yes i used a clip from the temptations miniseries as opposed to a real clip of the temptations because i'm nothing if not weak for that shade of purple, leave me alone

@ogome2927

2 ай бұрын

interesting that you mention the east asian story serving as the origins of cinderella bc romeo and juliet in many ways is also a poc story. the story of laila and manjun is from arabic origin and acc predates romeo and juliet by centuries and the story is extremely similar and is muslim too yet the story kind of gets overshadowed by the overall ytness of romeo and juliet i feel like

@user-dq6pm6sg8z

2 ай бұрын

Unless mistaken, did the casting of Jet Li and Aaliyah cause a stir in Romeo Must Die ?, I think this is a rare case of that NOT being there case. I STILL think it HOLDS up!!

@kaydgaming

2 ай бұрын

You said it’s the presence of a black actor that is the source of the hatred, and while I agree that’s a part of it, it’s the black actor being in what is considered a white space that gets them pissed. They think they are entitled to be isolated from others, because the others are considered lesser and ornamental to them. They’re fine with Madea movies, because they’re able to be voyeuristic of the other as though they’re a cat in a box that can be shaken around or bothered whenever they please.

@ghirathim

2 ай бұрын

it was a really good purple

@bichiAllen

2 ай бұрын

I understand this, because I too am weak for that shade of purple

i'm so tired of people trying to intellectualize their racism

@ogome2927

2 ай бұрын

mfers be like giving essays with how they're racism is like and being all clever and crap lol

@iateyursandwiches

2 ай бұрын

It's hardly intellectual when you see simply savage, primal hate speech and vitriol thrown at black entertainers for existing in certain works.

@XaraK1

2 ай бұрын

I LOVE this wording and I am officially stealing it. Isn't that why we actually have racism? Because they wasted no time in trying to intellectualize it? That's why we still have people believing we are of inferior intellectual despite Africans having the first libraries and universities (Timbuktu was only THE FIRST, not the only) and teaching Europeans about hygiene

@seeleunit2000

2 ай бұрын

And they fail at it. Because racism is inherently stupid. People of color have a right to be in leading roles

they dgaf about Shakespeare, they can't even SPELL Shakespeare !

@incognita626

2 ай бұрын

That part 😭

@userfum

2 ай бұрын

exactly

@XaraK1

2 ай бұрын

They should be more annoyed that women are in theater. Unlike in Shakespeare's time

@jazzinikki01

2 ай бұрын

Right 😂😂😂

To be truly accurate to shakespeare, shouldn't every woman playing juliette be a young man in a dress? It's wild how upset people are about this!

@victoriahiggins5458

2 ай бұрын

My thoughts exactly! And they should take the seats out of the theater so they can stand as they should. And if the audience member has neither fleas nor lice, out they go!

@wonderwalledit

2 ай бұрын

True 😂

@TheDawnofVanlife

Ай бұрын

@@victoriahiggins5458Thank you, whenever people ask for classic shakespeare I am like ‘so we bring the pit back?’

The outrage is the point. They have a persecution complex. NONE of them would normally go to Broadway to see any show let alone something like Romeo and Juliet. They're just angry so they have something (and someone) to be angry about. If you want to mobilize your base, you need an enemy for them to target.

@redrooster3420

2 ай бұрын

That last sentence!! As a trans person in this given moment, I feel like that really resonates with me (in regards to anti-trans panic). And of course, it keeps playing out with all the anti-Black, racist outrage so clearly.

@morivice6835

2 ай бұрын

Bars right there

@icedoatmilklatte910

2 ай бұрын

Perfectly said! People on the internet *love* a witch hunt. They’ll look for anyone and anything to get angry about

@Bidibidibunny

2 ай бұрын

Thank you! I’ve been saying this because there was no outrage when the little mermaid musical tour happened a couple years back and that Ariel was Asian. So this outrage is new and clearly lacks an understanding of how theater casting works.

I remember when The Little Mermaid was coming out last year and haters were saying "just make your own black princess movie!" And when Wish came out later that year people still complained about it being "woke" all because Asha was black. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

@heartbeattoya1718

2 ай бұрын

Exactly and Wish had many problems, the ethically diverse characters wasn't one of them.

@Genesisorgin

2 ай бұрын

I saw a tiktok about wish being anti white beacuse the bad guy in the movie is white 💀 I just can't anymore

@yeonake

2 ай бұрын

Asha was a badly written character. Wish was a bad film in general. African Americans are too comfortable with Disney giving them the bare minimum.

@neelay123

2 ай бұрын

@@yeonake I agree with everything you're saying. The film had so much potential but was a complete letdown. My problem is the grifters just labeling her as "woke" just because she's black.

@seeleunit2000

2 ай бұрын

​@@Genesisorgin... Honestly, I can't blame you for being sick and also, that is the stupidest thing ever. Why do these racist jackasses try to gaslight people with their stupidity ?

Heavy on the part where people are only paying attention to this because the stunt casting of Tom Holland. Most people dont even know that this is even a stage play I've seen too many people say "this movie is gonna suck I hate Hollywood and their remakes." Casting Black actors in Shakespeare plays happens all the damn time just last year there was on the west end production starring Toheeb Jimoh as Romeo. the globe theatre usually have colourblind and genderbent casting. These reactionaries don't give a damn about old ass plays it was just an opportunity to be bigots out loud

@ogome2927

2 ай бұрын

tbf but i'm acc with them on that if you're going to use a yt actor why are you using yt boy flavour of the month there was a lot more interesting choices they could've chosen from as well imho

@yougtoo

2 ай бұрын

you took the words right out of my mouth!

