I don't hear much about tokenism any more, but it seems to be the end result of pandering and virtue signaling. I wonder how actors feel about being offered roles just so producers can tick their diversity boxes. I do not think this is always the case, but it seems like it's becoming much more commonplace. Idris Elba (THE greatest living actor, in my opinion) recently took a lot of heat for saying he didn't want to be known as a "black actor," just "an actor." The closest experience I've had relating to this was when I was offered a job only because I had the correct credential. They didn't care about my skills, job history, nothing. I was glad to be offered a job, but I still felt weirdly invisible. There is something cold and inhuman when we assess people and view them only through the lens of immutable traits. Race essentializing is just one of many examples of how we dehumanize people and render them invisible in Western society. On a more optimistic note, the best point the author made is that instead of always doing remakes of classic European fairytales, Disney should borrow from other rich traditions around the world. In addition to introducing Western audiences to stories from other cultures, why not also make up some new ones?? Even in fiction writing, authors are encouraged to use as little imagination as possible by our society. As our country continues dumbing down, it seems we're getting more boring as well. If anyone needs inspiration or thinks it can't be done, just look at Miyazaki's movies. I'm getting really tired of jerks trolling every comment I make here, so I'm going to preempt it this time by saying if you disagree with what I'm saying, be civil about it or don't waste my time because I'll simply block you without finishing reading your insults.
The Little Mermaid and the question of racially-conscious casting
I don't hear much about tokenism any more, but it seems to be the end result of pandering and virtue signaling. I wonder how actors feel about being offered roles just so producers can tick their diversity boxes. I do not think this is always the case, but it seems like it's becoming much more commonplace. Idris Elba (THE greatest living actor, in my opinion) recently took a lot of heat for saying he didn't want to be known as a "black actor," just "an actor." The closest experience I've had relating to this was when I was offered a job only because I had the correct credential. They didn't care about my skills, job history, nothing. I was glad to be offered a job, but I still felt weirdly invisible. There is something cold and inhuman when we assess people and view them only through the lens of immutable traits. Race essentializing is just one of many examples of how we dehumanize people and render them invisible in Western society. On a more optimistic note, the best point the author made is that instead of always doing remakes of classic European fairytales, Disney should borrow from other rich traditions around the world. In addition to introducing Western audiences to stories from other cultures, why not also make up some new ones?? Even in fiction writing, authors are encouraged to use as little imagination as possible by our society. As our country continues dumbing down, it seems we're getting more boring as well. If anyone needs inspiration or thinks it can't be done, just look at Miyazaki's movies. I'm getting really tired of jerks trolling every comment I make here, so I'm going to preempt it this time by saying if you disagree with what I'm saying, be civil about it or don't waste my time because I'll simply block you without finishing reading your insults.