Archive for the ‘Prince of Persia’ tag
Hollywood Asks: Just How Stupid are White Anglo Americans?
Following up on my post yesterday about Racebending and Avatar: The Last Airbender, even more spleen is being vented over the release of The Prince of Persia casting Anglo Jake Gyllenhaal as the prince. The sad fact is that those who make casting decisions in Hollywood are following a corporate playbook. Just like any industry, they pick their customer. Just who did they pick? It is based on the lowest common denominator to bring in the most money:
- Want a popular name actor to play a title role that the largest group can relate to
- Authenticity doesn’t matter at all, because the audience doesn’t seem to care
- Reduce thinking challenges to a minimum; don’t challenge any popular stereotypes that might make the audience think (and break suspension of disbelief)
These two films follow innumerable others that Hollywood has cranked out since the very beginning. It is very simple – remove anything that could be remotely objectionable or thought provoking (remove objections) and also provide features that people desire that close the sale. Since the sale begins with marketing, putting up a recognizable name allows the studios to tap into the fans of that actor who will go to see the movie just based on the name value of the actor (balanced against the cost of that actor).
Just these two example movies show just how stupid the Hollywood film industry thinks White Anglo Americans are.
