Okay, what's this complaint of Prince of Persia about?

I find your post insulting.

KTC said:

I find your post insulting.

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Ditto.

Once upon a time, Caucasian actors performed in blackface to do minstrel shows (Al Jolsen anyone? Even Shirley Temple?)and in red makeup to portray Native Americans.

and you don't see a problem with this?

The REASON people are complaining about this is not because they're STUPID but because they're NOT STUPID ENOUGH to think there aren't any actors of Middle Eastern descent in Hollywood to play the role.

Here's some advice for you: brace your legs, pull really hard and pop that head right up out of the sand. The Prince of Persia is NOT a Disney animated feature and their racial travesties. It is a movie about a prince of PERSIA--you know, Persia? The Middle East? There are thousands of actors of Middle Eastern descent, and Hollywood of all places shouldn't be too chicken shit to let a man of color portray a member of his own race.

Seriously? Wow.

Sorry Space, but I too think your rant is misguided. I like the actor that plays the part, but do think that Hollywood missed the boat on this one. They always seem to be a few years behind the rest of the world. I'm afraid you will not find many on the AW forums that feel the same way you do because as writers we tend to view things in a more real life way.

Antonio Banderas at least *looked* somewhat of Middle Eastern descent... a little.. if you squinted.

(and hey, Moors in Spain, not so far off)

but, yeah, there were a lot of options other than the white bread they found for the role. Plenty of whom can act, too.

LOL. Fer real? No one has ever complained about this before?

Mmmmm no. I think it's a completely legitimate complaint.

Will I boycott the film because of it? No. Was it a serious missed opportunity? Yes.

Picture Gone With the Wind cast with Scarlet O'Hara as a Korean woman given blue contacts and Rhett Butler as a man from Somalia wearing pancake make-up to lighten his skin. The lines are the same, the acting is terrific, but something would still not ring true.

Or imagine Ghandi played by a skinny white guy with a lot of bronzer. It just doesn't work when there are actors available who actually fit the role.

(Michael Clarke Duncan playing Kingpen is an exception to this, IMO. There was no other actor who could play that part and he was the only thing worth watching in Daredevil. KP should have been a Spider-Man villain for the film franchise with MCD playing him.)

Naveen Andrews played an Iraqi in Lost.

Jake Gyllenhaal is Greek. if you suggest Banderas, who is Spanish, to play a Persian, then you should also agree that a Greek could play one. after all, Greece was closer to Persia.

Anyway, yes, white actors have played ethnic roles before, but I find this "who cares" attitude troubling and insulting. I'm a minority actor and I for one would be seriously insulted if some said, "have a white guy play Asain [a la Micky Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's or Charlie Chan] and who cares?"

And seriously, OP, if the only middle eastern actor you can think of is Omar Sherif, then you have no right to call other people stupid.

1. Hollywood has way more Middle Eastern actors than you know. Selma Hayek, Keanu Reeves, etc. They may not be pure Middle East, but Hollywood is powerful enough to find famous Middle East actors (whether they're famous in the U.S., in Bollywood, or in their own countries).

2. People do rip into the decision of letting John Wayne play Ghengis Kahn. It's actually listed by many people as the worst John Wayne film ever. Also, back in those days, there were truly very few people in Hollywood who could look like a Mongol and they didn't have fancy ways of contacting people in an instant such as the Internet.

People also make jokes about the great Sir Anthony Hopkins playing the father of Benicio del Toro because he doesn't look anything like Benicio. He's a talented actor, but it's still a bit questionable.

I can sort of get where you're coming from b/c I didn't agree with people claiming that Avatar was racist toward Native Americans (and I'm part Native American). Maybe you don't like everyone waving the race card at every single thing and that's understandable. However, calling people stupid b/c they believe that the Prince of Persia should look Arabic--even though he quite light-skinned in the video game photos--is a bit rude. Especially since Hollywood took a risk by making a film based on a popular game in which not everyone has played. Therefore, they may not realize the resemblance and they may think that Hollywood was once again turning down talented individuals for someone with a big name (regardless of talent).

maestrowork said:

Anyway, yes, white actors have played ethnic roles before, but I find this "who cares" attitude troubling and insulting. I'm a minority actor and I for one would be seriously insulted if some said, "have a white guy play Asain [a la Micky Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's or Charlie Chan] and who cares?"

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This. It's a cycle, and a bad one. There are quite a few middle-eastern actors out there, but MAYBE we don't see them as often as we should because white actors keep getting their roles. That takes an opportunity away from the people the roles should have gone to, and it diminishes the script with poor casting. It will bother me, for sure, and I plan to avoid Prince of Persia for that reason. Hollywood needs to start casting appropriately. Between this and the uproar over The Last Airbender, hopefully they get the hint.

spacecatlucky said:

Firstly, in case anyone hasn't noticed, Hollywood hardly has any middle-eastern actors other than Omar Sharif who's like what, 80, now?

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Google's your friend.

Secondly, who the HELL cares?!

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The Middle Eastern actors and actresses who were passed over for the roles in the movie?

