Jun 29, 2020

White actors stepping down from voicework: The rant

Hank Azaria, former voice of Apu will no longer voice non white characters. Mike Henry will no longer voice Cleveland Brown...


This, of course have people divided. Some people think this is a good idea and if you hate it, you're racist.
I hate it.

Before anyone starts tossing racisim accusations stupidly, hear me out.

This accomplishes nothing. No, these symbolic gestures will not magically bring jobs to people of color. These Slacktivists are not seeing the other edge of this sword...

The late James Avery, Kevin Michael Richardson, Phil LaMarr, Cree Summer are actors who Would lose gigs (Avery not so much since he sadly, is dead) because they play roles with OTHER ETHNICITIES that "should be played by the people of the right color"...

Hell, even Avatar: The Last Airbender would suffer with this "new rule". How many Inuit voice actors do you know? Hell, even Zuko should lose his voice,  since Dante Basco is not "the right kind of Asian" (The Fire Nation is obviously inspired by Ancient Japan and Basco is of Filipino origin) Can you see what I'm getting at?
By choosing to enforce this notion of voice actor sticking to their racial lane, we'd miss out on amazing performances from phenomenal voice actors, because we're too busy enforcing a Segregation 2.0...

It's no longer acting if the actors have to match the characters down to the smallest detail. Let me put it in a way that you can understand: suppose I write an autobiography and they decide to make a movie about it, who should they cast to play me? If your suggestion is that I should play me, then you're a freaking idiot! Just becaise it's MY LIFE, doesn't mean that I'M the best person to play me. The whole idea about acting is that someone who is not me, is doing their best to represent me in the most accurate manner possible.

With that said, it sure is nice when they can find an actor with the correct ethnicity that can bring some authenticity to the role. But it can't always happen. Sometimes the best voice for a character looks NOTHING like the character.
I believe that voice casting should be colorblind. It shouldn't matter if Shredder is voice by a black man, that Zuko is voiced by a Filipino,  that Cleveland is voiced by a white man, or that Naruto is a woman.

This ridiculous notion would kill the Anime dub industry...



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