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Why were white people upset that the new Annie remake was a black girl%3F? - ♡Noelle♡ - 04-27-2014 06:06 PM
The little girl from Beats of a Southern Wild. Quevenzhane!
There were so many racist comments about the trailer! Go on youtube, twitter etc!
What's the point of getting upset? Annie was NOT a real character! So why does her race affect you?
But yet, white people play other races in movies all the time and no one gives a crap! So much for post racist 2014!
Why am I not surprised even white folks here are defending this racism? Smh. I can't stand this. It IS racist.
- Jess - 04-27-2014 06:07 PM
Because they're racist! Stupid world.
- Kevin - 04-27-2014 06:23 PM
Yeah people troll YouTube as well as other sites. True.
Edit: It's not a remake of "Annie", it's a retelling and apparently Jamie Foxx is to star as Daddy Warbucks. I remember something like it being done to the "Wizard of Oz" back in the 70's in a Motown production called "The Wiz" starring Diana Ross as Dorothy (poor choice, much to old for the role at the time) and MJ as The Scarecrow.
Jay Z took a song from the Broadway musical "Annie" called "It's A Hard Knock Life" and urbanized it in 1998. I don't remember people crying about that on YouTube or elsewhere. But.. this is the age of trolling, isn't it?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxtn6-XQupM
- Laura - 04-27-2014 06:25 PM
I suppose for the same reason Native Americans were upset when they cast Johnny Depp as Tonto in the 'Lone Ranger' - because although they're both fictional characters, they're fictional characters that were created with a certain race in mind - and Annie as the red haired little white girl is kind of iconic in American pop culture. I'm not saying that justifies making racist comments, I'm just trying to show that when a role becomes associated with a certain race, some people get a little upset when that association is broken because they view it as a personal attack on their race. It's obviously not but, you get the picture.
Hope this helps
(:
Edit: @Josh David - Thank you! Oh yes I see, I take your point - it's a little different because Johnny Depp is still imitating a Native American whereas the girl in question is not black and imitating a white girl and perhaps it's the act of imitation which is insulting to the race being imitated. I do still feel that when an image of a character is cemented in popular culture, many people are resistant to altering that image because that's how they've always seen it - I just think that, for some people at least, it's a case of being resistant to altering the story that they love for fear of it not longer being true to what they fell in love with, rather than an act of racism. But as always, there's absolutely no justification for racist comments - I'm sure the little girl will make a wonderful Annie and I certainly have no issue with a black Annie. Thank you for being so pleasant in countering my points, it's nice to see people be able to have differing views but still be nice to eachother (:
- The Brat Prince - 04-27-2014 06:33 PM
i dont care
but how interesting.... produced by jay z and will smith starring jamie foxx, why do they all have in common? im surprised kanye west isn't in it lmao
- oikoσ - 04-27-2014 06:46 PM
To start at the end, blackface went out during the last century. So did the Charlie Chan movies. And it is/was often hard to get an adequate number of American Indians to work as extras in some of the movies.
As far as Annie goes, the comic strip character was Caucasian. Purists want that to continue. It is not NECESSARILY racist to object. At least Warner Oland was made up to look Chinese. I wonder if there was some reason for casting a black actress or whether it was just done for the shock value.
- 377 - 04-27-2014 06:53 PM
I'm black, and i don't think they should use a black girl.
- Brian - 04-27-2014 07:04 PM
How about if they made a remake of the A-TEAM and cast BA Baracus as a white guy with blue eyes and a blonde Mohawk? Fans of the show would feel something wasn't right, so its the same thing, it doesn't make people racist that they want a actor which fits the description of the original character. People made a big fuss about Tom Cruise playing the part of Jack Reacher in a movie because fans of the book, thought that Toms 5ft 7 stature and medium frame did not fit the giant of a man described in the book, it may seem silly, and I'm sure Tom done a good job (I've not seen the movie) but I understand where people are coming from, and I largely agree with them, I remember Robin Hood a fictional English character I think set in like 1600s England was played here in a UK tv series by a black man, It was totally flawed because the number of blacks in the UK at that time was minimal and it really detracted from the story.
- Josh David - 04-27-2014 07:09 PM
@Laura you make great points.. But people got upset with Tonto is because Johnny Depp is a White guy playing a Native American, they changed Annie's race so that now she is Black.. But I think a lot people are racist and don't want anyone being their favorite character but a White person, and some people just want them to stick to the source material..
- Ugly Bug - 04-27-2014 07:19 PM
They're simply racist
Like you said Annie isnt a real person so she could be green and wear a grass skirt for the remake it wouldn't make a difference