Fiennes defends playing Michael Jackson, colorblind casting

Why does anyone find this strange. It's no stranger than the fact that a man who was undeniably born black went through all sorts of medical procedures to en-whiten himself and reconstruct his natural face into a horrible plastic distortion that was all but unrecognisable from the handsome boy he once was in the Jackson Five.

But as MJ himself sang, "it don't matter if you're black or white"

If the "muslim arab" world created a World Trade Center complex movie based on the events leading up to the attack on 9-11-2001, wouldn't the "muslim arabs" be considered the heros?

What does this have to do with Fiennes playing Michael Jackson?

Strangerland - Put a muslim arab actor in a non-villain role? You'd hear the cry of 'pandering' coming from the American right no matter where you were in the world.

What does the American right have to do with Fiennes portraying Michael Jackson?

If the "muslim arab" world created a World Trade Center complex movie based on the events leading up to the attack on 9-11-2001, wouldn't the "muslim arabs" be considered the heros?

Lets have a muslim arab actor from the mideast portray Jesus or Moses in the next movie

Put a muslim arab actor in a non-villain role? You'd hear the cry of 'pandering' coming from the American right no matter where you were in the world.

Aly Rustom said "Lets have a muslim arab actor from the mideast portray Jesus or Moses in the next movie"

Actually in his next movie "Risen" (which probably wont get a release in Japan), Jesus is played by Cliff Curtis who is of New Zealand Maori descent

If a black actor played Michael Jackson in his adult life then wouldn't they have to do it in "white face". Isn't that somehow offensive?

Oh wait, there is no such thing as white face. And this whole damn thing is starting to get old.

I wonder what would happen if a white actor was chosed to portray Martin Luther King in a movie about him.

It's not as if this would be a "blackface" performance of a bygone era.

Perhaps we should think about the conviction said white actor had towards the man and the role. The very fact that a white actor would be honored to play Dr. King is testimony to the fact that we've come a long way since segregation ended.

King himself said that he envisioned a day when "black children and white children would play and school together, in peace", so perhaps one of these white kids grew up and was flattered to land the role of Martin Luther King in a movie or documentary. How better to appreciate a man's experience than to step inside his shoes and become him for that role?

Personally, I think Dr. King himself would approve. It would be a tribute to his legacy.

British actors portray American characters ( Anthony Hopkins played Richard Nixon) American actors occasionally portray limeys. Cate Blanchett was Bob Dylan . This is all very Old hat .

If one has imagination and the acting is fine then......

Sometimes color matters. I wonder what would happen if a white actor was chosed to portray Martin Luther King in a movie about him. Color can be part of the message.

"Let's have a muslim arab actor from the mideast portray Jesus or Moses in the next movie" Actually a character from the Middle East would be the historical accurate portray of Jesus as represented in the bible. This actual representation is a pure farce.

Lets have a muslim arab actor from the mideast portray Jesus or Moses in the next movie

Two things:

1) The play Hamilton had roles assigned to blacks where the person they were playing were white.

2) Michael Jackson, after bleaching and surgery, was whiter than this actor that will be portraying him. I'm sure if they were portraying 1983 MJ, they would use a black actor.

Bongoboy:

Yet no one blinks when a black actor is cast in a white role

For example?

Yet no one blinks when a black actor is cast in a white role. Double standards!

...and there is all this outrage over Hermione Granger being black.

This is a massive double standard that is repeating itself over again. When the white actress was cast as a passing-white Asian woman, there was repeated justification for this casting decision, and apparently Cameron Crowe has done it again (cast a caucasian in a role written for an Asian woman) in another film (unsubstantiated as yet).

This is major bs.

Yet the storm trooper in SW was bashed for being black.