Color Blind Casting Essay
Color Blind Casting is for Everyone Who Is Not a Minority Numerous opportunities are given to people in the entertainment industry. While some people struggle with making it in Hollywood, others flourish and become prosperous in their abilities. In that fact, you can find so many talented people that are not cut out for “stardom.” Most of the time character roles are not based on talent, but one's looks; looks that are features of a person, like skin color, face shape, and much more. That can’t be changed. In contrast, there are a number of roles in theatre where a physical description is not a deciding factor. This is called color-blind casting. Colorblind casting is when the role is not determined by the race or ethnicity of the character
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but solely based on the talent efficiency of the person playing the role. Colorblind casting isn’t directly used towards minorities but exemplified more so in Caucasians. In which a traditional role in a play that is originally played by a minority gets overtaken by a Caucasian. Where does that leave minorities? In the background.
Colorblind casting is a creative tactic, it implements a different style of creativity that allows the director to have more flexibility with singing, acting aspects of the show. It was founded in 1986 to stop racial discrimination in theatre, film, and television, but did it? No, it did not. In an article entitled The problem with color-blind casting in 'Hamilton' and 'Harry Potter' from CNN entertainment online news network wrote, “Well, like everything that has to do with race, it's complicated. At the heart of it all is the issue highlighted by the #OscarsSoWhite campaign -- the lack of opportunities in Hollywood for actors of color”. The #OscarsSoWhite was a huge controversy over the awards that were given to only white actors in 2016. It was the second year in a row that the awards were not rewarded for people of color. Within situations like this, it only enhances the recognition of how Caucasians have this strong dominance in the entertainment industry. Their race has now taken over so many great roles that were written originally for African Americans, Mexicans, and Asians. For example, in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical, In The Heights which consists of a highly populated Hispanic cast, a white person had been cast to play the Dominican American in the Chicago production. That’s ridiculous. There’s a lot of great Hispanic, Dominican, or African American actors who could’ve easily played that role. That’s when you really find out that this system is not made for a minority. They have to work much harder than Caucasians to establish a lead role other than an ensemble. In acting, your main goal is to suspend the audience’s belief into personal reinvention.
The audience looks at you and begins to feel an emotional connection with you and the character you're playing. It isn’t about physical appearance. It’s about who is the best actor for the role. Though colorblind casting is mostly orientated around Caucasians, there are some scenarios where minorities win over the majority of white actors. For example, in the original Broadway production of the musical Footloose, the character Rusty was not determined as being white or black. It was an even more shocking to find out the African American actress, Stacy Francis, got a lead. Sometimes talent does have a part in casting.There was also the controversy about Hamilton the musical in which there were open audition calls specifying “non-white actors” for the roles. That same sign has been invisible but still, there was an unspoken rule towards minorities for a long time.In a HuffPost posting called, No, The ‘Hamilton’ Casting Call For ‘Non-White’ Actors Is Not Reverse Racism. The writer of the post had mentioned a very strong point. “...criticizing the show’s poorly-worded casting call is very different than criticizing the show’s desire for actors of color”. Minorities have been rejected so many times because of the color of their skin. They can sing, dance, and act the part beautifully and are not cast.There are so many times when I’ve seen white people in leads and minorities in the back yet the director would say it’s a highly enriched ethnic cast. Sprinkling a few minorities to an ensemble cast does not make that show diverse. It’s the acting that goes beyond
that. For all the detailed reasonings above Caucasians do predominantly have a better effectiveness in color-blind casting. It’s based on skin color rather talent which does not help with producing a successful show. In some cases, looks do matter, but what you're really doing is limiting yourself to creativity. The creativity is what audience members will be looking for. Seeing the same movie over and over again will get boring, but if you add a new cast or change up the little details it might be entertaining again. Seeing a cast that is consisted of diversity can improve your audience size in which more people would want to see it, especially if every race had a standard role. It’s that simple. Putting limits on opportunities for others is not the way to go. Treating people with the same amount of respect you give to others is. Remember, fairness can change it all.
but solely based on the talent efficiency of the person playing the role. Colorblind casting isn’t directly used towards minorities but exemplified more so in Caucasians. In which a traditional role in a play that is originally played by a minority gets overtaken by a Caucasian. Where does that leave minorities? In the background.
Colorblind casting is a creative tactic, it implements a different style of creativity that allows the director to have more flexibility with singing, acting aspects of the show. It was founded in 1986 to stop racial discrimination in theatre, film, and television, but did it? No, it did not. In an article entitled The problem with color-blind casting in 'Hamilton' and 'Harry Potter' from CNN entertainment online news network wrote, “Well, like everything that has to do with race, it's complicated. At the heart of it all is the issue highlighted by the #OscarsSoWhite campaign -- the lack of opportunities in Hollywood for actors of color”. The #OscarsSoWhite was a huge controversy over the awards that were given to only white actors in 2016. It was the second year in a row that the awards were not rewarded for people of color. Within situations like this, it only enhances the recognition of how Caucasians have this strong dominance in the entertainment industry. Their race has now taken over so many great roles that were written originally for African Americans, Mexicans, and Asians. For example, in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical, In The Heights which consists of a highly populated Hispanic cast, a white person had been cast to play the Dominican American in the Chicago production. That’s ridiculous. There’s a lot of great Hispanic, Dominican, or African American actors who could’ve easily played that role. That’s when you really find out that this system is not made for a minority. They have to work much harder than Caucasians to establish a lead role other than an ensemble. In acting, your main goal is to suspend the audience’s belief into personal reinvention.
The audience looks at you and begins to feel an emotional connection with you and the character you're playing. It isn’t about physical appearance. It’s about who is the best actor for the role. Though colorblind casting is mostly orientated around Caucasians, there are some scenarios where minorities win over the majority of white actors. For example, in the original Broadway production of the musical Footloose, the character Rusty was not determined as being white or black. It was an even more shocking to find out the African American actress, Stacy Francis, got a lead. Sometimes talent does have a part in casting.There was also the controversy about Hamilton the musical in which there were open audition calls specifying “non-white actors” for the roles. That same sign has been invisible but still, there was an unspoken rule towards minorities for a long time.In a HuffPost posting called, No, The ‘Hamilton’ Casting Call For ‘Non-White’ Actors Is Not Reverse Racism. The writer of the post had mentioned a very strong point. “...criticizing the show’s poorly-worded casting call is very different than criticizing the show’s desire for actors of color”. Minorities have been rejected so many times because of the color of their skin. They can sing, dance, and act the part beautifully and are not cast.There are so many times when I’ve seen white people in leads and minorities in the back yet the director would say it’s a highly enriched ethnic cast. Sprinkling a few minorities to an ensemble cast does not make that show diverse. It’s the acting that goes beyond
that. For all the detailed reasonings above Caucasians do predominantly have a better effectiveness in color-blind casting. It’s based on skin color rather talent which does not help with producing a successful show. In some cases, looks do matter, but what you're really doing is limiting yourself to creativity. The creativity is what audience members will be looking for. Seeing the same movie over and over again will get boring, but if you add a new cast or change up the little details it might be entertaining again. Seeing a cast that is consisted of diversity can improve your audience size in which more people would want to see it, especially if every race had a standard role. It’s that simple. Putting limits on opportunities for others is not the way to go. Treating people with the same amount of respect you give to others is. Remember, fairness can change it all.