@janaekelis

2 ай бұрын

i live in the caribbean where theres barely white people and trust me the entire cast is not white and no one has a problem

@momo7989

2 ай бұрын

I wouldn't say he's stunt casting since his background is in theater particular musical theater.

@seeleunit2000

2 ай бұрын

Yeah, pretty much that's the point. It should also be a point that we should call out this crap and not accept any of this racist bulshit

Someone once told me they didn't like Mace Windu (Samuel L Jackson) being in the Star Wars movies because "there is no Africa in Starwars." Ignoring the fact that canonically, Africa technically exists somewhere at some time in a galaxy far away in Star Wars," you have to consider that through that same skewed logic, humans shouldn't be there either. White black Mexican or whatever... ppl can be dumb at times.There are flying space ships, glowing swords, aliens and literal space wizards known as Jedi, and for some reason, a black guy appearing on the screen is when your suspension of disbelief is challenged?

@incognita626

2 ай бұрын

the way they just can't compute the existence of human beings who aren't white in these FICTIONAL worlds

@jackshadowbrowse

2 ай бұрын

Also such a strange misunderstanding of humans. If the humans are from a planet that orbits a sun, there will be black people. Simple as that. Unless the star wars humans are from a planet with perpetual cloudy skies, which would probably be a plot point or at least mentioned in the books

@PNT510

2 ай бұрын

@@jackshadowbrowseNever even crossed my mind, now whenever I watch Star Wars I’m just gonna think about how weird it is that so many of the people on a desert planet like Tatooine are so pale!

@iateyursandwiches

2 ай бұрын

People angry about black existence in sifi movies is the most confusing thing to me. I kind of get it in medieval fantasy (well not really cause its FANTASY) but it's the future we are talking about? Why would black people no longer exist in the future? You can't even intellectualize that racism, you're clearly racist. Period.you just don't want blacks or even non whites in your movies. Imo, it would be quite pathetic that even in the future when humans now have contact with Alien species at a massive scale, we still wouldn't be able to cooperate and move past our hatred for one another lol.

@someblaqguy

2 ай бұрын

@iateyursandwiches Star Wars actually takes place in the past lol. Also, I agree that the setting indeed needs to be considered when people create these characters. It would be weird to see Caucasians in a movie about ancient Africa, after all.

As for Othello if a white actor wants to play Othello that bad they should be in a production similar to the one Patrick Stewart was in where they inverted the roles. White Othello, rest of the cast Black.

@dymoonbp7310

2 ай бұрын

I wonder if maybe it could be a white Latino too. I am a afrolatine, in latam. so to me white Latinos are white. But in the us, as I see it, a white Latino specially with an accent might have that level of otherness. But still be white. I think, they might be the only exception on that because despite the fact that some of them can be as white as America’s, because of the usa’s policies they (yet) aren’t considered white. But something tells me that based on their reaction to Rachel Ziegler playing Snow White, if diego luna plays otello it wouldn’t count as a white person…

@ogome2927

2 ай бұрын

nah just get a black actor to play othello don't get me wrong that ain't a bad idea but i'd rather it just have an actual black man to play othello rather then them finding some kind of strange way to shoe horn in yt ppl it annoys me a lot as well with their demand of having yt in everything

@mmfood3004

2 ай бұрын

These seems just as arbitrary as people complaining about a black Juliet tbh. Cast however you want, have an all female Othello if you want, the more variety the better.

@BE-fw1lr

2 ай бұрын

@@mmfood3004 I mean, in a story specifically about race and otherness that's one of the few times where the race of the actor is important.

@Firegen1

2 ай бұрын

Dreyfuss is such a tool. I saw that version of Othello in school and zi started laughing my ass off. I literally pointed out how utterly stupid Olivier sounded and looked. I could tell my English Lit teacher was sweating. Others told me it was ok because it was a classic. I can't remember what I said next but as the only black student I wasn't putting up with it. It's god awful.

Something important to note about “accurate casting” is that Shakespeare’s plays were all initially performed by men. Women weren’t allowed to act. If you want a so-called “faithful portrayal” or whatever, have a man play Juliet in a wig. Bet they won’t like that.

@JLMac322

2 ай бұрын

Exactly!

Its just exhausting seeing this happen over and over again, these are the same people who say "the best person for the job should be hired" well, guess what, they were, and they're black - seriously it's just gross that people still want to get up in arms like this

@JLMac322

2 ай бұрын

Literally what happened with the girl cast as Annabeth for Percy Jackson. She's absolutely great, totally captures the character's personality, and the author of the books himself said she was the best for the job. But because she's black and not blonde, grown people thought it was okay to bully a little girl

@angleslikeyou537

2 ай бұрын

⁠@@JLMac322it hurts my soul.Grown men and women coming after a 12 year old girl at the time when she was first casted!!

my favourite Romeo & Juliet adaptation is a Belgian movie called “Black” which follows a Moroccan boy and Congolese girl from rival gangs. like it’s been done before. the story is so adaptable that i am baffled that people are upset about this specific production of the play. edit: I will say that, as a Congolese person myself, the way the Moroccan directors portray my people in this movie is very outdated and at some points anti black. So proceed with caution if you want to watch this movie. It’s heavy.

