# Freakouts of the Right **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 28, 2022, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freakouts-of-the-right/963631 "2022-04-28T22:36:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 29
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2023, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freakouts-of-the-right/963631/561 "2023-05-26T07:12:09Z")
> [@Turek quoting CNN](#): > > A parent of a student at Bob Graham Education Center – a kindergarten through eighth grade school in Miami Lakes – objected to the poem, for which they erroneously listed Oprah Winfrey as the author/publisher, documents obtained by the Florida Freedom to Read Project show. Them uppity black women all look alike anyway. Who can tell 'em apart? ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2023, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freakouts-of-the-right/963631/562 "2023-05-31T00:30:46Z")
“The Little Mermaid” with Halle Lynn Bailey as Ariel. Review bombing in the US and Europe by _racist bigots._ psst - those are code words for the GQP “Make 1950s America an Idealized Dream” (MAID) fanatics. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2023, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freakouts-of-the-right/963631/563 "2023-05-31T00:53:12Z")
So these people object to the portrayal of a mythical creature such as a mermaid by a non-white actor? Why is that? Is there a master list somewhere of the races of all of the mythical creatures? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2023, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freakouts-of-the-right/963631/564 "2023-05-31T01:35:31Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > So these people object to the portrayal of a mythical creature such as a mermaid by a non-white actor? The complaint I keep hearing from Twitter chuds is that Hans Christian Andersen was Danish, so the mermaid needs to be a blonde blue-eyed Nordic goddess. Never mind that Andersen described her as having green skin… ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2023, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freakouts-of-the-right/963631/565 "2023-05-31T01:52:46Z")
I thought Orion Slave Girls were the green-skinned ones. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2023, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freakouts-of-the-right/963631/566 "2023-05-31T03:49:43Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Is there a master list somewhere of the races of all of the mythical creatures? It’s very simple for bigots: good mythical creatures are white, bad mythical creatures are not. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2023, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freakouts-of-the-right/963631/567 "2023-05-31T04:10:20Z")
Hmmm… y’know, in the last Black Panther Wakanda movie… did anyone significant complain that the SubMariner was cast as Maya? Or was that OK because Namor since at least the 60s has been canonically something of an asshole? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2023, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freakouts-of-the-right/963631/568 "2023-05-31T05:01:29Z")
I dunno… I don’t remember many people complaining about how Aquaman was now half-Polynesian, either. I suspect there’s a major sexist element there too. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2023, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freakouts-of-the-right/963631/569 "2023-05-31T11:01:39Z")
Allegedly (at least according to a co-worker to objected to the casting), it’s because it interferes with their memory of Ariel as a redhead mermaid. Which is weird-seeing Henry Cavill as Superman didn’t delete my memory of Christopher Reeve in the same role. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2023, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freakouts-of-the-right/963631/570 "2023-05-31T11:28:24Z")
Who ? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2023, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freakouts-of-the-right/963631/571 "2023-05-31T12:02:22Z")
Who what? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2023, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freakouts-of-the-right/963631/572 "2023-05-31T12:25:22Z")
Who? What? When? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2023, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freakouts-of-the-right/963631/573 "2023-05-31T12:30:22Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Allegedly (at least according to a co-worker to objected to the casting), it’s because it interferes with their memory of Ariel as a redhead mermaid. So it’s the not uncommon issue with factions of the fandom deciding **they** and not the rights-holders, “own” the character. > [@Smapti](#): > > Never mind that Andersen described her as having green skin… …wonder how they would have felt about a black actress in greenface… ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2023, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freakouts-of-the-right/963631/574 "2023-05-31T12:48:12Z")
I think it’s more than just interfering with their memories. It’s that the decision to cast a black actress is a sign of “wokeness,” that anything that gives some advantage to minorities is inherently “woke,” and thus inherently suspect. This may be accompanied by speculation about a hypothetical biopic of Martin Luther King, Jr. starring a white actor (I bet the woke crowd wouldn’t like that, ha-ha!), and assurances that any news stories about the new Little Mermaid movie being successful or popular are lies told the the “mainstream media” to further their “woke narrative.” ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2023, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freakouts-of-the-right/963631/575 "2023-05-31T12:54:18Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > This may be accompanied by speculation about a hypothetical biopic of Martin Luther King, Jr. starring a white actor “Othello was played by a white guy one time!” ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2023, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freakouts-of-the-right/963631/576 "2023-05-31T13:05:41Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > “Othello was played by a white guy one time!” I heard about a production with Patrick Stewart as Othello. The whole thing was race-reversed, with all the traditionally white roles played by black actors. According to Wikipedia, it was Stewart’s idea, and was rather controversial at the time. > **[Race-reversed casting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race-reversed_casting)** > > Race-reversed casting, also called photo negative casting, is a form of non-traditional casting in acting. The concept revolves around reversing the race of characters being played (white characters being played by black actors and vice versa). The concept was intended as a way to open up non-traditional character roles to more actors but has received complaints that it waters down racial differences. > The concept of race-reversed casting was invented by the British actor Sir Patrick Stewart ... ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2023, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freakouts-of-the-right/963631/577 "2023-05-31T13:17:46Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > The whole thing was race-reversed, with all the traditionally white roles played by black actors. I’d love to see a race-reversed production of _Gone With The Wind_. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2023, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freakouts-of-the-right/963631/578 "2023-05-31T13:23:24Z")
Laurence Olivier and Orson Welles both also played Othello in films. Olivier wore ridiculously over-the-top blackface. Welles’s makeup was more subtle, but still troubling today. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2023, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freakouts-of-the-right/963631/579 "2023-05-31T13:31:57Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > That entire article frames the incident so weirdly–this poor innocent kid in his giant pickup truck was ruthlessly harassed by a mob of evil terrorist bicyclists, until he had no choice but to defend himself by blowing a bunch of diesel smoke in their faces, and eventually running some of them over–that I thought it must be some kind of Onion-like satire. > > But no, according to wikipedia, the Washington Free Beacon is apparently in dead earnest. It’s a Conservative paper, but their MOTY award IS tongue in cheek - previously they’ve given it to Hunter Biden, or RBG’s personal trainer (for keeping her alive through the Obama years), etc. Did a little digging at @gnarator’s link. I do think that the joke is probably closer to “don’t bikers suck” rather than “aren’t people who vehemently hate bikers ridiculous”; but it’s hard to tell. ---
**Author:** ![Dandan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@Dandan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dandan)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2023, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freakouts-of-the-right/963631/580 "2023-05-31T13:42:42Z")
Olivier played Othello in blackface. My wife and I went to see this, and the afternoon showing was flooded by the contents of a Catholic girl’s school which spent their time catcalling (heh) and shrieking “eeew” loudly enough to drown out the dialog. When we had had enough my wife and I left, and on the way out I paused to ask the back row of nuns WTF (not really; I was a nicer guy in that long-ago, but that was the gist). The nuns sank down into their seats and shrugged, “nothing we can do”. When we got home I called the school and ratted to the Mother Superior. When I repeated the “nothing we can do” part, she said “Oh, yes, there is”. Years later I was speaking to a couple of young women who mentioned their school, and I told this story. “You got the rest of the field trips cancelled that year!” See, the system DOES work. Dan [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freakouts-of-the-right/963631.md?page=28) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freakouts-of-the-right/963631.md?page=30)