Why are Indian actors being cast in Aladdin?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is it. I am done.

Aladdin is a famous tale from the Middle East. Casting an Indian kid in the biggest Western backed retelling of this classic Muslim tale is a slap in the face of the thousands of Muslims worldwide. It was such a pivotal moment in pop culture history, to have this movie be made now with the geopolitical context of today. An Arab-American actor in the lead was not bring authenticity and understanding to this classic tale of a poor muslim boy who encounters a Jinn but also send a powerful message in cultural diplomacy by having a positive image of a Muslim in pop-culture.

I am appalled and deeply saddened. We are not even allowed to tell our own tales!

Apparently they had a really hard time finding a middle eastern actor to fill the role, so maybe you should be blaming your people for not stepping up to the plate.

Nope. You can't blame ME actors "not stepping up" for Hollywood's trend of whitewashed casting.

You can't blame Asian actors "not stepped by up" for Scarlett Johansson being cast in Ghost in the Shell, or the whole cast in Avatar: the Last Airbender.

You can't blame Latin actors "not showing up" for Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Jeremy Irons, and Winona Ryder in The House of the Spirits.

Efforts need to be made.

Wait...Avatar actors were CGI and blue. Wtf does Avatar have to do with asian actors?!?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is it. I am done.

Aladdin is a famous tale from the Middle East. Casting an Indian kid in the biggest Western backed retelling of this classic Muslim tale is a slap in the face of the thousands of Muslims worldwide. It was such a pivotal moment in pop culture history, to have this movie be made now with the geopolitical context of today. An Arab-American actor in the lead was not bring authenticity and understanding to this classic tale of a poor muslim boy who encounters a Jinn but also send a powerful message in cultural diplomacy by having a positive image of a Muslim in pop-culture.

I am appalled and deeply saddened. We are not even allowed to tell our own tales!

Apparently they had a really hard time finding a middle eastern actor to fill the role, so maybe you should be blaming your people for not stepping up to the plate.

Nope. You can't blame ME actors "not stepping up" for Hollywood's trend of whitewashed casting.

You can't blame Asian actors "not stepped by up" for Scarlett Johansson being cast in Ghost in the Shell, or the whole cast in Avatar: the Last Airbender.

You can't blame Latin actors "not showing up" for Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Jeremy Irons, and Winona Ryder in The House of the Spirits.

Efforts need to be made.

But Aladin is a very specific style of Broadway musical theater. The singing is not pop and not middle eastern. It is big, showstopping show tunes.

I was involved in musical theater growing up and have a teen who is very involved in musical theater. It just doesn't seem like musical theater is a style of acting and singing that middle easter males pursue.

Is is possible that the talent pool is just not there at this caliber in musical theater style acting and singing?

And besides OP, the dude is Egyptian. Is a coptic Christian from Egyptian ancestry not middle eastern enough? Sounds like religious bias and discrimination from you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is it. I am done.

Aladdin is a famous tale from the Middle East. Casting an Indian kid in the biggest Western backed retelling of this classic Muslim tale is a slap in the face of the thousands of Muslims worldwide. It was such a pivotal moment in pop culture history, to have this movie be made now with the geopolitical context of today. An Arab-American actor in the lead was not bring authenticity and understanding to this classic tale of a poor muslim boy who encounters a Jinn but also send a powerful message in cultural diplomacy by having a positive image of a Muslim in pop-culture.

I am appalled and deeply saddened. We are not even allowed to tell our own tales!

Apparently they had a really hard time finding a middle eastern actor to fill the role, so maybe you should be blaming your people for not stepping up to the plate.

Nope. You can't blame ME actors "not stepping up" for Hollywood's trend of whitewashed casting.

You can't blame Asian actors "not stepped by up" for Scarlett Johansson being cast in Ghost in the Shell, or the whole cast in Avatar: the Last Airbender.

You can't blame Latin actors "not showing up" for Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Jeremy Irons, and Winona Ryder in The House of the Spirits.

Efforts need to be made.

Wait...Avatar actors were CGI and blue. Wtf does Avatar have to do with asian actors?!?

Avatar last airbender, not avatar. Look it up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is it. I am done.

Aladdin is a famous tale from the Middle East. Casting an Indian kid in the biggest Western backed retelling of this classic Muslim tale is a slap in the face of the thousands of Muslims worldwide. It was such a pivotal moment in pop culture history, to have this movie be made now with the geopolitical context of today. An Arab-American actor in the lead was not bring authenticity and understanding to this classic tale of a poor muslim boy who encounters a Jinn but also send a powerful message in cultural diplomacy by having a positive image of a Muslim in pop-culture.

I am appalled and deeply saddened. We are not even allowed to tell our own tales!