@Thenewboidahlia

2 ай бұрын

Ooh I actually love that set up though! I feel like that’s a much better story than “feuding families” like in the original play

@devonmunn5728

2 ай бұрын

Probably because it's Belgian and the racist outrage usually (not all but usually) tends to come from Americans or English speaking people. Like I've never heard of this film until this comment (probably will add it to my watchlist)

@johanaforever965

2 ай бұрын

@@devonmunn5728you should, it’s very good but very hard to watch

@S5S5066

2 ай бұрын

@@devonmunn5728 yeah but Belgium also it’s important to keep in mind some of the worst most horrific atrocities in the Congo and still to some extent do

@MaryamMaqdisi

2 ай бұрын

​@@S5S5066 yeah no empire is free from that, thank you for pointing that out as it's still something somewhat recent and the effects of colonialism can be felt very sharply to this day

It's ironic how the play's message is that bigotry and family feuds are pointless and end up in tragedy. And yet, here we are...

@littleguy8714

2 ай бұрын

Right, that young people have to literally die to effect change for their families to see their wrongs. Even that doesn’t happen in our society today 😢

8:16 - 8:22 Exactly! If Romeo wasn’t being played by one of the many “white boys of the month” there wouldn’t be this much backlash over the Juliet casting. Also, most of the people whining about the “disrespect to Shakespeare” probably haven’t read a book since “Goodnight Moon”.

@VixxKong2

2 ай бұрын

Ngl, I don't know what "Goodnight, Moon" is

@booksvsmovies

2 ай бұрын

@@VixxKong2 Its a picture book that's traditionally read as a bedtime story to kids

@VixxKong2

2 ай бұрын

@booksvsmovies Thanks I never had bed time stories book in my childhood

@katherinealvarez9216

2 ай бұрын

I bet you anything none of them even saw the play. Or even planning to.

@VixxKong2

2 ай бұрын

@@katherinealvarez9216 I bet they didn't set foot in a theater since their middle school took them to watch one for the curriculum

At this point, aren’t these people tired? It’s the same complaint every 3-6 months, yet they’ll foam at the mouth if they’re called “racist”. Juliet, Ariel, Starfire, Catwoman, etc are NOT REAL PEOPLE. They are popular characters. The prior versions still exist. You don’t have to like the casting of every piece of media. Get a hobby that doesn’t include harassing people.

@dhsf5937

2 ай бұрын

Yes,but is something called cultural appropiation,if the little mermaid was a african story,in 2024 they could never cast a white woman to play a african character, Hollywood is trying to erase european culture by creating cultural appropiation. Hollywood always stole our culture,but now they are trying to make european culture african american. The double standards here are awful,black people can complain,but we can't or we are called racists if we do.

@criesinyee-haw8841

Ай бұрын

@@dhsf5937”European Culture” lmao

"Am I being told that I will never have a chance to play a Black man?" I don't know if I've ever internally screamed "*CORRECT!*" as vehemently as I did there.

@minirth.maggie

Ай бұрын

He was so offended, my head exploded.

and you can see this across different forms of media. can't tell you HOW many times i've heard the argument that we should just make our own comics and characters. we do and it's not supported. it's such a disingenuous argument meant to basically shut us up from criticism. you are right on point!

@Aishyo

2 ай бұрын

When we do make our own it's still an issue

@VintageToilet

2 ай бұрын

Yep! I make my own stuff and this argument annoys me greatly! They just want us to have our own stuff so they can easily ignore it 😂😭

@johandrytenias1725

2 ай бұрын

That just means "do your own thing over there".

@morivice6835

2 ай бұрын

@@Aishyo yes look at what happened with Black girl gamers

@ogome2927

2 ай бұрын

i acc agree with this we really should be supporting those independent works of independent poc creators rather then these big budget productions which have false diversity i feel like bc those independent works get lost along the way and it is sad

I am so happy you understand the concept of colorism and featurism! Because people will act like they’re so “pro black” but only seem to favor the black people that have more proximity to white beauty standards.

The minute people see melanin even if its a hint, people think its the end of the world 🙄. Im tired of WOC getting treated terribly and people trying to justify it because " its unatural for them to have roles that are sterotypes or a supporting role for a white protagonist "

People were more chill about casting during Shakespeare time. They wouldn't even complain when Juliet was played by a man.

@HB-eh9zf

2 ай бұрын

That's because women weren't allowed to act at the time

@jlkjlkjkljklj9162

2 ай бұрын

@@HB-eh9zf That is the joke yes

14:19 - 14:53 --> HAH?? SIR?!? WHAT?!! I have never been virtually punched and slapped through the brain before but my guy just managed. The indignant sorrow in his voice for being denied his RIGHT to play a black man just kicked my teeth in.

@sharon__a

2 ай бұрын

As if there are a shortage of roles available to him 😒

@MaryamMaqdisi

2 ай бұрын

bUt ThEy PlAyEd A bLaCk MaN bRiLlIaNtLy

@incognita626

2 ай бұрын

imagine hearing this caucasous take in person, in a college classroom (from an equally delusional and entitled older yt man/guest speaker) as one of 2 Blk students in the room... *shuddering from the flashback*

@limelantern5637

2 ай бұрын

"Sir, might I present to you" (opens cartoonishly large bank vault) "Every other fucking Shakespeare part and also every part in every other fucking thing written for white or racially unspecified people!"

