Is It Really An Issue of Race?

The film "A Mighty Heart" opened this weekend and it tells the story of Mariane Pearl who struggled to save her husband, Daniel Pearl, who was eventually executed by terrorists. But rather than focusing on the issues behind Pearl's struggle or the circumstances in which she found herself, a part of society is ticked off at the fact that in the film the part of Mariane Pearl is being portrayed by Angelina Jolie. I can hear some people out there saying, "So what?" Well the controversy comes in because Pearl is of mixed-heritage which includes African-American, Cuban and French among others. That being said, some people are up in arms that the part is being played by a white woman. Suddenly everyone is now concerned that racial prejudices in Hollywood (which are existant) are rearing their ugly heads and taking away from the true character of a person. I argue that that is complete nonsense.

Those who argue the opposite that it sets a double standard for Hollywood to have a white woman play a woman of mixed heritage while the reverse may not be possible. The arguement being put forth by some is that supposing Queen Latifah decides to make a movie on Hillary Clinton and wishes to play the part, the industry would then be in an uproar. I agree. There is cause for an uproar but not because Latifah is African-American and Clinton is white but because the physical resemblence (and I am talking size not color) is so different that unless there are some major changes on either front, the audience will have a hard time believing the story or relating the character to the real thing. Part of the difficulty in any form of acting, whether it is the movies, the theatre or television, is getting the audience to buy-in to the character. If the character is shown to be a starving homeless person, you would prefer someone who is looking emaciated as opposed to someone who looks like they eat four square meals a day.

Some people say that Jolie's playing the part is a modern-day version of a blackface which is when white actors paint themselves in exaggerated colors to portray someone of African-American descent. I don't agree with that claim. Jolie has stated that her production company had the rights to the book and film and that when it came time for casting, Pearl herself requested Jolie to take the role. Pearl herself has made claim that this isn't an issue for her and she can't understand what the big deal is. Generally the director of any production will take on someone they feel can encompass the role properly. Race is important but in this case, it isn't the only factor. The movie focuses on Pearl's struggle during and after her husband's kidnapping, not the struggles against racial issues.

But why only look at it that way? If one wants to make the arguement against mixing races in film and television then there are tons of other examples. The movie "Gandhi" was controversial at the time in the selection of Ben Kingsley for the title role. Kingsley is part Indian so that furor soon died down but what about the movie on Pakistani leader Mohammad Ali Jinnah. The film starred decidedly English Christopher Lee as the first Prime Minister of Pakistan. I didn't hear many forms of protest coming from groups at that time. Or what about the film "Memoirs of a Geisha"? The title role of a Japanese Geisha was portrayed by Zhang Ziyi, a Chinese woman who rose to fame after her staring role in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." Eric Bana, an Australian, portrayed a Israeli Jew in "Munich" and the list goes on and on.

There are many others out there that you can point to and claim racism but to make claims on the one hand and not on others is itself a form of racism in my eyes. Groups who make claims that racism is at work need to point it out all over the place then and not just in instances where it most deeply affects you. There is definitely an inequality in Hollywood and it is bound to remain there for quite some time but one can't say that it isn't changing and for the better. I remember Forrest Whitaker from his role in the mostly b-movie "Bloodsport" which was a star-vehicle for Jean-Claude Van Damme, now he's an academy award winning actor and a well-reputed director. We as a society tend to get hung up in the question of race and are constantly on the lookout for perceived racial injustice. If we keep focus on that rather than attempting to understand the nuances of other cultures then all of this talk of equality is a sham.