Racism again?


Okay, correct me if I'm wrong, and I will gladly admit if I am, but wasn't one of the main characters in the original a black male? In fact wasn't he one of the survivors? Why eliminate this from this version? I'm not saying it was integral to the part but why change that? I just think it's strange and unnecessary.

reply

Well you know what, in the original I Am Legend.. The main character was a White man, and they casted will smith for the part.. The original Green Lantern was a White guy, now its a black guy.. So quit moaning..

reply

Well you know what, in the original I Am Legend.. The main character was a White man, and they casted will smith for the part.. The original Green Lantern was a White guy, now its a black guy.. So quit moaning..


Not to be a dick or anything, but so the f what? Every once in a while Hollywood casts a role that was "supposed" to be a white character and casts a non-white actor. So? How many people outside of the comic book universe care about Green Lantern or King Pin? It's not like they're gonna cast a Latino or an Asian as Superman or Batman, they only do race-swaps with characters no one really cares about, but those are established characters so it makes less to change them. I Am Legend was a book and book-to-movie translations are prone to larger changes.

The reason why I am particularly bothered by the NotD remake is because I've seen literally hundreds of horror movies that completely ignores that fact that EVERYBODY loves horror movies and not just young white teenagers. Would it have killed them to keep some version of the Roger character be he black, asian, or latino? Especially given the fake the Roger character in the original was arguably the most unique thing about it that no other horror movie can really lay claim to even to this day. So basically they're doing a remake that's going to be like every other horror movie where all the characters are the same and die except for the Final Girl. Whoopie, nobody's seen a horror movie like that before. They could've at least switched it and made a black girl the Final Girl and the cowardly white guy saves her (come to think of it, I've never seen that before!).

Minorities love horror movies just as much as everybody else and it's total bullcrap to expect they wouldn't be upset when they are repeatedly ignored and marginalized in this particular genre. I'd love to make a slasher movie that's filled with blonde haired blue eyed victims and the Final Girl has brown hair and eyes. The subtext would be incredible.

Go to Virtual Hollywood! http://www.virtual-hollywood.com/drupal/

reply

I'm just going to guess that you've seen both Demon Knight and the House on Haunted Hill remake which both include black survivors. I feel that they have started to gain much better recognition now than they used to be. There are more black heroes in movies than ever before and yes, even in the horror genre.

There is so much to be said about racism but some people are just way too touchy. I remember somebody calling John Landis racist because in "Deer Woman" (an episode of Masters of Horror) there are two policemen/officers/detective (don't remember exactly what)that were partners. The black guy died and the white guy lived. And that was the reason. Yet if that was the reason then wouldn't it be racist against Caucasians to have the white guy die and the black guy live? Seriously people. Though I will admit, the Candyman remake announced last year (though it just may not happen) was thinking of making Candyman white. That just takes away from the entire mythos of the movie! How are they going to change that up?

There are "urban" horror movies out there with an entire black cast though some of them are stereotypical. Does it ever occur to anyone that Candyman is the only famous black slasher out there? That there is really one famous FEMALE slasher out there? (Angela from the Sleepaway Camp series) Like I said earlier, there is so much that can be said and picked around about racism.

I know the director/writer and he's a very nice guy and in no way racist. I'm pretty sure there are reasons for changes in the script and characters. We'll see when it comes out.

reply

I'm just going to guess that you've seen both Demon Knight and the House on Haunted Hill remake which both include black survivors. I feel that they have started to gain much better recognition now than they used to be. There are more black heroes in movies than ever before and yes, even in the horror genre.


True, but I don't like looking at it strictly as a "black" thing. America is a multi-cultural country. Most Americans love movies. But when it comes to casting these movies, the vast majority of the heroes do not represent our multi-cultural society. This has been going on since the beginning of movies, we're talking 100 years. And just now things are starting to change, and very slowly at that.

Horror movies are usually cheap to make, don't require name actors to make money, so that risk of casting a not white actor in the lead is low risk. But it still happens pretty rarely. How often do Latino, Asian, or Native American characters appear in a horror flick and live or get to be the hero? But at least in the case of Latinos and Asians, at least their respective countries get to make a sizable amount of films where they get to be the leads.

There is so much to be said about racism but some people are just way too touchy. I remember somebody calling John Landis racist because in "Deer Woman" (an episode of Masters of Horror) there are two policemen/officers/detective (don't remember exactly what)that were partners. The black guy died and the white guy lived. And that was the reason.


Hey, that's never gonna go away. You can swap racism with sexism when it comes to a lot of popular entertainment and you've got the same argument. Women, in large part, are still portrayed mostly as the girlfriend, wife, grandmother, person the hero goes to bed with at the end. Sure, Angelina Jolie and Milla Jovovich play kick ass heroines fairly often, but that's about it.

There are "urban" horror movies out there with an entire black cast though some of them are stereotypical.


But a lot of those movies are ultra low budget with little to no production values and they never get wide distribution. Only ones I can think of are Bones and Tales From the Hood back in 95. TFTH was actually pretty decent and cost $6 million to make and made $11 back. That's a financial success. So it took them 6 years to put out Bones, which cost $16 million and only made back $7 so they just stopped making them after that.

