Normally I’d stay out of any toxic discourse involving diversity and just focus on highlighting stories and voices I believe are worth listening to. I have done so in the past and will continue to do so. However, recent events make me feel compelled to voice my opinion. There has been a disturbing rise in hate-speech and harassment in regards to casting women and non-white actors in major franchises. I am speaking of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Prey, Rings of Power, Sandman, Batgirl, Hellraiser and the recently announced Little Mermaid film.
These films and TV shows have been accused of “forcing diversity” and a “woke agenda.” To be clear, I am ambivalent about these pop-culture franchises. I suggest that audiences watch and support whatever entertainment they enjoy and ignore whatever they don’t. Those who are being unjustly harassed have nothing to prove. In this article I will address two key issues– Is diverse casting really running legacy franchises and does diverse casting actually attract new audiences?
Fans of the original source material have every right to be nervous when changes are made in an adaptation. When the race or gender are changed it can sometimes be a sign that the creative team behind the adaptation is unfamiliar with the source material. I doubt it will be controversial to say that 2004’s Catwoman with Halle Berry is objectively terrible. However, the Zoe Kravitz version of Catwoman in The Batman was excellent. Therefore, there’s no reason you can’t have a Catwoman who’s both dark-skinned and bisexual. Ultimately, it is the quality of the film that matters.
Sometimes casting a character against type can yield creative results. Samuel L. Jackson and Sofia Boutella’s villainous characters in Kingsman: Secret Service were very different in the original comic. But both actors owned their respective roles and delivered stand-out characters. I can give more examples of diverse casting paying off with The Green Knight or The Tragedy of Macbeth, or the numerous gender-bends within the Fate anime franchise. But ultimately those who cannot accept dark-skinned people or women as characters in fiction undoubtedly have ingrained-biases in reality.
I’ve argued that race and gender are independent of the ultimate quality of a story. However, does diverse casting attract new audiences? From my perspective, if I wasn’t a fan before I’m not really going to be a fan now. I believe that the next generation of Black actors and actresses deserve more than the leftovers of yesteryear’s pop-culture. By all means, cast Black actors in Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, however, I’d much rather see all-new franchises and worlds to explore that are as big as Star Wars and Lord of The Rings. We need more projects like Arcane, Black Panther, and Rebel Moon–original franchises with new characters that reflect the world in all of its complexity.
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