MovieChat Forums > General Discussion > Your opinion please. Acting or racist?

Your opinion please. Acting or racist?

posted 3 years ago by ColumboKate (5775)
25 replies | jump to latest

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/jan/05/maureen-lipman-attacks-casting-of-helen-mirren-as-former-israeli-pm

So basically, (Jewish) actress Maureen Lipman is angry that (not Jewish) Helen Mirren is playing a jewish character in her new film.

I remember when (not Muslim) David Suchet played the Islamic terrorist in Executive Decision.

Is this not just acting ? Or is it actually a race issue ?

*EDIT*

I'm glad I'm sat down because for the first time ever, we all agree on something 🥳😄.

So yes, it is acting and Maureen is just bitter that she didn't get the role or something 🤷🏻‍♀️

[–] Stratego (31007) 3 years ago

Not racist whatsoever. That said, Mirren doesn't resemble her in any way, just like Jessica Chastain doesn't resemble Tammy Faye Bakker. Why bother with all the prosthetics? It's incredibly distracting.

[–] jriley555 (8527) 3 years ago

To make HM ugly enough to resemble GM. She's done it before :

https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/01/06/13/52555291-10374599-A_publicity_image_of_the_film_Golda_where_Dame_Helen_portrayed_M-a-54_1641474283072.jpg

[–] Stratego (31007) 3 years ago

Well, maybe don't cast Mirren. The make-up does not look realistic, it's only more obvious when it's moving pictures. Just cast an actress who looks similar, but isn't an exact look-alike.

[–] jriley555 (8527) 3 years ago

The industry has its favorites, and HM is definitely one of them. I see your point, but the star system is still alive & well.

Rather than cast a pianist for a role, they'll crash-course an actor so we can wow over how they don't completely suck.

[–] Skynet1984 (189) 3 years ago

Not racist at all.

[–] BillHicksFan (10708) 3 years ago

I call this all stupid.

(That's why they call it acting!)

[–] ShogunofYonkers (78438) 3 years ago

This stuff is mostly all stupid

Robert DeNiro was not an Italian Mafioso and Al Pacino was not a bisexual bank robber

They are paid to pretend to be what they are not…That’s ‘acting’

Ward Bond of The Quiet Man was not in fact born in Ireland…As a so-called ‘Irish-American’ should I get up in arms about this?

People need to calm down, there are enough real outrages going on in the world…this is just more chickenshit

[–] Keelai (36029) 3 years ago

Acting.

I only take issue if systemic discrimination is involved. For instance, whites playing Asian characters while Asian actors are not hired for anything which was common not too long ago.

[–] PaladinNJ (21756) 3 years ago

An actor playing a role that is not their given ethnicity, race, or (in this case) religion should not be labelled racism (or whatever). The director should pick the person that best fits the role and will give the best performance.

[–] ColumboKate (5775) 3 years ago

You don't get much better than our Helen 😊

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

Warren Beatty played Bugsy Siegel

[–] Mustang (5568) 3 years ago

Life is going to get awfully difficult for the film/tv industry if they can only have actors of the same ethnicity/nationality as the character they are playing.

Never seems to be an issue when a Jewish actor plays a non Jewish role.