Hollywood has a long history of white actors playing other races and no one has ever complained about them. John Wayne played as Genghis Kahn, a Mongol, in The Conquerer. Charlton Heston played the lead role, a Spaniard, in El Cid. Hell, even Antonio Banderas played an Arab in The Thirteenth Warrior. And all of them were well performed.

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Tell that to the Korean or Japanese actresses who were always typecast as whores or maids or the actors who were always typecast as mystics, kung-fu experts, and mystic kung-fu experts.

So what's the big complaint about?! This just shows just how stupid people are today! We used to have the best education in America! Now it's all gone the drain because of stupid people like this! God! These people make me sick!

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Yeah, damn those non-white people who don't know when they have it so good and can actually work at a decent job for decent pay. How dare anybody complain when we're a nation of total equality.
< /sarcasm >

Sorry eveyone, but I just get really furious whenever I see something like this. They say the Jake Gylleanal is an insult to Prince of Persia because of the color of his skin, but in truth, they're the real insults because of their stupidity.

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I hope you realize how stupid you sound.

spacecatlucky said:

Hollywood has a long history of white actors playing other races...

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Also, the theater has a long history of having boys play all the women's roles and not allowing girls to act. We eventually realized how stupid that was and started casting women to play women.

spacecatlucky said:

.. I just found out on the news today that people are complaining that the Prince of Persia is white instead of Persian and I'm thinking, "Does anyone even think anymore?!"

...
Now it's all gone the drain because of stupid people like this! God! These people make me sick!

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I appreciate that you don't particularly care about the issue (I can't get excited over it either) - but why are you convinced that people who do care about it are stupid ?

There are plenty of issues I don't care about - should I assume that people who do care about those issues are stupid ?

How about you give a list of issues that you care about, so people who feel differently can brand you as stupid ?

Mac

Yeah, Maestrowork. My first thought was wow, someone who managed to not ever watch Lost. There are definitely Middle Easter actors out there. Granted, they're currently being cast as bad guys in just about every movie they're in, but that's another story.

Anyway, yes, I do think this is a missed opportunity. Maybe because they didn't have a big name Middle Eastern actor and they weren't willing to give the part of a potentially big movie to anyone who didn't have a big enough name to help sell it. I imagine in Hollywood that's what it comes down most of the time. The sad thing is that things like this are part of what causes minority actors to not have the same kind of standing, IMO. The really sad thing is that minority actors are often typecast into certain roles as well. Think of Jackie Chan, for instance.

Anyway yes, I think they definitely could have done much better than this. And I definitely feel bad for any of the actors who were passed over to give another already famous white guy another big role.

They could've given the job to Oded Fehr (Ardeth from the Mummy movies). There's tons of us fangirls who would've gone to see a stupid video game movie if he'd been starring. He's Israeli, but he is at least from the right region of the world and has played an Arab before.

Yeah, I think their cast is a reoccurring blindness in Hollywood. Not much excuse for it in this day and age at all.

There are some actors who were on 24 who would fit the role nicely.

(Isn't it amazing how Hollywood has no trouble finding actors of Middle Eastern or Arab descent when they want to fill the role of terrorist in a TV show or film? And not a one of them is Omar Sharif.)

Wow. Just wow. I'm glad that my automatic first reaction to the OP post doesn't make me an outsider!

aruna said:

Wow. Just wow. I'm glad that my automatic first reaction to the OP post doesn't make me an outsider!

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Good God, no. For what it's worth, I exercised a truckload of restraint in my first reply. A TRUCKLOAD.

For the record:

Jake Gyllenhaal is not Greek. "His father is of partial Swedish heritage and his mother is of Ashkenazi Jewish heritage." (IMDb.com) He was born in Los Angeles.

Keanu Reeves is not Middle Eastern. He was born in Lebanon, to a British mother and a father "of Hawaiian, Chinese, Portuguese and English descent." (Wikipedia.)

Maryn, who likes Gyllenhaal well enough, but not in this role

Cyia said:

Or imagine Ghandi played by a skinny white guy with a lot of bronzer. It just doesn't work when there are actors available who actually fit the role.

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I completely agree with your comments, although in the case of Gandhi... He was played by Ben Kingsley in the 1982 movie. And while I think his dad was Indian (I think?), Ben himself looks... pretty white. He also played one of the main Jewish characters in Schindler's List.

Although in his case, I consider him to be an actor that can pull off pretty much any role.

DeleyanLee said:

They could've given the job to Oded Fehr (Ardeth from the Mummy movies). There's tons of us fangirls who would've gone to see a stupid video game movie if he'd been starring. He's Israeli, but he is at least from the right region of the world and has played an Arab before.

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Ohmygod. I would've been all over going to see it if Oded Fehr were in it. He would've been an amazing choice.

DeleyanLee said:

They could've given the job to Oded Fehr (Ardeth from the Mummy movies). There's tons of us fangirls who would've gone to see a stupid video game movie if he'd been starring. He's Israeli, but he is at least from the right region of the world and has played an Arab before.

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Hell yes. I wouldn't care how much the film sucked if I could dribble over him a bit...

*gazes dreamily at picture of Oded sitting above her PC*