Michael B. Jordan on racist Fantastic Four critics: "They're still gonna go see it anyway"
Michael B. Jordan has a message for all the hating comic book fans who say a black man can't play the Human Torch - chill out.
Jordan just got the the role of Johnny Storm in the upcoming Fantastic Four remake - even though in comics, the character's always been blonde-haired, blue-eyed - and has a white sister Sue Storm (Kate Mara got that role).
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your icon is great btw :)
I think it's refreshing to have a non-white character, even though I'm pretty confident the movie will treat him as Token Black Guy rather than an equal member of the team.
Either the movie, or the audience.
Anyway, the butthurt was epic but both movies did great.
I've read so many comments like I am not racist but... and it's very dissapointing. It's known that CBM forums are kinda crazy but seeing comments like "If you read the comic books and are a fan of the fantastic four the casting ruined it all for me one main thing is the cast look like teenagers and the human torch is black I am not racist but how we Fans vision these characters and the way the comic books, cartoons, and pervious movies are the character is a white guy this is like making bruce wayne have blonde hair or the Incredible Hulk being yellow." in other news website articles is tragedy
“I can’t even — you know how it is in the industry! I can’t talk [about it] - it’s still up in the air, I just can’t. It’s one of things where, certain people start talking too soon and then what if it doesn’t happen for whatever reason? Then I’m the guy who was out there talking about something that coulda, shoulda, woulda, but didn’t. It’s not just about that role — I think times are changing. It’s 2014, Comic books in general were established when we didn’t have civil rights, for the most part. So there weren’t a lot of comic book characters who were geared towards us, period. We weren’t the market that comic books were made for in the beginning. But as times change and things move on, I think us as a people need to evolve as well in our thinking and not be so narrow-minded. So, if not me, if not this project, [if it’s] someone else in another character, I wouldn’t be mad at that at all.”
Jordan was then directly asked if he would like to play The Human Torch,
“I would like to play a character, that may or may not be written for myself, that might look like me.”
Edited at 2014-02-22 07:35 pm (UTC)
ho please
the other 3 are too young
well, i can picture sue but idk wtf they're thinking with reed and ben's ages
Edited at 2014-02-22 07:39 pm (UTC)
Johnny Depp was in redface. MBJ won't be in whiteface.
And even if he was, being in whiteface doesn't carry the same severity of offensiveness as a white man in redface.
1.) Depp is not Native American, and even if his great-great-grandmother was, he is not culturally tied to any tribe. Depp was essentially in redface for his role in Lone Ranger.
2.) White face is not nearly as offensive because, even if you think it's rude, it carries no history of being used to take away acting jobs from white people.
3.) The 'best actor for the job' sentiment is not wrong in its message, but how it's applied is currently bullshit since it only seems to be used to take away jobs from PoC actors and whitewash movies.
on the other hand, not only does the race of comic book characters have no impact on the story, genre, or the character itself, but it is again completely dominated by white actors. so it's not about a black actor playing a "white character", it's about recognizing that these characters are only known as white because we live in a racist society where 'white' is the default, where people can more easily project fantasies or ideas of themselves on the safer white characters. it's important to encourage a more diverse representation. that's the point.
In any case, he participated in a film which caricatured Native identity and culture, and was completely dismissive of the actual hardships faced by Natives as white settlers illegally and violently colonized the American West. That alone is enough the justify the criticism of him for most Natives.
Edited at 2014-02-22 10:22 pm (UTC)
I know you probably have some chip on your shoulder about all those supposed white social justice warriors on tumblr complaining about Depp's casting in The Lone Ranger, but I'm Native and that's not what I saw. I read and heard legitimate criticism from fellow Natives, and to have you just dismiss that anger is infuriating. Indigenous people in North America have survived 600+ years of violent colonization and the continuing disenfranchisement and racism that comes from living in a settler society. As a community, Natives have some of the worst life outcomes of any group in North America. This movie was problematic in and of itself, and Depp's stereotypical portrayal of Tonto has only fed into negative ideas about Natives. How dare you come in here with the wrong information, trying to paint this justifiable anger as people "freaking out."
MBJ is black playing an American character.
Nothing around the character suggests that it has to be a white person. Nothing around Tonto suggests that he actually was a white person.