LANDO?

[buff jedi 2]

I was thinking today(and boy does my head hurt )im not kidding!!!!!

Anyways I have read through old newspaper, magazines and stuff and saw where Lucas got bashed for the lack of (well no) Blacks in ANH,which got me to thinking(I hate doing that)Would Billy DEE WILLIAMS have been Lando If LUCAS wouldnt have gotten bashed for no blacks??I personally thought Williams made a great
Lando ,but I feel lucas was all but forced to use him.Does anyone remember the flake Lucas got?I figure someone older like lets say Jedieb but remember.



Buff Jedi

[Bromine]

This may seem naive, but when I was a kid I never thought of Lando as black. It's not that I thought of him as white; I just never thought about it. It must have been years later that I actually thought about the cast and realised Lando was the only black guy in the show. Whether that oversight on my part was due to the great chemistry of the actors, or just the innoccence of childhood, I don't know.

It must be hard these days to put together a talented cast, and at the same time try to keep it racially diverse. What happens if, by co-incidence, you find five white actors that are perfect for all five lead roles? Or five black actors? Do you hire an actor that's less suited for the role simply to have a different race represented? And is that fair to the actors, both the one being replaced and the less-talented actor brought in to replace him?

[buff jedi 2]

I have to say I really never thought of lando as Black until I got older ,I just thought of him as LANDO Han solos pal in star wars.I think your point on the 5 actors are right on target even for the work place.Do you hire a guy just because he is a certain color or do you hire the other for his/her skills.I think the world would be a better or less stressfull place if sometimes we thought as small kids do.



buffjedi

[Doc Milo]

Bromine, take it one step further back in the process -- does a screenwriter write in a black (or white) character just for the sake of having a black (or white) character in the cast, even if doing so doesn't fit in with his story vision?

(Of course, this is a subjective way to look at it, because the color of the character in a movie like Star Wars doesn't really matter. But what if it is a story where the color of a character will matter and there is no call for a black (or white) character in the story? Does a writer create one for the sake of being politically correct and having a diverse cast?)

[EP5GRAFLEX]

I believe that Billy Dee Williams was cast as Lando for his acting skills and his widespread appeal, he was well known before he was Lando. GL said , " Billy Dee Williams was hot at the time." but color of skin aside, I believe color has a lot to do with projecting symbolism and atmosphere. just look at how lightsaber blades are represented in the SW films, so far no good guy has wielded a Red colored lightsaber blade. Conscidence? perhaps, or look at C3PO would he have the same flamboyant effect had he had been silver? or was the Rebel fighter squadrons' Red Team supposed to signify the aggressiveness of the X-Wings? or does the black color of Lukes ROTJ costume symbolize his struggle with the dark side. I think GL has put a lot of thought into his storytelling than we would like to give him credit for.


Jedi-Rocker:)

[Jedi Master Kyle]

Ah the fun of political correctness. I'm with Bromine. I never realized that Lando was the only black guy in the movies until I was like 13 or something like that. I think Lucas felt some pressure to put him in, and it was a coincidence that Billy Dee Williams played the role of the suave, dashing Lando better than anyone (regardless of race) could have.

[ReaperFett]

Who cares about skin colour? If the best actors for the job are white, why should they be denied that? Should films be made worse because of PCness?

Oh and BTW, James Earl Jones is black and in Star Wars, albeit only in voice

[EP5GRAFLEX]

Darth Vader was black...

[buff jedi 2]

Ahh ,good point on that .When I wasa doing my reading it never mentiond the fact that Vaders voice was that of a black man(we all knew that) but they failed to mention it .Good call.


buffjedi

[Bromine]

You just can't win. I just remembered how when "The Lion King" came out, some people were protesting that all the evil characters were voiced by blacks. They conveniently overlooked the fact that the Lion King's father (A good guy) was done by James Earl Jones, also a black man.

[Jedi Master Kyle]

It's like I've always said; if the critics can find something to whine and complain about, they will.

[ReaperFett]

Do they ever mention that Ebglish always get typecast as Bloodthirsty maniacs, villains or having OTT accents? Course not. That wouldn't sell editions of mags/papers

[Bromine]

Then there's the whole "role model" issue. "Gotta have a black person in there to provide a good role-model to black kids! Gotta have a strong female lead to provide a good role-model to girls!"
Can't a kid have a role-model who's different from him? Do my role models have to be the same race and gender as I am?
I just love these threads.:)

[buff jedi 2]

How true ,Bromine.


when I was growing up I never cared what color my role model was just as long as I thought they were cool.that was all that mattered!

[DarthHERA]

i think its interesting that a couple of you comment
that you didnt realise Lando was even black until around
13 or so - it just shows that color/race distinction is something that is "taught" by society. Kids basically only see ppl as ppl...not black white etc.

For example- my son was telling me about a girl in his class (at elementary school). He described her as having
black hair and i commented (to my own chagrin when i realised what i did)...."oh, the oriental girl?"

He just saw her as "susie, the girl who has black hair"

I think Lucas tried to show the varied beings of the SW galaxy, without always using the stereotype image, but didnt always 'pull it off'. Just look at Landos sidekick...
kinda reminded me of the "cisco kid" image (for those of you who remember that show)

[Probe Droid]

No doubt a little PC going on on Uncle George's behalf, but BDW was a pretty hot actor way before ESB and a good choice. He was often a guy who played a real "smoothie," but had some action parts as in "Nighthawks" with Stallone in which he is quite good. Another black actor might not have worked, because Billy Dee has in buckets that debonaire, cool, lady-killer quality that a guy like Danny Glover (a much better choice for Mace than Jackson), whom I love dearly as an actor, does not. Older guys will remember Williams from "Brian's Song" in which he was golden. I agree that his being black is merely coincidental. He just as easily could have been white, or had a fish head, or two heads...

In the "Alien" films, the Ripley character wasn't written as a women. Ridley Scott hired Sigorney Weaver for the part, thinking it would add an interesting twist to the character. Not a bad move. Can you see those films without her?

[Jedi Master Kyle]

Not a chance. Picturing Aliens without Weaver is like picturing star wars without harrison ford.