Did How to Train Your Dragon Make a Casting Mistake?

Рет қаралды 2,276

Күн бұрын

Пікірлер: 35

@amir12184 Ай бұрын

No, no, no, my dude, you got it wrong. There was a huge uproar when Goku was cast as a white dude, that's one of the main reasons why it failed so badly. I heard rumors about wanted suppose to Halle berry, and I didn't even know about 21, but I think the main reason why there wasn't such an uproar is that the source material itself wasn't as known a little mermaid which is a story pretty much everybody in the western world knows about from their childhood. Even before Disney was a thing, there was the fairy tale of the little mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen. If marvel tried to cast the black panther as a white dude, oh ho there would have been an uproar. And the reason why people are so upset about this kind of stuff is because they get the feeling like someone is trying to trample on and reinvent their history and or childhood memories in the name of some political bullshit. As you said in the beginning, if you take an original story and cast it as a black person, nobody would bat an eye, and if it's a good movie, it would be a success. Once you take a dump on people's memories, you are doomed to fail and your attempt at inclusion only serves to fuel the hate.

@xusel4975 Ай бұрын

It's not just Astrid... They just canceled every blonde dragon rider?? Fishlegs brown hair? The twins as gingers??

@AbbieKohtiao Ай бұрын

It’s funny to me that people actually believe Hollywood is a meritocracy, it’s not. Casting someone isn’t solely based on talent. Whether you like it or not, it’s also about your looks, especially when it comes to established characters. Even when someone gets cast in a role, they don’t always look exactly like the part so they have to put on makeup or gain or lose weight or put on prosthetics, etc. So, it shouldn’t have been different with Nico Parker. I actually think she would have been a good choice for the role if they took the effort to make her look like Astrid, but they didn’t. They made that effort when it came to Hiccup and Stoic but for some reason, not Astrid. I mean, you do realize that Gerard Bulter doesn’t have a long ginger beard or ginger hair, right? Anyway, I know what you’re going to say: She does look like Astrid! To which I say, no, no she does not. Other than her face shape and maybe her nose? She looks nothing like Astrid. Now, if you gave her blue contacts and a blonde wig, fans wouldn’t have such an issue with it. But they didn’t do that. They intentionally kept her looking like what she naturally looks like so of course fans are going to be disappointed. And to those saying Astrid was voiced by America Ferrera who is a Latina, do you not know the difference between acting and voice acting? This is quite literally the most ridiculous argument I’ve ever heard I was shocked some people ACTUALLY used it as an argument. As for the people saying: it’s just a fantasy story! Dragons aren’t even real! Okay, fine. Black Panther isn’t real either and Wakanda isn’t a real place. Is Hollywood allowed to remake it with non-Black actors now? How about set it in modern day Japan? Yeah, I thought so. This is not about being realistic, it’s about following the source material. Fans just want the characters that they love to stay the same way. If the movie looks good and does well, that’s great. But let’s not act like this whole “blind casting” thing Hollywood is trying to pull off is actually real when it comes to these remakes and adaptations. If there’s an original source material, follow that and stop nitpicking things to nostalgia bait the fans.

@Last_Starfighter Ай бұрын

The best and most concise comment I've read here so far - I completely agree with it! I would just add to it - the politics of racial hypercorrectness is not only stupid, but also immoral, because it not only destroys this great movie and upsets its fans, but also hurts the actress Nico Parker! If actress Nico Parker agreed to take on the role of Astrid, it was certainly to prove that she has enough acting talent to empathize with this character and play her brilliantly (of course, properly masked, for example with a blonde wig and blue contact lenses). However, if the producers insisted that she be played without visual modifications, they let everyone know that they are completely indifferent to whether Nico Parker has acting talent or not, that it is enough if there is 'some black woman'... And that's not only stupid, but also insulting and racist towards Nico Parker!!!😲🤨🥺😤🤬👎

@thedamnedatheist Ай бұрын

You are right about it being black face with extra steps. The same thing happens regularly with James Bond. We've all heard the calls for Idris Elba to play Bond, which I find incredibly insulting to him, who is an amazing actor. But he isn't mentioned for his talent but because he is black. Real diversity isn't just race swapping characters, that's just a lazy & cynical way for the studios to get out of it cheaply. Real diversity would be telling diverse stories about diverse characters.

@TheBlackMarch Ай бұрын

Exactly 💯 I couldn't agree more

@bgbuilds2712 Ай бұрын

How hard would it have been to find a blonde-blue girl for the role. I mean really? Hollywood is dead. Hope the movie bombs.

@Themohr Ай бұрын

You're right to call out the white-washing that has happened (and often continues to happen) - and that should be called out. I think some of these cases are an over-correction to those declining trends, combined with an essential cowardice in Hollywood. The real right thing to do would be to tell more authentically diverse stories with authentically diverse characters and perspectives. But Hollywood is too fearful to be truly creative. Like you're saying, a black little mermaid has no black-ness. The same would be true for this casting of Astrid (though given her overall look, I think she can fit into the northern European aesthetic without standing out - again though, that's an erasure of her blackness, because blackness isn't a part of this story). This is hollow, empty, checkbox representation and it can only serve to agitate those with insecure views. It won't expand the conversation, nor build more empathy - and honestly marketing prefers sectioned, manageable slices of demographics which are easier to control and manipulate. Lastly, careful with the lineage piece. I don't really know this young woman, and I am willing to believe that she's gotten talent and insight from her family which gives her a competitive edge (that's all natural enough) but when we justify choices based on past success (especially when that past is the previous generation) we play the same creatively fearful game. Past success is not a predictor of future success, and it's fear and cowardice which drives us to think otherwise.

