Literary Blackface.

Goonie

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Books pulled over 'literary blackface' accusations
_110795697_diverseeditions_bookcovers_gallery_credit_tbwa_chiat_daynewyork.jpg


Oh dear, someone clearly was not thinking how this would look. I wonder whether they did 'Gone with the Wind'?
 
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Norbert L

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An interesting thought just occurred to me as a result of the OP. Most people know of the book by Alex Haley titled Roots.

Suppose when they made the movie the casting would have shown the opposite. All the slaves were white and the owners were black?

It would certainly put the expression walk a mile in someone else's shoes to the test.
 
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Goonie

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An interesting thought just occurred to me as a result of the OP. Most people know of the book by Alex Haley titled Roots.

Suppose when they made the movie the casting would have shown the opposite. All the slaves were white and the owners were black?

It would certainly put the expression walk a mile in someone else's shoes to the test.
Something tells me it would not have gone down well....
 
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grasping the after wind

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An interesting thought just occurred to me as a result of the OP. Most people know of the book by Alex Haley titled Roots.

Suppose when they made the movie the casting would have shown the opposite. All the slaves were white and the owners were black?

It would certainly put the expression walk a mile in someone else's shoes to the test.

That would make it something other than Roots then wouldn't it. The story you propose could definitely be done as long as no one tried to pawn it off on someone as Roots.
 
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Norbert L

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That would make it something other than Roots then wouldn't it. The story you propose could definitely be done as long as no one tried to pawn it off on someone as Roots.
It would fictionalize the story for sure and good fiction does challenge our thoughts about life. Case in point Orwell's novels.
 
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essentialsaltes

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I think the covers are kind of cool, but I certainly agree with the main criticism that it's shallow (literally skin deep). "Many said that the company should do more to promote black authors rather than simply changing the skin colour of characters on the front cover."

Celebrating Black History Month with Shakespeare and Shelley is not really the point.
 
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Belk

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An interesting thought just occurred to me as a result of the OP. Most people know of the book by Alex Haley titled Roots.

Suppose when they made the movie the casting would have shown the opposite. All the slaves were white and the owners were black?

It would certainly put the expression walk a mile in someone else's shoes to the test.

I seem to recall a movie based on this very premise. It was not a historical movie but rather an alternate reality type of film.
 
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durangodawood

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How do you switch an old time fictional character from white to black while the text makes no mention of it and the character walks though the world as if they were white?

Has there ever been a time when a black person's experience in society is so identical to a white person's that a fictional treatment could be believably color-blind?
 
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Ken-1122

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An interesting thought just occurred to me as a result of the OP. Most people know of the book by Alex Haley titled Roots.

Suppose when they made the movie the casting would have shown the opposite. All the slaves were white and the owners were black?

It would certainly put the expression walk a mile in someone else's shoes to the test.
Who would be walking in whose shoes if such a movie were made?
 
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Ken-1122

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How do you switch an old time fictional character from white to black while the text makes no mention of it and the character walks though the world as if they were white?

Has there ever been a time when a black person's experience in society is so identical to a white person's that a fictional treatment could be believably color-blind?
Of course! Plenty of movies with black stars could have just as easily have been made with white stars filling those roles, and visa versa.
 
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Ana the Ist

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How do you switch an old time fictional character from white to black while the text makes no mention of it and the character walks though the world as if they were white?

Has there ever been a time when a black person's experience in society is so identical to a white person's that a fictional treatment could be believably color-blind?

I'm not sure what you're saying here...

There's been plenty of suggestions about making this or that fictional white character "black" without meaningfully changing the narrative at all. From James Bond to....well here's a list...

Black Actors Who Played White Characters

So it's been done....with praise.
 
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durangodawood

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I'm not sure what you're saying here...

There's been plenty of suggestions about making this or that fictional white character "black" without meaningfully changing the narrative at all. From James Bond to....well here's a list...

Black Actors Who Played White Characters

So it's been done....with praise.
Wow a lot of fantasy characters there. And James Bond... pretty much fantasy.

But look at a realist novel like "Emma" set in 18th c England and all about marriage, social status, etc set in an English village. Do you really think you could interchangeably plug in a black main character without all those themes having played out radically different?
 
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Ana the Ist

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Wow a lot of fantasy characters there. And James Bond... pretty much fantasy.

But look at a realist novel like "Emma" set in 18th c England and all about marriage, social status, etc set in an English village. Do you really think you could interchangeably plug in a black main character without all those themes having played out radically different?

Sorry....Emma isn't a fictional character?
 
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durangodawood

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Sorry....Emma isn't a fictional character?
What could have possibly given you the notion that I thought Emma was anything but a fictional character in a realist novel about marriage and social status set in an 18th c English village?
 
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Dynadin

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I seem to recall a movie based on this very premise. It was not a historical movie but rather an alternate reality type of film.

I think this is the movie you're thinking about. I think I watched it once, but I don't remember anything at all about it.
 
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Belk

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I think this is the movie you're thinking about. I think I watched it once, but I don't remember anything at all about it.

That was it! I don't recall much about it either but I only watched the first 15 minutes or so.
 
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Ana the Ist

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What could have possibly given you the notion that I thought Emma was anything but a fictional character in a realist novel about marriage and social status set in an 18th c English village?

Well what is the problem then?
 
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durangodawood

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Well what is the problem then?
But look at a realist novel like "Emma" set in 18th c England and all about marriage, social status, etc set in an English village. Do you really think you could interchangeably plug in a black main character without all those themes having played out radically different?
 
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