@NaritaZaraki

2 ай бұрын

@@limelantern5637 Buuuut, on the other hand, consider that that entire vault of options doesn't allow me to wear black face. And Laurence Olivier got to do it and play a black man ✨brilliantly ✨Am I being told that I will never have the chance to do that? 🥺🥺🥺

The proud family episode is too my favorite iteration of Romeo and Juliet

@ogome2927

2 ай бұрын

songs from that episode are dope af tbh

Im a professional playwright and my wife is a professional director of Shakespeare, and her whole ethos is to invite POC, people with disabilities, queer people, everyone who has felt Shakespeare isnt FOR them, and show them and audiences that the work belongs to everybody. And what I really love about her work is that those productions aren't "about" the difference from traditional casting. She directs great Shakespeare without patronizing or reducing her cast to the ways they arent cis white men. In this, her goal is to allow the performers the full scope of humanity that exists in Shakespeare's plays, and which has historically been denied to bodies like theirs.

@incognita626

2 ай бұрын

more ppl in these industries should take notes from her!!

Not me rapping the entire proud family version…that unlocked something phew

@Yharazayd

2 ай бұрын

really took everything in me to not let the whole thing play 😔

Aaliyah was the first black "Juliet" I knew of from Romeo Must Die. It came out in 2000 and I loved that movie as a kid.

I refuse to even engage with idiots who are too uncultured to know that color-blind casting in stage & theatre productions is the norm (ESPECIALLY for adaptations of Shakespeare) and I hate that people are giving the actress additional grief just because she’s an unambiguous, dark-skin black woman

That last point about some of the complainers not even bothering to watch original stories was SPOT ON!

00:55-01:40 Plus to mention there's also the novel Romiette and Julio by Sharon Draper with a Black girl and a Latino boy

@ayindestevens6152

2 ай бұрын

Omg yes! I read that in HS.

I didn't know the origin of the Cinderella story was Chinese. But an adaptation of that story would definitely cause outrage. Because white childhoods must not be ruined. I don't think we will reach a point where black actresses can just live their lives and build their careers. It's too polarized now, and politically endorsed. The internet is a huge part because people can be bigoted fairly safely and find a large bigoted community where before they may have been limited to just close family/friends. There's too much confident ignorance. If Star Trek was announced today, people would be furious with Uhura as a black woman. It's got worse since the 70's.

@jennywakeman3267

2 ай бұрын

I didn't know either. But yet, they don't have any problem yt-washing other people's stories/ history. They talk about wanting accuracy, but if you give them what they want, then it's "reverse r@cism, woke, diversity hire, etc.". Even when Zoe Kravis played catwoman in the batman film, they were foaming in the mouth about it. But Halle Berry and Eartha Kitt also played the role back then too. Even with voice acting, it's "ok" for wp to voice poc characters, but if it's the opposite, now it's "fine as long as the person is the best for the job"? Where's the same discretion and standards when it's a wp casted?

@sunnysunflowers328

2 ай бұрын

Oof "white childhoods should not be ruined" is exactly what the issue is! Every. Single. Time. Its always about how they were introduced to that piece of media and us people of colour should not do anything to challenge their memories. What about us? What about us people of colour growing up with hundreds of white characters and one or two brown characters? What about improving or healing our childhoods? Or creating better ones for our kids?

@Illchoseanamelater

Ай бұрын

​@@sunnysunflowers328 I absolutely love your comment

@sunnysunflowers328

Ай бұрын

@@Illchoseanamelater thank you🩷and i yours.

Featurism and texturism definitely is a factor. I feel like a zendaya like woman wouldnt get the same type of denegration.

@inkasaraswati7625

2 ай бұрын

Definitely a factor, dark skinned women with more African features definitely caught the worse backlash. But they hate Zendaya too, along with Rachel Zegler and Hailey Bailey who I think are so beautiful and have more Eurocentric features so I think they're just racsts...

@incognita626

2 ай бұрын

I was actually seeing some comments of how ppl would "prefer" Zendaya for the role (I won't repeat how they actually put it)... they really said the "quiet" part out loud 💔 and they can shut up

@priscilla8068

2 ай бұрын

​​@@incognita626oh some also "preferred" Zendaya for the role of the little mermaid which was crazy because I thought white people didn't know what featurism and colourism was🤔. It's just so aggravating because on one hand they don't really like Zendaya but if they had to go for a black woman they always pick her.

@PrincessLioness

2 ай бұрын

@@priscilla8068Yup, one of the worst comments said “Zendaya is mid but they would prefer her”

@incognita626

2 ай бұрын

@@priscilla8068 Exactly. they think/say "see, we like *this* Blk actress. so we're not racist!" while exposing themselves as colorist/featurist/texturist, which is rooted in racism. (and they're weirdly unable to keep Zendaya's name out their mouths since she's probably one of the few Blk actresses they can name at all, but I digress.) most of them know what they're doing and get a sadistic kick out of it.

I haven’t watched the video yet but I am just really confused as to why this play that was sold out before the casting was ever released is getting this much online hate Reminds me of the people crying over the rapunzel FAN CAST. I’ve literally seen multiple palm colored people say that they no longer have representation like 70% of movies coming out don’t still feature them as leads I will never understand that level of entitlement to pretend that you don’t have representation based off of a FAN CAST

@ogome2927

2 ай бұрын

i'm only for poc leads if we're going to AT LEAST have full diversity across the board! i am still not all for the idea of movies where one character is poc and the rest are all yt it's not good enough and other groups needs to also be addressed but then again i also don't think the diversity already in play needs to be overshadowed too as well!

@pearlcnrd

2 ай бұрын

When you're used to privilege equality starts to feel like oppression.

Tbh Annie did what it needed to, and movies after it (where black girls take the lead) will continue to do what they need to! 9 year old me was OBSESSED with 2014's Annie. I watched it so much that I practically had the script memorized. I got it the first time fr.

