Casting Error

What do historical revisionist and the nosferatu have in common? Well, the answer to that question is a new movie called Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.   Before I begin, let me just confirm that I have no problems with a director's creative vision…it is his or her right as an artist to do as the feel inspired.  SPOILER ALERT:  As you can imagine the movie is about ole honest Abe capturing and killing vampires.  I make no quarrels with this because I like the next warm blooded human believes all vampires should all be abolished.  I do have a problem with this film.  My problems has nothing to do with the story line, but has more to do with the casting of the characters.  Where some may find this particularly petty, I think this is becoming a reoccurring theme in Hollywood films. 


I am not happy with the selection to cast Jaqueline Fleming as Harriet Tubman.  This does not sit well with me.  It leads my thoughts into dark corners where conspiracy theories captures and disconnects my mind from being entertained to wondering what the hell is on going on here.  I’m sure this movie was not casted haphazardly as I’m sure not too many Hollywood blockbusters are.  You may be wondering what is the problem with Ms. Flemings?  Well the problem is not her personally it has more to do with what she is lacking to fit the role she's playing.  Simply put, she is not dark skinned enough and in no way resembles Araminta Harriet Ross Tubman.  In my opinion this was done for a reason.

Too many African-American and minorities in general this is an act of erasure.  Removing one's race, ethnicity and color to make a particular character more acceptable to an audience is what defines erasure.  This movie is not the first of its kind to do such a thing.  Other movies that come to mind are The Last Airbender and the Prince of Persia:  The Sands of Time.  The Last Airbender fell out of tradition with the cartoon when they casted a Euro-American kid instead of an Asian kid the cartoon depicted.  The same thing happened in the movie Prince of Persia:  Sands of Time.  Don’t get me wrong Jacob Gyllenhaal is a great actor, but I’m not convinced they could not have cast a Persian-American actor that would have filled just as many seats and made the movie that much more realistic.  

As executive producers, casting agents and directors, we should do better at recognizing our differences.  We should accept the fact an audience made up of different races, colors, and ethnicities can identify with particular characters, especially one as notable as Harriet Tubman.  I wonder if Denzel Washington was cast to play ole honest Abe what kind of uproar would there be?