Does anyone feel that this is getting just a little bit unreasonable?

It doesn't matter who is cast if the character is fictitious, so James Bond, Superman, Inspector Dalgleish can all be black or white, as long as they are men. A female James Bond can't be right!

It's a different story if the character actually existed. So Queen Victoria, Ann Boleyn, Margaret Thatcher were all white women and should be portrayed by white women. Mary Seacole and Tina Turner were black women and should be portrayed by black women. Changing a person's race or sex is rather insulting I think.

In either case the actor's sexuality is irrelevant to the role. Rock Hudson proved this years ago. As long as the actor can convince you they are who they're supposed to be then that is all that matters.

So Queen Victoria, Ann Boleyn, Margaret Thatcher were all white women and should be portrayed by white women

Jodie Turner-Smith played Anne Boleyn in a recent tv series. Should she apologise for appropriating a white woman's role and promise never to do it again or should we accept that she's just a damned good actress and played the part well?

Should a white woman play Tina Turner with black face? I don't think so.

No white person should play a black person with a white face.

The question is whether it matters if a character is played as black or white. If it's essential to the role (eg Martin Luther King, whose story was based on the fact that he was black) then it has to be a black actor, but if it's not (eg Anne Boleyn, whose story was about being a queen married to a psychopath) then IMO it really doesn't matter, and could be played by someone of any race.

Sorry - that should say 'no white person should play a black person with a black face!

Should a white woman play Tina Turner with black face? I don't think so. No, I don't think they should either Chestnut. Did it offend you that Jodie Turner-Smith played the part of Anne Boleyn, even though she's black and AB was white? She didn't "whiten" her complexion to play the part, she simply did was actors do - acted. And did it very well too.

It's not important enough to be offended about, so no! I just think it's disrespectful to any living or historical person for programme/movie makers to change the character's race purely for entertainment purposes.

I don't think (in the case of Anne Boleyn) that it was changed for entertainment purposes - it just doesn't matter to the story whether the actor was black or white.

The fact you say it doesn't matter to the story whether the actor was black or white proves that it was changed for entertainment purposes.

We are all agreed it is disrespectful for a white actor to black their face to play a black part. Well I think changing their race is just as disrespectful.

We wouldn't want a man to play a woman so why would we want a man to ay a trans women?

VioletSky maybe because a trans woman was a man to start with, therefore it's entirely possible.
Eddie Redmaybe is talking absolute nonsense. Has he never seen John Hurt playing Quentin Crisp? If his argument was valid then probably 90% of all movies ever made would be invalid because the actors and writers would not be authentic.

Ha ha, slip of the keyboard. Eddie Redmaybe was not actually intended ?

Chestnut

The fact you say it doesn't matter to the story whether the actor was black or white proves that it was changed for entertainment purposes.

Not really. I suppose it depends what you mean by 'entertainment purposes'. I took it to mean that it would be more entertaining if the actor was black, which I don't think is true - I just don't think it matters.

I wouldn't feel disrespected if a black actor played me - I don't see race as relevant enough. There is a difference, IMO between having someone 'black up' when the character's race is relevant, and someone of one race playing the role of someone of a different one, when race is not important to the story. It's the relevance that is the important thing, not the colour of an actor's skin.

We wouldn't want a man to play a woman so why would we want a man to ay (sic) a trans women?

Ah! You're back!
No more pantomime dames then. No more pantomime Buttons. No more drag queens. No more Dustin Hoffman playing Tootsie; Julie Andrews playing Victor Victoria; Robin Williams playing Mrs Doubtfire; Tony Curtis & Jack Lemmon in Some Like It Hot; Gwyneth Paltrow in Shakespeare in Love; John Lithgow in The World According to Garp etc etc etc.....

Chestnut

The fact you say it doesn't matter to the story whether the actor was black or white proves that it was changed for entertainment purposes.

Chestnut it would have been wrong if they'd 'white faced' her. While I don't know if the choice of a black actress to play the part of Anne Boleyn was entirely random, I don't think it matters because Anne's story was not influenced by her race. I didn't see the performance but many said she was excellent in the part and that's what acting is about, making you believe in the performance and what is being portrayed. Is there anything better than losing yourself in a performance so compelling it becomes 'real'?

Chiwetel Ejiofor is neither gay nor trans. He played the part of Lola, the drag queen in Kinky Boots. Should he apologise and promise never to do it again? Or should he just be left alone to do the job that he does very well..... act?

Not back back, still interested in the replies as its a new subject.

Just not interested in arguments and feeling disliked for being a trans ally

LauraNorderr

Every day we are getting closer to the day that lunatics are running the asylum.

With BJ in charge I thought they actually were!

VioletSky

Not back back, still interested in the replies as its a new subject.

Just not interested in arguments and feeling disliked for being a trans ally

VioletSky I don't think anyone dislikes you. Everyone is entitled to an opinion and hopefully everyone respects other people's opinions. If they don't then they have the problem, not you.

MerylStreep

pmsl Chewbacca ?

What does pmsl mean?