teachable moments and missed opportunities

So this black Human Torch situation is the perfect example of a time when people who care about social justice and racism can either engage and explain, and in doing so maybe make things a bit better, or demonstrate their moral superiority, but probably not both.

Here is a point that I have heard expressed about resistance to casting nonwhite actors in traditionally white roles: progressives get mad when nonwhite roles are played by white actors. (See the controversy about Johnny Depp as Tonto, to name one of many.) But if fans complain that white roles are being played by nonwhite actors, progressives call them racist. That's a contradiction.

Well, look: there's a difference. It's a difference that has to do with history, and with context, and with the vastly different career prospects of actors who are people of color and of white actors. It's a difference that depends on a long, ugly tradition of white appropriation and of white mimicry. It's a difference that stretches back to the days of the minstrel show. It's a difference that's expressed in the ability of white actors to play "default" or "neutral" or "race unimportant" roles, while people of color are constantly funneled into race-specific roles. It's a difference that makes executives question whether Asian actors can play masculine heroes or black actors can play nurturing mothers. It's a difference that is expressed both in naked economic terms and in emotional and symbolic terms. There's a difference and the difference matters.

But that case has to be made, for political and rhetorical reasons if nothing else. The superficial plausibility of the hypocrisy charge-- you are against race switching when it benefits white people but for it when it benefits people of color-- means that we've got to make the case and take the time to explain. That's especially true because resistance to socially just readings of pop culture thrives on claims of persecution of white people. If we don't spell out why the distinction matters when it comes to race switching, it gives them ammo.

In the interest of full disclosure, I'll point out that I have less of a problem with white actors taking roles originally written or conceived as nonwhite that some. Context means everything. I don't have a problem with Linda Evans Hunt playing a (male) Indonesian in The Year of Living Dangerously because of how fantastically she slipped into the role and because of the political sensitivity of the movie writ large. I do have a problem with Tom Cruise being The Last Samurai, even though that wasn't technically race switching at all, as the movie was hamhanded, flagrantly Orientalist, and a profoundly obtuse example of the Mighty White trope. Meanwhile, people complaining about, say, Pre Rue from The Hunger Games being played by a dark skinned actor need to fucking get over it.

I think as this movie approaches we'll have a real opportunity for an effective conversation about this issue. I just don't trust the forces of Tumblr social justice to pull it off. Tumblr in particular is a good example of when the social currency of politics becomes oriented not towards pragmatic good but towards who can signal their disapproval more loudly and more shrilly-- and thus, less usefully. Let's avoid the temptation and show people why a black Human Torch is a natural fit.