Moses

[wesw]

lol joe. don t miss ben Affleck starring as kunta kinte in the roots remake. in blackface....

[liberty]

Would you care if Brad Pitt had played the part of Ray Charles instead of Jamie Foxx?

No, I wouldn’t care as long as Brad could make the audience forget he existed and believe they were seeing Ray Charles. An actor is a performer that can make character come to life. In this case the spirit of Ray Charles would be using the body of Brad Pitt to come back to life and entertain an audience again.

[oldr_n_wsr]

I think when people know what the subject (Ray Charles) looks like (African-American) it's harder for people to believe/get into a movie when somone other than the subjects race tries to play them. No one knows what Moses looks like and most probably remember Moses looks like Charlton Heston so it's not as big a deal.

[Gob]

Ray Charles isn't an imaginary person though?

[Lord Jim]

Neither is Moses...

But I'm sure you can produce a list of people who would have had no reason to mention him showing that they didn't mention him...

[Sue U]

Moses may or may not be an actual historical figure, or he may be a pastiche of actual historical figures, or he may be fictional. But that's all entirely irrelevant and wholly misses the point.

Similarly, King Arthur may or may not be a historical figure. So what?

[MajGenl.Meade]

So even a fine actor like Denzel Washington shouldn't really be playing King Arthur in a movie. OTOH, for what possible moronic reason would one have a white actor play Othello (sorry Sir Larry)? Clearly that role should be given to a fine black actor - such as Denzel Washington.

[Gob]

Similarly, King Arthur may or may not be a historical figure. So what?

So we don't have black actors playing him of course! Just in case he was real, and gets miffed about it.

[liberty]

Similarly, King Arthur may or may not be a historical figure. So what?

So we don't have black actors playing him of course! Just in case he was real, and gets miffed about it.

Gob, does this doubt that you express about your mythical warrior king mean that you people of Wales finally accept the Anglo-Saxons as your betters.

[Guinevere]

I'd have absolutely no issue with Denzel playing King Arthur. Or playing King Arthur with Denzel

[MajGenl.Meade]

Better off playing Sir Lance... no?

[liberty]

So even a fine actor like Denzel Washington shouldn't really be playing King Arthur in a movie. OTOH, for what possible moronic reason would one have a white actor play Othello (sorry Sir Larry)? Clearly that role should be given to a fine black actor - such as Denzel Washington.

General I think that you are playing the devils advocate for I am sure that you know the Berbers are a somewhat mixed people, so a Berber such as the character Othello would not necessarily be black in appearance. And that Berbers would be less black the further back in history one goes at least until the last Ice Age. The Berbers are some what more mixed than other North Africans, but for the most they look Caucasian to me. So why is the part of Othello a role for a black actor? Look: http://www.ibtimes.com/who-are-north-af ... deo-707577

[MajGenl.Meade]

Not so, little grasshopper! Check the excellent discussion in Wiki from whence this excerpt is taken:

There is no consensus over Othello's race. E. A. J. Honigmann, the editor of the Arden Shakespeare edition, concluded that Othello's race is ambiguous. "Renaissance representations of the Moor were vague, varied, inconsistent, and contradictory. As critics have established, the term 'Moor' referred to dark-skinned people in general, used interchangeably with similarly ambiguous terms as 'African', "Ethiopian', 'Negro', and even 'Indian' to designate a figure from Africa (or beyond). Various uses of the word 'black' (for example, "Haply for I am black") are insufficient evidence for any accurate racial classification, Honigmann argues, since 'black' could simply mean 'swarthy' to Elizabethans. In 1911, James Welton argued more evidence points to him being Sub-Saharan, though Shakespeare's intention is unknown. He cites Brabantio's description of Othello's "sooty bosom," a racial stereotype during this time, and Othello's contrast between his "begrimed" features and purity of the goddess Diana. He argues that interpretations attempting to change Othello from "black to brown" were due to racial prejudice during Reconstruction in America and notes that Othello is described using similar language to Aaron in Titus Andronicus. Virginia Mason Vaughan suggests that the racial identity of the character of Othello fit more clearly as a man from Sub-Saharan Africa than from North Africa (Barbary) as north Africans were more easily accepted into society

[liberty]

Not so, little grasshopper! Check the excellent discussion in Wiki from whence this excerpt is taken:

There is no consensus over Othello's race.

So, why does he have to be played by a black actor, why not an Arab or a European (white) with a heavy sun tan.

[MajGenl.Meade]

He doesn't have to be. Who said he did? I asked for what possible reason is that role given to a white actor?

I can answer my own question by saying "because auditions should be colour blind" = but that's moronic because we all know that absent some PC shock value, no actor of colour is going to be chosen to play Winston Churchill for example. And to cast two white people as Porgy and Bess would be crass.

Another good possible reason is box-office draw = you choose a Laurence Olivier for Othello over a Barkevious Mingo because the first is a well-known actor (yes, yes he's dead now but this is 'type' we're discussing) and the second is a football player and won't bring in the crowds. But that's also rooted in historical "white only" availability of theatre roles (and then movies).

I contend that nowadays with so many fine non-white actors available, Othello in any major production should better be played by a non-white actor. Again, for box-office reasons one chooses Denzel over Ali ibn Nobody.

It's unfortunate in some ways that historical dramas perpetuate historical attitudes by their faithful depiction of the past. I can't imagine having Denzel play Hanks' part in Shaving Ryan's Privates. What was lacking for many years (and still often today) are movies about non-white history - Glory was a noble exception. Now we get bio-pics like Ray and Ali and a particular actor will break out of the stereotype roles - Denzel and Will Smith are "cross-over" actors who draw an audience from across the spectrum.

I think my point is that even such a popular actor as Sidney Poitier was almost always playing a "black" person. Flash forward today to Denzel who gets roles that mostly are him playing a cop, a father, a doctor... who, as it happens, is black but the part could have been (and in the past always was) given to a white actor.

[Gob]

The United Arab Emirates says it won't allow the screening of Hollywood's Biblical epic Exodus: Gods and Kings, mirroring similar bans by Egypt and Morocco.


The National Media Council, charged with vetting films for release in the UAE, said the Ridley Scott movie about Moses's escape from pharaonic Egypt contained "religious and historical mistakes".
"The film shows Moses not as a prophet but as just a preacher of peace," the council's director of media content tracking Juma Obaid al-Leem told AFP, adding that the storyline contradicts the holy books.
In addition to his place in the Christian and Jewish faiths, Moses is also revered by Muslims as a prophet just like Mohammed.
Leem said the film had also fallen foul of the council for its depiction of Moses receiving the revelation from God through a child.
Representation of God and prophets is taboo in Islam.
The UAE is a Muslim country where foreigners, including millions of non-Muslims, make up the majority of the population.
"We do not allow the distortion of religions ... When it comes to religious and historical movies, we care about having a correct narrative and avoiding hurting the feelings of others," Leem said.
But he insisted that film censorship in the UAE is not tough, stressing that most movies are approved for release.
"It is normal if we express reservations about one movie out of 1000," he said.
The 3D Exodus: Gods and Kings, starring Christian Bale as Moses, earned $US24.1 million in its debut weekend in the United States, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/mov ... z3NR5DEREI

[wesw]

well gob, this is a little convoluted, bear with me here....

so moses has been put to bed....

so for censorship, or accuracy depending on your viewpoint, it s a win....

so if moses is abed, and it s a win...

is moses a Bedouin ??? his wives in the desert were Bedouin, right????

....I m confused now. I need coffee.