• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Why did people complain about Khan's white-washing in STID...

Was CumberKhan altered so as not to be recognizable by Adm. Robocop?

If only BillJ were here. He'd know the right answer and be shocked I'm trying to make a point in it's favor. :lol:

But really, that's entirely within the realm of possiblities that Marcus didn't want anyone to recognize this Khan person and altered him.

Casting foolishness aside, after all didn't Abrams swear time and again it isn't Khan before the movie? Maybe that was a consideration, CumberKhan really doesn't look like Khan, so maybe that was part of the subterfuge?

I think I'm giving them too much credit, though, accusing them of "thinking"!

What am I thinking? :brickwall:

Correct me if I am wrong, but had Khan been played by a black man, no one would have said a word.

You sure about that?

Because most people, can tell apart Indian people to African people, unless they're very dark Indian people, and that isn't how North Indians look.
 
Was CumberKhan altered so as not to be recognizable by Adm. Robocop?

If only BillJ were here. He'd know the right answer and be shocked I'm trying to make a point in it's favor. :lol:

But really, that's entirely within the realm of possiblities that Marcus didn't want anyone to recognize this Khan person and altered him.

Casting foolishness aside, after all didn't Abrams swear time and again it isn't Khan before the movie? Maybe that was a consideration, CumberKhan really doesn't look like Khan, so maybe that was part of the subterfuge?

I think I'm giving them too much credit, though, accusing them of "thinking"!

What am I thinking? :brickwall:

Correct me if I am wrong, but had Khan been played by a black man, no one would have said a word.

You sure about that?

Because most people, can tell apart Indian people to African people, unless they're very dark Indian people, and that isn't how North Indians look.

That's not what I meant. People would know the difference, they just wouldn't dare say a thing about it.
 
I read a quote in an article where Alexander Siddig referred to himself as black. Kinda took me by surprise. Maybe it was a joke. Who knows?

Anyway, would people have been happier if Sid had been cast as Khan?
 
I read a quote in an article where Alexander Siddig referred to himself as black. Kinda took me by surprise. Maybe it was a joke. Who knows?

Anyway, would people have been happier if Sid had been cast as Khan?

He would have been a bad choice. Not bulky enough and we already know him as Bashir.
 
Well Alexander Siddig is African by birth. Born in the Sudan. Though I know some people who are African that are white as a sheet. They are from South Africa.

As Kahn though...that could get meta really fast. Similar genetic restructuring across 300 years. Shatner's Return novel being funny if Kirk though he recognized Bashir as Kahn. That sort of thing. Bashir working with Data....
 
Well Alexander Siddig is African by birth. Born in the Sudan. Though I know some people who are African that are white as a sheet. They are from South Africa.

As Kahn though...that could get meta really fast. Similar genetic restructuring across 300 years. Shatner's Return novel being funny if Kirk though he recognized Bashir as Kahn. That sort of thing. Bashir working with Data....
North Africa is home to quite a few Arabs.
 
Quite a few, yes. Yet on the techical placement of birth, they are African.

Much like techically an Arab born in Arabia is Asian.
 
Well Alexander Siddig is African by birth. Born in the Sudan. Though I know some people who are African that are white as a sheet. They are from South Africa.

As Kahn though...that could get meta really fast. Similar genetic restructuring across 300 years. Shatner's Return novel being funny if Kirk though he recognized Bashir as Kahn. That sort of thing. Bashir working with Data....
North Africa is home to quite a few Arabs.

Siddig's mother is white. His father could be black. I don't know.
 
Was CumberKhan altered so as not to be recognizable by Adm. Robocop?

If only BillJ were here. He'd know the right answer and be shocked I'm trying to make a point in it's favor. :lol:

But really, that's entirely within the realm of possiblities that Marcus didn't want anyone to recognize this Khan person and altered him.

Casting foolishness aside, after all didn't Abrams swear time and again it isn't Khan before the movie? Maybe that was a consideration, CumberKhan really doesn't look like Khan, so maybe that was part of the subterfuge?

I think I'm giving them too much credit, though, accusing them of "thinking"!

What am I thinking? :brickwall:

As JWPlatt pointed out, it was a casting scramble by the crew, when del Toro fell through. Also, the production team's skittishness to cast a "Middle Eastern looking" individual as a terrorist. Please note, I'm not saying that Indians looks Middle Eastern-just that they were worried about the possible connection. Obviously, in their decision process, they overcompensated.

Also, in my own head canon, I figured that Admiral Marcus Robocop changed his appearance to ensure he would never be identified. Since Kirk identified him by photo record in Space Seed, I would see that as a legitimate strategy.
 
Well Alexander Siddig is African by birth. Born in the Sudan. Though I know some people who are African that are white as a sheet. They are from South Africa.

As Kahn though...that could get meta really fast. Similar genetic restructuring across 300 years. Shatner's Return novel being funny if Kirk though he recognized Bashir as Kahn. That sort of thing. Bashir working with Data....
North Africa is home to quite a few Arabs.

Siddig's mother is white. His father could be black. I don't know.
IIRC, his father is an Arab. His family includes a former Sudanese Prime Minister.
 
Cumberbatch... is a more nuanced and skillful actor.
:guffaw: :guffaw: :guffaw:

Oh god, that thing is still trying to invade very corner of the Internet?

Soooo...back to Khan. If they hadn't gone for Cumberbatch, what would people have preferred - an Indian actor or a Mexican one? Considering Khan's (presumed) cocktail of a genetic makeup, would it have mattered to people one way or the other?
Some of us have stated that Naveen Andrews would have been a good choice to play nuKhan.

