• Noma Dumezweni cast as Hermione in new Harry Potter stage play
    92 replies, posted
Can't wait to see harry with gold chains and baggy trouser
Christ the reaction to this has been the most petty bullshit ever. If you are that concerned about Hermione's skin colour you need to look long and hard in the mirror and ask yourself [I]'why do I care?'[/I]. It just screams 'I have an infantile hang up in regards to race' to me.
[QUOTE=WilloTheWisp;49360885]I realise it's probably not canon, but consistancy is nice... It's not just hermione being black either, Ron isn't ginger I'm sure they're great actors but I don't think black washing Hermione was a great decision[/QUOTE] "blackwashing" a character that has no canon indication of being white, nice
[QUOTE=Levithan;49366899]"blackwashing" a character that has no canon indication of being white, nice[/QUOTE] #notmyhermione
Harry's a man? The patriarchy strikes again!!1
Don't see the problem here; it's a theatre adaptation of a franchise targeted at children and teenagers. A good play will engage you in the story so much that if there are things that detract from the narrative experience, such as stage and prop limitations (or an actor's race), you suspend your disbelief. Your mind and imagination fills in the blanks. You can nitpick what Rowling has said, and it's obvious the original character was white, but her race was never a real part of her character (apart from her having muggle parents), so it doesn't really matter. Picking out a passage in the books where she's described as 'white-faced' seems like you're taking the tweet too literally IMO.
Just a play. Also, its the UK. That makes the races interchangeable.
Maybe they just picked the best actress and she happened to be black, and Hermione is still played by a white actress in, y'know, one of the highest grossing movie series ever. It really doesn't matter who plays her in this play (well as long as she's good).
You guys are racist lol
[QUOTE=Doozle;49367423]You guys are racist lol[/QUOTE] People are too jumpy these days. Everyone's just waiting to bring up their kneejerk reaction to whatever side of the social justice coin they're opposed to, even if it's not really relevant.
Even if Hermione had a set, defined race in the books (the cover art of the books notwithstanding as they were the creation of an artist, and not the author), why would anyone give a remote shit about a play casting some chick of a different ethnicity in the role. The fellas in this thread that are beating around the "another gosh dang blackwashing by them social justice yokels enforcing their agenders" shtick either don't realize or forget that outside of roles that demand a specific type of person in a high-production rendition of a play, the vast majority of theater just does not give a remote fuck about what race (or even at times gender) you are. This is basically as bog-standard a casting choice as they come for your average play. Chick was probably best at the part, she got the part.
Who fucking cares? Her race is never specified and not at all important to her character or the story. What a silly thing to make a fuss about.
[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;49367788]Who fucking cares? [B]Her race is never specified and not at all[/B] important to her character or the story. What a silly thing to make a fuss about.[/QUOTE] But that's fucking wrong. In every official illustration she is white. Even in Rowling's sketches she is white. Rowling had a say in casting the movies, and they picked a white actor. Now casting Dumezweni ain't gonna tank the production (personally, a stage Harry Potter seems really dumb), but saying that Hermoinie's race is never specified is just wrong.
[QUOTE=Mister Sandman;49366683]From what I understand, plays don't usually give a shit what your race or gender is. It seems like a lot of them fuck with the formula on purpose. [B]I've seen pictures of Hamlet where instead of Medieval Scots[/B], it's modern day businessmen.[/QUOTE] I know right? I once saw a play where Halmet was portrayed as a prince of Denmark, that was so not what the author wanted.
[QUOTE=Zuimzado;49361106][url=https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/678888094339366914]from the mouth of the writer herself[/url][/QUOTE] People actually found references to her being described as white in the books. So seems like Rowling can't keep stuff straight either. Honestly I don't care too much. Don't think she fits, but it's a stage production. Raw acting is kinda more important in that.
