History Analysis / RaceLift

With that in mind, not every main character in ''Film/TheLastAirbender'' was race lifted to being white, as the Fire Nation aligned characters, who are often believed to be ethnically linked to the Japanese, were played by Indian actors instead. [[{{Antagonist}} Zuko]] himself was played by British-Indian actor Creator/DevPatel. This tends to be overlooked by those who support the white-to-minority race lifting, despite the separate and growing problem race-lifting one underrepresented minority to another poses for those who have been erased.

This is more complicated than it might seem at first glance. A person's race can be determined a number of ways, including ancestry, appearance, and self-identification. For example, ''Film/TheLoneRanger'' was criticized for casting Creator/JohnnyDepp as Tonto, a Native American. However, Depp does claim to be one-sixteenth Cherokee and the Cherokee tribe has no minimum "blood quantum" requirement to be a member so long as one can claim matrilinear descent from a Cherokee woman.

With that in mind, not every main character in ''Film/TheLastAirbender'' was race lifted to being white, as the Fire Nation aligned characters, who are often believed to be ethnically linked to the Japanese, were played by Indian actors instead. [[{{Antagonist}} Zuko]] himself was played by British-Indian actor Creator/DevPatel. This tends to be overlooked by those who oppose the minority-to-white race lifting, despite the separate and growing problem race-lifting one underrepresented minority to another poses for those who have been erased.

Many of those who oppose changing a non-white character to a white one are less opposed, or even supportive, towards a white character being changed into a non-white character. While this is a DoubleStandard, the most common response is that changing a white character into a non-white one is more acceptable due to the lack of roles, especially lead roles, being given to non-white actors.

For example, even after changing the race of ComicBook/NickFury in ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'', literally every other superhero and almost every single speaking character in the film was still white. Whereas not only are there few counter-examples in any type of media with majority casts of non-white characters out there, but race-lifting these characters in adaptations is a lot more damaging, taking away even more of what little representation these characters' racial or ethnic groups have, as in ''Film/TheLastAirbender''.

Occasionally this process will only be carried out halfway, with [[SuddenlyEthnicity a previously ostensibly white character being retooled as someone with a secretly mixed background]]. In the United States, it has often been common for an especially daring or renegade character to turn out to have American Indian ancestry, if only to emphasize their "wildness". This is plausible because racial mixing with Indians, while not uncommon, was never as widespread or ubiquitous in the U.S. as it was in Mexico or even Canada, partly because there were far fewer Indian people for breeding material; the result is that many white and black Americans have bloodlines that are so diluted that they can claim to have Indian ancestry without actually looking the part.

Finally, there are a few examples of a lead white character being played by a famous non-white actor. For example, WillSmith played Robert Neville, the lead in ''Film/IAmLegend''.

In {{Fantasy}} stories based on {{Literature}}, ComicBooks or {{Manga}}, many times the name of the ethnicity never comes up because it wouldn't exist in that world. When that happens there can be serious arguments and {{flame war}}s over what ethnicity a certain character is, based off of the FantasyCounterpartCulture that might have been used. Their physical appearance might not have any particularly telling markers and clothing can just be added flavor. So if there is an adaption of that work and fans have their own expectations of a particular ethnicity you can ''guarantee'' a flame war.

For example, even after changing the race of ComicBook/NickFury in ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'', literally every other superhero and almost every single speaking character in the film was still white. Whereas not only are there few counter-examples in any type of media with majority casts of non-white characters out there, but race-lifting these characters in adaptations is a lot more damaging, taking away even more of what little representation these characters' racial or ethnic groups have, as in ''TheLastAirbender''.

Many of those who oppose changing a non-white character to a white one are less opposed, or even supportive, towards a white character being changed into a non-white character. Some claim that this is a DoubleStandard. The most common response is that changing a white character into a non-white one is more acceptable due to the lack of roles, especially lead roles, being given to non-white actors.

For example, even after changing the race of ComicBook/NickFury in ''[[Film/TheAvengers The Avengers]]'', literally every other superhero and almost every single speaking character in the film was still white. Whereas not only are there few counter-examples in any type of media with majority casts of non-white characters out there, but race-lifting these characters in adaptations is a lot more damaging, taking away even more of what little representation these characters' racial or ethnic groups have, as in ''TheLastAirbender''.

One could also question the importance bankability itself. For example, Creator/DanielRadcliffe and RobertPattinson were not particularly well known when they were first given their lead roles in ''Film/HarryPotter'' and ''[[{{Literature/Twilight}} Twilight]]'', respectively. While bankable actors can cause hit movies, it seems that the reverse is true as well. So the question is whether studios are more willing to take the "risk" of an unknown lead actor if the actor is white.

