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Edited by Mrph1 on Jul 29th 2024 at 3:09:00 PM
And that she is half-white is an argument. The country she comes from isn't. How is that difficult to understand?
Acting is about being able to portray a LOT of different roles. Which, btw, works in favour of Po C in the theatrical world, especially in the opera and ballet. They would REALLY be in disadvantage if they were automatically banned from singing in the most famous operas due to being neither Italian, French, German or Russian.
You can't just act as if a French actress playing someone from Germany right now is the same as a Japanese actor playing a Chinese character or, in your example, a Mexican playing a Colombian. The latter (intentionally or not) speaks to a recurring history of Racism in American culture that involves painting those countries as the same (i.e All Asians are alike and everything south of the border is the same country).
You could argue Colombians also get a lot less representation in American media than Mexicans, comparatively speaking.
"All you Fascists bound to lose."Also, bringing up that an actress is "half-white" isn't helping. Both Halle Berry and Alexandra Shipp have played Storm, an African character, and they are both half-white, too. Being half-white shouldn't prohibit an actor from playing a role. If they were half-white, half-Pakistani, would you have the same objections?
This isn't an argument that requires a flat yes or no decision. We're not setting legal precedent, here, it can and should still be taken case by case. But there are times, I think, when it's worthwhile to at least try to line up the character's racial and cultural background with the characters, and I think this is one of them. Not every time, not to the point where actors can't ever play other nationalities or religions and so on, but with Kamala, coming from an immigrant family is such a significant part of her life and character.
Edited by Unsung on Jan 26th 2019 at 11:10:46 AM
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For the record, usually Americans and/or Brits are getting the German roles, and then they are speaking with a terrible fake accent. While actual German actors, like Daniel Brühl, are lucky if they are allowed to play a Bond villain and/or a character with a complete fake nationality.
Here is how I see it: If you want an accent, pick someone who at least actually speaks some German. If not, well, then it doesn't matter.
Edited by Swanpride on Jan 26th 2019 at 10:36:59 AM
On the flipside, American culture and particularly Hollywood have a bad habit of perceiving non-European cultures, especially Middle Eastern and Asian cultures, as an interchangeable block, and that's not an attitude that needs to be supported either.
I don't really have an opinion on this one way or another, but I do think it’s a situation that shouldn’t be portrayed as cut and dry in either direction.
Edited by KnownUnknown on Jan 26th 2019 at 10:39:01 AM
In general, I agree that the character and actor’s nationalities don’t need to match. In this particular case, given the high level of hostility between India and Pakistan, I think casting an Indian woman as a Pakistani character might be ill-advised.
And aside from that issue, I think part of Kamala’s value is in humanizing people from an area that many Americas perceieve as threatening. Among immigrants to the US, I would guess “I’m from India” would not provoke the same mistrust/hostility as “I’m from Pakistan”. It’s another reason why having a Pakistani actress for her would be nice.
Edited by Galadriel on Jan 26th 2019 at 1:43:14 PM
" You can't just act as if a French actress playing someone from Germany right now is the same as a Japanese actor playing a Chinese character"
something I always remenber is how memory og a geisha actress complain exactly of this: how white people can play other white people(like british and american or jeweish playing no jewsit actor and vice versa) but the same dosent happen with asian actors.
I mean I get what you are saying but it is in turn into a sort od dobule standar were europa and US being a treat as block result in a net positive for them.
"My Name is Bolt, Bolt Crank and I dont care if you believe or not"The plight of Germans (in this case) is nowhere near comparable to that of Latinos when it comes to Media representation or really, most of everything else. That's what makes the comparison silly in every way and the double standard lose punch. It requires you to ignore everything about both examples except the broad premise rather than the fact we're trying to compare one of the most privileged countries on earth with Latin America.
"All you Fascists bound to lose."Kamala Khan's representation value seems to have at least as much (and probably more) to do with her being a Muslim superhero as it does with her race or national ancestry. Given that, suppose they cast a Pakistani-American to play Kamala, but it turns out the actor is an atheist. Would you object to them not casting an actual, practicing Muslim in the part?
Indeed, one of the biggest positive aspects of Kamala as a character is that she's a heroic Pakistani Muslim whose culture is very important to her, respectfully portrayed with no strings attached introduced in a time where much of America was casually racist against Pakistani and intolerant of Islam and against either being positively portrayed, let alone with characters that were proud to be either.
The kind of backlash is less major now than it was when she first arrived, but we're still in a time where American media doesn't typically take steps to portray Middle Easterners in a way that's not faceless.
Having her be portrayed by a Pakistani would be an important way to reinforce that effect. You could do so without it, sure, but why would you if you had the choice? Beyond - in true Hollywood fare - Indian actors being easier and more convenient to hire instead.
Edited by KnownUnknown on Jan 26th 2019 at 11:45:21 AM
Yeah, isn't that the whole reason he chose to become Iron Man?: his entire, extravagant lifestyle was being paid by work that was killing thousands and ruining innocent people's lifes, and when he was confronted with that fact he couldn't ignore that anymore.
Edited by HailMuffins on Jan 26th 2019 at 4:41:21 PM
Is someone really bringing up a black British man playing a black American man as the example for how getting a characters race wrong is totally fine?
The experience and culture of black men in England, and in America, is a hell of a lot closer (I didn't say identical, just closer) than that of Indian women, and Pakistani women.
Why think so complicated? If it is an Indian Actress, why not make a Adaptational Nationality out of it and make Kamala an indian muslim?
Certified: 48.0% West Asian, 6.5% South Asian, 15.8% North/West European, 15.7% English, 7.4% Balkan, 6.6% Scandinavian

A conversation is context. You're reading something into Shake-Master's reply which was never said or implied. "Don't bring it up" still isn't the same as "they don't share ethnic groups". You're going out of your way to pick a fight.
Edited by Unsung on Jan 26th 2019 at 10:51:56 AM