MovieChat Forums > Frances Ha (2013) Discussion > All White Cast is troubling

All White Cast is troubling


I know, I know. No one wants to hear about race, especially in such a quirky, hipster movie. But this is one of those problems that some quirky films have, like Amelie. You have this big metropolitan city, this great story, quirky characters, but little to no people of color in sight. That's just not realistic. Not at all. And in my opinion, it's like the writers or director has tunnel vision.

Thoughts?

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[deleted]

Frances travels to both Sacramento and Paris throughout the film. Her company, school, and working places depict all white populations. I understand that the world of Frances is very Caucasian, but I doubt that the creator's life or inspirations are entirely white too. That's just not based in reality. Even a clerk or a co-worker or something would be of color. If he's not seeing that, than I think he needs to reflect.

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[deleted]

The evidence is real world, not his Freudian artistic tendencies.

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[deleted]

What this poster doesn't understand is that people like Francis, white people, don't even see people of color. It's like colored people don't exist. So the movie is accurate.

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my thoughts are....the movie was great...didn't really care that it was all white people.

Some wander the wilderness, some drink cosmopolitans.

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I thought the movie was good, as well. This thought just troubled me a bit because it seems so narrow. It's nothing to throw up on the billboards and scream about. Just thought it was worth the mention.

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I would agree with you BUT maybe it's her hipster world. That's a character itself. Maybe it was unintentional but I noticed the whole time. She stays in her circle. Here in NYC, someone from another state can move to NYC, move into your building and won't say one word to you. Some will look at you like you don't belong.

Maybe this is their reality. The movie isn't bad.


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> I know, I know. No one wants to hear about race, especially in such a quirky, hipster movie.

Correct, good observation.

Best film ever made? The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

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"I once talked to a black person. Not really."

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I didn't think any of it when watching, but you do have a point. It is odd since it is set in a major city - out of the cities that cry about diversity and what not. I guess all the talk "for diversity" by similar real life people is just, well, talk. Not one Asian girl friend? Haha I'm joking.

2013: Ain't Them Bodies Saints, Her, Short Term 12, Only Lovers Left Alive

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In my experience the vast majority of people with rich parents who live lives like Frances and her friends are white, and when they all hang out with each other it'll be all white as well.

It's partly because there's just more wealth in old white families.

It's also partly because I think nonwhite families with money are less likely to raise their children with the 'do what you want, the world is yours' mentality. Black, Asian, and latino money is generally newer and those who earned that money impress the difficulty it took to earn onto their kids. They emphasize how 'real' the world is and tell (in some cases, force) their kids to do something practical. They also don't generally have inheritances to coast on like old money families have.

This is obviously a generalization and not 100% true, but I've found it mostly true in my upbringing around wealthy Asians, whites, and latinos. The white ones were much more likely to choose an artistic path or wander without a path indefinitely, while the nonwhites are all doing medicine, dentistry, or similar. I'm not saying one is better than the other - becoming a dentist just because of family pressure has caused more than one person I know to be severely depressed, consider suicide, or just be sort of numb to the world. It's a different sort of lost. But I'm not surprised that Frances and her entire circle is white white white.

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I don't get how people can think like you did while watching a movie (whether the thought is "oh, there's too many white people" or "oh, there isn't enough diversity in this movie"). Is it something you often think or talk about ? Would you consider yourself a politicized person ?

Anyway. About Amelie, having a problem with an "all white cast" in such a movie is borderline obsessive. I live in Paris. Yesterday, I was at a party where there was about 15 persons. Guess what ? They were ALL white. It's still possible.

_______________
"This is ridiculous. If I'm going to die, I want to die in Manhattan."

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Oh goodee the race card again. Spike Lee has said that it's just as insulting to have a token black person than none at all.
Perhaps the people in the film moved in circles or lived in areas where there weren't any people of colour. What is the writer supposed to do, put in a black character just for the sake of political correctness. I wasn't bothered in the slightest.



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