tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post7751302128726503080..comments2024-03-28T16:22:14.888-07:00Comments on Steve Sailer: iSteve: NYT: Blacks don't get enough Oscars for playing nonblacksUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger72125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-65386502270479490782014-02-27T18:50:58.458-08:002014-02-27T18:50:58.458-08:00Danny Glover plays a murderous cop in "Witnes...<i>Danny Glover plays a murderous cop in "Witness", but he's just a henchman of a worse senior cop, who is white.</i><br /><br />Glover also played a villain in <i>Shooter</i>, getting himself gunned down by Mark Wahlberg as a Southern backwoodsman and former Marine sniper named, of all things, "Bob <i>Lee</i> Swagger", though Glover was again merely second banana to Ned Beatty's corrupt senator, plus the film had the added wiggle room of Michael Pena as "Nick Memphis", Swagger's faithful sidekick, a plot revolving around the assassination of an African bishop attempting to reveal a murderous plot by US oil companies in Africa, and being directed by a black man, Antoine Fuqua.<br /><br />Fuqua's an interesting case, though. He also directed the aforementioned <i>Training Day</i>, plus <i>King Arthur</i> (which I can't comment on, other than to say that lily-white post-Roman Britain seems like a fairly unusual setting for a black director to work with), <i>Tears of the Sun</i>, which made fairly explicit reference to the tribal and often brutal nature of politics in Africa (and the bad guys are shown killing Christian missionaries for the hell of it), and <i>Olympus Has Fallen</i> which, with its (white) President and Secret Service agent heroes, stood in interesting contrast to its terrorists-capture-the-President competitor, Roland Emerich's <i>White House Down</i> featuring Jamie Foxx as the POTUS and semi-professional wigger Channing Tatum as his rescuer.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-71912842483888937902014-02-27T18:27:52.433-08:002014-02-27T18:27:52.433-08:00I looked up DiCaprio's dad and thought "R...I looked up DiCaprio's dad and thought "Ringo Starr"!<br /><br />Having said that British port cities like Liverpool have long had a slightly unusual ethnic mix. eg Bristol and east end of London.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-85444608274114959692014-02-27T15:51:03.920-08:002014-02-27T15:51:03.920-08:00Cail Corishev - indeed. Further "mitigation&q...Cail Corishev - indeed. Further "mitigation" of Live and Let Die is that it was the height of the blaxploitation era, and it was an adaptation of an existing Fleming novel - it's questionable whether it would have been written as an original script in the 1970s.<br /><br />You're right - apart from the few you mention there are hardly any. Danny Glover plays a murderous cop in "Witness", but he's just a henchman of a worse senior cop, who is white. The Ving Rhames character in Pulp Fiction is a bad guy but a respectable one, and becomes a hero after being kidnapped and raped by two white perverts. He promises to wreak explicitly racial vengeance on one of them and the audience whoops and hollers in delight as the evil white sicko gets his comeuppance (at least that's Tarantino's intention). <br /><br />Pfft... what else? Samuel L. Jackson robbing a fast food joint in "Coming to America"? I have a vague impression Wesley Snipes has played some bad guys but his career has pretty much passed me by so I couldn't identify them if he has. No, there's almost nothing.<br /><br />The TV series "Oz" is worth a mention. Almost everyone in it is a bad guy, of course, but it doesn't pull many punches in its depiction of Simon Adebisi and various other AfrAm thugs and gangsters. But TV isn't film and slightly different "rules" tend to apply.<br /><br />Pete Zapyenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-49807485622823488292014-02-27T14:46:34.448-08:002014-02-27T14:46:34.448-08:00Yes, Jubal Early was an excellent performance by t...Yes, Jubal Early was an excellent performance by the black lawyer from the early Law & Order seasons. Just crazed enough to be really menacing without being a caricature.<br /><br />Thing is, you can do that for one episode of a TV series. If people complain, you can throw them a black hero in a future episode to balance things out. It'd be a much bigger risk to make a character like that the villain of a feature film, where there's buzz and interviews for months in advance and these things get scrutinized much more closely.