@ogome2927

2 ай бұрын

they're need to be more adaptations like that 2014 annie movie, imho if you're going to diversity do it all the way imho not half ass it with one character as a poc and then the rest as yt it just gets on my nerves as well bc i don't see it as true full representation and really just as a way to promote interracial dating sometimes i feel like controversial ik but sometimes it can come across as that

@fumixox8388

2 ай бұрын

me too as a young black annie was one of my first representations on screen i could actually relate to i would rewatch it so much as a kid so when i got older and so how much backlash it got online i was shocked

@lilacfields

2 ай бұрын

i absolutely loved 2014 Annie and was 8 when it came out! went to see it in theaters and everything. i couldn’t get the songs out of my head. i was so obsessed, i decided i wanted to watch the original annie too. annnd i actually got bored of it and never ended up finishing it 😭… so i was so shocked when i got older and found out that people online really HATED that movie and how racist people were over it. genuinely insane seeing people cry about how they “ruined annie” when i absolutely loved it as a kid

@Genesisorgin

2 ай бұрын

Same I love Annie and the songs were so good

@junipi8562 said, "white childhoods should not be ruined" Which is exactly what the issue is! Every. Single. Time. Its always about how they were introduced to that piece of media and us people of colour should not do anything to challenge their memories. What about us? What about us people of colour growing up with hundreds of white characters and one or two brown characters? What about improving or healing our childhoods? Or creating better ones for our kids?

Didn't know Cinderella had it's origins in China.

And they just announced Rachel Zegler as Broadways new Juliet. Wishing her all the strength in the world. God knows what she must have been through in the last years 🖤

@mhawang8204

Ай бұрын

Rachel was born for the stage on Broadway. Luckily the Hunger Games prequel earned her some positive attention. Hopefully more sensible people will see how talented she is.

What makes Shakespeare great is that his work is not tied to it’s particular context. I had an Indian American lit prof who asked “whose the Indian Shakespeare?” her answer was Shakespeare

@Pan-optic

2 ай бұрын

I think this is also often said in order to highlight that cultures don't produce literature in parallel ways. Like for instance people will say that Chikamatsu is the Japanese Shakespeare, but the rebuttal to that is "Chikamatsu isn't Japan's Shakespeare. He's the Chikamatsu of the world."

I simply hate the attention bigots get and how news media sites, and social media overall, make it look like it's an unanimous outrage, and not a very loud handful of weirdos.

@lovelydia101

2 ай бұрын

Bad press is good press. I have a feeling that the discourse is often propped up by the media to promote the movie or show. Which is gross since it puts these actors in a really horrible spot.

This backlash had me confused just like the Rue backlash did way back when. Because...its so stupid. I'm not a theater buff and even i know Shakespeare is a rite of passage for all stage actors regardless of race. Also, great points raised as usual!!

@iateyursandwiches

2 ай бұрын

The Rue backlash was not just confusing, it was nonsensical.

Francesca isn’t the first Black female lead to receive hate and she won’t be the last. They did the same with Halle, Moses Ingram, etc. I’m so tired of the misogynoir among people. Black women shouldn’t have to fit Eurocentric standards to star as leads, either.

Random note, I saw Tromeo and Juliet once on a slow night and oh my god. It might be the most vile and disgusting movie I’ve ever seen, and I love it for that reason alone. It took one of the most romantic stories in history and turns it into its own nasty tangent

People forget that "Romeo must die" exist were Juliette is black played by Aaliyah and Romeo is asain played by Jet Li. I love the movie but it definitely isn't without fault, it was made in the 2000 thus quite racist.

they’re lawn gnomes wtf is that killed me lmaooo

Hilarious to me that Tom holland is in this because people were mad that zendaya was mj and now they’ve been together in real life since that. I know they’re mad that their precious spider man is tied to dating black women lmao

When people complain about actors of color in roles like ariel or finn and say that they should just go star in new original works instead of existing properties, i take that as code for "why can't actors of color stay siloed in films i see as niche and roles that reaffirm my stereotypes so i don't feel compelled to engage with them as complex people." A film like Love & Basketball is fine because they can ignore its existence. A film like The Blind Side is ok because they can focus on the white savior. Anything more than that gets their knickers in a bunch.

For the first time I read a book where it was said : "A white man entered the room. " I was so shocked. Sometimes a character is described as white but with other traits. Here it was just like writers describing black people. The writers were white husband and wife. It was so strange to me that I realised how engrained in me the white default wa

@Nikki_the_G

Ай бұрын

It's one of the many reasons I love Jeff Vandermeer. He's the only white writer I've read who describes everyone's race, there's no default.

Great vid, people are truely only pissed beaused they wanted to see another big white lead beside Tom to fulfill some fantasies Ohh the balcony detail is so fun, I wonder who was the first to do it.

@Eloraurora

2 ай бұрын

This is probably anachronistic, but I love the idea of a stage manager insisting on a railing because Juliet keeps leaning out of the window toward Romeo and he's worried she'll fall.

Star wars fans have completely and utterly destroyed multiple people lives.

This is all cause of Tom Holland making ‘movie folks’ pay attention to theater. Anyone who has seen any Shakespeare play in the last decade knows most of them have mixed race cast at this point. I did a Tempest where Prospero was black and his daughter was Asian and no, we didn’t explain it. And guess what, they were two great actors and the audience wasn’t confused and went with it. Currently doing a Much Ado with a mixed race cast. I work backstage as a Stage Manager btw.

@ebyintheskywithdiamonds

Ай бұрын

The problem isn't that she's black, the problem is that she's too masculine to be Juliet. Juliet is delicate and elegant in the play. I wish a more suitable black actor had been chosen.