That there is really one famous FEMALE slasher out there? (Angela from the Sleepaway Camp series) Like I said earlier, there is so much that can be said and picked around about racism.


Agreed. But not too many people are going to be frightened by a woman with a knife. The Black Christmas remake had a female killer. Sheri Moon Zombie in The Devil's Rejects was pretty good. One of the main killers in Wrong Turn 2 was female. But yeah, big guy with a knife will always trump woman of any size with a knife.

I know the director/writer and he's a very nice guy and in no way racist. I'm pretty sure there are reasons for changes in the script and characters. We'll see when it comes out.


If you ask me, it's not so much about racism as it is leaving out one of the best things from the original. I see this a lot in American remakes of Asian horror movies. They constantly leave out the best parts from the originals and do something utterly stupid instead (The Eye remaking being one of the most blatantly stupid remakes for leaving out almost everything that made the original good).


Go to Virtual Hollywood! http://www.virtual-hollywood.com/drupal/

reply

I don't know if I'd call it RACISM but the cast surely fails to reflect New Orlean's diversity. New Orleans has a huge Black/African American population

reply

why does it have to be racism you being racist to bring it up. you cant say racism just cause of that you are sick and need help.saying racism about little things is what keeps it alive. now if the director said no *beep* or slant eyes going to be in the film then you can say it.but if not keep to youself

reply

Shannon Elizabeth was born on September 7, 1973 in Houston, Texas, the daughter of a Syrian/Lebanese father and a mother also of mixed descent (Cherokee Indian)

hmm so someone part lebanese is automatically only white...hmm
anyways race has nothing to do with who someone chooses for a role...sometimes it has to do with who is better for the role or more marketable... just because you think there should ALWAYS be someone of a different race than white for a role would be racist in it's own way.

reply

Not that I agree with the OP at all, but the Lebanese are predominately white (think Danny and Marlo Thomas, Ralph Nader, Casey Kasem, Paul Anka etc.)

As for "mixed with Cherokee Indian"... So was Elvis, Johnny Cash, James Garner, Loretta Lynn and countless other Southerners.

To the people complaining about an all-white cast, I too would like to see a black woman or man included, but their absence doen't prove racism. People nowadays are neutralizing the word "racism" by throwing it out there for the slightest excuse.

reply

The original Night of the living dead had a black man in the lead role the remake a white woman , i suppose this makes it racist and sexist ??
Ridicoulous................
Surely there has been instances of white lead actors being replaced by blacks in remakes so what's the diffrence!!!!

reply

This is just all so crazy. Race this, Race that. I have seen horror movies with no white people, or Asians, or African Americans, or Native Americans etc. So what, as long as you can relate with a personality of a character what does it matter. I don't just relate with a character cause they are the same race, I relate with them through their actions and situations. Racism isn't about having or not having a mix of cultures, it's about how stereotypical the characters are written.

"Carol Anne, go into the light"!

reply

[deleted]

This is really ignorant! The fact that it matters to you makes you a racist.

Eddie Murphy remade movies such as Dr. Dolittle and The Nutty Professor with a mostly black cast and I didn’t hear anyone complaining!

reply

So, it's racist if they include a black character and he/she dies, but if a black character is not in the movie then that is alot racist? You can't win!

reply

what if they made all the cast black and Pauly shore was the main demon.... A jewish demon and a party full of black people.... thats culture diversity!

reply

Although most of the posts here are laughable at best, I am a little disappointed. Its seems that if is a genre of movie where all types of ethnicities are portrayed than its horror. Think about Night of the living dead, 28 days later, People Under the Stairs, Cloverfield...I could go on but thats all thats coming to me. I mean for what its worth Im sure this movie isnt that great to begin with, but I dont see why they couldnt/didnt cast any talented minorities if they wanted too. Its not as if they dont exist...

reply

oooooh, somebody said racism and my feelings were hurt! The original poster did put a ? behind racism, get your #### together. The idea that movies need to better reflect society deserves merit. I loved Roger and the original movie is not worthwhile without him. I would love for the remake to have been shot for shot, because the original never received enough credit.

reply

It is far more racist to include a black (or person of other ethnic background) for the sake of putting them in, than just not having someone in. I mean, it reflects real life. Some places have all black people, some people have mixed, and some people have all white. Having somebody to represent a race every film is not reality-like, and it is also using race as a token instead of celebration.



I review horror films at: http://www.oh-the-horror.com/
395 with pics!

reply

It makes me sick that there are no white girls or guys in Bollywood films! Damn those executive producers hides to Tahiti!

I only axed ya for a smoke - Jack Frost

reply




Why does it matter anyway? The movie will clearly be a steaming pile of *beep* like most other remakes !!@ I doubt Jessie or Al Sharpton will be throwing up any red banners anytime soon because of it..! Just for the record I'm Black and I don't even care.....

reply

I agree with facultyfreason. Except I wouldn't exclude Al Sharpton from getting offended just yet. If he's not busy calling something else racist, he might just use this film to get his face on tv.

But honestly black people should be happy they aren't in this film. At least in a race debate they can use it against whites. Like "Yeah well Africa might be in rough shape but at least it's not Night of the Demons!" They'd be able to use the Friday the 13th remake but that was a melting pot of bad ideas.

"You know someone lacks intelligence when their only argument is Dont See It."

reply