What happen if Jean Grey was potrayed by a black woman ?

[Nobodyworthnoting]

Race bending white characters onscreen does the complete opposite of propping up black leads.





Ditto. The X-franchise does have alot of great minority characters and its the books fault for not doing more with them. Using them in the MCU will definitely increase their profile and push them to more people than the comics (which is a media thats on the decline) ever can

Jesus f'ing christ how many times are you going to deflect and keep harping on the same point we've literally finished discussing???? the characters are not being race-bent for the sake of diversity at all. We've already established that it was because she suited the role the best. its not made to prop up anything.

[jwatson]

This thread has really opened my eyes. Some seem to think that their first visual of an idea makes it what it is. Meaning if there was any script in Hollywood or any visual medium that was adapted and casted based on the times, who was getting work, whatever, the image of those ideas are now owned by the white actors who played them. So in essence you couldn't do say, The witches movie with an all black cast because their identities have already been grabbed my the visual imagination of the observers and as such can not be altered or they no longer exist. So the script doesn't even really matter does it..

[Kingdom X]

So a White person's/character's history and roots is not important to them too? Or, is it not as important as a Black person's/character's?
THAT sounds rather questionable from a racial perspective, to me.

I give value to the person/character which happens to also include their White skin. Or their Black skin. Or their Brown skin. So yes. Yes, I do.

Obviously some white characters are super connected to their roots (like Banshee or Colossus), but others like Jean aren’t. But like I said earlier, the X-Men have enough characters of color that they can easily diversify the cast without racebending.

[Omega Alpha]

That would imply Lee and Kirby were anti-black but the answer is 'no'. Keep making stuff up.

It's cute that people pretend that a book featuring black heroes would even be distributed in the South (and perhaps not just there) in the early 60's.

[blanchett]

Personally no. I want the actors playing the parts to "look" like the characters because comics are a visual media. I think it would steal Storm's thunder, no pun intended. I also think for black kids watching the movie to see a black Jean Grey but not have that in the comics is pretty disappointing for them.

If they are going to change a character's ethnic background I don't see it being done with Jean. I do think it will be done. I think they are probably considering doing it for Magneto and Xavier. Of the two Xavier makes more sense to me.

[cranger]

This thread has really opened my eyes. Some seem to think that their first visual of an idea makes it what it is. Meaning if there was any script in Hollywood or any visual medium that was adapted and casted based on the times, who was getting work, whatever, the image of those ideas are now owned by the white actors who played them. So in essence you couldn't do say, The witches movie with an all black cast because their identities have already been grabbed my the visual imagination of the observers and as such can not be altered or they no longer exist. So the script doesn't even really matter does it..

Everyone has different opinions, right? There are some you might be describing and some that have overlaps with different aspects of what you said. There are plenty of people who have an idea of a role because of a portrayal and will measure any other portrayal against it. Christopher Reeves as Superman is the defining portrayal for some (many?) people. Any casting since then has usually been compared to him, particularly with the last two cinematic interpretations.

Following on with Superman but not the appearance of the actor, there are people who demand that particular costume elements are used. Comics are a visual medium and often mentioning the name of a comic book character will elicit the same imagery in people as opposed to mentioning a fictional character from literature where people will have more varied ideas in their minds.

Even then, this whole conversation we are having now has to take into account we are talking to X-Men fans, and many Jean Grey fans or at least readers very familiar with the character. The reaction here is not to be confused with what the general audience reaction would be. Here we have the luxury of discussion and being able to expect a level of honesty and a lack of ulterior motives. Let's not confuse this with social media and similar platforms where everything gets lost to the chaos and the loudest, angriest voices rise.

[Nyssane]

There are a lot of valid points in this thread, but unfortunately they're being drowned out by hyperbole and dismissal of others' opinions. Topics like this are important, but they're not going to happen if y'all can't be civil and respectful.