Posted on 02/19/2010 10:20:32 AM PST by Free ThinkerNY
A race row has broken out in France after white Hollywood star Gerard Depardieu darkened his skin and wore a black wig to play mixed race author Alexandre Dumas.
Depardieu, who is well known to British audiences for his award-winning performances in Cyrano de Bergerac and Green Card, is naturally blonde and blue-eyed.
He looks nothing like Dumas, who wrote The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo in the 19th Century.
Yet the producers of 'L'Autre Dumas' (The Other Dumas), which opened in Paris last week, seem to think a big-name white actor would attract more viewers than a black actor.
Patrick Lozes, President of the Council of Black Associations of France, branded the move 'extremely shocking and insulting', saying that Dumas's African heritage was deliberately being ignored for commercial reasons.
Although he was born in Paris, Dumas was the grandson of a Haitian slave and often referred to himself as a Caribbean 'negro' because of his distinctive African features.
He became a French national hero because of his literary talent, but this did not stop him being widely mocked because of his colour.
Claude Schopp, a French historian, said: 'In caricatures and in sketches Dumas was always presented with big lips, with Afro hair - as a sort of monster.'
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Having a black person play the part would ignore the white heritage of the author.
He’s “mixed race.”
Seems almost any given white or black actor would have to be either darkened or lightened.
I read a novelization of the live of Dumas that was written in the 1950’s. It was entitled “The King of Paris.” When reading it, I piduted James Earl Jones playing the part of Dumas, but only because of the way that Dumas was portrayed in novel. There is no reason the part has to be played by either a white man or a black man. Can’t just get past this race thing? The craft of acting is to be able to pretend to be someone else. Charleton Heston is not Jewish, but he played Moses and Judah ben Hur. Omar Shariff is not Russian, but he played Dr. Zhivago.
I question the timing of this 'race row'. Isn't car burning season just around the corner there?
Dumas was a quadroon, which made him 1/4 black. I see no issue here.
The amazing thing is that Charles Bronson was of Crimean Tatar parentage, who are themselves “of color” per most Russians. His Tatar features allowed him to pass for Mexican or American Indian I guess.
That guy looks like a Frenchman that went apple bobbing in cinnamon sugar. I guess this is white people’s revenge for
“The Honeymooners” movie.
What Alexandre Dumas looks like. The guy looks like a really light skinned version of my dad when he was alive. My dad's side of the family also has considerable French heritage.
You mean Sir Laurence Olivier and almost everyone else who played Othello were racists? Jeez, who would have guessed.
Isn’t this just like how every Native American character in old westerns was played by a white guy in a wig and lots of make-up?
My very German grandfather looked alot like Fred Sandford, and yes I was the “big dummy.” Note, any race riots or any type of riots aimed at me or my family will be met with very accurate fire from my Eagle Arms AR-15, and yes I will enjoy doing so, word.
I say we let Maria Carey play the part.
I say we let Maria Carey play the part.
Kenneth Branagh gave the role of the Italian Prince “Don Pedro” to Denzel Washington back in 1993 with Keanu Reeves playing his brother “Don John” in “Much Ado About Nothing”.
That was 17 years ago!
This story is much ado about nothing.
Robert Downey Jr. is one of my favorite actors. His ability to pull of that role in such convincing fashion was amazing. I hope he continues to stay clean.
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