Will this film be "woke"?
Thoughts?
shareIt's possible I suppose?? I mean, to be honest, who asked for a sequel to GLADIATOR?? Really??
share
MovieChat Forums > Gladiator II (2024) Discussion > Will this film be "woke"?
maybe , you best avoid it , and all other future releases , just in case
tell me you're a social reject without saying you're a social reject
shareIt will depend on why Denzel Washington is there--historically plausible reason, or DEI reason.
shareWasn't the inclusion of a African gladiator and a Spanish dude in Rome, in the first Gladiator film, a DEI casting choice according to you?
shareThose African and Spanish gladiator dudes were imported from Africa and Spain, duh. That’s not woke, that actually happened. Blackwashing someone, like they’re doing in gladiator 2, is woke.
Learn what the word means before you throw it around acting like you had a “gatcha” moment.
[–] LanceDance (1141) 6 hours ago
Those African and Spanish gladiator dudes were imported from Africa and Spain, duh. That’s not woke, that actually happened. Blackwashing someone, like they’re doing in gladiator 2, is woke.
Learn what the word means before you throw it around acting like you had a “gatcha” moment.
Yeah yeah. Everyone knows who those guys in the first film were. But the existence of certain people/colors is still offensive to some people on this forum.
Can you explain how the existence of a black person in Gladiator II is blackwashing, but their existence in the first film is not?
Which definition of woke are you using? The common definition from the dictionary or the legal one provided by a DeSantis lawyer in court? Something else? Is woke defined as anything LanceDance doesn't like? Probably.
WTF is "gatcha"? Is it your woke redneck slang?
It seems that the black person you're objecting to in this film is an arms merchant. Are you really going to die on the hill, that a black person could never be an arms merchant in Rome? Weren't arms dealers a dime a dozen back then?
https://screenrant.com/gladiator-2-movie-macrinus-denzel-washington-character-explained/ share
Calm down, my phone mis-spelled “gotcha”.
I’m using the 2nd Merriam-Webster definition of woke, look it up.
Nobody on here has a problem with people of certain skin tones appearing in certain movies or shows as long as it makes sense. It’s when their appearance doesn’t make sense that people call out Hollywood’s bs.
The historical figure Denzel is playing isn’t black, that’s why his casting is considered woke. With Pedro, depending on the lighting, he can pass for a white dude.
So tell me more about this historical figure that Washington is playing? According to articles in Wikipedia, the character of Macrinus is from a Berber family in North Africa. In other words he has dark skin.
But this film is a work of fiction with a few historical characters thrown in. Which makes it all the more unreasonable for you to object to a black character in the cast.
So why are you objecting to a character from North Africa being portrayed by an African-American? The only thing that makes sense is that you object to the presence of black people in speaking roles in feature films.
I don't see what the film being a work of fiction has anything to do with this. Doctor Strange is purely fictional yet your camp complained when they white-washed the Ancient One, who was Chinese in the original comic. The rest of us complained too, but you people complained only because the actress was white.
Northern Africans aren't black, they're tanned, but you already knew that. So the only thing that makes sense is that you like being disingenuous, you like having bad-faith arguments, and you whole-heartedly support Hollywood's racist bigoted practices. I already proved earlier that I don't have a problem with blacks having speaking roles when I defended Djimon Honsou in the first Gladiator.
My camp? Who the f*ck is Doctor Strange?
You're the first person I've seen who claims that North Africans are not black. So as long as you approve of a single black actor in a speaking role, this means you can object to all of the others without being racist?
Keep playing coy, troll. See how far that gets you.
shareHonesty has always served me well. All you have is back pedaling and personal attacks.
shareI never backpedaled, and you haven’t been honest at all throughout our discussion.
You’ve insinuated that I’m a redneck and a racist who calls anything I don’t like “woke”. What’s that if not personal attacks? All I did was call a spade a spade.
Yes, I attacked you. You act like a racist and I attack racists at every opportunity.
shareAnd that’s why I called you a troll. You attack others and spew nonsense instead of coming up with valid points. Thanks for proving me right.
share"racist" has no meaning, you should use words that have meaning
shareLearn what a dictionary is before you make a fool of yourself some more here.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/racist
Thanks for making my point for me. Even in your source you have 2 conflicting definitions, let alone if you ask 10 random people on the street. This word has been stripped of meaning over the past decade or so, it doesn't mean anything anymore. I am racist and so are you. So what?
shareThe two definitions do not conflict as they are both based upon race. Maybe the word has no meaning to you, but to the rest of us people who are willing to use a word properly, it still has meaning.
Twisting words to suit your own agenda and win an argument is a poor way to communicate.
They do conflict, one states it's a personal thing while the other is going along with the "systemic" nonsense. These are mutually exclusive. Not to mention they are both wrong.
The reality is if you ask 10 different people what they mean by racist they will give you 11 different answers. The word is meaningless. So when you tell me I am a racist, my answer is "so what?"
That is the problem. Racism and being a racist is bad. You just can't see it.
share"According to articles in Wikipedia, the character of Macrinus is from a Berber family in North Africa. In other words he has dark skin."
Sorry to jump in the middle of your discussion, but that claim is just wrong. Berbers look very white. For example look at egyptian, moroccan and algerian athletes. They easily pass as just another white guy. Just google Rami Malek (played Freddie Mercury) or best french football player, Zinedine Zidane. If you don't know, you'd never guess that their roots are in Northern Africa.
Just about everyone else understands that the appearance of people in any certain racial group vary widely. Why don't you?
shareOh, speaking for everyone now? :) I said, look at the Northern African sports teams, most of them are 'just another white guy'. Emperor Macrinus was berber and they look like southern europeans, greek, italian, spanish etc. Defifinitely not like Denzel who's roots are in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Rami Malek who's both parents are egyptians, plays russian in Bond-movie, he's so white. It looks like you think that everyone who's born in African continent is automatically black. Read some books dude, berbers are pretty white. If reading is too hard, then look at some pictures.
I am not speaking for everyone. But I'm confident that almost everyone understands that 2+2=4. Get it now?
So you read my claim, "vary widely" and understood it to mean "automatically black". Your debating skills suck.
Yeah, I'm sure everyone understand 2+2=4, even you, but when things get a little more complicated (not for everyone else, but you), then you don't understand.
Ok, let's repeat. Berbers are pretty white. So white that they can play white people in movies. Sub-Saharan people can't do that. Denzel's roots are in Sub-Saharan Africa. He can't play berbers, he can't play white people in movies.
I'll repeat another point. Go watch some Northern African sports team, they look white. Sub-Saharan africans look nothing like them.
"So you read my claim, "vary widely" and understood it to mean "automatically black". Your debating skills suck"
Well, that's what you meant, because doesn't matter "how widely" characteristics within races vary, it doesn't turn white man to black man.
If you still don't understand, let's explain it to you like a 5-year old: google Rami Malek and Zinedine Zidane. They are white, Denzel can't play them in a movie.
I'm sure googling Rami Malek is too hard for you, so I did it for you.
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1785339/mediaviewer/rm1810069760/
Can Denzel or Denzel's son play him if they make a movie about his life? Feel free to talk my debating skills again, because I'm sure you don't want to talk about facts :)
better be. rising up against tyrannical dictators is the whole idea.
shareI don't know how woke it will be but it will SUCK
share