# Julia Roberts 'was first choice' to play black abolitionist Harriet Tubman

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/julia-roberts-was-first-choice-to-play-black-abolitionist-harriet-tubman/843710>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [November 20, 2019, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/julia-roberts-was-first-choice-to-play-black-abolitionist-harriet-tubman/843710 "2019-11-20T15:07:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/julia-roberts-was-first-choice-to-play-black-abolitionist-harriet-tubman/843710/41 "2019-11-23T03:34:23Z")

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On the other hand, I’m sure they are filming the porn parody “Harriet Tub-Girl” in some house in the San Fernando Valley.

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**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/julia-roberts-was-first-choice-to-play-black-abolitionist-harriet-tubman/843710/42 "2019-11-23T05:52:51Z")

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> [@Darren\_Garrison](#):
>
> Too bad the movie wasn’t made 25 years ago–the trains would have likely been practical then. Now, they will probably be half-assed CG.

Trains? Are you talking about the Underground Railroad?

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**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/julia-roberts-was-first-choice-to-play-black-abolitionist-harriet-tubman/843710/43 "2019-11-23T06:29:52Z")

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> [@orcenio](#):
>
> I’m actually intrigued how one would go about writing a movie about Harriet Tubman without acknowledging her race. Talk about a tough job.

I am not saying Julia Roberts is practically a doppelgänger of Harriet Tubman, but on a tangent I always remember how Mark Twain satirized racism in Pudd’nhead Wilson by making it a plot point that the locals can’t tell which of the kids is white and which is black based on appearance.

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**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2019, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/julia-roberts-was-first-choice-to-play-black-abolitionist-harriet-tubman/843710/44 "2019-11-23T18:17:59Z")

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I recall a biopic where the Carpenters are portrayed by Barbie & Ken dolls, with anorexic Karen’s surface shaved away till she was only a stick figure. I can envisage a Hollywood production where black Harriet has dark layers peeled off to reveal white Julia underneath. The Bleaching Of Miss Harriet Tubman by the Cohn Bros, FTW!

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