The problem with blacks appropriating white characters like Lil' Orphan Annie

It would be better if blacks created their own characters, movies, screenplays, etc., but they don't. So instead, they make 'black versions' of traditionally white shows and characters. We had a black Dorothy; a black Cinderella, etc. There's talk of making the new James Bond black.

The problem here I see, is that these types of movies will always be seen as 'black versions' of white characters.

 

Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and many other rock groups literally copied blues songs created by black people.

why don't you condemn that?

 

I think Tyler Perry alone destroys that posit.

 

another anti-black thread.

 

But white Europeans playing Jesus, Moses, and Abraham for the past 500 years is totally cool, right ?

 

Yeah, because whites never did that!

 

I guess that would mean you never read the Three Musketeers.

 

Threads like this prove one thing. There are idiots on every side of an issue.

 

Balderdash. That IS racist. There is no downside to black people being portayed as "traditional" hero's. Currently their heros are gangsta's and violence preaching losers like Sharpton and rap music.

The real problem for the black community are democrats who do every thing they can to keep the black community down by telling them they are victims and that 'republican whitey' are their oppressors while conceling the reality and truth that the progressive leftist neo-commie democrats are their true oppressors and race whores like O'Bama, Holder, and Sharpton that create hate and division.

 

Because that's different. Music and movies are two different things.

 

How so? Are they both not simple entertainment of sorts? With celebrities in each media?

 

They were Caucasian, so yes.

 

They were white, but not European. That is true. Black people were not part of the story until The Queen of Sheba from Ethiopia. But racially, they are considered caucasian.

 

One is auditory while the other is more visual and associated with physical appearance.

 

I think we should aim higher and expect better quality than to point at Tyler Perry. I find his stuff trite, boring, and not funny.

 

So entry into the mind is the determining factor?

That sounds, well, nonsensical. If your argument is "because black people look different" and therefore when they assume the roles of purely fictional characters it is an affront, yet when white people sing music more traditionally linked to black culture and history it is fine, doesn't that seem just a wee bit racist to you?

 

They are considered black versions of white characters.

 

The basis of this thread is that cultural appropriation is a bad thing. Someone already mentioned Rock groups stealing from Blues and Jazz...frankly I disagree with the entire concept. I think culture is up for grabs and it's perfectly fine to pick and chose and adopt elements that you like. The idea that a particular race or ethnic group "owns" a particular concept or style is ridiculous. Otherwise we would have to pay Italy every time we had pasta, and Italy would have to pay China....it's ridiculous folks.

 

On this we agree.

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Denzel Washington played Gray Grantham in The Pelican Brief, whilst in the book he is white. Problem?

 

That's just the way it is. Also Jolson is criticized now for stealing a black character, but it's okay if traditionally white characters are played by blacks?

And why even do that? Why can't blacks create their own characters?

I am Hispanic and we don't need to have Hispanic versions of white characters created by whites.

 

I should have stopped reading at the part in bold. Black people have plenty of original characters in movies. Period.

I watched the Annie movie and it was quite good. I never saw the original but I see no problem with Blacks appropriating classic White characters. The reason being is because race is not an important factor. Annie can easily be told from a Black perspective without losing anything unique to the story. On the other hand if the movie Selma featured Martin Luther King Jr. as a White man that simply wouldn't be historically accurate. If Shaft were played by a White man the movie would lose its cultural significance. Simply put if race is not important to the character then anyone can play that character. The Annie remake is considered to be progressive.

 

Oh, you are Hispanic.

Did you like the scene in Training Day when they were playing cards in the kitchen? Pretty intense scene I thought. Especially when Ethan Hawke realized he was (*)(*)(*)(*)ed over.

Did you knwo the intense fellow playing Smiley was not Hispanic, but actually Maori?

 

And how would black people react if whites decided to play those roles? How about a white Shaft? Oh, okay, you mentioned him. Annie was created as a white redheaded girl and was known as such for decades. She is associated with one look...white.

 

So what? This whole premise is genuinely racist and meaningless. Being a hero is a product of character, not the color of a persons skin.

 

No, I haven't seen that movie so don't know what you're talking about. Whites have played Hispanic characters in movies for ages, but I'm taking about well-known characters that were created as white by the ones who wrote and created them that way.

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Only I'm not talking about heroes. I'm talking about black versions of white characters.