Before about 1970, it was common for TV stations in the [[DeepSouth American South]] to edit shows featuring non-stereotypical black characters to [[{{Bowdlerise}} remove their scenes]]. In cases where the character couldn't be edited out, the episode or the entire show wouldn't be aired. Producers therefore had an incentive to choose an all-white cast even if the original characters were intended to be minorities. (One of the first shows to attempt to break this barrier was ''HogansHeroes'', which made Kinchloe the second-in-command and [[TheSmartGuy the camp genius]] so he couldn't be edited out.)

This is more complicated than it might seem at first glance. A person's race can be determined a number of ways, including ancestry, appearance, and self-identification. For example, ''Film/TheLoneRanger'' was criticized for casting Creator/JohnnyDepp as Tonto, a Native American. However, Depp does claim to be one-sixteenth Cherokee and the Cherokee tribe has no minimum "blood quantum" requirement to be a member so long as one can claim matrilinear descent from a Cherokee woman. Furthermore, Depp was adopted by the Comanche tribe, which is a perfectly legitimate way of making him a member of the tribe.

Many of those who oppose changing a non-white character to a white one are less opposed, or even supportive, towards a white character being changed into a non-white character. Some claim that this is a DoubleStandard. The most common response is that changing a white character into a non-white one is more acceptable due to the lack of roles, especially lead roles, being given to non-white actors (which doesn't actually stop it being a DoubleStandard).

Many of those who oppose changing a non-white character to a white one are less opposed, or even supportive, towards a white character being changed into a non-white character. Some claim that this is a DoubleStandard. The most common response is that changing a white character into a non-white one is more acceptable due to the lack of roles, especially lead roles, being given to non-white actors.

#Why should appearance be disregarded from our definition of "best" actor? Creator/MorganFreeman might be a great actor, but does that necessarily make him the best actor for the role of AbrahamLincoln?

For example, even after changing the race of ComicBook/NickFury in ''[[Film/TheAvengers The Avengers]]'', literally every other superhero and almost every single speaking character in the film was still white. Whereas not only are there few counter-examples in any type of media with majority casts of non-white character out there, but race-lifting these characters in adaptations is a lot more damaging, taking away even more of what little representation non-white groups have, as in ''TheLastAirbender''.

For example, even after changing the race of ComicBook/NickFury in ''[[Film/TheAvengers TheAvengers]]'', literally every other superhero and almost every single speaking character in the film was still white. Whereas not only are there few counter-examples in any type of media with majority casts of non-white character out there, but race-lifting these characters in adaptations is a lot more damaging, taking away even more of what little representation non-white groups have, as in ''TheLastAirbender''.

This is more complicated than it might seem at first glance. A person's race can be determined a number of ways, including ancestry, appearance, and self-identification. For example, ''Film/TheLoneRanger'' was criticized for casting Creator/JohnnyDepp as Tonto, a Native American. However, Depp does claim to be one-sixteenth Cherokee and the Cherokee tribe has no minimum "blood quantum" requirement to be a member. Furthermore, Depp was adopted by the Comanche tribe, which is a perfectly legitimate way of making him a member of the tribe.

One could also question the importance bankability itself. For example, Creator/DanielRadcliffe and RobertPattinson were not particularly well known when they were first given their lead roles in ''Film/HarryPotter'' and ''Literature/Twilight'', respectively. While bankable actors can cause hit movies, it seems that the reverse is true as well. So the question is whether studios are more willing to take the "risk" of an unknown lead actor if the actor is white.

Simply because of the need for visual diversity, some actors and actresses get the short end of the deal. People of mixed race are especially prone to this because they don't look enough like one ethnicity or the other. And sometimes people are entirely one ethnicity but have the "appearance" of another. There ''are'' White Hispanics with visibly-fair features (Cameron Diaz, for one; Spaniards as a whole), but that is not what the general American viewer sees as a [[LatinoIsBrown stereotypical Hispanic]] (at least according to Hollywood and other mainstream media). There are some black people who appear to be white. There are even some Filipinos and Samoans that appear to be black.

One could also question the importance bankability itself. For example, Creator/DanielRadcliffe and RobertPattinson were not particularly well known when they were first given their lead roles in ''Film/HarryPotter'' and ''Film/Twilight'', respectively. While bankable actors can cause hit movies, it seems that the reverse is true as well. So the question is whether studios are more willing to take the "risk" of an unknown lead actor if the actor is white.

One could also question the importance bankability itself. For example, Creator/DanielRadcliffe and Creator/RobertPattinson were not particularly well known when they were first given their lead roles in ''Film/HarryPotter'' and ''Film/Twilight'', respectively.