The Deeper Problems Behind the Multicultural Casting Controversies

The furor over the upcoming Little Mermaid remake and recent versions of Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings points to systemic issues within White society.

The Deeper Problems Behind The Multicultural Casting Controversies

Much is being said about the multiple outrages certain White people are fueling based on Hollywood’s burgeoning so-called “color-blind” casting process.

The presence of Black and Brown characters in Amazon Prime’s “The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power,” HBO’s Game of Throne’s sequel “House of the Dragon,” and the upcoming version of the Little Mermaid starring Black actress Halle Bailey have brought anguished cries of “wokeness.” Some White people are outraged that these previously all-White characters are sometimes played by People of Color.

A lot is also being said about the hypocrisy of this outrage, pointing out that these folks weren’t bothered when Laurence Olivier played “Othello,” Jake Gyllenhaal played “The Prince of Persia,” Johnny Depp played Tonto in the recent version of “The Lone Ranger,” and numerous other cases of Black-Brown-Yellow-, and Redface casting.

With all that’s been said, there are other facts that need to be addressed.

One fact is that all good art provokes universal emotion and feeling unbound and unrestrained from race, ethnicity, class, and gender. Love, passion, lust, greed, jealousy, envy, hope, despair, joy, sorrow, tenderness, happiness, sadness, and longing are common to the human experience, and art that is well-crafted and timeless evokes these emotions.

There is nothing black, brown, white, red, or yellow about the human experience. It is both unique to each of us, yet it is shared among all of us.

The folly of categorizing wizards, elves, and mermaids as one color or another is not only ludicrous not only because we cannot compare these mythical beings to our humanity, but also because it is foolish to ignore common feelings and emotions.

Another fact to remember is the reason White society has conveniently ignored “colorblind” casting when they were replacing other ethnics, rather than vice versa, is cultural appropriation. The hue and cry over this kind of casting is not merely hypocrisy, but part of the general pattern present since Whites crossed with other cultures.

White people didn’t invent rhythm and blues, jazz, and other kinds of music first written and sung by People of Color, but they have profited from playing and singing it, making millions for Elvis Presley while Big Mama Thornton and other Black artists made pennies on the dollar, if anything at all.

White people created country music, and aren’t shy about letting Black artists like Darius Rucker, Jimmie Allen, and Mickey Guyton know that they aren’t wanted in the genre and would be better off singing “their own music.”

White people created Formula One and NASCAR racing, but didn’t extend the welcome mat to Lewis Hamilton, Wendell Scott, Bill Lester, and Bubba Wallace.

Black hockey and soccer players are routinely called racial slurs and harassed across the globe.

In other words, some White people want to have the right to take ownership of aspects of other culture but deny access to White culture.

Art is for everyone, or it is for no one.

Equality exists, or it doesn’t.

Cultures can only exist temporarily without interaction and cooperation from other cultures.

Equality has always been a fervent dream of many,

And a dreadful nightmare for others.

It is still a dream unrealized and unfulfilled.

And as long as People of Color are criticized for playing imaginary people, it will remain a distant dream.