Apparently they had a really hard time finding a middle eastern actor to fill the role, so maybe you should be blaming your people for not stepping up to the plate.

Nope. You can't blame ME actors "not stepping up" for Hollywood's trend of whitewashed casting.

You can't blame Asian actors "not stepped by up" for Scarlett Johansson being cast in Ghost in the Shell, or the whole cast in Avatar: the Last Airbender.

You can't blame Latin actors "not showing up" for Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Jeremy Irons, and Winona Ryder in The House of the Spirits.

Efforts need to be made.

But Aladin is a very specific style of Broadway musical theater. The singing is not pop and not middle eastern. It is big, showstopping show tunes.

I was involved in musical theater growing up and have a teen who is very involved in musical theater. It just doesn't seem like musical theater is a style of acting and singing that middle easter males pursue.

Is is possible that the talent pool is just not there at this caliber in musical theater style acting and singing?

And besides OP, the dude is Egyptian. Is a coptic Christian from Egyptian ancestry not middle eastern enough? Sounds like religious bias and discrimination from you.

PP. I'm a theatre person too. One who's been involved in the conversations about whitewashing and representations in theatre productions. It's a cop-out to say that there aren't actors of [fill in the race] out there. It is. They found an Egyptian actor to play Aladdin--awesome! Surely, he wasn't the only possibility out there.

Brown skin isn't all the same. This is an issue of representation: if a major and well-respected studio casts Indian actors as Middle Eastern characters, it's showing America, and the greater world of viewing audience, that "they're" all the same. And that, in fact, maybe "they" couldn't or shouldn't be on screen. That's not ok.

[Anonymous]

This is OP. I am thrilled about that Egyptian Canadian guy cast for Aladdin! He looks great for the part!

I am sorely disappointed that they picked Naomi Scott for Princess Jasmine. She is 3/4 white and 1/2 Indian. WHY is an Arab Princess being represented by a white/Indian girl?? It is racist and wrong! Arabs are NOT Indian!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. I am thrilled about that Egyptian Canadian guy cast for Aladdin! He looks great for the part!

I am sorely disappointed that they picked Naomi Scott for Princess Jasmine. She is 3/4 white and 1/2 Indian. WHY is an Arab Princess being represented by a white/Indian girl?? It is racist and wrong! Arabs are NOT Indian!!

First of all it's clear Arabs are not Indian. They have better math skills than you OP.

Secondly, you're the one that's racist. Why aren't you also screaming 'Arabs are NOT white!!'? Oh yeah, you do identify as white. Perhaps Reese Witherspoon would have been less offensive since she doesn't have a drop of Indian blood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. I am thrilled about that Egyptian Canadian guy cast for Aladdin! He looks great for the part!

I am sorely disappointed that they picked Naomi Scott for Princess Jasmine. She is 3/4 white and 1/2 Indian. WHY is an Arab Princess being represented by a white/Indian girl?? It is racist and wrong! Arabs are NOT Indian!!

Your fraction adds up to 1.25. How is this possible?!?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP are you simiarly outraged by Lin Manuel Miranda being cast as Jack in Mary Poppins Returns?

I mean he is clearly not Anglo or British. He is a New Yorker for goodness sakes!

And what about all those white Brits being cast as Americans?

What about the creative-license casting in "Hamilton" in general, for which it has been applauded ad nauseam?

1) Hamilton's race flipped casting is an integral part of the artistic vision;

2) England's colonial history means that there were MANY British PoC even in Mary Poppins times.

You have *entirely* missed the point. No one's saying there weren't any PoC during this time. However - the main characters of "Hamilton" were ALL white people, and now they are being played by PoC. That you can call that "artistic vision," while at the same time express utter outrage that Indian actors are playing characters (supposedly) from the Middle East is astounding and incredibly hypocritical.

Hamilton was written specifically to draw comparisons between the struggles of immigrants and minorities to assert themselves and create their American identities with the founding of our country. That's the entire pint.

NP here. It may have been written for that reason, not it doesn't change the fact that LMM took a bunch of characters based on real people (which, as far as I know, Aladdin is not) of one race and intentionally cast them as people of other races. And people thought this was awesome, not racist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP are you simiarly outraged by Lin Manuel Miranda being cast as Jack in Mary Poppins Returns?

I mean he is clearly not Anglo or British. He is a New Yorker for goodness sakes!

And what about all those white Brits being cast as Americans?

What about the creative-license casting in "Hamilton" in general, for which it has been applauded ad nauseam?

1) Hamilton's race flipped casting is an integral part of the artistic vision;

2) England's colonial history means that there were MANY British PoC even in Mary Poppins times.

