Justineau Casting = Deal Breaker

I don't usually have a problem with changing casting, I was actually in support of Michael B. Jordan as the human torch (although I thought they should then make Susan black, too, because if they were going to go for it then go for it, and the sibling dynamic is very important to the story) but this strikes me as odd. It doesn't make sense that they switched all the races around, why change the lead character to a young white woman and make the young girl and the soldier black? I could understand changing the race of one or two of the characters if all the characters had been white and they'd wanted to add a bit of diversity, but the characters already had diversity so just switching the races around doesn't make any sense. Melanie being black also changes the fact that as she says in the very first passage of the book that she doesn't like her name because it means 'dark' and she says that it doesn't suit her because she's so pale, and it's Miss Justineau's dark skin that is also a draw for her. Plus, even if we ignore the race change, the age change makes quite a drastic change to the dynamic between Helen and Melanie. Helen's age means she is shown as and becomes the maternal figure that Melanie has never had.

Absolutely agree with you. Melanie is described as pale and Justineau is described as a beautiful middle-aged black woman. If you've read the books then swapping this around in the movie is only going to be an annoyance and a distraction. I'm hugely disappointed and actually don't really want to go and see the film now because if they take liberties with central ideas from the book like the two main characters then what else will they have changed/ruined?

Definitely makes no sense. Especially considering that the author of the book is also the screenwriter for the film. Why would he make such a point of letting us know who these character are, what they look like, their life experiences, etc...if he is just going to throw it away?

If their race, age & appearance matters enough to repeatedly mention it throughout the book, then it should matter a whole *beep* lot in the film...and if those things don't actually matter, then why did you waste who knows how many words to make sure the reader knew these people inside and out?

Were you also upset about Rue being black? I just finished the book and the race of the characters did not affect the story whatsoever. If they make the teacher white and Melanie black that is perfectly fine with me. The fact that you're boycotting the film for this reason (and let me highlight, it's not them making everyone black or white, it's them switching skin colour for 2 characters) I think you need to rethink your priorities.

I suppose they just had color-blind casting and casted those who seemed the best to act the characters. After all in the book Melanie is super pale and people are creeped out by it, and they ignored that in order to cast the actor whose audition they liked the best.
I did like Melanies description of Justineau in the book and would have liked to see an actor with that description. And I understand your concern as the changes shifts the two leaders of the group into white. I don't feel like it was on purpose though.



There is no such thing as too much time

I have read the book but have not seen the movie, and I think you're making a big deal out of nothing. The book describes the character's skin color once or twice, near the beginning, and that's it - we never hear about it again. Same for Melanie. It's of absolutely no consequence to the characters whatsoever. For all we know, the filmmakers found their perfect Melanie (and from what I hear the young girl does a terrific job in this movie), and she happened to be black, so they just switched the two characters in terms of their skin color - so what? It doesn't even have a subtext in the book, so I don't see why it matters at all.

It could even be that the author, who wrote the book and the screenplay simultaneously, decided to do it that way intentionally - black teacher and white student in the book, and white teacher and black student in the film - just for *beep* and giggles. Since it has no impact whatsoever on the story or the characters (it is literally never mentioned beyond the opening), what difference does it make?

I never read the book.

Never heard of it, actually. I don't really care what colour the characters are.

I thought Melanie's actress did a good job. It doesn't bother me that she's black.

Just like it doesn't bother me that Ripley in Alien was given to a woman to play even though the story was written with Ripley as a man.

I wonder if the OP has changed their mind or not now that the film has come out?

I've not read the book but I saw the film yesterday. I came out of the movie thinking how it great it was that they had such a diverse cast. Firstly three of the four main roles were female (easily passes Bechdel test for what it's worth). Secondly several black actors in lead and major supporting roles but without any need to make reference to it in the film. Does ethnicity really have any bearing on this story?

Colour-blind casting. Seems fair enough.

Gemma Arterton is a good name to have attached to a low-budget film like this. And then because of the importance of the Melanie character I presume they cast the best actor they saw. I believe Gemma did chemistry reads with the young girls to ensure that they would 'click' on screen. They did a pretty good job I reckon.