If Russell Crowe Can Play a Gladiator, Then Why Can't Freida Pinto Play a Palestinian?
That's the logic from director Julian Schnabel, who has taken some flak for casting Slumdog Millionaire actress Freida Pinto as the lead in Miral, a film about several generations of Palestinian women. "When people wonder, 'Why do you pick an Indian person?' Why is Russell Crowe Gladiator? I mean the guy is from New Zealand," Schnabel told the Guardian. "Ben Kingsley played Gandhi!" Yes, because the idea of Russell Crowe in Gladiator is one of worst examples of "color-blind casting" to ever occur. It totally took me out of the movie! Ahem. At least Schnabel didn't use The Last Airbender as a defense. [Guardian]
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Here I was about to say, "Let the actors act! So what if she's not Palestinian?" Then you referenced The Last Airbender debate, during which I was on the other side of the fence. I may or may not be Asian.
Damn.
...also, Ben Kingsley actually IS half-Indian.
Um, Ben Kingsley IS half-Indian, so it's no stretch for him to play Gandhi. Russell Crowe may have been born in New Zealand, but he's ethnically almost entirely European, so casting him as an Italian, or whatever an ancient Roman is supposed to be, is logical too.
Freida Pinto may be a talented actress, but this always smacked of "non-white people all look alike" thinking to me. I had hoped maybe the role was an Indian girl living in the Middle East, I was giving them the benefit of the doubt, but it's a shame I was right.
Yeah, all those Romano-Iberians were totally pissed off Crowe was cast as one of them.
"...the idea of Russell Crowe in Gladiator is one of worst examples of “color-blind casting” to ever occur."
I have been to Spain, and the people there vary in skin color. Some are darker than Crowe, some are lighter. If Russell Crowe was walking down the street in Spain, (and he wasn't a movie star), no one would guess he isn't Spanish until he opened his mouth to speak.
This kind of "reporting" shows what happens when Democrats take over public schools.
This kind of "comment" shows what happens when someone can't recognize sarcasm.