There are times when a character needs to be of a certain race/ethnicity. Hitler, for example, WAS, historically, of a certain racial/ethnic background, so it is perfectly valid, if seeking realism as opposed to irony or surrealism, to have him depicted as such.
Or perhaps a writer wants to explore certain cultural aspects best served by characters OF that culture (say, Amy Tan writing Chinese characters or, to use a play I am currently anaylizing for a class, Suzan-Lori Parks might want to use Black characters to tell a story particular to that culture and experience.)
But absolutely, I love it when a writer (or director or casting director) breaks out of the box of ASSUMING a character should be of some “default” (usually “white”) race and just writes or casts a character as INCIDENTALLY of some other race/ethnic background. (or even as gay or a woman or mentally or physically challenged, incidentally, as opposed to that being the defining factor or even necessary for the larger character development).
I guess because I like to imagine that one fine day this will be the norm in reality as well as fiction. But also because as a writer, reader and viewer of films and plays, I appreciate well-rounded, complex characters, not tokens or one-dimensional ones.
But for some stories, in real life as in fiction, such aspects ARE the essential defining characteristic in that they are integral to the tale.
There are two examples I will cite, both from the work of Stephen King, one from a novel and one from the film adaptation of a novella he wrote.
In The Stand, a central character, Nick Andros, is never once declared as being of any particular race or ethnic background, but there are several details which hint that he was Black or bi-racial. (a description of his hair texture at one point, a beating by a herd of “rednecks” which strongly implied a racial bias at play, though because his character was deaf and the scene was related largely from his pov, he (and we) caught only snatches of the comments made, his backstory of having been taught to read and write by a “big Black man” and their relationship/relating to one another, and also subtle clues in the way he was addressed and reacted to the “old Black woman”, Mother Abigail.)
At any rate, I am one who firmly sees this character as Black or bi-racial, even though it is never explicitly stated by the author and is, arguably, irrelevent to the story-line. But most I know never considered that, and when the mini-series was produced, he was cast as a white man. Mother Abigail, who was explicitly desribed as Black, was the only major non-anglo character.
In The Shawshank Redemption (based on the novella of similar name, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption) the character of Red was, imo, brilliantly given to Morgan Freeman. Brilliant not only because he did such a great job with it, but because nowhere in the novella is Red described as NOT being Black (or being White)…he is described as having red hair and having an Irish surname, hence his nickname. Could just as easily be a Black man as a White one. WTH not, I say? It made no difference whatsoever to his role as written (though as acted served to inform it considerably, imo).
I recall years ago hearing a debate somewhere over a Black man playing Jesus in some production, and not a few whites in the discussion were not pleased, most saying something along the lines of, “Well, no, it doesn’t matter if he was Black or White or PURPLE, BUT…” :rolleyes: IOW, it doesn’t MATTER, just don’t you DARE depict him as BLACK! :eek:
But, they argued it was historical revisionism, which, on its face, is questionable, since 1. WAS he an actual historical figure 2. the Bible contains passages which support the view that Jesus as written of had feet the color of bronze and was called an “Ethiopian”. :dubious:
WRT Jesus or Santa Claus (who arguably is historically a Nordic/White character in origin), all’s fair. As it is with any other character whose race/ethnic background is not integral to the story-line.