If they'd stayed with Cumberbatch playing John Harrison who had been one of Khan's followers, that would have been okay with me.

Correct me if I am wrong, but had Khan been played by a black man, no one would have said a word.
Baloney. That would have been just another pointless change that would have made no sense.

I read a quote in an article where Alexander Siddig referred to himself as black. Kinda took me by surprise. Maybe it was a joke. Who knows?

Anyway, would people have been happier if Sid had been cast as Khan?
A fair portion of the audience who were also DS9 fans would have been wondering WTF Bashir was doing in the movie.
 
He was Indian enough for 60s TV.
And even in the 60s, Cumberbatch would have stood out like a sore British thumb playing Khan Noonien Singh.

In Space Seed, he had makeup. I could perhaps buy that Ricardo Montalbn looked Indian, but he did not speak like one at all.

In Wrath of Khan, I don't think he had makeup. He looked lighter.

khan_whitening.jpg

Yep.
 
I really don't care about Cumberbatch's casting. I just don't know why Abrams-Trek felt the need to hitch their wagon to that particular horse. Kahn had a whole backstory that kind of got thrown out the window and they could have easily come up with a new name for Cumberbatch's character. Heck, the character was even kind of likeable in some ways in Abrams Trek and seemed less despotic than the original. In the future, they should just stay away from rebooting old villains.
 
Was CumberKhan altered so as not to be recognizable by Adm. Robocop?

If only BillJ were here. He'd know the right answer and be shocked I'm trying to make a point in it's favor. :lol:

But really, that's entirely within the realm of possiblities that Marcus didn't want anyone to recognize this Khan person and altered him.

Casting foolishness aside, after all didn't Abrams swear time and again it isn't Khan before the movie? Maybe that was a consideration, CumberKhan really doesn't look like Khan, so maybe that was part of the subterfuge?

I think I'm giving them too much credit, though, accusing them of "thinking"!

What am I thinking? :brickwall:

As JWPlatt pointed out, it was a casting scramble by the crew, when del Toro fell through. Also, the production team's skittishness to cast a "Middle Eastern looking" individual as a terrorist. Please note, I'm not saying that Indians looks Middle Eastern-just that they were worried about the possible connection. Obviously, in their decision process, they overcompensated.

Also, in my own head canon, I figured that Admiral Marcus Robocop changed his appearance to ensure he would never be identified. Since Kirk identified him by photo record in Space Seed, I would see that as a legitimate strategy.

I would have liked to see what Del Toro would have done with the role, not that Cumberbatch did a bad job.
 
I read a quote in an article where Alexander Siddig referred to himself as black. Kinda took me by surprise. Maybe it was a joke. Who knows?

Anyway, would people have been happier if Sid had been cast as Khan?
A fair portion of the audience who were also DS9 fans would have been wondering WTF Bashir was doing in the movie.
I would hope they would realize he was in a different role. After all Star Trek fans are supposed to be smart and Trek has a long history of using actors in multiple roles.
 
I read a quote in an article where Alexander Siddig referred to himself as black. Kinda took me by surprise. Maybe it was a joke. Who knows?

Anyway, would people have been happier if Sid had been cast as Khan?
A fair portion of the audience who were also DS9 fans would have been wondering WTF Bashir was doing in the movie.
I would hope they would realize he was in a different role. After all Star Trek fans are supposed to be smart and Trek has a long history of using actors in multiple roles.
The question was facetious, really. Could have been anyone, but Sid was the one who popped into my head. The real question is, would "fans" have been happier with a Sudanese Brit playing a Sikh prince? Makes me no difference one way or the other.

(Where I grew up in the 60s there were kids in my classes of varied ethnicity. White, black, brown, red, yellow, etc. It never once occurred to me that anyone was any different than anyone else. At least, not until I was older and other people started pointing out the differences. It still didn't matter to me. I don't know if that makes me weird, naive, whatever.)
 
A fair portion of the audience who were also DS9 fans would have been wondering WTF Bashir was doing in the movie.
I would hope they would realize he was in a different role. After all Star Trek fans are supposed to be smart and Trek has a long history of using actors in multiple roles.
The question was facetious, really. Could have been anyone, but Sid was the one who popped into my head. The real question is, would "fans" have been happier with a Sudanese Brit playing a Sikh prince? Makes me no difference one way or the other.

(Where I grew up in the 60s there were kids in my classes of varied ethnicity. White, black, brown, red, yellow, etc. It never once occurred to me that anyone was any different than anyone else. At least, not until I was older and other people started pointing out the differences. It still didn't matter to me. I don't know if that makes me weird, naive, whatever.)
Well that's a bit different than casting a part with an actor that fits that part.

I grew up in the 60s too and my classmates were of varied ethnic backgrounds as well. But if I was casting a film of "Mike's Fourth Grade Class" my first choice would be to find actors who matched my classmates. My best friend Frank Garcia isn't going to be played by Clint Howard.
 
I read a quote in an article where Alexander Siddig referred to himself as black. Kinda took me by surprise. Maybe it was a joke. Who knows?

Anyway, would people have been happier if Sid had been cast as Khan?
A fair portion of the audience who were also DS9 fans would have been wondering WTF Bashir was doing in the movie.
I would hope they would realize he was in a different role. After all Star Trek fans are supposed to be smart and Trek has a long history of using actors in multiple roles.

Jeff Combs


Michael Dorn (a more blatant one)

Diane Mulder (TOS and TNG)

I think we can safely say that Trek makes use of actors wherever it can :)
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top