MovieChat Forums > Feel the Noise (2007) Discussion > how come nobody said *beep* when Pacino ...

how come nobody said beep when Pacino played a Puerto Rican

posted 16 years ago by gjoe13
18 replies | jump to latest

in Carlito's Way or A Cuban in Scarface, yet when Omarion played a Latino in this *beep* movie, people are up in arms about it? there is a certain stench of some kind of "ism" alas i can't find the prefix right now. the other thing that amuses the hell out of me is how a back person born in a English country is "black" yet a black person born in South America or the Spanish speaking Caribbean is "latino" or the French Caribbean is "creole" The slave, colonial mentality is a live and well still. The FACT is that slaves from Africa were sent to all the islands in the Caribbean. most of whom were mixed with Europeans and indigenous peoples. so there is no Puerto Rican race. just like in English speaking countries you have white people, black people, Asians and mixed race people. the same is true in Spanish speaking territories. so to lump all people in a spanish country as latino when they are either distinctly mixed, black ,white etc is ridiculous. I am from an english speaking caribbean island , i am black , my cousin from the DR tells me that he isn't black, he's Dominican. mind you he is darker than i am. i just laugh at his brainwashed ass.

[–] ter_maximus 16 years ago

ROFL did you actually just try to compare omarion to al pacino? Really? hahahahaha

Seriously.. step away from the pc and go back to watchin "step up to get served while feelin the noise" then tell me where in your warped estimation does ANYTHING this backup dancer do anything thats remotely similar to al pacino.

Hell seeing that you seem to love this guy's "movies" im amazed your able to use a pc (thats personal computer) so if i dont hear back i wont be terribly offended.

[–] skyvolt2000 16 years ago

Last time I checked Al Pacino wasn't a singer that started out as a background dance later to become the face of B2K.

Al is an actor, whose background speaks for itself. If you wanted a legit question you could have used Arlen Escarpeta (We Are Marshall). A guy who is from South America, yet every character he plays has been of African American decent.

Or ask why nobody complains about black actors voicing nonblack characters on tv. Phil Lamarr? Cree Summer? James Robinson?

[–] lovinthis12001 16 years ago

Where is African America?

[–] SanjuroTsubaki 15 years ago

African America borders Italian America,Irish America,Asian America and every other hyphenated America. No one should use the hyphenated title. You are American or not no two ways about it.

[–] mata77 16 years ago

ROFL did you actually just try to compare omarion to al pacino? Really? hahahahaha

Seriously.. step away from the pc and go back to watchin "step up to get served while feelin the noise" then tell me where in your warped estimation does ANYTHING this backup dancer do anything thats remotely similar to al pacino.

Hell seeing that you seem to love this guy's "movies" im amazed your able to use a pc (thats personal computer) so if i dont hear back i wont be terribly offended

lol that was a amazing answer

[–] sincerely_raven 16 years ago

I doubt the point was that Omarion is on the same level as Al Pacino. The point was that people play characters outside of their race all the time. And that Black people do live in, and are from PR.

Besides, this is a very low budget movie. It doesn't really matter if Omarion was the lead. It's "Feel the Noise," not a remake of "Gone With the Wind." The argument here was that it seems to be racist to complain of a black person being in the lead of a movie where that is part of the plot: a Black kid find out he has a Puerto Rican father. Not so much that this movie is comparable to Scarface and Carlito's Way. Obviously, it's not. Her point was nobody complains about racial differences when the actor is White or Latino( Latinos play Blacks all the time).

Also, Giancarlo Espinosa plays his Puerto Rican father, yet he's Black and Italian. No one is complaining about that...

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] Vandalx21 16 years ago

Al Pacino is a damn good actor that's why.

I am Providence -- H.P. Lovecraft

[–] elmastero1 16 years ago

You don't know sh**. A hell of a lot Puerto Ricans complained that Al Pacino was cast as the lead of "Carlitos Way". A lot of Cubans disliked his portrayal as the lead in "Scarface" as well. A ton of Ricans weren't happy either when they cast Jay Hernandez (A Mexican American) in the sequel either. A ton of Mexicans complained when Jennifer Lopez (A Puerto Rican) was cast as Selena. A ton of Mexicans complained when Lou Diamond Philipps (A person of mixed decent) and Esai Morales (A Puerto Rican) were cast in "La Bamba" portraying Mexican Americans. I can go on and on...

I knew the guy who wrote the novel that Carlito's Way is based on. His name is Edwin Torres. He's a Puerto Rican Judge who use to work out of the South Bronx. My aunt was his paralegal for over a decade and my sister even worked for him for a number of years as a secretary.

With all that said, I wasn't too happy that they had cast Al Pacino, a non Puerto Rican, for the lead. That's because I like to see one of my own portray one of my own. It aint about race people. At least for some of us. If I had to name the 3 top reggaeton artists it would be Daddy Yankee, Tego Calderon and Don Omar. And guess what? Tego Calderon and Don Omar are both brown skinned Puerto Rican. So it aint about Race. At least not for me. That "ism" isn't the reason for the uproar.

I'll say it yet again. If they had cast a brown skinned "Puerto Rican" then I'm sure there wouldn't be too many objections. If there were then I'd have to stand back and go, "Damn, ya m***** *beep* are racist." Cause as a triracial Rican with African, European and Spanish blood I can't stand one of my own trying to put down my fellow Ricans because of their phenotype.

[–] veggies_of_good 15 years ago

Tego Calderon is Dominican... not Puerto Rican lol

[–] MiaIcy 15 years ago

Tego Calderon is Puerto Rican.

http://www.reggaetonline.net/tego-calderon_reggaeton

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Just telling it like it is.

[–] deadlyvibez 13 years ago

Tego Calderon is not Dominican you ignorant twat. He is from Puerto Rico, specifically the town of Loiza, I grew up next to his family.

[–] ThePerplexicator 15 years ago

LOL! LOL!
A "tri-racial Rican" would be of African, European and Taino descent. Not African, European and Spanish. Spain is . . . um . . . in Europe . . . and just a good running jump across the Straits of Gibraltar from Africa. LOL! LOL!
Unless they went and moved Spain again!!! I hate it when they do that! Then they have to start talking all kinds of Mandarin in Spain and all that. Happened once when I was visiting Madrid (shudder). Took me 7 hours to fly there, but since they moved while I was there, took about 12.5 hours to fly back!

(But Calderon is actually from PR. I think from the infamous Santurce in San Juan.)

[–] that_heiress 16 years ago

Because he's white. No one cares when white people do things.

"This confession has meant nothing."

[–] Boricanator 16 years ago

If you read what elmastero said you would realize that the premise of the OP is wrong. People did complain for both.

I'll go even further to say that lots of PR's complained about West Side Story and the white people who played us. Many still do to this day.

[–] coffeemann 14 years ago

you didn't just compare Omarion to Al Pacino! ohh no you didn't!!! please tell me you didn't,,,,

[–] 14 years ago

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how come nobody said *beep* when Pacino played a Puerto Rican

how come nobody said beep when Pacino played a Puerto Rican