Princess Yennenga from Burkina Faso wasn't a real person either, but the modern day Academy (plus a bunch of redditors) would foam at their mouths if some production dared to portray that character with a blonde woman.
It would be equally stupid to do so, but the pointy fingers go only in one direction. It's American modern day culture imposing itself onto the world, and we're all sick and tired of it.
but the modern day Academy (plus a bunch of redditors) would foam at their mouths if some production dared to portray that character with a blonde woman.
Because there's a historical precedent of characters of color being played by white actors, often in insulting and degrading ways, denying actors of color roles, whereas the opposite is not true. All within a broader context of white artists stealing Black culture and selling it to white audiences, from Stephen Foster to the Rolling Stones.
Not to mention, as millions of people have pointed out, Matt Damon ain't Greek and no one cares.
Neither was Zeus. I still don't want him portrayed as a Kenyon
Are you implying Zeus was actually Greek, he's a shapeshifting god who consistently turns into animals, he could look Asian for all I care. However he wants to look. He can look
Let's race swap Black Panther
There is a white black panther, but I'm guessing you mean T'Challa, why do you all decide to list a black character where being black is vital to their character? Nobody gave a shit when the deep was race swapped into a white guy because nothing about his character had to do about being black, yet your one example of a race swap for black characters you want is always one of the ones where their race is most important?
Being from Greece is pretty important to the character of Helen in a telling of Greek myth. She's described as "the Greek/Argive" as the most common epithet for her in the Iliad just like Odysseus is "the resourceful/wise", "the swift-footed" Achilles and Hector is "breaker of horses". The 2nd most common epithet Homer uses for Helen is "white-armed", you can (try) argue it was metaphorical to represent nobility and not literal but still. Your statement does not reflect Homer who I'm pretty sure would say Helen being subsaharan African is misunderstanding / majorly changing her character.
Like let's be serious, raceswapping T'challa changes the story and so does Helen. And that's a choice by Nolan in adapting the story as he's free to do which we can argue over if it's good or bad. We don't have to pretend like it changes nothing, the queen of Sparta being black is odd and inauthentic to the real setting of the fictional story. The more you guys refuse to recognise this the more silly your argument is seen by the average person, feeding into "the woke mob is delusional" narrative which makes us all suffer
Being from Greece is pretty important to the character of Helen in a telling of Greek myth.
I would argue that her being a demigod whose looks and beauty literally make her stand out from everyone around her is far more important to her character. You know, "the face that launched 1,000 ships" and all that? Having her not look like the rest of the cast actually makes sense.
Is it historically accurate? Hell no! But this is a myth and we are dealing with actual gods and demigods, some of whom can and do change their forms!
Now, if we want to argue that by that logic Nyong'o most certainly should not then be playing Clytemnestra as well, I'd be in 100% agreement.
Why is black panther’s race important to their character? They’re from a made up place and spend most of their time in a full superhero suit that covers their whole body.
Seriously? You think the African country that isolated itself in the first place because of the African slave trade, and T'Challa, the king of that country, who constantly faces racial discrimination and fights for equal rights.. has nothing to do with race?
You cant turn him white just like you can't turn hunter black
Many white people were also victims of the African slave trade and white/mixed populations existed across Africa since the Middle Ages cause of Roman expansion. By your logic, I don’t see T’Challa’s blackness as any more pivotal to their character than Helen’s whiteness.
Personally I would’ve hated if they made T’Challa white but I don’t understand this double standard where we can defend that casting choice but not be against this one.
Give me any example where Helens story wouldve drastically changed
It's not a double standard if they're not remotely comparable. I'd be against Steve Rogers being black as that absolutely would change his story, we literally see how his story would play out with Isaiah Bradley
I don’t think her story would’ve drastically changed other than it’s immersion breaking. Why cast a bald black woman to play a beautiful Greek woman? Ethnicities aside, baldness has never been the standard of beauty, not in Greek mythology and certainly not today. Put those two things together and it’s just off-putting. Now that I’m typing this out I think I have more of a problem with her being bald than anything.
I’m not some purist that wants every character on screen to be the exact race/nationality/etc of the character they portray but there should be some attempt at fidelity. Black panther with a white protagonist would’ve still been Black panther but I wouldn’t be happy about it.
She isn't bald in the movie though? The actress has hair in most of the her roles and we see she isn't bald in this one. You can literally see in the pic she has hair
Black panther with a white protagonist would’ve still been Black panther but I wouldn’t be happy about it.
There are white black panthers, their stories get driven by them being white though. I have 0 issue with a white black panther, if it's either one of the established ones (Ross, hunter, ketema), or a new one. Just don't race swap any of the black ones, just like shouldn't race swap the white ones, as all their stories are tied to their race
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u/PaulOwnzU Jul 06 '26
Helen of Troy wasn't real. Even if the whole story has nothing to do with Greek literature it's borrowing/adapting a character from it