<br /><br />It's too bad, because there are certainly black actors who could make good villains. But I can see why filmmakers don't risk it.Cail Corishevhttp://cailcorishev.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-13754208530144132752014-02-27T14:06:47.054-08:002014-02-27T14:06:47.054-08:00"To the Anonymous who said black actors don&#..."To the Anonymous who said black actors don't get to play villains: as somebody else pointed out Chiwetel Ejiofor played "The Operative" in Serenity, quite possibly the best sci-fi villain since Darth Vader."<br /><br />And don't forget 'Jubal Early', the unforgettable villain present for only a single episode of <i>Firefly</i>. Stunning writing and acting. I'd almost say that the actor's being black was totally irrelevant, but I suspect the scene where he uses the threat of rape to intimidate the young female (white) ship's mechanic wouldn't have had quite the same resonance with a white actor. And yet it was all tastefully and elegantly done.melendwyrhttp://occludedsun.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-52843011955978148202014-02-27T13:17:44.870-08:002014-02-27T13:17:44.870-08:00And "Live and Let Die" was 1973. I look...And "Live and Let Die" was 1973. I looked up a couple of "100 great movie villains list," and the main other one I found was James Earl Jones as Darth Vader. Yeah, kind of a stretch, but technically I'd say he counts as a true villain -- established in 1977. Wonder if they would have cast him in that part if the first movie had come a decade later.<br /><br />Come to think of it, Jones also played the villain in 1982's "Conan the Barbarian." In that, though, according to the commentary, they used contacts and makeup to try to make him look like no identifiable race at all, so he would seem other-worldly.<br /><br />The only other ones I found post-1980 were Denzel Washington in "Training Day," where he plays a corrupt cop -- not exactly a classic villain, but at least a bad guy -- and Ving Raimes in "Pulp Fiction" as a mobster (didn't see it). Pretty slim pickings.Cail Corishevhttp://cailcorishev.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-23493849410426150342014-02-27T09:39:18.113-08:002014-02-27T09:39:18.113-08:00There's one obvious scenery-chewing black vill...There's one obvious scenery-chewing black villain - Yaphet Kotto in 'Live And Let Die.' Bond isn't exactly Hollywood, I know, but still a major, mainstream movie series.Pete Zapyenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-68917679949001751002014-02-27T01:25:52.168-08:002014-02-27T01:25:52.168-08:00>[black actors] rarely get the chance to play w...>[black actors] rarely get the chance to play what is usually the most interesting role in the film- that of the villain<<br /><br />Great line. Others have done it to death. So I'll just say 'heh.'<br /><br />Gilbert P.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-88135941753997286472014-02-26T21:10:17.116-08:002014-02-26T21:10:17.116-08:00"Cail Corishev said...
I'm no movie expe..."Cail Corishev said...<br /><br />I'm no movie expert, but I can't think of a black villain of that Rickman-in-Die-Hard sort."<br /><br />Giancarlo Esposito was exceptionally villainous playing Gus Fring in "Breaking Bad".Mr. Anonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-54154510406078391962014-02-26T19:04:04.459-08:002014-02-26T19:04:04.459-08:00Will Smith in the film adaptation of "Six Deg...Will Smith in the film adaptation of "Six Degrees of Separation" actually did an exceptional take; arguably not the most complex role, as he's meant to be an impostor, but it impressed me more on the second viewing years later. His turn to pseudo-heavy bogus blockbusters every other year, like Ali or that Scientology one, the profitability of which I can't fathom, is a waste of the pompous-but-funny macho shtick he cultivated in the first "Bad Boys" (sort of like Bruce Willis without the depression)Alcalde Jaime Miguel Curleohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11801154986193443160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-81887273003254105792014-02-26T18:04:43.324-08:002014-02-26T18:04:43.324-08:00The Rockford Files is the last show I can think of...The Rockford Files is the last show I can think of that didn't bend over backwards to show blacks in a positive light. It didn't feature many in the first place, but the two most memorable black guest stars were an amoral con man (played by Lou Gossett Jr.) and an ex-con bruiser (Isaac Hayes) who had beaten his wife so much that she committed suicide to frame him for her murder.