Quote:
Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague
Without expressing any particular opinion about the strength or weakness of this position, the viewpoint being opposed is the prioritization of ideology related to racial identity - i.e., the view that the skin colour of the actor is a crucially important consideration, such that it's absolutely necessary that casting pay attention to it and ensure that there are black actors in the show. I mean I'm sure there are some of them who are just "#### black people", a lot of it is, "it's a Lord of the Rings show, not an instrument for social change, just make the show good and stop prioritizing this other stuff that isn't central to whether the writing or production are enjoyable to watch". The attitude is less "don't cast black people", so much as "don't go out of your way to intentionally cast black people as some demonstration of how progressive you are." Which is absolutely what's happening when the studio casts a black girl as the little mermaid, obviously - that's a deliberate choice to say "look, we cast a black girl, we obviously care about minority representation in film! Now, write a lot of stories about how great or terrible this is so that everyone knows this movie is coming out."
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Why is the casting of a Black actor in a television show or film automatically due to some quota or broader political decision in your eyes, and not because
that actor was good at what they do? And just as importantly, if the position that writing or production was somehow negatively impacted by casting a Black person over a white person is extremely weak (and it is), isn't that just the same as "don't cast Black people"? Like, if you're reason for not wanting them in the show (which is ridiculous) isn't even a remotely valid reason, how is it anything else?
I know you didn't want to get into the validity of the position, but then you went ahead and called it a valid position in terms of the Little Mermaid. So, too late.