Bloody hell.
As someone pointed out earlier in this thread, and as others and myself have said plenty of times elsewhere, race-swapping usually seems to go in one direction these days. More often than not, it is established white characters being recast as black characters.
Maybe there is some historical irony there, given how often Asian characters were whitewashed in older films. But that does not make this DEI bullshit fine - two wrongs do not make a right. It just creates a different version of the same problem. What makes it more aggravating now is that criticism of it is often dismissed immediately as racism or bigotry, which always happens in these threads across the Gaming and OT boards.
The double standard is what gets me. If Black Panther and the Wakandans were suddenly recast as white actors, nobody would seriously accept "it's just fantasy, bro" as an excuse. People would rightly call it out because Wakanda has a specific cultural identity and place within that fictional world.
As others have pointed out, fantasy does not mean internal consistency suddenly stops mattering. The setting, history, culture, and visual identity of a world are part of what makes it believable. When those things are treated as disposable, especially to game the goddamn Academy, it can break immersion.
Yes, The Odyssey might still end up being a damn fine movie, but it would probably be a stronger one if it respected that logic.
And the ironic thing is, I would absolutely go to war if they whitewashed Black Panther or Wakanda, and I am sure others here would too.
Toons
&
DeafTourette
, unless you don't care either way, we would be in the thick of it decrying and condemning this shit beside you.
But when established white characters are changed, the response is often "who cares snowflake, it's fantasy,' or "it's art" and anyone who objects gets accused of racism.
That double standard is the issue. People are tired of being told their concerns are automatically hateful when the same concerns would be treated as valid in the opposite direction. Like with Star Wars and Trek though, I am getting to the point where I am almost beyond caring.