<br /><br />But that was the 1970s. As someone said (must have been in another thread), that changed quickly in the 1980s.Cail Corishevhttp://cailcorishev.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-54524276991403174052014-02-26T16:18:06.042-08:002014-02-26T16:18:06.042-08:00I'm surprised Steve didn't work in a refer...I'm surprised Steve didn't work in a reference to Telley Savalas Otieno as Gustaf Mannerheim in "The Marshal of Finland."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-71449428450531176702014-02-26T15:54:20.497-08:002014-02-26T15:54:20.497-08:00To follow up the previous comment concerning Samue...To follow up the previous comment concerning Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury, the trailers for the next Captain America film very prominently feature a battered Fury telling blond, blue-eyed Cap that "it looks like <i>you're</i> in charge now".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-25905420780958661822014-02-26T15:53:48.839-08:002014-02-26T15:53:48.839-08:00"Right, because Othello was Moorish (Arabians..."Right, because Othello was Moorish (Arabians had by then conquered North Africa) and Berbers and Arabians are generally part of the Caucasian race.<br />"<br /><br />That has been hashed out. He was, indeed,meant to be "negroid", not Arabic or "Moorish." Arablic or Moorish would never have had the same effect. Hey, many Italians and Spaniards looked somewhat "Arab." The description is of a sub-Saharan African, and the earliest drawings confirm that. The play actually dates from an earlier version done in the 13th century, in Italy. Shakespear borrowed relentlessly, life all great artists.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-22360382206433885612014-02-26T15:46:58.356-08:002014-02-26T15:46:58.356-08:00The Operative in Serenity isn't the villian, t...<i>The Operative in Serenity isn't the villian, though; he's...the villain's operative. (The villain is pretty much the faceless bureaucracy of the Alliance.) While the viewer knows the Operative is working for the bad guys, he doesn't, and he's presented as fighting for what he thinks is right and following a strict sort of warrior's code even though it makes his job harder.<br /><br />That's far from the scenery-chewing white European villains we get, who generally establish their villainous bona fides through gratuitous killing and torture and traitorous behavior.</i><br /><br />True enough. One episode of the TV series did feature a "Jubal Early" (named, ironically, after a Confederate general whom Nathan Fillion claims descent from), who was a sort of sociopath bounty hunter who looked and sounded rather like Obama, but that's not quite the same thing (and while he did threaten to rape one of the female members of the crew to force their compliance, he was also portrayed, like the Operative, as being tough and smart and skilled enough to neutralize the whole crew before the psychic girl starts playing with his head).<br /><br /><i>I'm no movie expert, but I can't think of a black villain of that Rickman-in-Die-Hard sort.</i><br /><br />Yeah, no one's really coming to mind. I know Morgan Freean played the chief villain in <i>Wanted</i>, but I've never seen it and so have no idea of how much scenery he chewed, if any).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-61336654035644626282014-02-26T15:39:06.835-08:002014-02-26T15:39:06.835-08:00Certainly, Nick Fury (from the Marvel Universe) is...<i>Certainly, Nick Fury (from the Marvel Universe) is white in the comic books, but SLJ was convincingly cast as him. Liam Neeson would have been a good choice as well.</i><br /><br />There was an actual rationale behind that, though. In the <i>Ultimates</i> series of comics which rebooted various aspects of the Marvel universe and which the Marvel films draw partial inspiration from, author Mark Millar wanted to model Nick Fury after Jackson (at least, to hear him tell it), because he reasoned that Jackson represented a modern icon of "cool" in the way that Carey Grant (the original model for Fury in the 50s/60s) had back in the day, with Jackson granting the rights to his likeness on the condition that he be given first crack at playing Fury if the character should ever appear in a movie.