Fury over Black Hermione Granger

[MechaPilot]

Exactly. Hermione's race not being established in the books simple means that any adaptation shouldn't feel constrained to only look at white actresses. This is not saying that they *can't* use white actresses, simply that the only physical criteria for the actor/actress are:

- age-appropriate
- female-presenting
- and something weird/frizzy with her hair*

* I've never read the books. I seem to recall someone mentioning her hair being called out for something.

Actually, they don't even NEED to go female.

My general opinion is this: unless a character's race, gender, nationality, or sexual orientation is definitive of that character, it can be changed in an adaptation.

For example, making the comic book character Black Panther a white American would be problematic. Making Captain America a Canadian super soldier or a Japanese-American would be problematic (making Cap female would be equally problematic if you kept the origin story due to the nature of the U.S. military during WWII). Making Wonder Woman a man would be problematic.

However, if you wanted to make Batman black, asian, or latino, there's nothing about Batman or Bruce Wayne that says he has to be any specific race. The same thing with Captain America, though the asian option most likely drops off in that case.

 

[Cor Azer]

That's not even really a requirement. The hair and makeup people should be able to give any actor chosen for the role weird and frizzy hair of any color.

Rule of Three for Comedic Lists

 

[Cor Azer]

Actually, they don't even NEED to go female.

My general opinion is this: unless a character's race, gender, nationality, or sexual orientation is definitive of that character, it can be changed in an adaptation.

For example, making the comic book character Black Panther a white American would be problematic. Making Captain America a Canadian super soldier or a Japanese-American would be problematic (making Cap female would be equally problematic if you kept the origin story due to the nature of the U.S. military during WWII). Making Wonder Woman a man would be problematic.

However, if you wanted to make Batman black, asian, or latino, there's nothing about Batman or Bruce Wayne that says he has to be any specific race. The same thing with Captain America, though the asian option most likely drops off in that case.

Well, I did say "female-presenting"

While yes, adaptations can certainly change established facts of a character, I was specifically saying that in order to remain true to what was established on Hermione's physical attributes, such was needed.

 

[MechaPilot]

Well, I did say "female-presenting"

While yes, adaptations can certainly change established facts of a character, I was specifically saying that in order to remain true to what was established on Hermione's physical attributes, such was needed.

Fair enough.

 

[Maxperson]

They've had the opportunity- all they have asked is why the GOP pursued Obama and they haven't asked the same of Cruz. IOW, they have asked why the opposition has not been as dogged in asking of their own what they asked of the Democrats as an illustration of hypocrisy.

Not only that, the GOP raised nary a peep about his 2008 opponent John McCain, who was born in Panama. Not was the issue raised when Mitt Romney's Mexican-born dad George ran against Nixon.

Barry Goldwater was born in Arizona...but before it was granted statehood. The fuss about this rose only to a murmur.

There is nothing anywhere that says you can't run for President if you are born somewhere else. You just cannot BE President. If Cruz is elected, I guarantee you that the liberals will be up in arm screaming about how he wasn't born in the U.S. Until then, it's a big so what.

Really?

Instead of taking Hawaiian officials statements about Obama's birth certificate, some allegedly sent investigators, and claimed they had found bombshells....that never materialized in the press.

Instead of taking Hawaiian officials statements about Obama's birth certificate, they claimed the officials were lying about the date of Obama's birth, insisting that he was born before Hawaii achieved statehood.

Yeah, really. I'll bet there are some who are doing it over race. The the movement itself, though, is just doing it for political reasons. It's dumb, but people are often dumb when it comes to politics.

Read the text of 8 USC § 1401- the law that defines who is a national or citizen under US law:

You'll see that Obama clearly qualifies- regardless of birth location- since his mother (born in Kansas) was a natural born citizen of the USA who had lived most of her life within its boundaries, at least 5 years of which were consecutive.

