[Jmacq1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by donmeca2020

You still haven't given a valid reason to change a person's race in a movie.... Why can't drew carey play Black Panther???? why is that a NO NO but johnny storm, jimmy olsen, deadshot and so fourth can be ?? you have no answer simply as that.... let's stop this topic before a mod jumps in an starts banning people.

There have been two major valid reasons given multiple times in this thread as to why this imaginary "double standard" isn't a double standard, and it certainly doesn't help that the "alternatives" being given as potential Black Panther (IE Drew Carey or Michael Moore) are hyperbolic nonsense. You're acting like they cast Craig Robinson as Heimdall as opposed to Idris Elba.

But here, I'll break down the two major reasons that the "double standard" doesn't work:

Part of the diversity push is to allow more meaty roles for minorities that have historically been and continue to be underrepresented in mainstream entertainment. There is NO shortage of white people in entertainment. It's like the nonsense argument of "Why isn't there a White Entertainment Television?!? OMG it's a double-standard!" The answer is because 90 percent of the American networks out there already default to effectively being White Entertainment Television.

The other, and more pertinent point is that for most white characters, their "whiteness" is utterly and completely irrelevant to their character. It doesn't play any sort of key role to their background, motivations, or personality. Because "white" is not a distinct culture in and of itself. Whereas with most (though not all) characters of other ethnicities, the culture they were brought up in due to their race plays a large role in shaping who they are and even their present circumstances.

Black Panther is the monarch of an isolationist African nation whose whole (fictional) existence hinges on the fact that it was a nation that was not plundered by European Imperialists, unlike most of the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa. All the cultural trappings of Wakanda are steeped in the imagery of (fictional but distinctly) African tribal cultures. Making t'Challa a white man and transferring Wakanda to say, a Mediterranean Island completely and utterly violates the underlying concept behind the character and the land of Wakanda itself. Making Iron Fist of Asian descent...doesn't, because there's nothing about Iron Fist's personality or history that relies on him being white.

Likewise, Luke Cage's whole existence is predicated on him being a black man that was falsely accused of a crime and went to prison for it, and who gets out and effectively becomes a low-level "neighborhood hero" for downtrodden communities. Technically you could do that narrative with a white guy, sure...but it's a lot less credible/stretches suspension of disbelief. Especially as in many ways Luke Cage's "blackness" is indeed a strong component of his personality. When written true to the character, you could likely read Luke Cage's dialogue without any pictures or description and still would likely picture him as a black man.

Now, on the flipside, as presented in the MCU James Rhodes/War Machine or Sam Wilson/Falcon could indeed have been played by white actors and nothing really would change in terms of backstory or personality...but that's where the first point above comes in. Sure, there's a degree of marketing involved too (they want folks of all shades to come see their movies, after all, and don't want to court unnecessary bad press by presenting an all white cast with no meaningful roles for minorities).

Indeed, of pretty much all Marvel's major characters, there is really only one that springs to mind for whom "whiteness" should be pretty much sacrosanct: Steve Rogers (and note that I said Steve Rogers, not Captain America). Like Black Panther, the underlying concept of Steve Rogers' Captain America relies on him being the embodiment of Hitler's "Aryan ideal" but who instead is one of the greatest foes of Hitler's beliefs and regime. Making Steve Rogers himself a different race would lose some of the irony inherent in the character.

tl;dr - Making a white character another race is in 99 percent of circumstances purely a cosmetic change that does not change their personality or backstory significantly (if at all). Making a minority character white would often (but not always) require significant alterations to their personality and backstory.