Hmm, and how did you feel about Mos Def as Ford Prefect in 'Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy?'
Lone Ranger canceled.
- Thread starter Ed_Laprade
- Start date
I could imagine some might be insulted, and others might be happy that one of the biggest stars in Hollywood identified himself as such and got a good positive portrayal made and distributed to so wide an audience.
Me? I'm not a Native American. I feel it would be presumptuous of me to be upset on their behalf. It isn't like I'm in a position to know their real feelings of concerns on the topic. If the Creek and Cherokee tribes wish to deny his claim, then we'd know their feelings on the matter, but it isn't for me to guess.
Beyond that, I think we are getting into politics, and that would be inappropriate for these boards.
That's kind of apples and oranges. For better or worse, the character of Tonto is defined by his Native American heritage. His characterization, speech patterns, and name are all defined by his race (which can probably be viewed as inherently racist, but that's another discussion). Ford's race is only defined as being an alien in disguise, which opens the doors up to just about anything.
Now, if you tried to make Arthur Dent an American, I bet there would have been a bit of an uproar in the HHGTTG fandom.
I have no issue with that at all see my comment on the color blind casting of Gwen in Merlin. He is an alien who cares what color he is. The same as with Heimdel in Thor.
But as someone else as pointed out Tonto is a Native American. We have plenty of Native American actors who can play the role as well as Johhny Depp why not give them the chance then having some white guy who has great grandmother who was Native American play him.
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Like you said we can't get into politics.
But I have read several articles on the casting of white actors in roles that are Native American or Asian and how actors of both those races feel about it.
In Hollywood it is hard for Asian and Native American actors to find work the rolls are just not there for them so they understandably tend to get upset when a choice roll goes to a white actor.
The tribes themselves have different qualifications of who is considered a Native mostly this is done so that people with native American blood can qualify for things like scholarships or monies from tribe owned businesses.
That is not the same thing as hiring an actor who may qualify for tribal status for a role that is heavily identified as Native American.
People don't look at Johnny Depp and go hey look he is a Native American.
I live near the Seminole reservation and I went to high school with the kids from the reservation and I have several friends who are full blooded Seminoles and let me tell you they were pissed about this. I can't speak for every Native American but there is not one that I know who were happy about the casting.
Quick aside:
I fear your XP is misplaced- I was but a player, so had no input on that map other than smacking some green dragons around.Comments
Sammael:
Okay, I guess I didn't see the difference because I've been (and still are) utterly clueless about this 'Lone Ranger'. Was it a real person? I also somehow missed that the discussion wasn't about the Lone Ranger but about 'Tonto' (whoever that is...).
Exactly! That's what my next question would have been: "How would have felt if Mos Def had played Arthur Dent instead?"
Anyway, I don't feel the objections against Johnny Depp playing the part of Tonto are well-reasoned. While it may be preferable to pick an actor with a matching ethnic background for a role, ultimately all that is important is if she's believable and playing the part well.
Does every Japanese have to played by a Japanese, every German by a German? Of course not!
Personally, I care more about the voice than the actual looks. "Sherlock Holmes" with an American accent just feels wrong to me. Likewise I hate exaggerated accents, e.g. when actors portrait a French.
"Van Helsing" was utterly terrible and I couldn't stand to watch it in the original because of the fake Romanian accents (not that the movie was particularly good in any other regard...).
There are actors that are good at speaking with different accents, e.g. Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House.
Similarly, it would of course be preferable if every movie was filmed on location. It's rarely done because it's often prohibitively expensive. And in the end it doesn't matter all that much if the audience doesn't realize it's not the real place.
Now, back to Johnny Depp: Did you see him in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"? Why did they pick him for that role? Couldn't they have saved a lot of budget for the make-up if they'd picked someone that looked closer to what they wanted the character to look like?
Maybe they picked him because he was actually the best actor for the role the audition?
Would it have made a difference if they'd cast Johnny Depp for the role of Tonto before his breakthrough and being recognized as a first league actor?
The Lone Ranger was a classic American Western Radio and TV series about a wandering do-gooder known only as the Lone Ranger. He was a masked white man who rode a white horse (Silver) and had a Native American (Potawatomi tribe) sidekick, Tonto, who was nearly as capable a marksman and combatant as he.
In the radio series, he was played by John Todd, an Englishman, but once adapted to television, the role was played by Jay Silverheels (a Mowhawk)- one of the few early positive portrayals of a Native American on early TV, and a recurring role at that.
In modern Hollywood? No, because Hollywood has been trying to shed itself of a legacy of casting heavily made up white people as members of other races. All the charicatures of blacks aside, there were some pretty outrageous castings.
The Charlie Chan character was originally portrayed by Asian (if not actually Chinese) actors. But the films didn't do well. This was blamed on the lead actors- right or wrong, and the next 3 actors in the role were all white men- the Swede Warner Oland, Sidney Toler, and Roland Winters- in "yellow face." Similarly, John Wayne played Ghengis Khan!
To put it differently, it isn't crucial to have every German played by German actors- any Caucasian will do, generally speaking. Japanese actors can portray Koreans.
But in a Hollywood still dominated by Caucasians, having Caucasians play non-Whites when there are actors of color trying to get more than bit roles, Depp as Tonto is a step back. Depp could have been cast as the the Lone Ranger himself. He could also have portrayed the main villain, or that character's hired gun.
But Tonto?
I am not sure that all Koreans would agree.
As I understand the history of the project, this isn't "actor got cast in a role". It is more "Really, really big actor wants to play role, and uses his influence to help make it happen." Depp was actively seeking to get the movie made so that he could play that particular role.
No, they wouldn't. I'm sure not all Native Americans liked that a Mowhawk was playing a Potawotomi.
But given a choice between a Japanese playing a Korean or a white man in makeup doing so; given a choice between a member of another tribe playing Tonto, most would find that more acceptable than having a white man in makeup playing the Korean or Tonto.
And if Tom Cruise wanted to play Wilt "The Stilt" Chaimberlain in a film he backed, that would be equally OK...as in, equally an ego stroke that is ridiculous on its face.
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