It is being produced by Shonda Rimes who is a black woman. She probably wants to see more black people leading major shows on television and chose it this way. After her numerous successful tv shows, she has enough clout to hire whom she wants without network interference.
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And you're free not to watch it. See how that works?
shareThere is nothing wrong with writers wanting to add diversity to their shows for a modern audience which is diverse itself. It appears to be a production with color-blind casting-- they simply cast the best actors for the roles and they cast diversely. From my understanding, Shondaland shows try to be very inclusive in general which I really appreciate. When shows/films do this, it often broadens the appeal. Color-blind casting can be controversial depending on the context, but really in this case, I don't see anything wrong with it. The themes of the plot are universal, the setting is fictionalized, the show isn't going for historical authenticity or seeking to portray historical figures. The casting choice is increasing diversity while still including white actors in central roles. Because white actors are absolutely NOT lacking opportunities in the industry as it is, this casting does not marginalize them in any way.
If you want to watch white actors playing Romeo and Juliet, why not just watch all of the various versions we have out there? It's not like there's a dearth of white leads in period dramas or Shakespeare productions, so there is no need to be upset. Even the racially diverse Romeo & Juliet (1996) had a white Romeo and Juliet in Leonardo Dicaprio and Claire Danes.
Great response! Yes to all of this!
shareIt's true. However I don't know if this is going to work out but i hope it does. She is a brilliant woman, Shonda Rimes. And it is good to see that she has chosen this path. I wish this show all the best and I'm glad to see someone is trying to put race aside and push equality but I know people are going to have a problem with it. The same people who are going to have a problem with it (blacks and whites) are the same ones who do not do anything to make things better.
shareFor what it's worth, Melinda Taub, the white female author who wrote the book Still Star-Crossed (the show is based on it), seems happy and excited about the show so far on her Twitter account. I don't think she sees it as "a PC liberal crap agenda" or offensive to her.
https://mobile.twitter.com/MelindaTaub/status/730897028973137922
As if she can speak her mind in our PC heavy society. She'd lose her fans.
#The X-Files #Breaking Bad #Lost #Hannibal #Fringe #River #Utopia #Twin Peaks
I just finished looking at the cast and it seems cool to me. I am soo happy to see that Anthony Head (Giles from Buffy/ uther on Merlin) will play Lord Capulet. Hes a dynamic actor. In fact, he has played some great parts in movies and television series, especially tv shows which has done quite well. I bet Melinda is happy as well since she mentioned Buffy/ Angel relationship as a example for her describing the relationship between her characters. Plus, the show will focus on several different characters within the Capulet and Montague Family not just Rosalie.
shareI don't care about Romeo and Rosaline being black. But it kind of throws me off that every other one of their family members are not. I mean it's not a big deal, and of course we can always suspend our disbelief, in addition to the fact that remarriages and adoptions do happen, but it does kind of feel like they went out of their way to check boxes within each (including the Escalus) house. I guess that's what they were going for, and wanted to make it diverse without making it come off as though race is the root of their feud, which is what it would inevitably imply to some if each house was solely one race.
Rosaline and Juliet were cousins, so maybe a parent of Rosaline's was white while the other was black. I can't remember in the book if they were first cousins or more distant cousins. If they're more distantly related it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility that they weren't both white. Same with Romeo and Benvolio. We'll have to see the rest of the extras and stuff when more footage is released but it looks to me from the cast that both families are diverse racially. Shakespeare stage productions are often quite diverse like this.
shareI agree. I think this was cast in the spirit of Shakespearen theatre and I like that.
Also, it is possible for even immediate family members to look different. There are cases of one twin being black and the other being white.
Also, it is possible for even immediate family members to look different. There are cases of one twin being black and the other being white.
Yeah.
If they were going to do this, I wish they had been even MORE fantastic and cast Latinos and Asians as well as blacks and whites in different roles no matter how dissimilar all these family members were.
We are listening and were not blind
This is your life, this is your time
-Snow Patrol
It's not only black and white. The cast also has mixed-race actors with Asian and Middle Eastern ancestry. Zuleikha Robinson (Burmese-Indian-Malay), Greg Chillin (Armenian), Medalion Rahimi(Iranian), Shazad Latif (Pakistani). No Latinos as far as I can tell.
shareOh, yeah. I forgot that Zuleikha Robinson had been cast. Anyway, nice to see they have near east Asians actors in the cast too. I wish it had Latino and far east Asian actors too.
We are listening and were not blind
This is your life, this is your time
-Snow Patrol
Why not? Racist, much?
shareAgree with you 100 percent. Especially tired of the bm/wf *beep* Yet the same people who praise this,will have a problem with "whitewashing"
shareThe problem with whitewashing is that the overwhelming majority of tv shows and films use white actors, even when the role explicitly calls for POC. Nobody would have any issues with whitewashing if all roles in Hollywood were blindly cast. They're not, except in RARE cases such as Shondaland productions. And I mean RARE. Fortunately the tide is turning, but very slowly.
As far as being irritated with the "bm/wf" dynamic...perhaps you're unaware of how many interracial couples there are today. It's nice to see them represented, and they, again, very rarely are. If the handful of times black male/white female relationships are portrayed when compared to the truly overwhelming white/white romances bothers you, then I guess it's the mere sight of them that offends you. Nice attitude, Jim Crowe.
The problem with whitewashing is that the overwhelming majority of tv shows and films use white actors, even when the role explicitly calls for POC. Nobody would have any issues with whitewashing if all roles in Hollywood were blindly cast. They're not, except in RARE cases such as Shondaland productions. And I mean RARE. Fortunately the tide is turning, but very slowly.