[QUOTE=DuCT;49368296]But that's fucking wrong. In every official illustration she is white. Even in Rowling's sketches she is white. Rowling had a say in casting the movies, and they picked a white actor. Now casting Dumezweni ain't gonna tank the production (personally, a stage Harry Potter seems really dumb), but saying that Hermoinie's race is never specified is just wrong.[/QUOTE] And yet Rowling herself came right out and said that she never wrote Hermione as a "white" character. Even if she personally envisioned her as one, she didn't specifically write her as one, and so changing her race does not in any way whatsoever change her character or her impact. It's a stupid thing to get up in arms about. If her being black would in some way undermine her role, then fine. For example, they are apparently considering casting Idris Elba as Roland Deschain in the Gunslinger movie. I'm sure Idris is a capable actor, but he is black, and Roland's character being white is actually kind of a big deal in the story, considering a major source of conflict between him and one of the other main characters was racial. Hermione, on the other hand? Who fucking cares? What does it matter? This isn't PC gone mad, it's just a merit-based casting system that has zero impact on the character or the story.
[QUOTE=Zuimzado;49361106][url=https://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/678888094339366914]from the mouth of the writer herself[/url][/QUOTE] oh, okay neat! guess the movies really make a lasting impression of how you perceive the characters visually. Even in written media. [editline]22nd December 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=wraithcat;49368445]People actually found references to her being described as white in the books.[/QUOTE] see this is what I thought too, but only as someone that's only read 1&1/2 of the books many years ago. that "white-faced" one definitely doesn't count though.
Why get so upset about ethnicity in a damn play. The hell are people's problems nowadays.
I'm only disappointed because I prefer the beauty of white girls rather than black girls. But I do not see anything bad in changing race of one of the characters, even if it's against what's in the book.
[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;49367788]Who fucking cares? Her race is never specified and not at all important to her character or the story. What a silly thing to make a fuss about.[/QUOTE] I'm gonna argue that even if Rowling specifically said she was white, it doesn't matter. Again, I think that if you're financing your own play, you're free to interpret and portray the characters however the fuck you want to. It's your money and your adaptation. Whether or not Hermonie was actually white is entirely academic.
"I want the main character to be black not white" "Alright that seems like a good idea!" "I want the main character to be white, not black" "Wtf u racist"
[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;49368861]It's a stupid thing to get up in arms about.[/QUOTE] Are people not allowed to disagree with things that aren't super important? Some people feel like the author, books, art, etc. established that the character was white and that it's silly to make the character black. The fact that it's irrelevant in the big scheme of things in no way makes their dislike less real.
If white people can play as Egyptians, this should be fine too.
[QUOTE=Stolons;49370617]If white people can play as Egyptians, this should be fine too.[/QUOTE] Fuck that, if the BBC can convince me that a oddly dressed alien man dancing around the screen is supposed to be Sherlock Holmes, then I can be convinced that a black woman is Hermione.
What has happened to the world. nobody flipped when i played alladin in middle school
The race doesn't affect the story. This isn't like making HuckeBerry Finn black or something.
If David Bowie can pull off The Elephant Man with no makeup at all, I don't see how this can't work. [video=youtube;gHSQpdC_Y6E]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHSQpdC_Y6E[/video]
[QUOTE=proboardslol;49370286]"I want the main character to be black not white" "Alright that seems like a good idea!" "I want the main character to be white, not black" "Wtf u racist"[/QUOTE] haha yeah the SJWs are the real racists amirite? :downs:
[QUOTE=proboardslol;49370286]"I want the main character to be black not white" "Alright that seems like a good idea!" "I want the main character to be white, not black" "Wtf u racist"[/QUOTE] No one is saying "I want the character to be black not white." It's "I think this person (who happens to be black) will be a good Hermione." The only people who are saying "they shouldn't be *skin colour*" are the people complaining that she's white No one's saying "she [I]should[/I] be black," because no one is caring about that.
[QUOTE=sgman91;49370483]Are people not allowed to disagree with things that aren't super important? Some people feel like the author, books, art, etc. established that the character was white and that it's silly to make the character black. The fact that it's irrelevant in the big scheme of things in no way makes their dislike less real.[/QUOTE] And, what? Am I not allowed to disagree with their assessment because of that? This is a two way street, dude. Just as they are allowed to get up in arms about trivial bullshit, I am allowed to think they are ridiculous for doing so.
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