The colour of anyone’s skin should be meaningless. Genetic testing has shown that everyone has a vast ethic and racial background. Should a north asian play Martin Luther King? Why not? Should a South Asian play Mandela? Again, why not? An East African; Henry VIII?

To be fair, the reason why Martin Luther King became iconic was because of the colour of his skin and his words of wisdom. The issue was the colour of their skin and subsequent discrimination.

I wonder if we'll ever see a white man playing King.

I've never seen Lawrence of Arabia, I was too young when it was released and have never watched it. And I think trying to make out that what I did watch as a kid gave me a bias is rather ignorant on your part. That was just the way things were done back then; we say it wasn't right and that's true, but you can't change that. All you can do is move forward. I can say that any non-white characters I did see on screen/TV never made me think they were "less" than whites. They were just the same.

I'm fully aware of the times we live in, you'd have to live under a rock not to be. But it doesn't mean I can't choose what I want to watch. We do need more diversity in all areas of life. However, back when I was a kid I thought that forcing mixed class rooms to end segregation was not the best way to do it and I still don't. There has to be other ways; yes, if a school is in a mixed area then all the kids should go there, but bussing them to a school miles away just to try and change peoples' minds (because that's what it was all about) probably damaged the kids more than letting them stay at their "black only" school. There has to be other ways to include everyone without forcing just for the sake of diversity numbers. And I have to wonder, would the production company have cast a black woman as Anne Boleyn if we hadn't had the last few years of riots, protests, etc, over lack of diversity?

I was thinking about that myself, actually.

Tom

Very sad, it's a great movie that I've seen many times.

Tom

You want to play MLK in a film? I know you can act out, but act?

I have a dream.

A bad one, but it's still a dream!

Tom

If you are 'fully aware the times we live in' then my name is King Abdullah III. Do you know why the riots and protests happened? Yup you guessed it, the existing racial inequality in our society that needs to be addressed by doing things like giving non-white people equal opportunities. That includes in TV and movies.

And come on... you didn't simply choose to 'not watch this show', you chose to make a statement by posting a thread on a public forum to voice your displeasure and saying something as strong and emphatic: "there are lines that shouldn't be crossed"... all because a black woman is playing a historical white woman in a TV drama? if that is not an overt display of racial bias then I don't know what is.

Considering that lots of people "prefer to watch the movie to reading the book", history told from parents to children will be quiet different in the future.
Also the questions of the children will be different like after having a seen a white Martin Luther King they might ask "Dad, what exactly was he dreaming about?" or a black King Georg I (randomly picked) the question might be "Mam, why was Megan's baby's skin color a subject in 2020?"

I noticed something else today: While German speakers seriously discuss whether from now on it should be Zuschauer:innen, Zuschauer*innen or ZuschauerInnen and people make (at first rather weird) pauses when using the word Zuschauer_innen, EFers talk about female actors as if there were no word for them yet and write things like <<Maybe the actors should all use their own regional accent, like the in the Heidi movie...>> Well, yes I agree, the actor who portrays the Queen should definitely be British.

Funny times. Strange problems. All I say is: Give me the same pay and respect, I'll swap it for the *in/:in/In at the end of my job-description.

__________________
It's all a matter or perspective.
So move your butt and look at it from the other side

Yup, 'Murica.

No more, no less.

Tom

Where is the cultural appropriation police..

And Cockney.

Just Alec in that one that I recall.

More glaring was Sergio Leone's use of pasty white guys, such as Gian Maria Volonté, as dark skinned Mexicans.





Tom

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And Darth Vader was played by a white guy, but voiced by a black guy!

Tom

Here's the Heidi movie I was referring to. Maybe not everyone can pick up on the accents.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQrZ26kPSpM

I have to admit I saw it on the plane and didn't realise it was a Swiss film dubbed into English. I thought it had been made that way with English actors and I found it absurd.

Of course it doesn't matter.

Well hello King Abdullah III. Nice to see you here.

I know exactly why the riots and protests took place and I know they're only going to harden many people's opinions about non-whites. Not mine btw, this is something that's been simmering for decades and it was only a matter of time before it exploded. How much good will result from it remains to be seen though. We've seen previous LA riots in 1965 and 1992 over black killings, yet still the status quo hasn't changed much. Maybe this time it will have more of an impact since the internet and social media have spread the stories much more widely than previously.

There's a difference between giving non-whites equal opportunities and employing any non-white just to make up diversity numbers. And there can also be the problem of employing a less qualified non-white over a more qualified white person, again to make up the diversity numbers. Is that racist or not? And if it is, is it racist against the black or the white person? It's certainly discrimination against the white person.

As said for me a black woman playing an historical white woman is a line I won't cross. I'd say the same if it were a white man playing an historical white woman. Guess I'm not a racist after all, surprise, surprise. I simply prefer my historical viewing to be more or less accurate. This series sadly isn't.

I liked that film.