IDK how casting Bagels Cucumbers as Khan isn’t disrespectful to Gene Roddenberry tbh.
That man fought networks tooth and nail to have people of different races on his show. He fought long and hard to have an interracial kiss on TV.
My grandmother does not like Sci-Fi, but you better believe her ass was watching Star Trek, you know why? Because it was one of the few places you could see a black woman on TV. And she had an important job! She was important! She wasn’t just in the background.
Shit, as fake and hokey as Chekov’s accent was, he made sure there was a russian on the show, why? BECAUSE HIS VERSION OF THE FUTURE WAS ONE OF DIVERSITY AND PEOPLE GETTING ALONG KINDA SORTA.
NOT LIKE THE OTHER TREKS TRIED TO PRESERVE THAT MESSAGE
OH
WAIT
THEY
DID
(No I don’t know about the dude doing the Blue Steel back there, I barely remember Enterprise it’s boring)
“It’s about the actors performance.”
MAAAN, fuck that noise.
No, it’s not, there are HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of actors out there of Indian descent. You’re telling me that Binglebangle Coochiebutt was better than all of them? Show me the tapes, I gotta see that. Show me them auditions that I’m pretty sure they didn’t even do because casting a white dude is easier than being not a bastard.
People of color already struggle when it comes to seeing ourselves in the media, and before you go “But he’s a baaaad guy.” No one is saying that PoC can’t be cast as bad guys. It’s that we’re cast as the same kind of bad guys each and every fucking time. Mindless, one note, stereotypical.
Khan was different, he was smart, he was strong, he was cunning, he was layered. He garnered the respect of his enemies he was that fucking great. AND HE WAS BROWN. AWESOME SAUCE YEEEEEAAAAAH.
But nope, let’s cast a white dude because who gives a shit about diversity. HAHAHAA WE HONOR U GENE RODDENBERRY BY WHITEWASHING.
P.S I’m just gonna link this cause shut up I do what i want.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/01/showbiz/tv/tv-kids-self-esteem
fucking preach
This is the summer of whitewashedblockbusters.
I asked my husband if they even bothered to explain why the Mandarin in Iron Man 3 is white (Ben Kingsley is half Indian, but that is not the same as Chinese and frankly I think it’s kind of offensive that so many people just keep yelling, “BUT HE’S ASIAN!” when NO), and my husband responded, “His outfit is sort of Asian.”
…
They don’t even bother trying to explain this shit anymore. I guess we should be grateful that only 1 of the 3 summer blockbusters involve brown/yellow/red face. =\