@ebyintheskywithdiamonds

Ай бұрын

For example, Juliet 2013 is very beautiful

Bear with me because i know you're talking about people of colour just...existing in media. But recently in Australia We had a referendum. We were voting for aboriginal people to have a place/ seat in parliament. You know...those people that have a 30000 year culture that the English colonised? Before I could say 'oh cool that sounds gre...' the vitriolic and horrific racism I saw from people that a woman of my colour ( I'm like...see through white) felt almost cartoonishly blind sided. But it was...like....they didn't even pretend it was about anything else but racist. The 'quiet part out loud' is the understatement of the century. They were basically like 'yeh this is totally about race. What of it?' there were like...parades of neo Nazis holding signs saying 'trump 2020,' (what the hell is trump got to do with 2023 in Australia...your guess is as good as mine) . But no this is terrifying and has to stop. I don't know what to say anymore. These people aren't smart but they are loud and violent. And we don't even have an extra layer of gun violence....what...the hell?

The most bizarre part of the discourse is that, as you said, Shakespeare casts are frequently already non-white on the stage. Because it's *Shakespeare*. Being an actor in most Anglo and Western theatrical spaces means you'll do Shakespeare *at some point*. It's Drama 101. If a stage actor hasn't done Shakespeare at one point they either suck way too hard, retired from the professional on their own or believe they're above Shakespeare... somehow... and are doing, like, Hamletmaschine in Frankfurt instead and believing they're taking an anti-Shakespeare stance through it. 😂 Shakespeare is lowest common denominator stuff. It's like trying to get out of basic arithmetic.

@incognita626

2 ай бұрын

those trolls are too willfully ignorant to process that

The proud family one is actually most accurate to the spirit of the original cause Shakespeare was pretty much a rapper in his day

Your my one of my favorite channels. As a queer, Muslim raised, poc, I can see my voice in your channel. I feel like we think on the same wave length. Gorg, keep up the great work!!!!!!!!

@devonmunn5728

2 ай бұрын

Yhara is also one of my favorite channels as well

@MaryamMaqdisi

2 ай бұрын

She's awesome

I always leave these videos these videos with something new to watch afterwards. In this case, it's that Orlando Bloom + Condola Rashad production of "Romeo & Juliet".

The truth is the outrage isn’t about anything to do with the casting or the source material; those are just the excuses used to cover up the fact that they just see an opportunity to be racist to a black woman and get attention from it due to Tom Holland’s appearance. It’s attention seeking.

@royalxprincessbaka6875

2 ай бұрын

I don't know why people complain about the source material being changed for Romeo and Juliet when the story has been told a thousands and will continue to be told another thousand times in the future. Why does every single adaption of Romeo and Juliet has to exactly be 100% like the original that was written hundreds of years ago? It seems more like an excuse to hate on it than actually wanting to see the original retold for the hundredth time. We literally have had a Romeo and Juliet retelling of garden gnomes, why is a black woman playing Juliet crossing the line of changing the original play.

@MaryamMaqdisi

2 ай бұрын

Yeah, it's a bad faith argument, it's nonsense meant to pile on someone they see a less human than themselves

@sunnybear178

2 ай бұрын

@@royalxprincessbaka6875 because they aren’t, they just hate black women and want an excuse to do it

@amaeve1950

2 ай бұрын

Hear hear!

Someone said what if we made mulan white. 🤦🏾‍♀️ Mulan whole story line is about the chinese war, it's historical.

When I was in middle school I remember picking up a copy of Romiette and Julio from a school book fair, which was a modern retelling of the story with a black girl and Hispanic boy as the titular characters. Why is this still an issue??

It’s extremely telling that the “nerd mobs” are behind this, only because a popular “nerd franchise actor” is staring in it.

@morivice6835

2 ай бұрын

They still think it's a movie saw one ranting "this movie is gonna suck ass it's gonna bomb" it's not even a movie he's not travelling to London or New York to watch a play either

The only time I was ever thrown by the casting of a black actress in a typically white role was when I recently saw a professional stage production of Les Mis where Eponine in the first act was played by a little very white girl and in the second act, when she was now an adult, by a dark skinned black woman. I wasn’t upset, just confused at first because I didn’t know what character she was supposed to be. It took me most of the first scene to realize this was Eponine. They should have just found a little black girl to play the younger version, because the adult actress was phenomenal.

@Eloraurora

2 ай бұрын

The Pink Panther did this, but backwards. Little Indian girl playing the daughter of a maharaja - timeskip - somehow she's grown up into a vaguely 'exotic' white woman.

@MadameCorgi

2 ай бұрын

That would make sense. The issue is that in les mis the little girls playing young Eponine and Cosette switch, so they'd need to maybe hire more kids or change the schedule

@CoreenMontagna

2 ай бұрын

@@MadameCorgi Fascinating! I didn't know that. Makes a lot more sense now.

If people want to get worked up about it being faithful to the original then they need to start demanding all productions/films cast a young man in drag as Juliet.

I recently read an Instagram comment about how Francesca as Juliet is a bad idea and the only acceptable black actor in Romeo and Juliet is Mercutio. I might be reaching, but I think that's because he is basically a comic relief which is interesting to think about. Seeing the black guy as the loyal funny best friend that would kill or die for you.

If people really cared about being "accurate" to the Shakespearean production, Juliet wouldn't be played by an actress, she would be played by a young actor. It was illegal for women to act on stage until the mid 1600s. Theres no way to justify this racism with wanting "historical accuracy"

The Globe Theatre had a Black Romeo in 2009, and then both Romeo and Juliet were Black in the 2021 production they did.

