From: garym@mcgath.com   
      
   On 4/13/25 9:29 AM, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:   
   > The problem with color-blind casting is that the viewer doesn't   
   > know whether the *character* is, e.g., African-American or not.  I   
   > mention this because in TITANIC: THE MUSICAL we see a group of   
   > second-class passengers including several characters from Ireland,   
   > central Europe, and other places, and one of the characters is   
   > played by an African-American.  I thought at first the character   
   > was African-American, but then not only did she seem to be married   
   > to a white man, but she was dancing with the white first-class men   
   > and the white stewards, and I thought, "Well, either she's not   
   > African-American, or they're confused about the social conditions   
   > of the time."   
      
   It's a weird thing. Racial miscasting is regarded as something terrible,   
   yet it's done all the time without getting complaints.   
      
   When there are complaints, they often get it wrong. People complain when   
   Othello is played by a white of European extraction, but a black actor   
   of sub-Saharan ancestry would be equally inaccurate. People from that   
   area were rare in Shakespeare's England. A "Moor," which is what Othello   
   is called, would have been North African or Middle Eastern.   
      
   Historically, well-qualified actors matching a part's ethnicity were   
   often passed up in favor of white actors in movies. A big reason for   
   this was the Hays Code, which banned interracial romance or kissing.   
   Once a white was chosen for a role, any part romantically involved with   
   it also had to be white.   
      
   --   
   Gary McGath    http://www.mcgath.com   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)