<br /><br />Now, one can argue the relative coolness of Grant vs. Jackson to one's heart's content, but at the very least, there was some kind of reasoning process behind the portrayal beyond simply "because diversity".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-34053176502998820352014-02-26T15:26:21.210-08:002014-02-26T15:26:21.210-08:00The Operative in Serenity isn't the villian, t...The Operative in <em>Serenity</em> isn't the villian, though; he's...the villain's operative. (The villain is pretty much the faceless bureaucracy of the Alliance.) While the viewer knows the Operative is working for the bad guys, he doesn't, and he's presented as fighting for what he thinks is right and following a strict sort of warrior's code even though it makes his job harder.<br /><br />That's far from the scenery-chewing white European villains we get, who generally establish their villainous bona fides through gratuitous killing and torture and traitorous behavior. <br /><br />I'm no movie expert, but I can't think of a black villain of that Rickman-in-<em>Die-Hard</em> sort.Cail Corishevhttp://cailcorishev.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-7403365943885484262014-02-26T15:05:58.767-08:002014-02-26T15:05:58.767-08:00>[black actors] rarely get the chance to play w...>[black actors] rarely get the chance to play what is usually the most interesting role in the film- that of the villain<<br /><br />True.<br /><br />One of those rare instances is Chiwetel Ejiofor's turn as The Operative in "Serenity," as someone mentioned. To have audiences rooting for a strong white hero against a strong black villain was remarkable. The movie is let down mainly by the "ass-kicking girl" trope (I don't care what sci-fi mumbo-jumbo is supposed to explain her super grrrl power - this just sucked).<br /><br />I think Scorcese ought to pull a Spielberg and do a big-screen MLK biopic. With DiCaprio as Martin.Davidhttp://david-passingparade3.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-63500796938980819382014-02-26T14:17:15.342-08:002014-02-26T14:17:15.342-08:00Jefferson:"Even if the film takes place in De...Jefferson:"Even if the film takes place in Detroit, you still will not see a Black villain. Even though Detroit's racial demographics are closer to that of Haiti than it is to most of The United States.<br /><br />Only in Hollyweird, do Detroit villains look closer to Daniel Day Lewis in phenotype than they do to Don Cheadle."<br /><br />One of the weirder aspects of the highly enjoyable original ROBOCOP is its bizarre demographics. Crime in future Detroit is, apparently, run almost entirely by White people.... Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-89683464618633676882014-02-26T13:17:51.042-08:002014-02-26T13:17:51.042-08:00>>Geoff Matthews:
""SLJ as the sci...>>Geoff Matthews:<br />""SLJ as the scientist with the killer sharks (title?) could have gone either way.""<br /><br />Hold it, hold it. The best casting is based in real world situations. How many actual black scientists are there in America? As a percentage of the total number of scientists in America?<br /><br />About what....2% at most? 1%? Are there as many black scientists as say, other minorities, other ethnics?<br /><br />Answer: No.<br /><br />So really. That's a nod at political correctness and nothing more. Can you imagine the outrage if you didn't ever cast a black actor in those "smart" roles? Jesse and Al notice those type of things, don't they?<br /><br /><br /><br />""""Really, with 'historical' films, getting the character's race correct is appropriate."""""<br /><br />It depends. It used to be done for casting reasons.<br /><br /><br /><br />"""Whites should never play Malcolm X, MLKjr, etc."""<br /><br /><br />All right then be consistent. If you can't cast whites in those roles (whiy not though? Isnt the main goal to get the best actor for the role?? That's called consistency.) Then you have to NOT cast blacks in historically traditional roles that are well known to be caucasians.<br /><br />Example: Norse God mythology was based in Scandanavia at a time where absolutely no blacks lived, period. Thor = Aryan Nordic white dude as lily albino white as possible.<br /><br />What reason, other than an agenda, political correctness, does it serve to give that role to a black? Answer: No reason, except to send a PC message.<br /><br /><br /><br />"""But having a black actor, even a fine actor, play a white scientist (the aforementioned dolphin prosthesis film) does seem somewhat inappropriate.""""