I am having some rather lugubrious thoughts regarding the future of cinema. We will no longer have the opportunity to view a film because it's been made by somebody who has been accused of doing something stupid, offensive, obnoxious, or illegal. Certain topics will be off-limits, and every unsympathetic character will get his or her comeuppance, like back in the Fifties. No more artistic licence. Films will be reduced to a bland morass of homogeneity, all directed by Ron Howard and all starring Tom Hanks.
Female actors have been apologising for having worked with Woody Allen. Other female actors who have not publicly decried the man, such as Cate Blanchett, are being called out on this, as are male actors who have appeared in his movies without apologising to the world and calling for his house to be burned down. Hey, I don't know if Allen is guilty or not. However, he has been neither charged nor convicted of any crimes, and you actors who want to work with him: knock yourselves out; it's your business entirely how you see fit to practise your craft and earn an income. Years ago, I left a very toxic workplace, but I don't think this makes me responsible for any suffering experienced by my successor. The suffering was caused by the bullies in the workplace. Could I have stood in the street warning anybody who looked like they might be walking into the building for a job interview? Perhaps. But I had a new job to concentrate on and I seriously did not wish to be within an ass's roar of the place.
Everybody else, if you take a high moral ground you're going to have nothing to enjoy. Most people are flawed in some way, and some more than others. Phil Spector was undoubtedly a whiz in the recording studio, but if I listen to the magnificent music he produced, does this mean I am in some way endorsing the senseless shooting of a woman?
What people are finding to jump up and down about is really getting beyond a joke. Has anyone heard of 'Bojack Horseman'? It's about an character who is half-human and half-horse. And just to give you the heads up: he's not real; this is a story. The story is presented in the form of animation, and can I just point out that films, animated ones included, are an art form, and various tricks and illusions are amalgamated into the finished product? The characters in animation are drawn by artists, and voiced by actors. It takes a very talented voice actor to bring a character to life. Anyway, someone's lost their shit over what is deemed 'whitewashing' by Hollywood because some of the humanoid characters are voiced by actors outside the ethnicity of the character. Can the snivelling grot who actually started a change dot org petition about the casting in this movie do a few things? They are:
1. Fuck yourself.
2. Sit on a pine cone that has been seeped in turpentine.
3. Give yourself a few uppercuts.
4. Seriously think about your life choices.
I'm pretty certain the Bojack character isn't being voiced by some bi-species mutant dreamt up in Dr Moreau's laboratory. But someone else has asked the show's creator about one of the characters - Diane Nguyen who is Vietnamese-American - being voiced by a US actress. God in Heaven, who fucking CARES? It's ACTING!!! Bart Simpson isn't voiced by a ten-year-old boy.
I foolhardily pointed out the folly of complaining about white washing when the characters are acted via voice, not appearance. I got accused of being sheltered by my white privilege. No, I'm not sheltered by any white privilege. I just happen to have a bit of common sense, and am a firm believer in art for art's sake. Look, white washing is a thing and I do think it's important for actors of colour to be given work, too. There was another stink recently (probably kicked up by the same twits) regarding some of the casting in the upcoming Aladdin movie. It's not the main characters, it's because some extras have been 'browned up' with make up. So what? Maybe the only extras available were Caucasian, and here's something else: they were required for scenes where animals were to be handled and stunts performed. These jobs require appropriate training and qualifications. It is a safety issue, and safety must come first. If the only stunt people and animal handlers available for filming were of Caucasian background, then so be it. Slap a bit of dark foundation on them, and this also enables the make-up artists to showcase their talents for future employment. Yes, casting appropriate looking actors in the lead is important, particularly for actors who are POC, but let's have a bit of common sense in other aspects of film making, please.
In case some of you SJWs haven't been told, I will really enjoy breaking this to you. Before I do, do a wee, sit down, and remove your socks because what I'm about to tell you is going to knock them right off. Ready? Okay: the actors who played the Nazis in 'Hogan's Heroes' were Jewish. Got it? This is what acting is about.
People aren't perfect Hell, I want people to buy my books, but I'm not the greatest person alive. I once put gladwrap on a school toilet seat and the cleaning lady pissed on it. I am a monster! (Almost thirty-five years later, and I still think that's really uproariously funny).
Anyway, I'd better watch as many art house, or bizarre, or ickily-themed movies as I can before my choices boil down to 'Directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks', and 'Directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks'.
No comments:
Post a Comment