It’s a debate that
won’t die as again and again we see cishet white, able bodied actors cast in
minority roles. (And yes I
had to use that meme). And every single time it happens there’s always a legion of
supporters jumping out to say why it’s completely ok.
It is not. It really
really isn’t. There are a large number of POC, gay, bi, trans, disabled actors
out there who can perform these roles. And cishet, white able bodied actors
will be ok folks - 90% of the roles out there are already tailor made for them.
They don’t have to have the last 10% as well!
But beyond the fact
that cishet, white, able bodied actors already grossly dominate the entertainment
industry, casting them in these roles has severely damaging implications with a
whole lot of terrible history behind them
We cannot separate
what privileged people playing marginalised characters means and has meant, no
matter what creators current intention is. Both collectively and for individual
minorities. Casting white characters in POC roles cannot be separated from a
context of deeply racist abominations and minstral shows. Casting cis people as
trans characters cannot be separated from the context of people claiming trans
people aren’t REAL men/women and that a trans woman is not distinguishable from
a cis man or a that a trans man is not distinguishable from a cis woman.
Casting an able bodied actor for a disabled role cannot be separated from the
context of people believing disabled actors don’t exist and disabled people
cannot actually act at all
You cannot separate
these contexts from your casting.
And all of these
share a common context of mockery - of privileged people putting on these
identities and turning them into clowns, caricatures, something for everyone to
savagely laugh at and regard in contempt. POC, disabled, LGBTQ people, all have
been worn by cishet white able bodied people to portray something worthy of
nothing but revulsion and hilarity. We can all think of numerous examples (and
don’t tell me you can’t. You’re lying. You really are).
And all of these
share another common assumption of, well, every industry but certainly the
entertainment industry, that there is a complete lack of minority actors to
fill these roles. This is an excuse trotted out constantly and it’s so
blatantly not true. You had to cast Scarlett Johansson because you can’t find a
talented Asian actor? Really? Out of the billions of Asian people in the world,
you couldn’t find one with a modicum of acting talent? REAAAALY? You cast Jack
Whitehall as a gay man because he’s the best actor for the job? Really? A stand
up comedian is literally the best actor you could find?
How long did you
look? WHERE did you look?
You cannot divorce
your acting, your portrayal, from this context. You cannot pretend that your
casting exists in isolation, that they do not carry these messages and aren’t
perpetuating these issues. Every time we get this privileged casting we have
these messages repeated and invoked.
Especially since we
also have to remember how much minority actors struggle to get roles. The
number of roles for POC is vanishingly small. LGBTQ actors repeatedly have
spoken about having to be closeted to get roles and how much being out has
harmed their careers. Disabled actors are almost invisible entirely and many
people argue they don’t even exist.
Contrast that to how
a straight, able bodied actor playing gay or disabled role is almost guaranteed
to be award bait. Actors will be hailed for their “courage” and acting like
they’ve somehow achieved something impressive by acting this role. They’ll get
to gush in numerous interviews about how Important it was and how Hard it was
or, even more nauseating, how they are doing such a wonderful service for the
minority in question by taking this role, appropriating the story of
marginalised people and profiting at it
