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Cynthetiq · 03-10-2005, 11:05 AM

Quote:

In casting film couples, race is still a black-and-white issue
By Renée Graham, Globe Staff
March 8, 2005
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A movie as innocuous and undemanding as ''Hitch" usually isn't the kind of film that sparks vigorous sociocultural debates.

Yet, that's what's happening following comments by the film's star, Will Smith, about the creative hand-wringing involved in casting his leading lady. Seems the studio suits declined to pair Smith with an African-American actress, fearing such a coupling would make the film too black for worldwide audiences. (It's hard to fathom Smith could ever be deemed too black.) Conversely, they also steered clear of hiring a white actress as Smith's love interest out of concerns that an interracial relationship would offend some American moviegoers, and hurt the movie's earning potential.

''There's sort of an accepted myth that if you have two black actors, a male and a female, in the lead of a romantic comedy, that people around the world don't want to see it," Smith told the Birmingham Post, a British newspaper, while promoting his film overseas. ''We spend $50-something million making this movie and the studio would think that was tough on their investment. So the idea of a black actor and a white actress comes up -- that'll work around the world, but it's a problem in the US"

Hence, the role went to Eva Mendes, a lovely young actress, who, more importantly, is a light-skinned Latina of Cuban descent.

Is this really the year 2005?

Even the most cynical onlooker had to be taken aback by Smith's honesty. It offered a brief, but telling glance inside the Hollywood studios as they try to concoct movie formulas with the widest possible appeal. What's surprising is that even Smith, as close to guaranteed box office gold as any current movie star, doesn't have the juice to choose his costar when it comes to a romantic interest. More disheartening, though, is the notion that moviegoers will still avoid certain films simply because of the race of their stars.

At least that's what Hollywood believes, and the suits can probably produce the research to back up such decisions. Years ago, when Jennifer Lopez's profile was beginning to rise, my uncle predicted that audiences would never again see her paired with a black actor, like Wesley Snipes in ''Money Train," as her romantic lead.

He was right. Most recently, her costars have been Ralph Fiennes (''Maid in Manhattan"), former fiancé Ben Affleck (''Gigli" and ''Jersey Girl"), and Matthew McConaughey (''The Wedding Planner). Later this year, she'll star opposite Michael Vartan of TV's ''Alias" in the comedy ''Monster-in-Law."

As for Smith, he's had few African-American leading ladies throughout his career. Most memorably, you would have to go back to 2001, and his Academy Award-nominated performance in ''Ali," and since that's a film biography of the boxing legend, there was no way filmmakers could get around casting black actresses as the women in Ali's life.

In the months leading up to this year's Academy Awards, much was made about the number of actors of color recognized with nominations. Five were nominated for six Oscars (Jamie Foxx was twice cited), and Foxx and Morgan Freeman went on to win best actor and best supporting actor, respectively.

Still, there were no African-American actresses among the nominees -- Sophie Okonedo, nominated for best supporting actress in ''Hotel Rwanda" is a Londoner of Nigerian descent. And if the ''Hitch" trend continues, it doesn't bode well for their ability to get major film roles, not to mention their career longevity. Last week, actress Nia Long told Newsweek, ''If we can't play the girlfriend, [opposite a black actor] then Hollywood has to figure out what to do with us."

Then, of course, there's the issue of interracial relationships, which rarely seem to exist in mainstream films unless it's an essential plotline. Later this month, Ashton Kutcher and Bernie Mac star in ''Guess Who," a comedy very loosely based on the classic 1967 film, ''Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," in which Kutcher plays a young white man meeting his future-in-laws, who are black. If the trailer is any indication, expect lots of culture-clash hijinks. Obviously, interracial relationships are only worthwhile on-screen as a source of laughs or conflict.

Of course, frothy entertainments like ''Hitch" aren't designed for sweeping social declarations, and appropriately, its multiracial cast is featured in a deracinated story. Still, when the filmmakers ruled against casting a white or black actress opposite Smith, they made a far more insidious statement about their views on 21st-century America. For all its ballyhooed liberalism, Hollywood is just as guilty of the racial myopia it smugly believes only afflicts its audience.

I'm still trying to sort this out in my head...

Personally I think that race has some interesting issues when it comes to casting.

I don't think that Kingpin should have been a black man in DareDevil, in the comics he's always been a white man. If that character is so changeable, then why not change up Daredevil to be a blackman? or Superman for that matter...

As far as the couples go, I am in a mixed marriage myself. I don't really think too much of it when it's mixed, but I do tend to think of it as more leaning towards black if the top bills go to mainly black actors/actresses.