A few months back, I saw A Beautiful Mind and liked it quite a bit. There was a lot of talk at the time about Jennifer Connelly playing the role of John Nash’s wife, who was born in El Salvador. This AP article discusses it, though briefly. I am a suporter of equal opportunity, but I remember thinking that complaining about Jennifer Connelly not being hispanic was incredibly stupid. And I didn’t want to post about it until I’d had time to think it over a bit. So here are my points:
- Actors are paid to portray roles–to become people they are not in real life. It’s generally considered a strength to be able to portray a wide range of characters: rich, poor, young, old, etc. It is the essential role of actors to be able to become that which they are not. They take on roles and try to portray them convincingly. In the context of A Beautiful Mind, Connelly is not presented as hispanic. There is no reference to her race. The portrayal focusses on what is most significant about her: the strength of her character and her love for her husband. This was called by some a whitewash, but if Connelly had shown up for the part in dark makeup and put on a latin american accent, the same people would have cried that we were witnessing a return to minstrel shows.
- Race becomes a topic because it’s obvious
I’ve yet to hear anyone level charges against a film for using middle-class (or even ultra-rich) actors to portray poor people. The only aspects of any film visible to armchair social critics are the most obvious ones: skin color and gender. - Reducto ad Absurdum The principle that there should be a close match–in terms of race, class, or whatever other quality you champion–between actors and the people they portray becomes absurd when you take it seriously. Henceforth, only young Danes will be allowed to play Hamlet (sorry, Mr. Olivier). [feel free to add your favorite example in the coments].
I could go on, but I’m not getting paid to write a feature on this. Please add your own two cents.