Why is Ben white?
Just wondering...
shareThe same reason the Coopers are pot farmers. I think that was their name, I don't remember well.
shareI didn't really have a problem with Ben being white, just that they could have found a much better actor.
shareIn the original movie, they didn't plan on Ben being black. They wrote the character without any race in mind, it just so happened that the best actor to read for the role was black.
"Dick Laurent is dead."
In the original movie, they didn't plan on Ben being black. They wrote the character without any race in mind, it just so happened that the best actor to read for the role was black.
A lot of us know that and accept it, but I'm afraid that will fall upon many deaf ears here. Check out this catastrophe: http://imdb.com/title/tt0489244/board/flat/57098569 share
All of Romero's zombie films have a political subtext to them. I don't know the history of the casting, but I do know that the subtext of the original Living Dead movie was race relations in the US. It reflected white America's fear of the black man (the zombies being a stand-in for how they imagined blacks to be - dumb, violent, deadly animals). The stills over the end credits are chilling - zombies being dragged by chains, lynched, burned - all was meant to reflect what was actually happening at the time.
And the fact that a southern, white, sterotypical sheriff shoots Ben at the end carries so much more meaning because he is black.
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I think the real question is why is Ben a douche bag? I'm kind of glad Ben wasn't black in this version because they probably would have just made him into some awful sterotype anyway.
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romero really didnt cast ben cus he was black, but because he was a good actor, the only good actor in the origional, what i think is that when people say ''oh romero wanted him to be black to make a political statement'' that takes away from duane's merrit as an actor, and in embracing the movie as being a concious anti-racist film they themselves are basicalyl saying that he only ot he job cus he was black, how els could he have gotten the job...
shareNever thought of it that way, outofstep311. Good point!
sharewow, you have an incredible knack for saying something that contradicts what the actual writer and director of the movie has stated.
- www.therightclique.com -
EAT MORE COPS
contradicts what the actual writer and director of the movie has stated
Considering how many lies they've spewed to us fans, I don't think anyone cares what they have to say anymore. And really, what script writer makes a Youtube video whining about people bashing his movie?
share
The comments made by Chris-2547 and others referencing racial undertones is false and really reaching out there with the racial undertones theory. These folks should have read up on the original background story with this movie. Sure, that makes for an ideal suspicion being the time period when Romero's original movie was made (1968). So no, I have to disagree with the racial thing.
Be sure to check the trivia section of the original 'Night of the Living Dead' where it explains the story idea. Excert from that section: "One of the working titles for this film was "Night of the Flesh Eaters". Originally, the beings attacking the characters were extraterrestrial in origin, either aliens or humans possessed by an alien pathogen, presumably covering a NASA satellite returning from Venus. Eventually, it was decided that the dead would rise and devour the living, presumably due to radiation that was carried by a NASA satellite returning from Venus."
Also, check out this excert: "SPOILER: The social commentary on racism some have seen in this film was never intended (an African-American man holing up in a house with a white woman, a posse of whites shooting a black man in the head without first checking to see if he was a zombie). According to the filmmakers, 'Duane Jones (I)' was simply the best actor for the part of Ben."
So, Chris-2547 and all of the others like him.........how do you get a black-and-white racial theme from that?!?!
Source for the above quotes taken directly from the Trivia section of the Night of the Living Dead (1968) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063350/trivia
The problem is that literally ALL his other zombie movies DO have a political subtext:
Dawn - consumerism (obviously)
Day - Science vs unknowing
Land - low vs high class (or rich vs poor)
Diary - Media
So to have his other 4 be political, it makes sense to assume his first one was as well. But as we all know (because Romero has stated it), that wasn't the point.
But why can't both ideas be true? As in, yes Duane got the job because he was the best for it, but once he was hired who's to say Romero didn't purposely (or even subconsciously) make it a race relations movie? Also, the year NOTLD came out (68), was about the time the civil rights movement was around...so that's another reason people are probably confused...
But back on topic, this movie sucks compared to the 90s version. This had so few zombie attacks, and literally lost all the 'cooped in a house' spookiness that the original had. Bad acting, TERRIBLE lighting (couldn't even see some scenes), tame zombies, bad twists, the list goes on. But the one redeeming quality? The 3D. You could tell all the money went to that aspect of it, making everything else almost intolerable...
"Hey homeless man, move it. This is where i'm setting my D's. My big flaming D's"
................................................................................And the fact that a southern, white, sterotypical sheriff shoots Ben at the end carries so much more meaning because he is black
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Well, I guess the White Southern Sheriff came over 400 miles to Pittsburgh, Pa. to shoot Zombies when he had to have plenty 'down South! And the rest of your rant had no credibility with any comments Romero has made ;@)