The most high-profile example of a white actor adding make up to play an Indian that I can think of is Sir Alec Guinness in A Passage to India. Even in 1984, this was regarded as something of an anachronism.
And that's where it was a nice idea in principle to define a genetically superior being as Indian/Sikh rather than the blond Nordic type that "Harold Ericsson" was originally going to be, a nice subversion of racist preconceptions. But that's mostly negated by casting Montalban and putting him in brownface.
Why is this debate taking over the BvS thread when there are plenty of other places for fans to bitch about the Montalbatch?
I hope no one will suggest that Hollywood should pay reparations to all the ethnic actors who auditioned for roles that ended up going to white guys. That would be ridiculous, but I wouldn't be surprised if it happened.To a white person who has nothing personally at stake, maybe there's a difference. To a minority actor being shut out of an employment opportunity because they gave it to a white person, there's no difference at all.
Besides, casting Montalban as Khan was one of the milder instances of brownface casting in the '60s. Look at The Man from UNCLE's "The Yellow Scarf Affair," for instance, with Murray Matheson cast as a Hindu in an episode that portrays Indian culture in a grossly racist fashion, basically equating all traditional Hindu culture with Thuggee murder cults. They cast an actual Indian actress as his daughter, but she was the only Indian character in the episode who wasn't played by a white actor, and Matheson's makeup looked ridiculous next to the real thing.
Peter Sellers played an Indian in "The Party." I can't think of anyone of any ethnicity who could have played the role better. But that whole movie was farce, absurdity for absurdity's sake.The most high-profile example of a white actor adding make up to play an Indian that I can think of is Sir Alec Guinness in A Passage to India. Even in 1984, this was regarded as something of an anachronism.
Hispanic is a pretty broad term. From the European Montalban to the African Zoe Saldana. Cameon Diaz's paternal ancestry is Cuban!Wait. Are we now seriously bitching that a Hispanic, Ricardo Montalban, who brilliantly portrayed one of the most iconic characters in Trek history, was not sufficiently "brown" enough to play Khan?
What happened to "get the best actor for the part regardless of race"?
Hispanic is a pretty broad term. From the European Montalban to the African Zoe Saldana. Cameon Diaz's paternal ancestry is Cuban!Wait. Are we now seriously bitching that a Hispanic, Ricardo Montalban, who brilliantly portrayed one of the most iconic characters in Trek history, was not sufficiently "brown" enough to play Khan?
What happened to "get the best actor for the part regardless of race"?
But what does giving a nonwhite actor a chance have to do with this?
Perry White. All racebending casting leads to Khan.This is fun and all, but again: Why is all of this Khan casting stuff in the BvS thread when there are who knows how many others overrun with it?
But what does giving a nonwhite actor a chance have to do with this?
It has everything to do with it! The whole reason discrimination is bad is because it hurts the people who are discriminated against! Whether a character onscreen looks like a character in a comic book or an earlier screen depiction is an abstract, intangible issue, because the character doesn't exist and can't be harmed. But real live human beings are harmed by discriminatory casting practices. So that's what's actually important here.
It was the change in the ethnicity of the actor
Except in 1982 Ricardo Montalban's Khan didn't look that much less white than Benedict Cumberbatch's Khan
Just look
Montalban
https://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Uploads/Graphics/001-0926194614-wrath-of-Kahn-2.jpg
Cumberbatch
http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/11113/111139610/3493080-khan.jpg
And lets be honest most people probably aren't that familiar with Space Seed.
From the fan perspective I see here, casting any actor for a role that doesn't fit their physical appearance is a capital offense. It doesn't matter that James Roday's actual surname is Rodriguez, there's no way he should be cast as a Hispanic character. He's too white, too European.
My eyes are rolling so fast that I can't see straight.![]()
Perry White. All racebending casting leads to Khan.This is fun and all, but again: Why is all of this Khan casting stuff in the BvS thread when there are who knows how many others overrun with it?
Red and blue aren't colors?
Sure they do. Color is right there in your description. The red and blue in the Superman picture pretty much leaps off the page next to the more muted colors in the other pics.Red and blue aren't colors?
Faded, washed out, and muted colours don't count.
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