You have *entirely* missed the point. No one's saying there weren't any PoC during this time. However - the main characters of "Hamilton" were ALL white people, and now they are being played by PoC. That you can call that "artistic vision," while at the same time express utter outrage that Indian actors are playing characters (supposedly) from the Middle East is astounding and incredibly hypocritical.

Hamilton was written specifically to draw comparisons between the struggles of immigrants and minorities to assert themselves and create their American identities with the founding of our country. That's the entire pint.

NP here. It may have been written for that reason, not it doesn't change the fact that LMM took a bunch of characters based on real people (which, as far as I know, Aladdin is not) of one race and intentionally cast them as people of other races. And people thought this was awesome, not racist.

Right, because that was the point of the show. It uses history as an allusion to what's happening now in our world.

It is not (or should not be) the point of a studio to whitewash stories or intentionally cast the wrong ethnicity because they don't want to do the work of appropriate casting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP are you simiarly outraged by Lin Manuel Miranda being cast as Jack in Mary Poppins Returns?

I mean he is clearly not Anglo or British. He is a New Yorker for goodness sakes!

And what about all those white Brits being cast as Americans?

What about the creative-license casting in "Hamilton" in general, for which it has been applauded ad nauseam?

1) Hamilton's race flipped casting is an integral part of the artistic vision;

2) England's colonial history means that there were MANY British PoC even in Mary Poppins times.

You have *entirely* missed the point. No one's saying there weren't any PoC during this time. However - the main characters of "Hamilton" were ALL white people, and now they are being played by PoC. That you can call that "artistic vision," while at the same time express utter outrage that Indian actors are playing characters (supposedly) from the Middle East is astounding and incredibly hypocritical.

Hamilton was written specifically to draw comparisons between the struggles of immigrants and minorities to assert themselves and create their American identities with the founding of our country. That's the entire pint.

NP here. It may have been written for that reason, not it doesn't change the fact that LMM took a bunch of characters based on real people (which, as far as I know, Aladdin is not) of one race and intentionally cast them as people of other races. And people thought this was awesome, not racist.

Agree with this. Why should the race of the actors matter?

[Anonymous]

Casting director can choose whom they please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP are you simiarly outraged by Lin Manuel Miranda being cast as Jack in Mary Poppins Returns?

I mean he is clearly not Anglo or British. He is a New Yorker for goodness sakes!

And what about all those white Brits being cast as Americans?

What about the creative-license casting in "Hamilton" in general, for which it has been applauded ad nauseam?

1) Hamilton's race flipped casting is an integral part of the artistic vision;

2) England's colonial history means that there were MANY British PoC even in Mary Poppins times.

You have *entirely* missed the point. No one's saying there weren't any PoC during this time. However - the main characters of "Hamilton" were ALL white people, and now they are being played by PoC. That you can call that "artistic vision," while at the same time express utter outrage that Indian actors are playing characters (supposedly) from the Middle East is astounding and incredibly hypocritical.

Hamilton was written specifically to draw comparisons between the struggles of immigrants and minorities to assert themselves and create their American identities with the founding of our country. That's the entire pint.

NP here. It may have been written for that reason, not it doesn't change the fact that LMM took a bunch of characters based on real people (which, as far as I know, Aladdin is not) of one race and intentionally cast them as people of other races. And people thought this was awesome, not racist.

PRECISELY. Somehow, it's "revolutionary" and "artistic" to cast PoC to represent *actual* white people, but "racist" when the opposite is done. And with fictional characters, no less!

[Anonymous]

Because aladdin looks like Indian

[Anonymous]

People!

You do know, don't you, that genetically there is NO difference? That historically, migration and conquest moved people around and so there are some Arabs that look like Meditarranean Europeans, and some Indians that look Arab, and some Chinese that look like Japanese, etc, etc? Countries are not made up of ONE TYPE of people, face-wise (let alone one religion).

I am half white, half asian and am mistaken for Hispanic or, more rarely, for Turkmenistan or somewhere over there.

Does this bother me? Of course not! There are actually Hispanics who look like me!

So stop it with your ridiculous, ignorant, anger. Travel around, open your eyes, and realize that we need to stop imprisoning others into little niches.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. I am thrilled about that Egyptian Canadian guy cast for Aladdin! He looks great for the part!

I am sorely disappointed that they picked Naomi Scott for Princess Jasmine. She is 3/4 white and 1/2 Indian. WHY is an Arab Princess being represented by a white/Indian girl?? It is racist and wrong! Arabs are NOT Indian!!

Your fraction adds up to 1.25. How is this possible?!?

Haha, I'm so dumb when it comes to math, but your fractions are so hilarious!