Critic Accuses Prince of Persia of "Whitewashing"

[Krythe]

This whole arguement is pretty fucking stupid - Persians ARE white.

The term "Aryan" first shows up in the Behistun Inscription in Iran and refers to the Ariya linguistic group spoken in Iran at the time.

For those of you who don't know, Persia is basically just the old name for Iran.

 

[Kurtle]

If someone can look the general part, then it doesn't matter.
Jake Gyllenhaal however can get away with playing a Persian however, at least to my eyes.
A Japanese person playing a Chainaman, or a Nigerian playing an East African is a different matter too

The Last Airbender is a different situation to this, even though people compare them:
They've raped Airbender to smitherines regarding ethnicity and skin colours etc etc.


Why do people insist on using ethnic" in such a racist way these days?

This whole arguement is pretty fucking stupid - Persians ARE white.

That's VERY arguable.
They're what the US Govt. ,for reasons unknown to logic, designate "caucasian" (as well as Indians, WTF?).
That isn't the same as white, and I doubt anyone would designate someone Middle Eastern as being white in everyday circumstances. There are a lot of racial differences between the Germanic & Celtic peoples and those more recent Middle Eastern-y decent, PC World just chooses to ignore them.

 

[NJ]

Shit it could be the Fresh damn Prince himself reppin' Bel Air and I'd still pay the money for this money and walk away with a grin.

 

[Morty815]

Isn't the Prince white in the games?

persians are white dumbass

Persians aren't the 'white washing' Americans the independent directer was talking about.

Dumb ass.

I never said that, I simply said they are 'white'... (thinks of insulting remark) - dipshit.

 

[Thoric485]

I guess there will be one person happy with Jamie Foxx as Lynch then.

 

[ElectricSpoon]

But on a different note, perhaps I've not read this thread very carefully (I'll admit I gave up on about page 5 after the parrotfest started up), but I've yet to see anyone mention how HORRIBLY WRONG the casting for the evil vizier is. I mean, isn't that the Jewish guy from Lucky # Sleven? He's about the whitest old guy actor around.

You're right, he is and he is. But he is also one of the rare actors who, with a bit of makeup and his exceptional talent, can con you into believing the ethnicity of his character so well, you forget who HE is, and see only the character. Some skin bronzing makeup, and we'll be thinking he's the only one in the movie who is actually from the middle east, he's that good. Sir Ben Kingsley being in Prince of Persia is, for me, one of the few actual highlights, and will probably be what convinces me to go see it even if Moviebob says it sucked.

Quite in line with the original thread topic, I can totally see Sir Ben Kingsley as a contender to play "The Mandarin" for Iron Man 3. Likely, we'll get someone like Chow Yun Fat, Jet Li, or possibly (I shudder to think of it) Jackie Chan. Now all three of them are great actors, but none of them quite have the look. Really, the ONLY part of the Mandarin's look they have is skintone, which can be faked, and the slanted eyes, also which can be faked. Great actors, right ethnicity, wrong look. To me, I'd rather have a fake Asian with the right look and talent, than a real Asian with the wrong look and the right talent. Look, and tell me if you disagree... Give Sir Kingsley a wig (obviously) and some makeup around the eyes, and we have a match people. The kind of so-obvious, so-perfect match that Sir Patrick Steward was for the role of Xavier.

[HEADING=2][font color=black]Vote Sir Ben Kingsley for Mandarin - [/font][font color=red]IRON MAN 3[/font][/HEADING]​

Do you ass clowns have the slightest clue what you're talking about? Sir Ben Kingsley's real name is Krishna Bhanji , he is of Indian heritage, not Jewish, and he's not white. He's most famous for portraying Ghandi in the movie of the same name. More to the point, he was perfect for the role in which he protrayed.

 

[teh_gunslinger]

I wonder, what does this guy think a persian looks like? I mean, there is no such thing as Persia anymore, nor has there been for quite some time. Aside from the fact that PoP is complete fantasy and has nothing to do with the real worls, the Persian Empire, say, has been defunct for quite a while. It's like saying that modern Italians, Greeks or Scandinavians are even remotely related to Romans, ancient Greeks or vikings. It's silly and counter productive I think.

In short, modern Iran has nothing to do, save from geography, with ancient Persia. (And people have to keep stuff like that in mind.)

 

[A Weary Exile]

This may be slightly off topic but that Avatar trailer was amazing! I hope it will be good.

 

[The Austin]

I just saw Prince of Persia today, and, seeing as it was pretty damn good, I'll let it pass.

 

[TerribleAssassin]

i didn't really care about the ethnicity as long as the prince goes about his jumpy platformy business

Easily this,

Though I wonder how he'll do that mirror puzzle for the new sword...


OT: Well it's been made by Americans so it will have American actors.

 

[OceanRunner]

Jake doesn't look that different from the games Prince. There's no need to make such a fuss over this. The movie looks alright too.

 

[maddawg IAJI]

The actor is casted based on his ability to act. The movie wouldn't have been better if a Persian who could not act was chosen as the lead. I was fine with Jake being the prince because he at least looks a little bit like the Prince from the game that is suppose to be the 'inspiration' of this movie. (I use the term, inspiration, loosely here as the film skips over some the of more important plot points of the game)

Race plays no part in your ability to act

 

[benbenthegamerman]

Only one thing to say on this:

\ /
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these are a pair of panties
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/_\
these panties are now in a twist for no good reason than someone wanting attention.

 

[laggyteabag]

But to be honest i cant actually recall seeing a black person in the games, so... how is it whitewashing? They're just making it as accurate to the games as possible

 

[PeterDawson]

I think MovieBob summed up my views on this. Still, the prince is adopted, which also helps.

 

[Necromancer1991]

The only reason this douche knows what this is, is because of the obvious title, if it had a title like "White man's desert adventure" he'd have no reason to be pissed. So yeah shut it you retard, at least until you know what it is you're complaining about!

 

[voetballeeuw]

i didn't really care about the ethnicity as long as the prince goes about his jumpy platformy business

couldn't of said it better myself

 

[ArmorArmadillo]

"It's not only insulting to Persians, it's also insulting to white people. It's saying white people can't enjoy movies unless the protagonist is white."

Bullshit, in that case he's saying that he can't enjoy movie unless the protagonist is Persian, which is a similar train of thought. He had an English accent in the games, why not the movie? There's a stupidly big deal made over this, it's pathetic, I mean, PoP is hardly noted for it's realism, no?

No, it's saying you can't enjoy the movie unless the protagonist is accurately cast.

Although in this case, he might not be correct. A persian friend of mine explained to me recently that "persian" actually encompasses a wide range of genetic phenotypes, including people who would be considered "white" to anyone else.

Bigger question, why are people only complaining now, considering that casting has been racist for every movie everywhere for the entire history of hollywood.