Both the law in question and the fact of his mother's natural born citizenship are easily verifiable, and both were completely ignored by the Right.

How many GOP legislators are lawyers? Ted Cruz is DEFINITELY one- Harvard educated and a SCOTUS clerk to boot. How many lawyers and law students are on the staffs of GOP legislators? Yet they all either remained willfully silent on 8 USC § 1401 or fueled the birther fire.

Yes. Aint politics grand? People will remain silent on issues and speak up on non-issues to obfuscate. That doesn't make it racism.

All those past opportunities to DQ past presidential candidates due to birth status, and the first to have the issue raised is the black candidate born in Hawaii to a Kansas-born mother?

Yes. Why on earth would they do it to one of their own first? It's nonsense to think that a political party would attack one of their own on the subject.

 

[Eltab]

Wait, what? Are you under the impression that the UK does not have black people in it? It's a very diverse and ethnically multicultural country. Especially in major cities like London.

Oh, come on.
You are seeing today (rightly), but I'm overviewing a process that has spanned 200 or so years. Before the Empire, the population of England was overwhelmingly Anglo-Saxon. By definition.

 

[Morrus]

Oh, come on.
You are seeing today (rightly), but I'm overviewing a process that has spanned 200 or so years. Before the Empire, the population of England was overwhelmingly Anglo-Saxon. By definition.

But Harry Potter is set in present day.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

She can say whatever she wants. And she doesn't say that Hermione is black. Plus she was personally involved with the casting of the actors for the movies. This gets back to the point I was making. Don't lie and say she was always black. Just admit you are making a change. I'm willing to bet a lot of the opposition is simply because of the attempt to re-write history.

"Lie" is an awful strong word to sling at the creator of the intellectual property in question. And, as pointed out, it's use is entirely unjustified- the author stated the character's race was not established. That is a long way from saying the character was black.

 

[Maxperson]

"Lie" is an awful strong word to sling at the creator of the intellectual property in question. And, as pointed out, it's use is entirely unjustified- the author stated the character's race was not established. That is a long way from saying the character was black.

It was disingenuous, though. It's pretty obvious from the books and the casting that Hermione was intended to be white. I could have respected Rowling if she had just owned up to it and then said that she thought the idea of a black Hermione was great, too.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

There is nothing anywhere that says you can't run for President if you are born somewhere else. You just cannot BE President. If Cruz is elected, I guarantee you that the liberals will be up in arm screaming about how he wasn't born in the U.S. Until then, it's a big so what.

1) you most certainly CAN be president if born outside of the the boundaries of the USA if you meet one of the several classifications of being labeled a "natural born citizen".

2) your prediction is already on shaky grounds Re:Cruz since the Democrats had exactly that chance in 2008 regarding McCain. Instead of drying to gin up a controversy regarding the Panamanian-born Arizona Senator's ancestry, Obama and Clinton co sponsored a bill proclaiming him to meet the Constitutional requirements to serve as POTUS. (It passed unanimously.)

3) what does it say about the collective brainpower of the GOP if they keep flirting with- and even sometimes choosing- candidates who might run afoul of the citizenship clause of POTUS eligibility? (Nearly all of the presidential candidates in US history for whom there was an issue of being a "natural born citizen" were right-wingers of some kind, except Obama.)

Yes. Why on earth would they do it to one of their own first? It's nonsense to think that a political party would attack one of their own on the subject.

It is called integrity, and regardless of what you think, politicians have managed to show it on occasion. Even when pushed by members of his own party, W maintained his position that Islam is not inherently violent. When on Fox, McCain corrected his interviewers by noting that "Allahu Akbar!" as souted in a video from some battle in the Middle East is merely Arabic for "God is great!", and as such, no different than something an English-speaking Christian soldier might exclaim after a successful military strike.

And, because you missed it, the Barry Goldwater citizenship issue WAS raised by members of the GOP, and they decided it was a non-issue.

Until Obama.