Minorities in Comics and Other Media, etc

[Electricmastro]

Almost Every character that isn't white has a racial element to their story. And often (in the X-World) black characters don't stay black... Having a white actor portray one just adds more fuel to that erasure CeCe Reyes doesn't have much backstory but I got the Zero Tolerance TPB for Easter lol and that was her first appearance she grew up in the not so White Bronx her dad was gunned down in front of her, she couldn't help him which made her work hard to become a Dr. She refused an invite to join the Xmen keeping her mutancy a secret. Eventually Iceman basically kidnaps her to get a bomb outta Cylops (I think one of Maggots slugs ate it lol ) and agsin she refused to join telling Beast (?) As a black Puerto Rican Woman in a field dominated by white men she's earned and wants to keep her place in the medical World. It's only when helping pyro with his legacy virus that she's outed at work as a Mutant and i think is fired.
And yet Reyes whos a Black Puerto Rican from the Bronx who rocked cornrows is getting played by Alice Braga a white Brazilian in the upcoming New Mutants movie. It won't be long before her next appearance in the X-Men she's getting a tan adding brown streaks to her blonde hair

Interesting point. Also interesting is how Ra's al Ghul is played by Irish actor Liam Neeson in the Nolan movies, even though Ra's al Ghul is Arab in the comics. I imagine many wouldn't want an Arab actor playing a villain though.

[G. Boney]

Speaking of which, I'm inclined to ask all of you here: How lenient are you guys regarding gender/race swaps of comic book characters in movies/TV shows? After hearing discussions regarding the casting for Eternals, I felt it was worth asking.

It would be perfectly fine with me if no character was ever gender or race swapped. It's not like I go see these movies because of it (Idris Elba having 2 minutes of screen time as Heimdall isn't the reason I went to see Thor, lol), but I don't avoid them because of it either. Some cases are annoying...like Sunspot (they turned the one black New Mutant white on a team full of white characters ), but at the end of the day it isn't all that important.

[BroHomo]

It would be perfectly fine with me if no character was ever gender or race swapped. It's not like I go see these movies because of it (Idris Elba having 2 minutes of screen time as Heimdall isn't the reason I went to see Thor, lol), but I don't avoid them because of it either. Some cases are annoying...like Sunspot (they turned the one black New Mutant white on a team full of white characters ), but at the end of the day it isn't all that important.

I mean in the great schemes of things yeah
buuuuut
that's one less positive depiction of a Black man for kids to see. And there's a correlation between seeing positive representations of not just White people and a kid's self esteem and how they feel/emphasize about people of different races as they grow up.

[Electricmastro]

It would be perfectly fine with me if no character was ever gender or race swapped. It's not like I go see these movies because of it (Idris Elba having 2 minutes of screen time as Heimdall isn't the reason I went to see Thor, lol), but I don't avoid them because of it either. Some cases are annoying...like Sunspot (they turned the one black New Mutant white on a team full of white characters ), but at the end of the day it isn't all that important.

Yeah, the purist in me wants to say that I'd want to have comic book movies be as close to the comics as closely as possible, but I think me and others have to realize that that's just not always realistic, including casting. That said, there have definitely been some interesting "race-swapped"/"ethic-swapped" choices.



(Catwoman|Eartha Kitt) - (Harvey Dent|Billy Dee Williams) - (Kingpin|Michael Clarke Duncan)

(Callisto|Dania Ramirez) - (Human Torch|Michael B. Jordan) - (Baron Mordo|Chiwetel Ejiofor)

(Deadshot|Will Smith) - (Kid Flash|Keiynan Lonsdale) - (Hawkgirl|Ciara Renée)

[mathew101281]

I ways feel that any character can be race swapped if their ethnicity isn’t vital to their characters.
Black Panther being indigenous African is important to the character. Plastic man’s ethnicity really doesn’t effect the basic premise of the character.

[Electricmastro]

I ways feel that any character can be race swapped if their ethnicity isn’t vital to their characters.
Black Panther being indigenous African is important to the character. Plastic man’s ethnicity really doesn’t effect the basic premise of the character.

