Do you think LGBT characters will feature more prominently?

[Jedman67]

Smart ass.

yup!

 

[BillJ]

If people don't understand why black face is a bad thing, well then there's not much I can say.

 

[locutus101]

If people don't understand why black face is a bad thing, well then there's not much I can say.

I agree. They're too far gone.

 

[mswood]

There is a few valid reasons for using black face.

1. You are creating a period piece.
2. You are creating something that is making comment about racial stereotyping in entertainment for the period that practice was used.

That's really about it.

 

[Go-Captain]

Of course it's pretend. To be clear I wasn't saying that the casting choices in TOS were wrong. But there is a difference between playing an Asian character and playing a doctor. You don't need a medical degree to play a doctor. I think you do need to be Asian to play an Asian. Maybe not exactly the same ethnic or national background as the character, but something in the same "neighborhood".

The problem with that is Asians can tell Asians apart, so if you have a Korean playing a Chinese guy, like in "Fresh Off the Boat" everyone in Asian communities around the world are probably going to know it.

I think the more significant issue in US media is giving up before finding the particular actor one wants for a roll, and thinking there are too many of X race, better make them white. Can't forget all taxi drivers are Indian, or all of X race has the same personality, and other assumptions. "Master of None" has a great episode on that stuff. Aziz has a great article on the topic too, he details how difficult it was for him to find the perfect Asian actor for the role of his best friend. There are more factors than one might think in selecting actors.

Blackface doesn't bother you?

This isn't directed at me, but my answer is no. I actually wondered why blackface is verboten in the US in light of movies such as Trading Places, Tropic Thunder, and White Girls. So, I found some minstrel shows on YouTube, and, oh wow, that's super racist. The thing is, it's not the blackface which is racist, it is the humor and lyrics which are all extremely racist. Blackface got associated with that stuff so blackface became automatically racist due to an association with having to be about spreading humiliating stereotypes about black people.

There is also Breakfast and Tiffany's. Great movie, but there is this one Japanese guy as landlord, and he is played by I don't who, but he's white. His acting in the role was also critically acclaimed at the time. The problem is, he looks and sounds like a caricature, and it had to be on purpose because it is makeup, and a faked accent. The character is just some angry Asian guy, like a neutered version of the anti-Japan propaganda posters.

Then there is Tropic Thunder, and we have a white actor, playing a fictional white actor, who is playing a black character in a fictional movie within the movie. It's all for laughs, but the character playing the character treats his character with such utter respect no one in real life points at the role to say it is racist. He truly tries to make his character a full person. Even the black character played by an actual black actor within the film can't come to grips with the portrayal. I have to watch that movie again to make sure that is how that works out, but I remember loving it regardless.

 

[T'Bonz]

OK guys. This is supposed to be about the possibility of gay characters in Discovery, not a debate on homosexuality in general. That is TNZ fodder. Given the volatility of the subject, I ask that you respect this and keep on topic as much as possible.

Thanks.

P.S. If you don't heed these calm words, on your own head be the consequences! I will warn when people ignore what I say, which is said to keep this thread from turning into a big fight.

So: "They will/won't add openly gay character" or "if they add a gay character, should it be female; how demonstrative should the couple be," yadda, yadda = OK topics.

But "don't wanna see gays because hate" or "hate homophobics" = not appropriate for the forum.

Just so you see what I'm aiming for here, and what I'm trying to avoid.

 

[JeffinOakland]

I try to understand how other people might think. I might think a comment or action is harmless but if I notice somebody being hurt or offended, I try not to be dismissive but to ask "why?" I understand certain things are very hurtful and offensive to black people I know and I would never, even as a joke or "in context" wear blackface, clothes w confederate flags pictured on them or say certain words.

 

[Guy Gardener]

We are not going to discover the crews preferences until a weird space cloud zaps the crew with a sexual orientation reversing ray beam.

Audience: "Holy shit! I thought everyone was turned gay by space magic, so why is that boy and the girl making out like that?"

 

[Awesome Possum]

Looks like there will at least be a gay character. Also the lead will be female.

 

[m.lp.ql.m]

• "Absolutely we're having a gay character." - Bryan Fuller

• Sources tell THR the rest of the cast will also feature an openly gay actor to play one one of the male leads (which Fuller confirmed), a female admiral, a male Klingon captain, a male admiral, a male adviser and a British male doctor.

So the question is will this openly gay actor play the gay character, or will they be truly progressive and mix it up?

 

[Spider]

So the question is will this openly gay actor play the gay character, or will they be truly progressive and mix it up?

Not sure how it matters. As long as we have a guy wearing pink and arranging flowers, and a muscled tanned girl bedding the females we should be good with the stereotypes, right?

Sorry. Don't get the fascination with the gay characters and why there has to be one. There are more Russians than gays in the world, are we gonna have one of them? We already know there's a gay character on the show, Fuller wants one, and the head writer lady is openly gay herself. Personally I'm hoping that head writer lady portrays the gays as normal people instead of TV stereotypes. Gays are normal people you know. Gratuitous stereotypes of any flavor are completely distracting.

 

[locutus101]

so the question is will this openly gay actor play the gay character, or will they be truly progressive and mix it up?

Do you think you need to be a nazi dictator to play Hitler?

 

[m.lp.ql.m]

Do you think you need to be a nazi dictator to play Hitler?

Of course not. My point is do the people casting the new series think that?

 

[locutus101]

Of course not. My point is do the people casting the new series think that?

I hope not.

 

[Spider]

Of course not. My point is do the people casting the new series think that?

They're actors. Non gay actors should be able to act gay. Gay actors should be able to act non gay. It's their job.

 

[Guy Gardener]

Two admirals from opposing armies locked into a finite space?

I smell a dimplomatic station.

Although talk abut Irony, you call a ship "Discovery" and then leave it permanently assigned to a Starbase... Are we positive that they are not allowed to use the cgi models for Yorktown?

 

[RandyS]

Not sure how it matters. As long as we have a guy wearing pink and arranging flowers, and a muscled tanned girl bedding the females we should be good with the stereotypes, right?

If we don't, then what's the point?

 

[Spider]

If we don't, then what's the point?

If TV shows give us unbelievable characters, then that's what they are.

 

[Guy Gardener]

It's amazing how little Kirk got turned down.

Every frakking week he's batting a hundred.

Even James Bond ran afoul of a lesbian once, not that that stopped him.

"Sigh"

 

[BillJ]

There are more Russians than gays in the world, are we gonna have one of them?

Already had a Russian character, Pavel Chekov.