<br /><br /><br />Finally you see it. Because you don't see many black scientists in the real world, real life.<br /><br />Think about it. This whole month of black history, how many black scientists that took a leading role in a major scientific field have been highlighted? <br /><br />Answer: Verrryyyy few at all. GWCarver has been dead since '43. Name some more that are as famous. <br /><br />There aren't many, especially when compared to other ethnics. Wonder why that is?<br /><br />And, don't you think that if there were tons and tons out there that black history month wouldn't prominently display them for all to see? Of course they would.<br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-31244747654478418922014-02-26T13:11:27.061-08:002014-02-26T13:11:27.061-08:00Sometimes you can change a character's race an...Sometimes you can change a character's race and it works.<br /><br />For whatever reason Samuel L. Jackson works very well as Nick Fury.<br /><br />Someone mentioned Will Smith. It's been a pet idea of mine for a while, but I think he was born to play Jim Rockford. I'm sure you couldn't get him to do a TV series, but I bet he would nail the role in a movie.sunbeamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16540822135478202229noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-47352265891874312512014-02-26T12:46:00.441-08:002014-02-26T12:46:00.441-08:00I always wondered about the likelihood of a black ...I always wondered about the likelihood of a black man being holed up with whites in a Maine prison during the early 1900s. Was Red (in Shawshank Redemption) supposed to be black?<br />Certainly, Nick Fury (from the Marvel Universe) is white in the comic books, but SLJ was convincingly cast as him. Liam Neeson would have been a good choice as well.<br />SLJ as the scientist with the killer sharks (title?) could have gone either way.<br />Really, with 'historical' films, getting the character's race correct is appropriate. Whites should never play Malcolm X, MLKjr, etc. <br />But having a black actor, even a fine actor, play a white scientist (the aforementioned dolphin prosthesis film) does seem somewhat inappropriate. Geoff Matthewshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07335872605196107867noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-21523649356810135982014-02-26T12:11:01.872-08:002014-02-26T12:11:01.872-08:00"Johnny Depp for example has a blonde haired ..."Johnny Depp for example has a blonde haired and blue eyed daughter ?"<br /><br />The hair and eyes of children of European descent usually get darker in adolescence. This is where the phrase "baby blue" comes from. Blue eyes (and blonde hair) are more common in white children than in white adults. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-61431192704279881092014-02-26T12:08:53.376-08:002014-02-26T12:08:53.376-08:00Morgan Freeman as co-star and narrator in Shawshan...Morgan Freeman as co-star and narrator in Shawshank Redemption. <br /><br />In the book the character's name (Red) was based on his hair color. <br /><br />Thankfully the great Morgan Freeman was able to step up to the role and the world was saved from having to watch/listen to a ginger.stephen kingnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9430835.post-51907881899151971412014-02-26T11:18:02.575-08:002014-02-26T11:18:02.575-08:00"""Although the primary purpose of ..."""Although the primary purpose of the slavery narrative is as a cultural weapon against White people I think it has a negative effect on Black people as well which doesn't impact recent African immigrants as much or at all."""<br /><br /><br />True enough, but after a half century of using this cultural weapon, it really doesn't affect white people either. Why would it? That happened nearly 150yrs ago before anyone living RIGHT NOW were born. How does slavery affect right now? Answer: It doesnt, unless you let it. And the only ones who dont want to let it go are blacks.<br /><br />Most white people are kinda over it. It's like "Yeah, but didn't that happen a long time ago? Like way before my great grandparents were even born? Besides, I don't own slaves nor did my parents. It's right now that counts."<br /><br />And the whites move on. It's the blacks who can't move on for some reason. Have any African Americans born within the last half century been born into slavery that we're not aware of??Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com