A Random Complaint about the Racebending Issue

To the people who argue for racebending or condone racebending (be it casting a white actor for a non-white character or vice-versa):

If your argument is that all that matters is acting, that an actor’s appearance doesn’t matter because pretending to be someone else is what actors do, then answer me this:

Should every film department that is involved in modifying an actor’s appearance be scrapped, then? Should makeup and costume departments be considered useless and done away with? If all that matters is an actor’s acting ability, then what need do they have for makeup? What need do they have for wearing suitable clothes for the part, be it historical costume or a work uniform? If all that matters is whether or not an actor can convincingly act like their part, then why should any effort be made to make sure that they resemble their characters?

That means that there should be no outcry or protest or a hint of disbelief when actors in a period piece show up in jeans and T-shirts. That means that all fantastical creatures should be made with CGI if you want to see what an Orc would look like, because otherwise the human actors should just play Orcs without any makeup or costume.

And if your answer to all of this is that it’s ridiculous, that makeup and costume are indeed important parts of theatre and film and that there’s no way that you could believe that an actor was an Orc or a 18^th century noble if they showed up on screen in jeans and a T-shirt, then congratulations. That’s one of the reasons why many people have a problem with racebending.

For those who have no problem with white actors playing non-white roles (be it in “Exodus: Gods and Kings,” “The Last Airbender,”), you may have no problem suspending your disbelief when watching a European-American actor playing an Asian character, but many people do. And the prevalence of this kind of racebending, even when it makes no sense, plus the legacy of blackface and yellowface that’s existed in Hollywood for decades is why some people get upset.

For those who cry racism at people who are bothered when their white characters are played by non-white actors, this is why they’re bothered. It’s not that they have a problem with the actor; it’s that they don’t think that the actor’s ethnicity matches up with the character and thus can’t suspend their disbelief when watching that actor play that character. Some people didn’t like it when Benedict Cumberbatch played Khan in “Star Trek: Into Darkness?” Well, for the same reason, some people didn’t like it when Idris Elba played Heimdall in "Thor." That doesn’t mean that either side is automatically racist. And for you to champion the former outcry while denouncing the latter as racist is a double standard.