What would you say in regards to Wasabi of Big Hero 6?

[BroHomo]

What would you say in regards to Wasabi of Big Hero 6?

IMHO Id consider the race swapping of Wasabi a good thing in terms of representation honestly I have very little knowledge of the character :/ But from the few issues his racial background never came into play.... Buuuuut the monster dude? In the comics his ancestors are Native to Japan...in the movie he's like a white surfer fanboy :/

[Michael Watkins]

What would you say in regards to Wasabi of Big Hero 6?

i'd question the usage of Wasabi as a hero name. sounds like the kind of hero handle you'd find on GI Joe.

[jetengine]

Race/gender/etc swapping imo comes down to four things, especially since it always comes up in the case of adaptions.

1. The actors so damn good that the studios dont care.
2. To add diversity to an all white cast (usually silver age comics or old books)
3. To avoid problematic scenarios ("Oh the badguy is a cackling yellow peril stereotype....")
4.Because their lazy/stupid/racist.

Context especially in regards to the material being adapted is key though, as well as realistic expectations.

That Transgender mob boss movie Scarlett Johansson was on for example would have brought attention to Trans people, would it hace been cool to have a Trans actor playing her role ? Sure. But theres none in Hollywood big enough to sell that tole so every one loses by its cancellation.

[ed2962]

Race/gender/etc swapping imo comes down to four things, especially since it always comes up in the case of adaptions.

1. The actors so damn good that the studios dont care.
2. To add diversity to an all white cast (usually silver age comics or old books)
3. To avoid problematic scenarios ("Oh the badguy is a cackling yellow peril stereotype....")
4.Because their lazy/stupid/racist.

Context especially in regards to the material being adapted is key though, as well as realistic expectations.

That Transgender mob boss movie Scarlett Johansson was on for example would have brought attention to Trans people, would it hace been cool to have a Trans actor playing her role ? Sure. But theres none in Hollywood big enough to sell that tole so every one loses by its cancellation.

I have nothing against ScarJo ( I'll stick up for her in other situations) and I'm sure the producers probably meant well deep in their hearts, but it's clear that they were more concerned about "will it sell in Peoria" than being accurate. I'm not so sure how much we've really loss. This is what the real person looked like



But yeah, ScarJo is who they wanted to go with....

[Electricmastro]

I have nothing against ScarJo ( I'll stick up for her in other situations) and I'm sure the producers probably meant well deep in their hearts, but it's clear that they were more concerned about "will it sell in Peoria" than being accurate. I'm not so sure how much we've really loss. This is what the real person looked like

But yeah, ScarJo is who they wanted to go with....

With as big of a name as Scarlett Johansson and Hollywood execs tending to prioritize business and the desire for as much box office money as possible, then the result is pretty obvious.

I suppose you could say that the saying of "the love of money is the root of all evil" applies here.

[jetengine]

Then you get that situation of "If it does good in a shitty way is it not good anymore?" Because surely Trans representation on the big screen is better then none

[BroHomo]

That Transgender mob boss movie Scarlett Johansson was on for example would have brought attention to Trans people, would it hace been cool to have a Trans actor playing her role ? Sure. But theres none in Hollywood big enough to sell that tole so every one loses by its cancellation.

I meeeeeeean......
DID Scarlett Johansson sell it tho???
If you're trying make the point a 'closer to the source' actor was overlooked in favor of one that can 'sell the movie' perhaps you should at least know the name of the movie.

[ed2962]

Then you get that situation of "If it does good in a shitty way is it not good anymore?" Because surely Trans representation on the big screen is better then none

We'll never know because the film wasn't made, but any representation isn't always better than no presentation.

[ed2962]

With as big of a name as Scarlett Johansson and Hollywood execs tending to prioritize business and the desire for as much box office money as possible, then the result is pretty obvious.

I suppose you could say that the saying of "the love of money is the root of all evil" applies here.

I'm not even mad at them for wanting to turn a profit, but sometimes you have to think about what exactly it is you're doing when you're claiming to make a "serious" piece of entertainment. At what point do you undercut whatever statement you're supposedly trying to get at?