cincuentaydos:

stephenduignan:

cincuentaydos:

stephenduignan:

Khan Noonien Singh, a person of color character originated by a person of color actor, has been cast with a white actor in the 2013 untitled Star Trek sequel. How far we’ve come. http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news/74943/Benedict-Cumberbatch-Will-Play-Khan-In-Star-Trek-2

How is this even an issue? after all, wasn’t Khan genetically engineered?
That means he could be played by an actor of any race, and Benedict Cumberbatch is a terrific actor who’ll probably do a great job.
Also, I hear JJ Abrams first approached Benicio del Toro for the role and he turned it down. It’s probably better this way, I just don’t see him as Khan and it has nothing to do with race, since I’m from Mexico just like Ricardo Montalbán.
It also could have been way worse. Had M. Night Shyamalan gotten his hands on this movie, all the crew of the Enterprise would be white, except for Khan, who would’ve been played by a Mexican or an Indian guy.

Yes, Khan was genetically engineered. He was genetically engineered to possess physical strength and analytical abilities superior to ordinary humans. However, Khan’s genetic engineering has nothing to do with his cultural origins, which were established in 1967. (A character on the show said Khan was “From the northern India area, I’d guess. Probably a Sikh.”)
The issue is that casting a white actor in the role of a person of color is yet another example of whitewashing in a Hollywood film.

So, it doesn’t matter when a character’s ethnicity and whole cultural background is replaced, as long as the actor who plays it is also “a person of color”?, I guess that’s why nobody made a scandal in 2009 when the role of Uhura, originally played by Nichelle Nichols in one of the first female African-American roles who wasn’t a servant, went to Zoe Saldaña, of Dominican/Puerto-Rican ascendancy.
It’s either that, or latino actors get a free pass to play Indians and African-Americans, because we are the wild cards of the “people of color”.

What you’re describing is a related but separate issue, and one I don’t defend. It happened when they cast Khan the first time – this was a chance to not do that, a chance to do it right. But if the reports are to be believed, they didn’t. Instead, they cast a white person in the role, whitewashing the part.
The racial divide that exists in the United States between white people and everyone else allows Hollywood to get away with the “wild card” casting you mentioned and the worst part is people aren’t even aware of the issue. But this isn’t what my first post was about.
All I wanted to get across was that a fictional Asian character is being depicted by a white actor, and that is not right.

High Resolution

stephenduignan:

cincuentaydos:

stephenduignan:

Khan Noonien Singh, a person of color character originated by a person of color actor, has been cast with a white actor in the 2013 untitled Star Trek sequel. How far we’ve come. http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news/74943/Benedict-Cumberbatch-Will-Play-Khan-In-Star-Trek-2

How is this even an issue? after all, wasn’t Khan genetically engineered?

That means he could be played by an actor of any race, and Benedict Cumberbatch is a terrific actor who’ll probably do a great job.

Also, I hear JJ Abrams first approached Benicio del Toro for the role and he turned it down. It’s probably better this way, I just don’t see him as Khan and it has nothing to do with race, since I’m from Mexico just like Ricardo Montalbán.

It also could have been way worse. Had M. Night Shyamalan gotten his hands on this movie, all the crew of the Enterprise would be white, except for Khan, who would’ve been played by a Mexican or an Indian guy.

Yes, Khan was genetically engineered. He was genetically engineered to possess physical strength and analytical abilities superior to ordinary humans. However, Khan’s genetic engineering has nothing to do with his cultural origins, which were established in 1967. (A character on the show said Khan was “From the northern India area, I’d guess. Probably a Sikh.”)

The issue is that casting a white actor in the role of a person of color is yet another example of whitewashing in a Hollywood film.

So, it doesn’t matter when a character’s ethnicity and whole cultural background is replaced, as long as the actor who plays it is also “a person of color”?, I guess that’s why nobody made a scandal in 2009 when the role of Uhura, originally played by Nichelle Nichols in one of the first female African-American roles who wasn’t a servant, went to Zoe Saldaña, of Dominican/Puerto-Rican ascendancy.

It’s either that, or latino actors get a free pass to play Indians and African-Americans, because we are the wild cards of the “people of color”.

What you’re describing is a related but separate issue, and one I don’t defend. It happened when they cast Khan the first time – this was a chance to not do that, a chance to do it right. But if the reports are to be believed, they didn’t. Instead, they cast a white person in the role, whitewashing the part.

The racial divide that exists in the United States between white people and everyone else allows Hollywood to get away with the “wild card” casting you mentioned and the worst part is people aren’t even aware of the issue. But this isn’t what my first post was about.

All I wanted to get across was that a fictional Asian character is being depicted by a white actor, and that is not right.

1 month ago / 37 notes

High Resolution

cincuentaydos:

stephenduignan:

Khan Noonien Singh, a person of color character originated by a person of color actor, has been cast with a white actor in the 2013 untitled Star Trek sequel. How far we’ve come. http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news/74943/Benedict-Cumberbatch-Will-Play-Khan-In-Star-Trek-2

How is this even an issue? after all, wasn’t Khan genetically engineered?

That means he could be played by an actor of any race, and Benedict Cumberbatch is a terrific actor who’ll probably do a great job.

Also, I hear JJ Abrams first approached Benicio del Toro for the role and he turned it down. It’s probably better this way, I just don’t see him as Khan and it has nothing to do with race, since I’m from Mexico just like Ricardo Montalbán.

It also could have been way worse. Had M. Night Shyamalan gotten his hands on this movie, all the crew of the Enterprise would be white, except for Khan, who would’ve been played by a Mexican or an Indian guy.

Yes, Khan was genetically engineered. He was genetically engineered to possess physical strength and analytical abilities superior to ordinary humans. However, Khan’s genetic engineering has nothing to do with his cultural origins, which were established in 1967. (A character on the show said Khan was “From the northern India area, I’d guess. Probably a Sikh.”)

The issue is that casting a white actor in the role of a person of color is yet another example of whitewashing in a Hollywood film.

1 month ago / 37 notes

High Resolution

Khan Noonien Singh, a person of color character originated by a person of color actor, has been cast with a white actor in the 2013 untitled Star Trek sequel. How far we’ve come. http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news/74943/Benedict-Cumberbatch-Will-Play-Khan-In-Star-Trek-2