Originally Posted by
Merlin1958
Actually, I understand what you are saying and do not necessarily disagree, but we do KNOW that, King created the fictional character from viewing "The Good, The Bad and the ugly" and as such, Clint Eastwood. That's a fact. I understand what you are saying otherwise and agree except for the "racial" overtones. I do think that, Idris would be a great consideration for, Eddie if you wish to shake things up a bit. I apologize for being "Old School, White American". I am doing my best to change, but this one just seems like change for change's sake IMHO
But see, that's the easy out - "it's change for change's sake!" No - it's a multi-billion dollar entertainment company looking at their options and saying "Idris Elba is hot right now, and will make us money." Nothing they do is "change for change's sake," and that's naiive, I'm sorry. I'm serious - I wouldn't be shocked if it was Chow Yun-Fat, so they get the Chinese market. Personally, I do NOT think it will even be Elba - I just don't care if it is, and it would be neat, I think. But whatever.
Idris Elba is exactly NOT Eddie - I mean, come on, Elba is a tall, taciturn guy who's exactly the opposite of the wisecracking Eddie. For that matter, if they cast "Good, Bad and Ugly" in 2015, they'd probably cast Samuel Jackson - that's basically what Tarantino just did.
As I said before - this is a movie where the best actor should get the job, period. And if you don't like Elba AS AN ACTOR, no problem, I get that. But Clint Eastwood's "The Man With No Name" is just a lone gunslinger across the ravaged wasteland - it's a CHARACTER, NOT A COLOR.
So I take this seriously because I think white America takes the easy way out ALL THE TIME - we sit back and expect our heroes to look like us, act like us, and sit back comfortably in our white world, and we can't imagine a world that doesn't look like that - it's lazy and uncreative, and fearful, frankly. The gunslinger can be a black guy, a white guy, an Irish guy, a Korean guy - he's going to find a tower with some friends, that's ALL that's important to the story (and what, a white American is going to use words like "ka-tet?")
As I said in the start, I can find 50 movies where people of color were played by white actors - I bet you can't find a baker's dozen of the reverse, and we get all offended when every once in awhile it goes the other way...then it's CHANGE FOR CHANGE'S SAKE!!! Maybe it is - so what? You can always find a reason to NOT change - that's easy to do. But eventually people got to man the fuck up and be willing to see the world the way 6 billion not-white people see it.
But I respect you trying to see where I'm coming from - but I'm heated about it, because it's so fucking obvious, and you'd think on a site devoted to fictional worlds and fictional characters we could be more imaginative about this - HE'S NOT FUCKING REAL.