My Everything 23,397 Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 Star Wars actor John Boyega is calling out fantasy favorites Game of Thrones and The Lord of the Rings for a lack of diversity. “There are no black people on Game of Thrones. You don’t see one black person in Lord of the Rings,†Boyega said in a recent interview with GQ. “I ain’t paying money to always see one type of person on-screen. Because you see different people from different backgrounds, different cultures, every day. Even if you’re a racist, you have to live with that. We can ruffle up some feathers.†Boyega previously commented on diversity in pop culture after the first teaser for Star Wars: The Force Awakens came out and opened with him taking his Stormtrooper helmet off. Some fans of the franchise protested the casting choice, and Boyega responded by calling these reactions “unnecessary†and told detractors to “get used to it.†“I’m in the movie, what are you going to do about it?†he told V Magazine at the time. “You either enjoy it or you don’t. I’m not saying get used to the future, but what is already happening. People of color and women are increasingly being shown on-screen. For things to be whitewashed just doesn’t make sense.†Game of Thrones features a handful of nonwhite actors with speaking roles — Nathalie Emmanuel’s Missandei, Jacob Anderson’s Grey Worm, and Jessica Henwick’s Nymeria Sand, to name a few. As for The Lord of the Rings, there were very few nonwhite actors cast — Lawrence Makoare, one of the few actors of color in the films, played villains and was unrecognizable under both heavy Orc makeup and the armor of the Witch-King — and a casting agent was even let go from The Hobbit after he published newspaper advertisements “seeking extras with ‘light skin tones'†and told a potential cast member “she was too dark to appear in the movies,†the New York Times reported in 2010. Source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Morgan 3,556 Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 You should cast actors cause you believe they fit the role, not because ''diversity'' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reckoner 6,692 Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 i personally don't really care about the diversity if it's fucking good mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiirbii 4,760 Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 You should cast actors cause you believe they fit the role, not because ''diversity'' Funny how it's always white actors that fit the role. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
illunnienati 3,610 Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 He's right but also coming for a book written in the last century with actors casted for the show a longg time ago ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sapphic 1,501 Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 I mean, Star Wars only has two people of colour in their main 7 films. Statistically Game of Thrones fair much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim Hyolyn 1,509 Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 Funny how it's always white actors that fit the role. Lmao maybe because GOT is a fantasy setting of medieval EUROPE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Ren 4,272 Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 I understand where he is coming from, it must be so frustrating to not even be given the chance to show that you're a good actor, whereas a mediocre actor gets to appear on one of the biggest shows of this decade just because they're white. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Cat 91 Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 I mean I agree that whitewashing is a thing in Hollywood (@ white actors being cast in what were minority roles in the source material), but like... The setting is relevant? If you're depicting Europe in the dark ages then of course it's going to be almost entirely white. Just like you wouldn't depict ancient China with what looks like a modern multicultural western cast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maeo 13,014 Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 there are black characters in GOT though, they even replaced the ones that were non-black in the book? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxxie 2,860 Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 I've seen plenty of non-white characters in GoT. Also, it's a series set in a fictional medieval era, there was no such thing as diversity back then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RenM 2,204 Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 lol then what unsullied commander is ? and the rest of unsullied soldiers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xiumin Xiumin Ko Ko Baek 943 Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 But did we watch the same Game of Thrones or is he talking about the new season?? There were plenty of POC in Game of Thrones even Khaleesi's Army was POC. Of course the main cast itself is majority white, but considering where the story takes place and is based off of Europe it's accurate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rojen 4,657 Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 They have a dwarf as a main character, come on, and what about Melissandre, Grey Worm, the Dothrakis... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cherry blossom 1,121 Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 Except GOT is centered around fantasy medieval Europe. Medieval Europe was a time in history when the non white population was low in almost every European country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chae Is Bae 1,113 Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 I mean I agree that whitewashing is a thing (@ white actors being cast in what were minority roles in the source material), but like... The setting is relevant? If you're depicting Europe in the dark ages then of course it's going to be almost entirely white. Just like you shouldn't depict ancient China with what looks like a modern multicultural western cast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiirbii 4,760 Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 Lmao maybe because GOT is a fantasy setting of medieval EUROPE ! fantasy ! I've never seen GOT pride themselves on an accurate portrayal of medieval Europe. And, there were POC back then. People just like to cherry pick the white people from history. Also, Merlin did fine without a white Gwen. Other shows can survive just fine and still pay homage to their roots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soman 2,951 Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joon 8,222 Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 Greyworm? Missandei? Areo Hotah? Salladhor Saan? Greyworm? Missandei? Areo Hotah? Salladhor Saan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L'Amour 1,434 Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 Nvm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammy Lee 2,635 Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 These people say Hello. This was such a pointless rant imo, There are other movies and series that really lack diversity when it's needed, but not GOT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soman 2,951 Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 ! fantasy ! I've never seen GOT pride themselves on an accurate portrayal of medieval Europe. And, there were POC back then. People just like to cherry pick the white people from history. Also, Merlin did fine without a white Gwen. Other shows can survive just fine and still pay homage to their roots. Black people are free to write a book or make a movie with fantasy genre set in africa. 100% sure no one would be asking "more white people please!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim Hyolyn 1,509 Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 ! fantasy ! I've never seen GOT pride themselves on an accurate portrayal of medieval Europe. And, there were POC back then. People just like to cherry pick the white people from history. Also, Merlin did fine without a white Gwen. Other shows can survive just fine and still pay homage to their roots. It doesn't matter if it's fantasy or not it's still based off of European history. The reason they cast poc in got is to be more politically correct, they obviously can't get away with an all white cast since Hollywood is so liberal and wouldn't allow it. The author of the books is extremely involved in the tv shows and has said numerous times he wants to portray GOT as historically accurate as possible And with your argument that the show is fantasy therefore the history behind it doesn't matter, that means there should also be white characters in the new blank panther movie and there should be some native white African wakandans seeing as how it's all made up and just fantasy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiirbii 4,760 Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 These people say Hello. This was such a pointless rant imo, There are other movies and series that really lack diversity when it's needed, but not GOT. The second guy was only in 6 episodes. Fucking Hot Pie got more screen time than he did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xRibbonsx 1,804 Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 There will never be enough diversity, you can't just include every single ethnicity even if you try. They can try and squeeze in as many actors as possible from various backgrounds to get those approval points, but it's practically impossible. There is always someone left out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.