@jonathanvl1160 Ай бұрын

It does not come across as authentic at ALL, I think a lot of people in Hollywood are creatively stunted. This warpath of appropriating successful stories into wokeness seems like a way to take down these once great stories, but instead of replacing them with better stories they just transform them into bad fanfics based on unrelatable writer's personal self concocted issues piggybacking off the original IP. How to Train Your Dragon is a fantasy story based on viking culture, I LOVED the books as a child, knowing full well what race the characters are, SO WHAT?! Whatever another great series and IP flushed down the toilet.

@jaredacuna1 Ай бұрын

I'm not trying to be combative or pick a fight. I just wanted to put down a few points and maybe have a healthy discussion with you or anyone else who wants to reply. In my research, most people in Ancient Rome were probably not sunburnt white people with British accents. But when we watch a show or movie staged that way, we don't think twice about it. They're actors, playing a role. But for accuracy's sake, this idea that Africa had little to no interaction with Europe is a convenient trope that has been preached only for the last few hundred years, starting with the slave trade and reaching its peak during the Victorian Era when alabaster skin was held in its highest regard. Starting before the 18th century, I have seen roster documents of dark-skinned people in high ranking positions in the US and British military. I have seen the murals in Pompeii where the ash had preserved the depiction of a very dark-skinned Roman soldier with his white lover. Spain and Morocco (North Africa) are only 8 sailing miles from each other, and there's a land bridge (Israel) on the other side of the continent. To say these two continents did not interact and intermarry is absurd. I'm not saying everybody in Europe was Black, but many Kings and Queens were of dark, swarthy complexions. In fact, the Danish Viking people were considered to have darker skin tones. Most people in the ancient European world and North Africa had something close to what we would call mixed or biracial skin tones, darker than most people would be comfortable admitting. (BTW, I am not woke. I am a right-wing conservative Christian.) Lighter-skinned Arabs did not appear until the spread of Islam, which again caused mass migrations from Central Asia, hence lightening the skin tones found in what we call Arab nations today. The western world lives in a post-Victorian culture and we have inheritied their take on history, and it appears to be valid when we look at the color on our forearm. The Middle East and North Africa lives in a post-Islamic culture and has inherited their take on history, and appears to be valid based on the color of their skin. The real answer is to go to any public space where I live in Central and South Florida. Take a look around and see that the majority of people are not just white or Black or brown, but something ambiguous in between the three. And that's what ancient Europe and North Africa looked like too.

@alphasigmaohioskibidi 23 күн бұрын

i kinda hate it i think its political pandering idk. it's usually a case where they specifically tried to find a more marginalized character rather than a true to the original character just to relate to minorities or whatever, but i haven't researched into this one so idk if that's what it was this time. like if she's a good actor then its great but also i kinda feel like in live action adaptations they try to make the character look like the original (like they did with hiccup etc) so idk why race has to be an exception to that just for politics, cuz at that point you could just replace chris pratt as astrid. every piece of media that does the political pandering stuff is usually garbage too lol like just focus on making a movie cuz idgaf abt politics. i'm yapping cuz i'm procrastinating a school project and thinking abt random crap so sorry if u read this o7

@TheBlackMarch 23 күн бұрын

Lol I agree with that, can't be sure but it does seem like political pandering n it's annoying. That being said I hope u finally got to ur project 😅

@raine6813 24 күн бұрын

oh no, they changed the race of a character? thats so... wait, whats so bad about that again?

@TheBlackMarch 23 күн бұрын

😂

@solscout7024 Ай бұрын

The main reason no one cared about the white washing in the movies you listed was most likely because they weren't big films that a majority of viewers grew up with knowing, or they were background characters. Many anime shows that have been adapted into live action white wash the cast, not many watch the films because they can see that it will be bad anyway even if the show did really well, I remember hearing a bit of backlash for the white washing in the American death note live action. Yes, there is more backlash when characters get race swapped unnecessarily from being a white character most likely because the people complaining are louder in these communities.

@TheBlackMarch Ай бұрын

Ah okay Fair point

@laurenhamilton4188 Ай бұрын

How to lose your audience.

@TheBlackMarch Ай бұрын

I don't think they'll really lose their audience tbh but...On va voir

@JulianaZekiri Ай бұрын

I have literally ZERO problems with this

@HopeKnutson-oy3ph Ай бұрын

I am appalled by how everyone is acting about Astrid's new actress. It shouldn't matter if someone is fair skinned or dark toned. Maybe movies today are just trying to give other talented people a chance. It's not the original story true, but like the director said, it's a fantasy story so they can feature the characters however they want. Nothing has to always be literate.

@yandiego96 Ай бұрын

why does this matter at all?…. 🙃

@LUL69214 Ай бұрын

if you don't know why it matters then your lost bro lol

@Deevo037 Ай бұрын

I can't help but wonder if the whole racial discussion is some sort of false flag preemptive strike by woke activists designed to make a controversy out of potentially nothing. She has dark hair, so what? It all depends on how she plays the role and if she has the onscreen chemistry with the Hiccup character.

@TheBlackMarch Ай бұрын

Agree! At the end of the day I think that's all that matters. It's a cartoon to entertain children, if it does that, mission accomplished

@Abrody1477 Ай бұрын

If you didn't outraged then there would be no problem just ignore it