Those Twitter threads are making me lose hope for humanity!! I was SHOCKED; it’s a PLAY!!? The majority of the people thought it was a movie, and I guarantee you majority of them are in/flying to London specifically seeking to see a Shakespearean play. But God forbid SpooderMan has a dark skin ROMANTIC LOVE! Hell, I was in a play that was a Dr. Seussification of Romeo and Juliet… I played 3 characters (as a 6ft blonde teenage girl): Romeo’s mom, a Capulet guy in the fight, then the Prince! I had a mustache on!!! (Mind you, that’s the only time it’s funny to do drag apparently, but I digress..) ~ but like storytelling, especially in the theater, is so flexible! And people only let it be when it suits them I don’t even know who that actress really is, but I felt the need to speak up online because she’s not even ugly!!! They were posting like not good photos of her! But her “ugliness” I think comes from just white people being anti-dark skin. I hate it here! She could still flip and do bad work as an actress, idk and idc, but I think they hired her because she’s qualified for the role and talented and must have good chemistry with the cast & direction. It’s so fun when people get to pick and choose when it’s a meritocracy!!!! 🤪 Anyway, thank you for your insight and evidence-based logic… finally made me feel like I’m not on crazy pills 🤦🏼‍♀️

@mhawang8204

Ай бұрын

Twitter should be avoided. It’s not a healthy place for news or information in general.

Glad you brought up the Bloom run because I remember the backlash back then and honestly it's insane that we're going through this yet again

The racist comments I saw about that young lady being cast to play Juliet made me both angry & sick to my stomach.

I read about this last week, and it made my brain hurt. I was a storyboard artist on the garden gnome version, and in that capacity I (believe it or not) spent two years studying the many, many iterations of Romeo and Juliet. I have to say that if any Shakespeare play is ripe for this kind of adaptation it's this one. If anything, it seems such a palpable direction to take the story it's almost more of a mystery why this approach hasn't been done far more often than it has. The rise in the type of hatred being directed towards Francesca Amewudah-Rivers, Halle Bailey, and the many, many others seems to track with the rise of alt-right film criticism from the likes of Critical Drinker and Shadaversity (not sure how you spell that, don't want to ruin my algorithm by checking), whose entire schtick is to cloak racism and misogyny in the faux idea that Hollywood is pushing some sort of nebulous woke agenda. They frame every discussion this way, so no matter the context or how universal a story any particular film is trying to tell, the mere inclusion of women, POC or LGBT characters (or, God forbid, a combination of same) is seen as some sort of attack on their very identity. Often, they’ll choose low-hanging fruit, films that have issues for other reasons, and posit that those issues stem from a drive to push a woke agenda or whatever. These people have millions of views, and millions of followers. Those followers are (by necessity) media illiterate, sure. But their views are being amplified, their voices are getting louder and more confident. The bitter irony is of course that Hollywood is one of the most risk-averse, conservative industries there is. They like to talk a big, inclusive game, but it’s all talk. Hollywood will only do what they think will make them the most money, no ideology of any sort comes close to competing with that. If there really is an increase in more diverse casting (I’m doubtful), it’s merely in response to market pressures.

@incognita626

2 ай бұрын

your last paragraph is the oscars in a nutshell

@patrickcollins5378

2 ай бұрын

@@incognita626 Right? If there's one thing Hollywood does better than exploit young, eager talent, it's fostering unfettered hypocrisy.

where WOULD we be without denzel in much ado

@Ironattheend

2 ай бұрын

Apparently I need to go find that film now because that one shot absolutely sold me on it 😅

@ogome2927

2 ай бұрын

he made that movie for me still remember loving his performance when watching that movie in english class to this day lol

@incognita626

2 ай бұрын

he definitely gave what needed to be given, and looked really good while doing it

I really enjoyed Ron Wimberly's Prince of Cats, which is a telling done in iambic pentameter of Tybalt's life up to the conflict with Romeo, in a comic that is set in 80s electro and hip hop ninja New York

Theres literally long running jokes about how Shakespeare works are remade in various ways often to the point of ridiculousness. Casting being one of the only major differences means its irrelevant compared to those

As a dark skin woman myself, I’m not suprised by the racism she’s experiencing. I’m more surprised by the hate she is getting from black women.

I always remember watching the BBC Merlin and hearing people say that Angel Coulby wasn't pretty enough to be Guinevere, the most beautiful woman of her time, and that Katie McGarth would have been the better pick. That sort of changed when Gwen was revealed to be a maid, because no one could imagine Katie McGarth playing a servant.

This year i went to a beautiful production of "Il Barbiere di Siviglia" where they changed the lyrics from "she is skinny, with black hair" to "she is chubby with blonde hair", because that's what the actress looked like, and the reaction was a light amoused giggle from the audiance.(This mind u in the theater of San Carlo, the OLDESTì opera theater in Italy) mfs need to chill

I love the Proud Family shout out. And the Gnomeo and Juliet joke? Excellent.

I'm so excited to hear Yhara's take. I'm honestly open to individuals of any ethnic groups or backgrounds playing iconic roles. It's the strength of the performance that should be important, not the appearance.

@kamsismith

2 ай бұрын

Just so we're clear, fictional or real-life people? Honestly, when I saw the thumbnail, I thought it would be about the impact of blaxpoitation after the 70s.

@trinaq

2 ай бұрын

​@@kamsismithEither, really.

