Should representation outweigh the original story of Movies/TV shows?

[FriendlyDrugDealer]

We have all seen this happen before where they take a main character in a story within a book, tv show or a movie then transform the ethnicity/ gender into something else.

Now I understand the importance of representation in media to attract people to identify with characters and be motivated by them. Such as movies such as Black Panther for African Americans, Atomic Blonde for women , Miles Morales in Spider man for Afro-Latinos, etc etc.

But they are original characters with their background woven neatly into the characters identity. Instead, we are seeing swapping the origins and changing the core of the art for virtue signaling which throws off the entire dynamic that the writer worked so hard to do.

It just feels weird and it cringes the shit out of me when it’s forced. What do you think? Is it important to force it at the expense of the original art or should we leave it alone?

Representation matters more

Original art matters more

[ShadezMcgee]

Original source material, always. I get the idea of representation, but when it is done for attracting a specific audience for ratings or for being progressive or promoting specific agendas that are not related to the product in the first place is where I have an issue.

That is why I believe characters in entertainment should be written as characters and real people, minus race and gender in mind. The second you focus on identity relates things and base it off of that is where entertainment media is doomed to fail. Because then you are only making it relatable to that specific group, not the audience as a whole. For example, if an action movie centered around a women and kept throwing feminist ideas or sexist views against men as a plot point or recurring point, it would turn me off (looking at you Charlie's Angels reboot). They got mad men didn't want to watch it. Wonder why?

What makes entertainment and ideas good is how the characters, plot and story unfold, making it relatable for anyone in the audience. It is also the reason why media previously established in comics, animated movies and what not get a lot of flak and anger because they are redoing things that had already been established with the characters as a way for shameless cash grabs or pushing of ideals. That is one big reason Hollywood and comics suck these days. Creative bankruptcy and using ideas that will not get off the ground because either the ideas will fall flat due to no connection with the audience, so springboard it off an existing franchise that has had success to push it which ultimately kills it.

People don't want to try and create something new because it takes time and is not easy. Why reinvent the wheel when you just retcon and change everything to make it sell? That is where this pisses people off.

Examples of representation don't matter to me, because it isn't what I look for. Do I look for a mixed guy specifically to play a role of an established character who is 100% white? No, I don't. Do I have a problem if the lead character is a black guy? No. I only care about if I can relate to the characters or concept in a way that is entertaining, but makes sense and is well executed. Keep consistent with established media and don't use it as a springboard to launch a shit product is my stance.

[FriendlyDrugDealer]

I totally agree. One of my favorite movies of all time was Kill Bill. Solid fucking script, solid fucking acting from Uma Thurman and everyone else. We all just wanted to see her get her revenge. Her gender didn’t matter, it was amazing

[MuddyMole]

I think it can be okay, but more often than not it's just done very clumsily, which can ruin the immersion factor.

If you take fantasy for example, there's nothing that says dwarves can't be black (they're fictional after all). Now, if all the dwarves in a show were black, that would be fine. I could happily believe that all dwarves were black, or that the dwarves of this particular tribe were black. But when you have a tribe consisting of precisely equal numbers of black, white, Indian, Chinese, etc dwarves - it just doesn't make sense any more.
Clearly the members of this tribe are not related - you'd presumably have a bunch of mixed-ethnicity or at least somewhat-similar-looking dwarves instead if that were the case - so how have they suddenly ended up all together at precisely the moment when the show is set?

And then it's exactly the same for every other group - the humans, the elves, and so on.

It's definitely one of those things that will age very badly. People in 50 years' time will look back on the shows being made today and find them ridiculous. They'll look just as dated as Gone With The Wind's portrayal of the South, or Mickey Rooney playing a Japanese guy in Breakfast At Tiffany's (or Sean Connery's Japanese disguise in whatever Bond movie it was) - just not in quite the same way.

[Anonymous]

In the case of the author/writer(s) still being alive, and the story being a FICTIONAL piece, if they want to see a different interpretation of their work, why not? A lot of writers still want to have some input on changes, but aren't obsessed with original content being the only way to tell their story.

Or in the case of the writers being long dead, we have only to look to the likes of Shakespeare as a great example of how characters can be changed...his stories have been told a million different ways, but the core of the story is still there and what people relate to above all else. I think too many people get hung up on the idea that a story can never change, ever, or that a different culture can't possibly tell the story in a relatable way when that is hardly the case. I remember years ago when Brandy starred in Cinderella, some people lost their minds because how could a black woman portray this young classical white princess...and yet she did, and that is still a version that many different people of all races still enjoy because the fundamentals are still there which are the core of any good story.

People also forget that with ANY creative content, you specifically don't have to like it or understand it or want it. Not everything on the planet has to be specifically for you in order for it to be a success. There are so many movies, music, art, etc, that people said would never work because of xyz, and yet they do because there is an audience that understands and loves it.

[misfittoy]

doesn't matter to me either way, im a mixed kid. at this point most things are out done over done, reboots, prequels etc, hollywierd has lost any type of magic it once had. a lot of people werent happy as queen latifah as the equalizer, because it was orig starred edward woodward. i have seen both like both of the shows the one version in rerun, also with the movies with denzel washington, they were good. it didn't deter me from seeing or make an impact by color choice to me either way was still a good depiction of the character and story line. people tend to forget most of the things they see are fiction. look at footloose, the remake was with a white guy and it was horrible. if an actor can pull it off more power to them.

[DizzyDesii]

Im not that into books to truly care if the film adaptation matches or not. I enjoy a diverse cast but I dont care to see all the political propoganda nor random lgbt love stories that don’t always relate to the actual story. I’ll still watch the film and just tune out or fast forward past certain stuff. Its not that hard to do

[Anonymous]

It depends who you ask probably.

I'm White and I'm attracted to women of color so it doesn't bother me when they make the White guy in the movie have a Mixed Race, Latina, black, Indian, Arab, or Asian woman as his love interest. Basically the liberal White woman's agenda to get rid of White males backfires on her and she starts getting replaced in her favorite movies, lol.

[Luopio27]

Im black and ashamed of Netflix turning Albert Wesker into a good black doctor from the man hitler visioned perfection.

[Anonymous]

i can't stand it. Completely ruins the authenticity for me and lets me know whoever did it cares more about being woke and stupid virtue signaling than they do about the story and characters they created.

[Anonymous]

Oriiginal matter more. Keep Annie white!