Professor Snape vs Progressive Snape

[@TheActorsAcademy]

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[@Justise]

In a world where "White Washing" is used any time a white person takes a role that is not a traditionally white character we need to decide. Either race swapping is OK or its not. Personally I don't care either way, I care more about the acting. But If you are NOT OK with Ghost in the Shell, then you can't be OK with Hamilton. Just pick one and lets all agree.

[@damkrat9665]

People resent it not because they choose a certain race, but because we go to see characters that we are already used to and our perception of them is very much ingrained, if you change the race then the whole picture collapses and it will not be taken seriously, for example, if Harry Potter is white then I want him to always stay that way, and if the character is black for example Blade (Wesley Snipes is a legend) then I would not want his character played by a white man.

[@destinypirate]

Dito

[@BabaV2000]

And we Non White I cannot say for other race ,we don't have a Problem. Indians Loved Ben Kingsley's Gandhi. It's the BourgeoLibs and Rich African-Americans who got problems with this.... Because they don't have nothing else to Worry about

[@swap9649]

see hamilton is different though because its more of a reclamation of american history through a modern lens. thats why theres rap music and multi racial characters, and that makes it ok. its a case by case basis and throwing a blanket statement over all race swapping is kinda silly? like ryan gosling shouldnt be allowed to play black panther for obvious cultural reason, but hermoine being black in the cursed child, no matter how inconsistent it is with the previous story, didnt really change anything about the story.

[@destinypirate]

@@BabaV2000 This is the PERFECT example - not because of any race that Ben Kingsley is (or is not) but because Kingsley is capable of apex level acting craft. That is all that matters.

[@roca7268]

I'm a but late, but here's my take on the matter. I have no doubt that Paapa Essiedu is a great actor, but I have one big problem with him as Snape: Snape was a bullied kid. Now. The reasons why he was bullied are many, but the main one is that he was a neglected kid. He looked untidy and unclean, his clothes weren't his size, he was skinny, his parents were strict (at least, his father seemed temperamental) but not very present nor affectionate. He was quite poor, too. His personality didn't help his cause: he had a reserved and skeptical personality, and his fascination for dark magic made him look untrustworthy. The fact that he was close to Lily, who was the one that James got a crush on, was the cherry on top (so, jealousy also played a part in it). Those are real struggles that all children can have, it doesn't matter the color of your skin. How many times we might see a kid being bullied because of his clothes, or because they look untidy? In my experience, it actually happened more often than a kid being bullied because of the color of their skin (a kid being bullied because he's fat or bad at sports is also super common). So. My problem with Snape being black is that I'm sure that they'll change part of the reason why he got bullied or seemed untrustworthy into him being black. It'd be once again the story of a poor black kid from the suburbs, a story that is true and important, but that we've alredy seen many many times on-screen (I think I'd prefer representation of non-white people being well integrated, tbh). And most of all... It's a story that has nothing to do with Snape. His parents weren't migrants, their families always lived in the UK, and yet they were still outcasts. His mother was a Pureblood Slytherin who married a muggle (and we know how offensive that is to families of Pureblood Slytherins), and his father seemed to be a loner. Adding his skin color to all of that is absolutely uneccessary and confusing, imo. And even if the screenwriters don't make the point that Snape was bullied because he was black, that will always be took into consideration by the audience. The audience might think "of course he was bullied, he was black". I think it's best to leave Snape as a white, pale, unclean and neglected kid.

[@lunapomodoroplusdotazione]

It’s not official

[@John14710]

Surely they’re looking at fan reactions to it which is why

[@stonemarkstudios]

100%

[@michabednarski2006]

Good job on giving respect to those who passed, you can't even be bothered to check that his name was ALAN Rickman...

[@LW1Tok]

Im sorry but no. I am absolutely against raceswapping in every form. When a character is a written a specific way it shpuld stay that way.

[@The_Darius_King]

Sometimes it works. Michael Clarke Duncan as Kingpin. Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury. Not always, but sometimes it works.

[@UnassumingStoner]

Fantastic video! It's refreshing to see a video with no agenda, just looking at it from both sides. Great job!

[@TheActorsAcademy]

Yes, I think we need more fair content like this. Glad you enjoyed it and got the purpose!

[@JjjjjjVvvvv-ny6od]

Not gonna lie, you’d be the perfect fit for Remus Lupin. Of course, if you were British instead of American. Great breakdown by the way. I like how you saw from both sides. The best way is to see from both sides and that’s what you did!

[@TheActorsAcademy]

Haha appreciate it. Would definitely be a fun character to play!

[@TyrellGlen]

This is a fantastic breakdown. True objective analysis. Well done.

[@TheActorsAcademy]

Appreciate it! Glad you got something from it!

[@AdrianKing29]

I hate Zendaya as MJ, Spiderman success has nothing to do with her.

[@BabaV2000]

Why ⁉️ She is not Mary Jane.... It's Michelle Johns

[@jros4057]

I'm indifferent to the franchise so I have no pony in this race. Ultimately, it's up to the actor and production to prove to me they made the right casting choice. Having seen Rickmans Snape I will say that it would be an uphill battle just to match Rickmans Snape regardless of race.

