I'm confused. Seems putting black actors into roles of historic figures who were white, people in time periods and places where blacks were rare as hens' teeth (in Britain the BBC is doing this as explicit policy .. "Coloured" Cockneys and Victorian toffs everywhere) and roles obviously written with no particular skin pigment in mind, is okay. But the inverse is oppression.
I am glad to see Native American (Anti-PC's, please don't get bent out of shape. I'm part Cherokee and Lenape myself and have no ancestry from the Indian sub-continent) roles being played by fine actors like Wes Studi. It replaces the old practice of putting paint and feathers on Sicilians. Imagine Sean Connery in blackface as Shaka Zulu. Even Lord Olivier as Othello made me cringe. So the old Hollywood and theatrical practice of never employing non-whites in lead roles is happily past. But somewhere all this rampant obsession with race and trying to make up for ancient wrongs with patent absurdity just has to stop.
Please. It was the tradition until very modern times for white actors to play Othello in dark makeup as either black or Arabic. Olivier is only one of many actors to do this. Probably had to do with a lack of black actors capable of essaying the role in those days. It is considered one of Shakespeare's 2 or 3 most difficult parts.
Also, Olivier more than almost any other performer in the role emphasized Othello's blackness. Many Othellos before Olivier simply played the role as a guy who happened to be black. Olivier stressed Othello's alien-ness among the white population. He also played him as a Muslim who had allowed himself to be Christianized, and as the play progresses he seems to slip into a more barbaric mindset. At the time, Olivier was criticized by some for the performance, not because of black makeup (which was the norm) but for making such a big deal out of Othello being black.
For me it is one of the few performances of Othello that really works. The white population of Venice may feel racially superior to Othello, but they need his military prowess so it is amusing to watch as they basically kiss Othello's ass so he will protect them. We need to see Othello as a valiant eloquent warrior/lover who has no equal in Venice. That way his fall as engineered by Iago is like a giant tree or tower toppling. It doesn't work it the actor playing Othello just plays him as a nice black guy. I thought Laurence Fishburne would be a good Othello, but I felt he did little with the part. Just played him as a good-looking black dude.
It's been awhile since I watched Olivier's Othello. The last time I did, I was struck by how over-the-top Olivier was in the role (it's basically just a filmed play with theatrical acting). But as it progressed, I had the same reaction I had since I saw it in a theater on a big screen. I started to feel that I was watching the complete breakdown of a man and felt by the end that I should not be there to see what should be a private moment of collapse.
Wes Studi narrated one of my TV documentaries and I really enjoyed working and hanging out with him in Santa Fe. He’s a great guy and I think you’d like him very much; he knows the Cherokee history and is one of the few who can speak the language, fluently.