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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   25227 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of October 30, 2023

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I don't think very many people have a problem with things like West Side Story, with an entire culture swap?

Or things like The Princess and the Frog, where the black heroine has a reasonable place and culture. I don't remember anyone complaining about moving the setting, because it made sense.

The Little Mermaid might have been interesting if they had an entire Black Mermaid culture, complete with a black king, and a sensibly different aesthetic than Ginger Mermaids. The problem isn't that mermaids must be ginger, but that they didn't really do anything interesting with the changes, which seems lazy and boring.

It might be interesting to have an Othello where everyone is black, except Othello, who is asian or something, and the Jew is some other minority people have opinions on. But having his race stand out and get commented on suggests that he should at least look like he comes from a different group than everyone else.

The problem with lazy race or gender swapping is that it's lazy, not that it never makes sense to clothe stories in contemporary culture.

the Jew

You mean the wicked betrayer Iago? In my high-school class analyzing Othello we were taught that Iago was an example of prejudice and ethnic discrimination that would have been popular at the time. Anti-Spanish prejudice that is.

Perhaps I should watch the Patrick Stewart Othello if it's available online. I've basically forgotten it all, and am just left with bits emphasized in pop culture like "pound of flesh."

Othello was about "pound her flesh", not "pound of flesh".

I guess you've forgotten it all then, because that one's from Merchant of Venice.

Lol, I have. I should just stick to 2000s Disney, apparently.

The "pound of flesh" was from Merchant of Venice, not Othello.

Race-swapped Othello has been done, with Patrick Stewart playing the title character.

Figures it would be, it's always tempting to spin out a new Shakespeare variation.

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