, and if they did, they would be locked up, then sent for psych evaluations. They are not normal, just like Batman is not "Normal". These people have serious problems.

Originally Posted by MsMarvelDuckie

I disagree with her being two-dimensional- and I most certainly discard that awful origin story as just plain ridiculous. As much as I liked the tale of Kirby and his crystal-topped pencil, using that to explain who April is was just bad writing- which I may take flack for, but hey, even an otherwise good writer can turn out a stinker every now and then. April has always been smart, spunky, brave- let's face it, she dove head-first into a bizarre world of mutants, aliens, robots, and ninjas without batting an eye- and compassionate. Those are traits could belong to any race.

Well, i happen to think her origin is the most plausible for the world they set up. It's all allegorical, goofy, storytelling that is absurdest in the best sense of the word. I loved that he deconstructed his own story, and turned the character on its head. it takes guts to do that when you have a fan base that is surely going to turn on you. I'm sorry you didn't like it, but for me it's perfect.

Back to the crazy though...
So yeah, She did what? "she dove head-first into a bizarre world of mutants, aliens, robots, and ninjas without batting an eye-"

Yep. Perfectly sane healthy normal woman, holding down a stressful job working long hours trying to pay the bills, and suddenly... ninjas.

So sure, it's fantasy, but there is this whole plausibility factor that you just can't deny. it's just not plausible.

[Coola Yagami]

So how would a real world April act? And she didn't dive into anything. Baxter sent robots after her and the turtles saved her. Anything else came after that but she wasn't expecting it. She even left New York for a while to get away from it.

If you mean 80s April, she was following a news story. The turtles and all their situations are a news exclusive gold mine. The turtles and shredder basically paid her bills for her.

[Refractive Reflections]

Originally Posted by Coola Yagami

Cool, I meant no offense either. I'm of mixed races myself, though I was born in the US so always stuck more with American customs and traditions. Many people I know don't believe that spanish is my second language.

But yeah, when I said multi-racial, I kinda meant like... Raph being voiced by a black guy, Leo by a hispanic, etc not Raph being voiced by a black mixed with hispanic, though that would have been interesting.

It is interesting though, I have seen some drawings on DeviantArt of the 'what if the Turtles were human' and such, Leo is usually Japanese and Raph is sometimes black.

Oh! Multiple races within the cast as a whole, not individual people being multi-racial. *facepalm* Duh on myself.
Okay... thanks for the clarification, and sorry for the confusion.

[Commenter 42]

Originally Posted by Coola Yagami

So how would a real world April act? And she didn't dive into anything. Baxter sent robots after her and the turtles saved her. Anything else came after that but she wasn't expecting it. She even left New York for a while to get away from it.

If you mean 80s April, she was following a news story. The turtles and all their situations are a news exclusive gold mine. The turtles and shredder basically paid her bills for her.

You misunderstand me. I'm more than aware of the various incarnations of April. I have read and watched it all.

I'm trying to support the statement that April is not this rich and interesting character. She's a very strange individual that only serves to move stories forward, or provide a deus ex machina at just the right moment, which often enables the turtles to accomplish their goal.

My point is simple - her actions and motivations are simplistic and childish, and she in no way ever acts as a rational adult, but rather a 6 year old with a secret nobody can know.

So my point is simple - where is the challenge for the actress? where is the joy in playing a shallow, simple character? You would need to invent quite a bit to build her out and make her truly believable.

This might make it clearer -
if we are all so wrapped up in proving ourselves to be colorblind, we need to go further.
In the most recent James Bond, Money-Penny was revealed as black, where she had always been previously played by a white actress.
I say big deal - but if James Bond were Black for example...
and people didn't get angry,
Then we could say we have made real progress.

[CyberCubed]

I don't understand why topics about race have people so sensitive on this forum. You can make the same topic on any other online forum and people wouldn't get all up in arms about this.

[Jester]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

I don't understand why topics about race have people so sensitive on this forum. You can make the same topic on any other online forum and people wouldn't get all up in arms about this.

I dare you to post that Ebonics thread in another forum...report back in...um...10 or so years. Gotta give this experiment plenty of time...

[Avatar Yuffie]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

I don't understand why topics about race have people so sensitive on this forum. You can make the same topic on any other online forum and people wouldn't get all up in arms about this.

*laughs forever*

Oh you naive person.

[Coola Yagami]

I'm curious as how a rational adult April would act given the circumstances.. And still remain a part of the turtles lives.