# What's better?  No minorities cast in a major film?  Or token minorities only?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-better-no-minorities-cast-in-a-major-film-or-token-minorities-only/206832>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [October 11, 2003, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-better-no-minorities-cast-in-a-major-film-or-token-minorities-only/206832 "2003-10-11T12:52:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-better-no-minorities-cast-in-a-major-film-or-token-minorities-only/206832/41 "2003-10-13T23:38:19Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by lissener \*  
> \*\* (Aside: Askia, I must make note of that username: Askia. The posts of any doper who’s unaware of the fact that Don Cheadle is one of the best actors BREATHING, of ANY race, must henceforth be taken with a grain of salt.) \*\*

So long as we agree he’s so OBVIOUSLY not one of the best actors ACTING.

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**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2003, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-better-no-minorities-cast-in-a-major-film-or-token-minorities-only/206832/42 "2003-10-13T23:43:26Z")

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I’m flummoxed. What have you seen him in?

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**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\
**Post date:** [October 14, 2003, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-better-no-minorities-cast-in-a-major-film-or-token-minorities-only/206832/43 "2003-10-14T00:30:07Z")

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First of all this is all a matter of personal taste anyway… but anyway.

First noticed Cheadle in DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS because I thought from the get-go he was just wrong in his role (Seriously. I hated hated hated him as Mouse. 'Course, I thought Denzel was too smooth to play Easy Rawlins, so hey… I once tried to get author Walter Moseley to to admit publicly he didn’t like Cheadle at a book signing in Atlanta), saw him next as the drug dealer in BULWORTH (duly unimpressed), the homesteader in ROSEWOOD (a blip on the screen; preferred Ving Rhames and Jon Voight), as Sammy in THE RAT PACK (admittedly enjoyed his part here – but then again, celebrity impersonations aren’t performances. ) Cringed when I saw him as the fluffer in BOOGIE NIGHTS (What? He was supposed to be a porno actor? Geddafukoutahere!) Was conned into seeing him in MISSION TO MARS (Didn’t realize he was in it until it was too late to back out…) Last saw him as the DEA agent in TRAFFIC or maybe the cockney thief in OCEAN’S 11 (mildly amused by him in the latter; good thing his part was uncredited. Might have enjoyed it more if Robert Carlyle had his part.) Oh, and the resturantuer/bookie in RUSH HOUR 2.

That’s about all I can think of.

Cheadle’s just so… bland. Like a dramatic version of Wayne Brady. I’ve heard his acting technique described as “restrained”, “understated” and “nuanced” which I guess are all PC ways of saying “ethnically nuetral and boring as hell.” At least when Sidney Pointier, Robert Guilliame, James Earl Jones, Morgan Freeman, Andre Braugher, Gregory Hines and Laurence Fishburne played straight-laced roles, they managed to inject a little humor, anger, machismo, coolness, grittiness, _something_, to make me admire them…

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