I'm sure he's a nice guy and a fine actor, but why was he cast as Sinbad ? Last time I checked, Sinbad was supposed to be Persian. So...why cast a black guy ? Doesn't make much sense to me.
Think about this. Once bread becomes toast, you can't make it back into bread.
There are Black Persians... there are even Black Iranians. I don't know here Sinbad is supposed to be from, but the guy fills the shoes - he can pass for Arabic or Middle Eastern easily.
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can't outrun your own shadow
There are no full black Persians, Persians are a race and ethnicity, not a nationality. There are some multi-racial people, but someone who is Persian generally has light olive skin. There are black Iranians though, however they are a minority (maybe 30,000 or less in a nation of 75-80 million).
Did I SAY there are FULL Black Persians??? Persians are not a race, but an ethnicity only and an ethnicity can have different colors and looks. The actor playing Sinbad is NOT full Black he's HALF.
[quoteThere are black Iranians though, however they are a minority (maybe 30,000 or less in a nation of 75-80 million).[/quote]
Oh really??? And you know that because...? Don't throw around numbers when you don't know the real number. There's no maybe when you don't know.
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can't outrun your own shadow
Their are black Persians though?
Err
Were talking about Sinbad, who was NOT black, get back to the point.
Its annoying but it isn't a deal breaker Black-ver on Merlin.
shareSome Iranian/Persians are quite dark. This is assuming Sinbad is Persian. The original story may have been a blend of Persian, Indian and Arab myths and legends, not sure. It is mentioned in episode 1 that Sinbad is a street rat. He therefore may have had mixed blood. Either way casting Eliot Knight is different. If you look at the Sinbad movie made recently 2011, Sinbad is clearly white. I consider Eliot Knight an improvement. Charming and easy on the eyes.
Just looked it up. Sinbad 2011, the actor is from New Zealand. His name is Manu Bennet, not sure what ethnicity, but in the movie a little pale.
shareManu Benett is of mixed Caucasian/Maori make-up. I didn't know he'd been a Sinbad on screen (I like the young guy from this series much better in the role) but he's been made quite popular from his part in the series Spartacus.
"Occasionally I'm callous and strange."
The guy who plays Sinbad is called Elliot Knight - he is half black and half white.
How you managed to get Manu and deflect it on him and not answer the fact he is not Persian and come up with excuses that the black community would be up in arms about is utter rubbish.
Lol. "Deflecting", really? If you had read the previous comments, you'd have seen the conversation had turned to the Sinbad movie, not series, in which Sinbad was indeed played by Manu Benett. I was just answering a poster who was indeed talking about Manu Benett.
I wasn't aware I was supposed to answer the fact that anyone is not Persian or that I was making up excuses about anything. I certainly don't think anyone should be up in arms over the casting choices in a fun piece of entertaining fantasy.
"Occasionally I'm callous and strange."
Sorry to have caused you trouble. I don't have a problem with Eliot Knight as Sinbad. My point was why all the fuss about his being black when other actors haven't even been brown. The Arabian Nights are a compilation of stories from many countries in the the Middle east, Asia and possibly Egypt. So maybe Eliot Knight is the right ethnicity to play Sinbad. But as you point out this is a fantasy and maybe the casting is being over thought.
shareHe was answering me. I was pointing out that previous actors are much paler than Eliot and not even remotely Persian. Assuming Sinbad is Persian. Many of the stories are from India, Persia, and other countries of the Middle east and Asia.
The common theme is that they were translated into Arabic. The stories are called the Arabian Nights in the English translation.
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Now you know how people of color feel who are portrayed by White actors in dark makeup,from Indians to Jesus. Jesus wasn't blond and blue eyes he was born in a country where people have dark skin and curly hair. But everyone from actors to artist portray him with European features now that doesn't make sense.
shareThe question isn't why is he black, the question is why not. If he was a white actor in dark makeup you wouldn't mind. There are more people of color than whites in the world anyway .They are in every country in the world so why can't Sinbad be of African-European- Middle Eastern descent.
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