You’ve done it again Yhara! Another amazing video. I won’t lie I did think you were gonna mention Aaliyah in Romeo Must Die 😭 but regardless there’s sooo many multiracial versions and as a black girl it’s been very unsurprising but disappointing nonetheless to see the vitriol towards Francesca

@Yharazayd

2 ай бұрын

to be real with you even i can't believe i didn't mention romeo must die lol thank you for the kind words

14:46 🥹 There is also a Serbian movie about a Roma guy and a white girl who fall in love. He's a trumpet player and she's a daughter of a famous trumper player who's against their relationship because the guy is Roma. At the end of the movie they play trumpets against each other on a famous competition and the guy out-plays the dad so the dad has to give in. One of the famous lines from the movie is "Oh Romeo, Romeo, why are you Roma?" Although it's not the girl who says it, it's the guy saying it to himself. It's just a cute movie. Anyway the outrage is so fake. It's actually crazy how artists who are progressive and rebellious (albeit for their time), once they are cannon and considered classical litterature, reactionaries gatekeep them as treasures of western tradition, even though they would 100% refuse them back then. If Shakespeare was living today, he'd be the first to cast a black Juliette. These people would know that if they actually read Shakespeare.

Let me tell you, there is a Brazilian version, where Juliet is played by a woman in her 60s at the time. It's hilarious, because it's a comedy. I highly recommend it, look for Romeu E Julieta Hebe Camargo. They even mock the fact she is only “15” but she is not. And I do find that these people act it's ok for white actors playing Othello in black face. So far, Othello is one of the very few characters in Shakespeare lore to have his skin color described, and he ain't white, so all the other characters are fair game, to be played by ANY actor.

I swear Brandy playing Cinderella didnt ger any hate. Why do we hate color switching now

One of the first media I consumed of Romeo and Juliet story, was a kid’s cartoon from my country (Spain) that represented Romeo as a brown or black man, so I actually thought Romeo and Juliet was a story about discrimination and racism, only to find out the story is actually about classism later when I was older

Romeo and Juliet is a retelling of Ovid's Pyramus and Thisbe, where is my historically accurate version set in Babylon where they only speak in latin verses ? *sigh* Great video as always ❤

@windsurfer8824

2 ай бұрын

Also similar to Layla and Qays an old Arabic tale.

2:30 is if lin manuel miranda got ahold of romeo and juliet

You may not be a Shakespeare scholar, but I am and everything and every assumption you make is spot on. Great video. Great analysis

What a coincidence: today I substituted in a high school English class where they were being taught Romeo & Juliet, and the stage performance the teacher wanted me to show them had a black actress as Juliet. Like you said, it's been sooooo done, in theater AND in film because of the universality of the play that the outrage just rings entirely disingenuous. Edit: It's actually the performance at 7:58 :)

Excellent video. The music nerd in me greatly appreciated the use of prokofiev as underscore. Update: and mentioning Chevalier!!! Excellent movie and a historical figure not mentioned enough

If you think about it , Romeo & Juliet works better if they are different colours & religions! It’s really about the culture clash behind the union! 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯

Don't have much to add to the conversation but thank you for making the video. It's important to have researched essays like this to reference when we face people who use "authenticity" to mask their racism. Stories are meant to be retold and changed as time goes on, that's why there are so many versions of Romero and Juliet.

The most egregious racism I’ve seen was when there was a low budget Wuthering Heights adaptation and Heathcliff was played by two black actors (James Howson and Solomon Glave). The comments on that trailer were AWFUL! But in the book, Heathcliff isn’t even white! He is literally called racial slurs throughout the book, and his dark features are talked about throughout the book. I never cared about racists’ tears before, but that blatantly made me go, “Oh these people are stupid stupid and don’t care about the accuracy of the story at all. Got it.”

I was (stupidly) figting for my life in reddit comment sections about a week ago when this all kicked up and am currently tossing a coin as to whether im going to post this video in every thread that had me fucked up.

@availanila

2 ай бұрын

Post it. I hate when the only correct (factual or political) is dragged to heck even by moderators and owners of the channels/profiles/accounts.

The title is exactly the reaction I had 😭 so excited for this video

If they’re mad about this, wait until they find out about the graphic novel Prince of Cats. Still hoping it gets an adaption.

Dang didn’t realize how many stories take inspiration from Romeo and Juliet

As a former performer i am so, SO annoyed at every bad actor trying to use this as another weak ass culture war flag. As you said, blind casting for race is the *standard* for almost all modern theatre, save performances where the story has race as a prominent element of the character.

Romeo Must wed is literally my favorite episode of The Proud Family girl😂😂

YESSS A NEW VIDEO OF YHARA

Thanks for another great video. Also on the ‘Proud Family ep is the best Romeo and Juliet’ train 😂

7:27 There is a book duology eerily similar to your description (These Violent Delights and Our Violent Ends by Chloe Gong)! It's set in the 1920s Shanghai and centers around two heirs of opposing gangs - Roma of the Russian White Flowers and Juliet of the Chinese Scarlet Gang. This series is absolutely brilliant! Highly recommend.)

Girl is keeping us fed in 2024

You put this so perfectly

A Bronx Tale is another R&J inspired movie that I love! Also, "Still Star Crossed" is a beautiful example as well. Beautiful colorblind casting. I'm so upset it was canceled.

@TiktokBro154

Ай бұрын

I bet you loved the part when the dude call her brother the n word lol

@UsagiTaughtMe

29 күн бұрын

@TiktokBro154 Now, why tf would I love that part slow one? 😒

I am SHOCKED that no one is talking about the white man that just said another white man in blackface played a black man really well😀