Films where black characters "wedged in", and why the audience cares (or not)

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

If earlier Othello and Hannibal (who was Pushkin's ancestor), smeared with wax, caused constant questions, now the public does not get tired of wondering how traditionally white characters are replaced with blacks. Here are just a few examples of such shape-shifting films and the arguments for and against this approach.

The beauty and the Beast

In general, the film repeats the outline of the classic Disney cartoon, but it still has a number of differences. Firstly, a friend of Gaston, who admires him a little too much - they created a real intrigue in Russia, saying that a real gay novel will be shown in children's cinema, much to the disappointment of the audience, who hastened to watch it. Secondly, several black actors could be seen in the frame at once, mainly in the Beast's castle.

The strangest argument that has been voiced in Internet discussions is where, they say, there were more than one black in France in the eighteenth century? And how could they have made any kind of career besides being a lackey - when it comes to a pastor in a city? However, the very black outwardly Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, the father of the writer Alexandre Dumas-father, actually rose to the rank of general. The church and the army in Europe have traditionally been social lifts.

As for the very presence of women of African descent in eighteenth-century France, just look at more of the painting of that time. It was in great fashion to have a black servant. Mostly these were maids and footmen, but in the case of musical talent, the girl could well become a court singer of some noble person. The flip side of such a career was the harassment of the employer and his guests (which, of course, cannot be shown in a children's fairy tale). Well, the more black maids a voluptuous nobleman could get himself, the cooler it was - in this light, it is sad to look at the monster's ball.

Harry Potter saga

Against the background of the fact that for one of the sequels of the series of films about the world of wizards, a black Hermione was approved, it was somehow forgotten that before they mainly discussed the appearance of Dean Thomas and Blaise Zabini. The thing is, the books don't mention their appearance, so why are they black in the movie?

Answer from Rowling herself: as in the case of Hermione, precisely because the book does not mention their skin color. This gives room for fantasies and their incarnations. Although, of course, Emma Watson is forever in our hearts. Although, unlike Hermione, she has beautiful hair and teeth.

The Nutcracker and the Four Kingdoms

There have been many changes in the classic European fairy tale story, but the mass Russian viewer did not have any questions about why the action was transferred to Victorian England, the mother of the main character was made a lover of mechanics, and the story of the Nutcracker Prince was removed from the narratives altogether.

Of all the (many!) Plot changes, only the casting excited the viewer again: in the frame again, blacks flashed several times, including the nutcracker (one of the many, as we are explained in the plot), literally a toy that came to life, and an unenchanted boy. More liberal-minded viewers ask: okay, what's going on in the girl's fantasy land, but why did Drosselmeier keep his German name, acquiring an African appearance?

One of the arguments against the introduction of black characters is thoughtlessly - creating a false feeling among children that equality has always reigned in European society, while even neighboring people could be subjected to racial discrimination - to say nothing of blacks, whose place society delineated somewhere in areas of the servants' room.

This is an argument worth considering, but a mysterious and strange character in late nineteenth century England may well be black with a German surname, if only because it promises a mysterious and strange story. And yes, in Victorian England, despite the prejudice, by and large he would have all civil rights. A mechanic made rich by a wonderful craft is not such an incredible story.

King Arthur's sword

This whimsical fantasy film has brought together a complete international in general. Celts, Romans, Vikings, black knight and Chinese martial artist. As a matter of fact, the latter is the only superfluous face in the canonical line, since both the Vikings and the black knight of the Round Table, and even more so the Roman heritage - all this is historical (except for the magic shown in the picture, of course). But the Chinese took it just like that, out of nowhere. However, if magic can create giant mastodons, why shouldn't it accidentally create a Chinese (or transfer it from somewhere).

The British in the film adaptation were most distorted by the distortion of the image of King Arthur - in the film he begins as a bouncer in a brothel. True, no one can reliably tell something about the childhood of the real Arthur (his prototype, according to popular theory, was one of the many Roman generals who ruled Britain). Here, as with the Chinese and magic - go and prove that he could not spend his youth in a brothel.

Fall of Troy

But no black Hermione can compare the audience reaction with the announced series "The Fall of Troy", where Zeus, Artemis and Achilles turned out to be black. The appearance of these characters has no justification, except for one: there is a place for convention in art. The ancient Greeks conventionally depicted all the characters in black on their black-figure vases, meaning that they were of ordinary Mediterranean appearance; a modern director conventionally portrayed Zeus as black.

However, maybe we still learn something new about the gods of Olympus after the release of the series. By the way, dark skin did not prevent Artemis from being golden-haired, so the director is hardly trying to completely ignore the canon. It is also worth remembering that when the inhabitants of the ancient world were portrayed by Hollywood blondes, this did not bother anyone - and it was just as unhistorical.

It seems that we are just living in a period of searching and experimentation associated with social shifts. Once upon a time everything was more certain - but not better. Movies for the Colored, Chinatown for the Japanese: What Racial Segregation Looked Like in Old America.