Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Casting Film Couples Race is still a black-and-white issue

kid astronaut · 03-10-2005, 04:21 PM

yeah, race-sensitive casting is an interesting thing.

here in portland, a theater company recently did a production of My Fair Lady, where they cast eliza as a black woman. this seems all well and good at first, but when you think of the story-- essentially it's about "civilizing" a lower-class, poor, ignorant person so that she is fit to mingle with high society. a lot of people were bothered by what were suddenly recontextualized as very racist overtones.

i guess that was kind of a tangent, but it's a good story i think. oh well.

i guess as long as race is something people still think about, even subconsciously, inter-racial relationships (romantic and otherwise) will be something of a sore spot.

03-10-2005, 04:21 PM	#9 (permalink)
kid astronaut Tilted Location: Portland, OR	yeah, race-sensitive casting is an interesting thing. here in portland, a theater company recently did a production of My Fair Lady, where they cast eliza as a black woman. this seems all well and good at first, but when you think of the story-- essentially it's about "civilizing" a lower-class, poor, ignorant person so that she is fit to mingle with high society. a lot of people were bothered by what were suddenly recontextualized as very racist overtones. i guess that was kind of a tangent, but it's a good story i think. oh well. i guess as long as race is something people still think about, even subconsciously, inter-racial relationships (romantic and otherwise) will be something of a sore spot.