ETHNIC CASTINGComplications Ensue
Complications Ensue:
The Crafty Screenwriting, TV and Game Writing Blog




Archives

April 2004

May 2004

June 2004

July 2004

August 2004

September 2004

October 2004

November 2004

December 2004

January 2005

February 2005

March 2005

April 2005

May 2005

June 2005

July 2005

August 2005

September 2005

October 2005

November 2005

December 2005

January 2006

February 2006

March 2006

April 2006

May 2006

June 2006

July 2006

August 2006

September 2006

October 2006

November 2006

December 2006

January 2007

February 2007

March 2007

April 2007

May 2007

June 2007

July 2007

August 2007

September 2007

October 2007

November 2007

December 2007

January 2008

February 2008

March 2008

April 2008

May 2008

June 2008

July 2008

August 2008

September 2008

October 2008

November 2008

December 2008

January 2009

February 2009

March 2009

April 2009

May 2009

June 2009

July 2009

August 2009

September 2009

October 2009

November 2009

December 2009

January 2010

February 2010

March 2010

April 2010

May 2010

June 2010

July 2010

August 2010

September 2010

October 2010

November 2010

December 2010

January 2011

February 2011

March 2011

April 2011

May 2011

June 2011

July 2011

August 2011

September 2011

October 2011

November 2011

December 2011

January 2012

February 2012

March 2012

April 2012

May 2012

June 2012

July 2012

August 2012

September 2012

October 2012

November 2012

December 2012

January 2013

February 2013

March 2013

April 2013

May 2013

June 2013

July 2013

August 2013

September 2013

October 2013

November 2013

December 2013

January 2014

February 2014

March 2014

April 2014

May 2014

June 2014

July 2014

August 2014

September 2014

October 2014

November 2014

December 2014

January 2015

February 2015

March 2015

April 2015

May 2015

June 2015

August 2015

September 2015

October 2015

November 2015

December 2015

January 2016

February 2016

March 2016

April 2016

May 2016

June 2016

July 2016

August 2016

September 2016

October 2016

November 2016

December 2016

January 2017

February 2017

March 2017

May 2017

June 2017

July 2017

August 2017

September 2017

October 2017

November 2017

December 2017

January 2018

March 2018

April 2018

June 2018

July 2018

October 2018

November 2018

December 2018

January 2019

February 2019

November 2019

February 2020

March 2020

April 2020

May 2020

August 2020

September 2020

October 2020

December 2020

January 2021

February 2021

March 2021

May 2021

June 2021

November 2021

December 2021

January 2022

February 2022

August 2022

September 2022

November 2022

February 2023

March 2023

April 2023

May 2023

July 2023

September 2023

November 2023

January 2024

February 2024

 

Monday, August 01, 2005

In response to Lawrence Ross's comment on the "sisters" post below... I don't think it's unrealistic that Jerry Seinfeld doesn't have black friends. Just unfortunate. I had black friends in college and film school, but after they moved away to various places (Kentucky, Paris, etc.) I didn't have any for most of the ten years I was working in LA. Possibly because I was hanging out with science fiction geeks, who are (a) very big on civil rights and (b) pasty-white. Possibly because showbiz is so provincial. Possibly because in LA you don't actually have that many friends, just people who are trying to figure out how to use you. Anyway, it's not too hard to imagine that a parochial, shallow Upper West Sider like Jerry's character doesn't have black friends.

But most good screenwriters will make an effort to break out of that mindset, and most good directors will try to cast imaginatively. On Charlie Jade, Tyrone Benskin plays "Karl Lubinsky," obviously not conceived as a black character. On Naked Josh we had to work a bit to figure out how to keep our cast from being lily-white. Josh was Jewish. Nathalie was intended to be pur laine French Canadian. Eric was a shiftless womanizer, so we couldn't make him black or we'd be perpetuating a stereotype. That left Jenn. But Jenn was lesbian, so we worried "can she be lesbian AND black without coming off as a token?" Fortunately Patricia was so convincingly herself in the role that I think we finessed the issue.

I think in general TV's been pretty good about breaking up racial and ethnic and gender stereotypes in advance of the realities of the culture. Particularly science fiction. Hopefully at some point society will catch up...

3 Comments:

I take the I SPY approach to screenwriting and defining characters - that is, I don't address their ethnicity - just their age, gender and attitude. You never saw Bill Cosby or Robert Culp talk about the fact they were different (other than attitude).

We had this discussion in the meetings on the script I'm currently writing, and I've made my statement by not making one on the page - I just tell the story. The company is interested in seeing all sorts of faces for the roles.

I am looking forward to seeing who the casting director comes up with...

By Blogger Cunningham, at 1:16 PM  

Obviously this may be self serving, but I think one of the solutions is to hire more writers of color. I applaud the idea of colorblind casting, when it is truly colorblind casting. Again, when I wrote an article about black character actors, one of the things they laughed about was the idea of colorblind casting. Each one said that for even the smallest character role, the studio knows the type they want to fill the role.

So should hiring more writers of color help? Well, just like white writers build their characters with their experiences in mind, writers of color do the same. Except with one difference. When I think lawyer, I think about thirty fraternity brothers who are lawyers. And from that, I look at their characteristics as I build my unique character. I would chose to follow them if I needed to do research. But one thing that is consistent is that all of these lawyers are black. And so on with the rest of my characters. So where a white writer would turn a white character into a black character, which is fine, I would have black characters and then add white characters. I would see nothing unusual having a black lawyer talking to a black doctor about real estate investments with a black real estate investor. Because that happens last weekend. What is natural in my world, and therefore in my writing world, may not be natural to some else not familiar with my world.

By Blogger Lawrence, at 11:01 PM  

Patricia is awesome in CJ and NJ. I really like how she comes across onscreen. So much so that I'm keeping her in mind for a major role on my show. I've always been very conscious about making my cast a multi-cultural melting pot of various races and sexual orientations -- even though my 3 leads are straight & white. Yet, at the same, I tend to over-analyze how my audience will perceive some of these characters as stereotypes. I can't please everybody.

By Blogger Kelly J. Crawford, at 12:53 AM  

Post a Comment

Back to Complications Ensue main blog page.



This page is powered by Blogger.