This doesn’t have anything to do with empathy. I think this is another disconnect. I see these decisions as artistic decisions, and they should only think about what would produce the best work of art.
Does that mean your opinion is that a black actor in the lead role reduces the quality of the art of the Little Mermaid?
Trying to fix society should be done by reducing financial inequality (it’s why I call myself a leftist), not by ruining art.
Isn’t opening up roles for actors that people of color were automatically excluded from because of the color of their skin irrespective of their acting talent the vehicle for reducing financial inequality in Hollywood?
This seems so strange to me that the view you’re communicating seems to restrict actors of color to only modern story lines or any historical story line through a western lens where their races was discriminated against, subservient, or seen as primitive. It reads like you’re saying anything but those roles are off limits because we must maintain historical accuracy of skin color of characters. Please tell me I’m misunderstanding you.
Also, side note about representation. As a person or color, I always hated, HATED, when a person of my race was added without adding to the story. I want someone that looks like me to be cool, fit into the story, make the art work better. When it takes away from the story it feels like baggage and if anything makes me feel worse about my race.
Are you talking about the inclusion of an actor of color as an addon side character that doesn’t add substance to the story (with the assumption that they were only added to increase representation and not advance the story in a substantive way)?
What if they are in the role of a main character? I raised this example before but I didn’t see you respond to it. Did it upset you when the Broadway actor Leslie Odom Jr. played the part of Aaron Burr in the Broadway musical Hamilton? The historical figure of Burr was a real person and objectively white, but Odom Jr, a black man, played him on stage. Did you find that inappropriate or importantly un-authentic?