That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Because of this whole 'minorities in Hollywood' thing ... It's so stupid. Stop stealing all the white people's superheroes. Make up your own!
Michelle's "evidence" included Michael B. Jordan as the Human Torch, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, and the recent online campaign for Idris Elba to become Bond. (In which case she has a soulmate in bigot extraordinaire Rush Limbaugh.)
Yeah, that's the problem. Minorities are stealing all the superhero roles. That's why you never see a white male playing a superhero, except for Batman. And Superman. And Iron man. And Green lantern. And Spiderman. And Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Mr. Fantastic, Spiderman, and fuck it... every other comic book hero I can think of!
So allow me to respond.
First of all, Fuck you Michelle.
I think Hollywood has a LOT of problems, but white people being passed over for minority roles is NOT one of them! White actors get cast far more than performers of all other races combined. The fact they get a few scraps doesn't mean white roles are suddenly endangered.
Secondly, the green lantern roles weren't written to be "white" Two of the most popular green lantern characters in the comics were John Stewart (black) and Kyle Raner (Hispanic).
Third, I don't recall YOU or Rush or any of the white bigots defending your ignorant self-hating statement ever complaining about white actors playing roles that were SPECIFICALLY written for minorities!
Have you watched a movie called the Hunger Games? The character of Katniss was "Olive-skinned" and "dark-haired" according to the book. The author was very detailed in her descriptions of the physical appearance of the characters. However, the casting call director specified that the role should go to a "Caucasian" actress!
J-Law did fine in her portrayal, yet so could have 1000s of talented, olive-skinned young women whom that role was intended for--especially considering roles for dark-skinned women in Hollywood are hard to come by. They were never even given a shot because the role, in this day and age, was for "Whites Only"!
I also don't ever remember complaints from people saying "roles should be pure" when Jake Gyllenhaal played the lead role of the god-awful "Prince of Persia", and you can't tell me he was the "best actor" for the role. He sucked. The film suffered.
In Cloud Atlas, Jim Sturgess played an Asian superhero in full "yellowface", complete with horrible prosthetic slant-eyes. This was soon after he took a role based on an Asian character in the film "21". When there was outrage, he responded by this sensitive tweet:
@mrjimsturgess Yellowface? Blackface? Pinkface? Pinkberry? Blackberry? Crackberry? Blueberry? Strawberry? Bananas? Frozen Yogurt? All the toppings? Lovely!
Jackass.
Where was Michelle Rodriguez then?
Avatar, the Last Airbender, was a tremendous animated series with an ethnically diverse cast of characters. M. Night saw them and decided to make all the leads white. (Although since his adaptation is possibly the worst film ever made, I can't say I'm too disappointed in that instance.)
I can't think of too many instances, as in any, where a minority stole a white role. In just the past few years, however, I could talk about Ben Affleck's hero in Argo, who was actually Hispanic. Or KAAAAHHN being portrayed by ultrawhite Benedict Cumberbatch; Angelina Jolie portraying the Cuban/African wife of Danny Pearl; Johnny Depp playing Tonto; and the entire nation of Egypt being played by Anglo-Saxons in Ridley Scott's/Rupert Murdoch's "Exodus".
I could write pages more, but you get the point.
Michele's buddy, racist blowhard Rush Limbaugh, (whom she fucking quoted), argued that an accomplished British actor can't be 007 because he could never be black. He was "Scottish", we are told.
The fact that there are Scottish black people never entered the bigoted mind, nor the fact that every other actor past Sean Connery who portrayed 007 HASN'T BEEN SCOTTISH! Roger Moore, Daniel Craig-- and Pierce Brosnan isn't even British!
And please don't get me started on every person in film who has portrayed Jesus. White Caucasians weren't in Judea 2000 years ago, you idiots. He doesn't have sandy blonde hair and blue eyes, Megyn Kelly.
But this obviously was never about keeping a character "true to a role". And this sure as hell isn't about picking "the best" (which only ever happens when a white person is picked for a minority role). And finally, to address Michele's nonapology, this is not about helping minorities "come up with their own stuff"--they can't even fucking play the roles that are theirs. This is about white privilege. This is about status quo. Hollywood is a white industry.
As Chris Rock put it in his excellent essay on this subject, if there is a hot role in Hollywood, not everyone reads for it.
It was never like "Is it going to be Ryan Gosling or Chiwetel Ejiofor for Fifty Shades of Grey?"This won't change unless we are more vocal about what is going on.
As for Michelle Rodriguez, I would love to boycott her films, but she has nothing I ever want to see. Fast and furious should have died six sequels ago. It seems she's doing a good job killing her own career faster than I can help.
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