[@Texicus_Reddicus]

his name is Alan not Alec

[@benjaminhartwig9610]

The problem is that they are changing the ethnicity of a core character that already has been established over a long period over time. If they had cast a black snape in the first place nobody would care. Its hard to connect with him because it just feels Alien.😢

[@TheActorsAcademy]

Do you think you will still be watching the show when it is released?

[@FirstSynapse]

​@@TheActorsAcademyI will watch it if by some miracle it is any good. History has taught us that when screenwriters and producers think they can improve on the existing material of a popular IP, by changing and rewriting it, the result is almost always complete garbage. Switching the gender/ethnicity/ sexuality of important characters kind of irritates me for the same reason as any other change. It's usually part of a general disregard for the original vision of the author, and most often for the worse. For example, I am gay, but I don't need a multinational company to virtue signal by changing the sexuality of every other side character in existing IPs while claiming inclusivity. If you want to give me a reason to believe you care at all about LGBTQ representation, just create an original story with compelling characters.

[@mikel6090]

@@TheActorsAcademy if they change snapes race, I personally will lose all interest

[@besserwissen6760]

@@TheActorsAcademy I think i would still give it a chance and watch at least a few episodes.

[@JasperTees]

Remember all the hate Tom Cruise got for not be as tall as Jack Rewxhee was meant to be in the book? Wow things have changed

[@Vidyut_Gore]

I'm a sci-fi writer. Self-published, small time, but I craft my characters with care and they've consistently landed for readers - showing how much effort went into them. If somebody race swapped them, I'd be like "over my dead body". They work because they are carefully designed to work. They can't be altered for some random Twitter trend. Write your own story, put who you wish there. If you need a diverse character, ask me to craft a new one for the adaptation. It might work with minor characters, but never a major one. I may have imagined anything and stuff I imagined could be compromised if somebody might fit the role better, but whatever's made it to the page can't be contradicted. If JK Rowling doesn't mind, that's her business. The other thing here is that it isn't about race, per se. You wouldn't believe this, but when I saw a screenshot of one of your videos, I thought you'd make a great Ax - who is FEMALE and I'm not talking in a trans sense, but the body language (don't get excited, I'm very small time). I'd totally expect you to play a 100% woman if that weird situation happened. It wouldn't be a political comment, it wouldn't have anything to do with what you identify as, it wouldn't mean anything but me wanting a specific visual/portrayal. What appears on the screen must look like Ax. Forget major race or gender politics, if you showed up with a stubble, that wouldn't work. I wouldn't mind a black guy playing a white character, but he'd better white face and show up for the shoot. The whole idea of portrayal is that the character must be portrayed. The character won't change - the actor will have to portray THAT CHARACTER. Cast anybody, but they must be willing to look the part. This isn't impossible. heck we have people playing green and blue skinned aliens - which actor has that color skin? We have the tech to make anybody look like anything. But if the character comes second to the actor's identity, nope. Not writing a fan club for actors here.

[@JohnnyHobbes]

Snape was a half blood wizard, so the actor should be a mixed warlock, ideally. let's keep it consistent.

[@banda3111]

Keep in mind harry potter is brittish not american, in Brittain ca 82% of people are white and in Scotland, were Hogwarts itself is located, its more like 92%.

[@AuroraStarr68]

I read a comment that JK Rowling already had Alan in mind even before Chris Columbus.

[@patrickk2111]

This is a great breakdown. Thanks for keeping it balanced and looking at all the facts. I think the smart thing about the casting is that I think if were a white actor there would be a lot of comparisons to Alan Rickman; with a black actor someone who physically looks different will automatically eliminate some of that and give people a fresh look. I'm interested in seeing what he can do. Great video!

[@TheActorsAcademy]

Appreciate your comment. You make a very good point, which I hadn't initially considered. Another point I'd then consider while staying on this line of thought, is should the same logic then apply to every character that we will compare against, Harry, Ron, Hermione, etc.? When would it become too much and/or is it too much?

[@patrickk2111]

@TheActorsAcademy you've got a point there, agreed

[@stonemarkstudios]

I would add if its not a dei hire. As someone who loves canon and cant stand the far left leaning bs. Even as a former center left it drove me way. If only if its not a dei and if he dose a wonderful job pulling it off within a mouth no one will care. I doubt jk will let a dei get pass her.

[@thelastjedi3259]

Love how you spew that you dislike dei even though without it multiple people who aren't you wouldn't be able to live. God you're blind.

[@anthonypc-248]

How could they NOT cast Adam Driver though? btw, I'm happy to see more diverse representation, and appreciate reimagining certain iconic characters, like for the Little Mermaid, and a decade ago I was wishing Idris Alba would be the next James Bond. So I'm trying to think why the profile of Snape feels more specific to my mind. Anyway I'd probably get passed the reimagining of the character quick enough if the performance is engaging. (Although I likely won't be interested in watching, in part since the creator is still championing a bigoted agenda.)

[@matthewakian2]

Great analysis.

[@TheActorsAcademy]

Thank you!

