RE: Damned Racists, Vol II
March 10, 2019 at 8:01 am
(This post was last modified: March 10, 2019 at 8:15 am by EgoDeath.)
(March 10, 2019 at 7:55 am)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote: I just read an article about Will Smith being cast as the father of Venus and Serena Williams in a new biopic. Apparently, this has raised the issue of 'colorism' (a term I wasn't aware of until now) - some people are up in arms because Will Smith is less brown than Richard Williams. They are saying the producers should search for a darker-skinned actor for the role.
This strikes me as blatantly racist, as the people objecting to Smith's casting are doing so based ONLY on skin tone, not his talent or name recognition, or the fact that he's still a significant box office draw. Some of these people are actually calling for Smith to be dropped from the film.
Eedjits.
Boru
This is definitely a thing. The vast majority of my friends are black and I can tell you that they make fun of one another for being too "light-skinned" or too "dark-skinned." Then if I chime in and say, "Well aren't I the most light-skinned out of everyone?" They'll retort that I "don't count" because I'm white. So it's clearly a thing WITHIN the black community and not necessarily to do with the entire spectrum of skin colors. With my buddies it's harmless banter but it does speak to a real problem in the African-American community; dark-skinned black people tend to be discriminated against and light-skinned black people are sometimes seen "not being black enough."
It's pretty shitty and I'm not sure if we see the same thing in Asians, Middle-Easterners or white people. Though, maybe it does happen and I'm just not aware of it. Regardless, Will Smith is an amazing actor and if he played a koala bear it'd probably end up being a good movie, so I don't see the issue.
And okay @Grandizer you win. Have a good one.
If you're frightened of dying, and you're holding on, you'll see devils tearing your life away. But if you've made your peace, then the devils are really angels, freeing you from the Earth.