AnOpenCasket wrote:Why? Can't we just enjoy a movie without every movie having to be worried about that stuff? Movies are escapism, real world politics shouldn't be a necessity. I believe they're good to talk about but not a requirement for every movie. I've definitely done my part by watching other movies with minority groups, like Spiderverse, Prince of Egypt, Black Panther, Coco, Moana etc, now just let me relax and enjoy my cartoon movie about toys gosh dammit!
Movies are escapism to a point, but they also cater to an audience, and the audience has every right to expect to see representation in the films that are released by major studios. If you don't want to engage in the argument then you're absolutely within your rights not to do so, but why is it a problem for you that others want to raise things that they find problematic about films that they want to enjoy?
The other thing I'd raise specifically about Toy Story is that this is a film and a series that caters largely to young children, and I think that it has more of a responsibility than most other films as a large franchise to ensure that it is as inclusive as it can be, because the consequences of othering children of different races could be pretty dire. It's important in my view to foster messages of inclusivity early in life, and something like Toy Story, I would argue, has a responsibility to be part of that conversation.
AnOpenCasket wrote: Again why would it be necessary? I'd have a lot of arguments why that would be a horrible idea. Keanu himself is Canadian, do you really want to take representation away from one country that hasn't been represented by the series yet, just so someone else can have it? Also Duke Caboom is a parody on Evel Knievel, a white stuntman from the continent of North America. It would be weird to make his character black. You've no doubt heard of white washing, making someone who wasn't white white in a movie (Scarlet Johansson's character in the Ghost in the Shell movie adaptation). Do you really want to blackwash a character based on a white person?
Where would they fit? We can't just change already established characters to turn them black, so that leaves us with the new cast. Ducky and Bunny are animals so they're out. Duke Caboom is out for the reasons just explained. Gabby Gabby and the Bensens are vintage dolls, of which there were no appropriate black ones. In terms of toys that leaves us with that little conscience thing Bo has on her shoulder, and Forky. Most sporks are white, and having him be black and then saying stuff like he belongs in the trash and his purpose is to serve a white girl would be problematic. Similarly Bo's conscience thing, having her be black and a character of servitude would be problematic.
In terms of people, there's already a black family at the carnival who have a very pivotal role.
So they'd have to make a new character, and the movie's already struggling to keep within it's time limit so the movie would most definitely suffer.
Plus they already have Combat Carl, in a universally loved role. He is a black toy.
Blackwashing isn't a thing, nor is it offensive in this case as Duke Caboom isn't Evel Knievel. Why do Canadian and Asian or middle-eastern have to be separate? As you said, Keanu Reeves has Canadian citizenship but he's from Beirut, and has Hawaiian-Chinese ancestry. Why can't, or shouldn't, the character he voices reflect that? He's not playing the role of Evel Kneivel, he's playing a cheap knock-off that could have had any number of distinct or interesting features. What effect to the story would there have been if that character had been more reflective of the ethnic features of
the actor cast in the role? As Moggy said, I'm not personally arguing that Toy Story 4 isn't racially diverse enough and am just using Duke Caboom as an example, but if there are a subset of people who think that there is a problem and have given reasonable assertions to back up their view, should we be telling them to shut up and watch what they're told to watch, or should we be taking the time to appropriately respond and create a dialogue about the situation?
AnOpenCasket wrote:True. Similarly, Toy Story 4 is from a series that began in the 90s. If the movies started in today's climate there'd be a lot more wiggle room to maybe make Buzz black or something, especially since the first movie is already a good allegory on how a white man struggles with the change in his society when a man from another culture is able to rise to prominence in this society, challenging the status quo that this white man is used to.
Toy Story came out in 1995, yes, but Toy Story 4 is a brand new film. There's plenty of "wiggle room," now to change the core cast and characters up.
AnOpenCasket wrote:True. I already admitted to the representation problems in the Raimi trilogy - as well as lack of racial diversity, women were only used as damsels in distress or mother figures.
I'm all for the diverse direction the new movies have taken, even if blackwashing MJ is something that I personally find jarring: redhead MJ is too iconic. But I like the direction they've taken with Flash and Peter's new best friend.
Also just to reiterate my favourite Spiderman is Miles Morales.
Edit: I'm okay with Zendaya being MJ (great actress) but wish she had kept the iconic red hair.
Blackwashing again? Really? You've taken another term with inherently negative connotations(whitewashing) and changed it around to imply that there's something inherently wrong with what's being discussed, which is fostering inclusivity. I find the term a little offensive if I'm honest. And, in actuality, it hasn't even been done here if we're getting pernickety - Michelle Jones isn't Mary-Jane Watson, and even if she was the character is a hell of a lot more than a shock of red-hair.