Reply to Color blind casting or color quota casting

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[quote=Anonymous]Let's imagine a world without color blind casting.  Asian actors would need to wait for the next revival of Miss Saigon; black actors would have to wait for the next revival of A Raisin in the Sun or hope that the next big musical has a role for a black woman to "sing the soul" (think of Joanne in Rent).  America is diverse and casting should reflect our diversity, and if race is not integral to the part, why shouldn't actors of color be given equal opportunity with white actors for "traditionally white" roles?

Film and theater requires an inherent suspension of reality.  Whether it's breaking into song and dance during dinner or condensing a life story into 2 hours, there's always an element of fantasy when seeing a play or musical.

However, there's lot of things that can make it difficult for an audience to accept a cast.  If a play is set in England and one actor has a thick German accent for no apparent reason, that's going to make they dialogue hard to follow and probably confuse an audience.  If a play has two parents with small children and one is in their 30s and the other is in their 60s, an audience is going to wonder how those parents are able to have newborns.  And if a play has an Asian lead and a parent character is introduced who is cast with a black actor, that can be distracting.  Yes, all of these situations are possible in real life, but most Brits don't have German accents, most couples with babies don't have one spouse in their 60s, and most Asian people don't have a black grandparent.

Yes, maybe the best, most talented, actor was cast in each of those roles, but producers need to be cognizant that casting can impact how an audience accepts a performance.  There's a line that needs to be drawn between opening horizons and allowing talented actors from historically underrepresented backgrounds have a shot at lead roles and casting actors that create confusing, unrealistic, or distracting situations on stage or screen.  That can come in so many shapes and sizes: age, nationality, gender, height, and yes, even race.  Non-traditional casting can work out beautifully, but it can also quickly feel forced and unrealistic.  It's not racist to be distracted by unusual or non-traditional racial casting in a period piece and it doesn't make you a "dumb theatergoer" to not be bothered by it.  Different people will always see the same performance different from one another.[/quote]

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