I am not comfortable with sexuality playing a part in acting. Likewise, I don’t much care for political correctness being overdone either.
It seems to me that an actor has the responsibility to act as opposed to being themselves. Most of the time when we are watching a character on the screen we have no clue what sort of person they get off on, it’s simply not the reason we’re watching what we’re watching.
Now, Russell T made some comparisons that we wouldn’t expect a white actor to ‘black up’. Well, no, of course not and here is the reason:
If the character portrayed has to be a black person then there are a significant amount of black actors who will match the writers, producers and directors expectations of the role. Getting in a white actor and overdoing the make up just doesn’t make sense and this is a very simple fact, being black, white or any other colour is result of genetics which translate to a given appearance, ie, the person happens to be the colour they are and much acting is visual so, it matters. Of course, were it a voice actor, it matters not one jot as the part doesn’t require a certain look. It’s about choosing the right person for the part and, for that, appearances matter.
Political correctness gone mad
So many movies, TV shows and plays seem to think it is essential to be truly representative so as not to offend someone. That a black person should perhaps be able to play Charles Dickens merely because they are a fine actor and can act well forgetting one very important and vital fact, Dickens was very white! It’s just wrong and anyone who gets offended needs to do some heavy soul searching whether the problem is, perhaps, theirs?
Likewise, some have objected to an actor playing a black role, a role of a person who was black for a fact because they are not the right shade of black and, come on now, that’s totally unimportant and shows a certain degree of racism in itself. For a great many years white people of all shades have played other white people of all shades. For an example look here:
Every one of them a different complexion, different face shape yet. with the use of make up, as convincing as they need to be, especially the last one who actually was Sir Winston of course!
Did they need to find exactly the right shade of white? Of course not because it doesn’t matter when it is ‘close enough’ like these are.
How about these two because, I betcha that there will be someone, somewhere who argues ‘hell no’, he’s totally the wrong sort of black:
Denzel Washington perhaps could play President Barack Obama
I think with a little make up and some damn fine acting, sure, why not?
Anyway, back to Russell T, only gays should play gays
The ‘straightest’ role in the remake of Beauty & The Beast is played by gay actor, Luke Evans, the love interest of this man:
Here is the most gay of gay characters ever in a Disney movie, Josh Gad playing LeFou and guess what, he’s not gay!
Two guys playing the opposite of their sexuality and no one gives a damn, indeed, there were more complaints that LeFou was obviously gay than there were about someone who is actually gay in the film!
So, enough of the BS, acting is acting, let’s look at that definition:
Some who pretends to be someone else while performing in a film, play, television or radio programme
That’s it in a nutshell. If it is essential that someone is an exact replica of the person they portray, sadly, that is incredibly unlikely. Whilst there are some striking physical body doubles, they rarely can act the part, the inability to reproduce a ‘close enough’ likeness would be a real loss to acting and this mentality has to stop.
Woke is a political term that originated in the United States, and it refers to a perceived awareness of issues that concern social justice and racial justice. It derives from the African-American Vernacular English expression “stay woke”, whose grammatical aspect refers to a continuing awareness of these issues.