And why does he talk in a Scottish accent but with the inflection of an Irish accent? I thought he was from Persia. Persians aren't white; they're Persian. And they don't speak with Irish accents with Scottish rolled R's.
What diversity used to mean: Diversity
What diversity now means: Fewer white people
It's Eddie Albert, fer cryin' out loud. In the original the character was written as a Syrian, oddly enough.
I don't know why they didn't make him Jewish, which would've been far more credible and closer to the reality than either Persian or Syrian. Jews were really at the frontier of er, frontier retailing, starting as traveling "peddler men" but as they prospered they bought a store and sunk roots into their 19th Century communities.
They and their kids then turned these business into Neiman-Marcus, Richs, Levis, Abraham & Strauss, Kreske's, Belk, Sanger Brothers, Jacobson's, Gimbel's, Macy's et al.
See: http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/publicat/history/full-text/NH1982Peddlers.pdf
That still doesn't explain the Irish/Scottish accent.
What diversity used to mean: Diversity
What diversity now means: Fewer white people
I figured that Ali Hakim was the Scottish/Irish peddler's professional name, a way of giving his wares some zazz, especially since he's selling stuff like Egyptian smelling salts. It never crossed my mind that the audience was supposed to think he was actually Persian, or that Oklahoma was home to any actual traveling Persian salesmen. Every single thing Ali Hakim says is phony; didn't it dawn on you that his Persian persona was part and parcel of his fakery? This isn't a diversity issue.
shareI agree. I didn't think for a minute that Albert's character was supposed to actually be Persian. He was faking.