[@reksfoleur859]

Quite simple, if you want a more faithful portrayal of Snape, well just go watch the Harry Potter movies. Now we are doing a new adaptation (for some reason) - question is given the context we are into, and if we want to be more inclusive, isn't it a good time to have a more diverse casting? If there is nothing in the story that makes it an absolute necessity for a character to be of a specific ethnicity, then I don't give a single f. There was never a reason for the wizard world, a fantasy world, to be white only - that only happens because in Rowling's mind, she came up with characters that would "look like" her - pretty normal thing to do. I grew up in a very diverse environment, if I were to write a story, it would be diverse as well.

[@roca7268]

My main problem with casting a black actor as Snape is that I alredy know that the color of his skin will become one of the reasons why Snape was bullied as a child. Snape was bullied because he was a clearly neglected kid (untidy, pale, skinny, with clothes that didn't fit his size). James' jealousy of his relationship with Lily also played a part in it. I don't want that to be changed. Snape was born in an unaffectiomate family of outcasts, but his mother was an outcast because she was a Pureblood Slytherine who marrired a muggle, and his father was probably poor and a loner with a bad temper. Adding his race to all of that will just be confusing and unnecessary, and I'm afraid that everything would boil down to him being black. Why is he poor? "Because he's black". Why is his family a family of outcasts? "Because they're black". Why does he look untrustworthy? "Black". I'd rather avoid that. It'd flatten his character.

[@reksfoleur859]

@@roca7268 Well, I am not an expert at HP at all, it did not look to me like real world racism was a thing in the wizard world. If they cast Snape with a black actor and it becomes that way, then yes, it would be stupid. But you can tell the exact same story without Snape race being the reason for him or his family to be an outcast etc. It is not a guarantee that it is gonna play a part in the characterization of Snape. If so, they will have to do that for a lot of different topics in the series. I mean Rowling tried to tackle racism with the House Elf, it was absolutely insanely bad & problematic.

[@nataliapalanis6997]

only i can say, i agree with you.

[@loganmiller6879]

angus imrie as snape, nuff said

[@genaralskywalker533]

I'm not gonna do it ( i respect others'art)

[@stonemarkstudios]

Loved the video. New sub. I loved what you said how you said. Even tho i didnt agree with everything that didnt matter cause you said all the things and explaned it better then i could. Only one push back and that is you gave a list of race swap that didnt fail. But on the other side if the coin you do have a alot of flims with race or gender swaping that didnt do well. Death note for a example i feel should been strictly japans much like how potter is strctly uk. 2nd most black people and other races hated the swaping they love the white charthers. Its white people who push this aganda always speacking for the blacks & ect without asking them how they feel. Rich white people should be speaking for black fans. That said i love everthing you said and i agree i would of said the same.

[@TheActorsAcademy]

Appreciate the kind words! You bring up a fair point. Typically it seems like race-swapping hasn’t typically had negative effects financially, but maybe I missed data points in that specific area. If so, please comment it down below, so people can also have it as reference along with the entire video 👍🏼

[@akbarcaspian4630]

As well as looking the actors work history and range. and majority of talented actors coming from the Britain. The last question if all the actors were swaptes for mier talent alone you'll find a verry divers theater play not a show or film.

[@TheActorsAcademy]

To me it makes sense to have the best actor get the part. Whatever their race or gender may be. As long as the individual can effectively tell the story, that’s what I think should matter. Not casting someone because they are prettier than the last person or their skin tone is too light or dark, or any other reason we could come up with.

[@kaysull9273]

It’s ALAN Rickman. Not cool man.

[@saberbladefang250]

First all you can not replace a causian actor over culture background. And second that replacing that character will the character woke. Now we know why hollywood and warner brother studio wasted billons on that ridiculous projects the problem is definitely the creator fault . And third the creator is woke. The woke mind virus of politics is over.

[@AkiiJayUno]

Please explain to the class what woke is in vivid detail. And saying "anything I don't personally agree with" doesn't count.

[@AkiiJayUno]

@@saberbladefang250 who would’ve thought, the internet nazi was talking out of his ass.

[@LW1Tok]

This is just gonna be horrible

[@TheActorsAcademy]

Some people think it will and some do not. In what ways do you think the production will not work out favorably compared to the films they are referencing?

[@BabaV2000]

Zendeya played Michelle Jones not Mary Jane... There was no Race Swapping

[@pixtane7427]

Another thing is that he is black, not British. And Rowling wanted to have British and not American actors. Unrelated, I think if you want diversity, where is diversity for disabled? Where is diversity for people with cancer? Where is diversity for homosexuals? You see movies want to represent reality. If we wanted full diversity, every character would be a different sexuality, different gender, different disability, different skin colour, different set of diseases, and even then it would still be not enough. If movie plays out in Britain, it should have characters from Britain. And Britain is not America by the way, so there are not as many black people. So schools would be mostly white and British and having an Afro-American play a role of strict white character would just break your immersion. Even if his acting is perfect, visuals and accent matter. You can't just say that both opinions are valid, because one contradicts another. It is too strong to have other as well

[@julianmoore-cook6760]

Pappa is British, what are you talking about??

[@thelastjedi3259]

You do realise that black people can be British right?