• Seasoned_Greetings@lemm.ee
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    10 months ago

    That sounds like the same kind of shock as a character in something you’re used to being played by any different actor in a remake. And besides that, it’s not racist to acknowledge a race swap. It can be distracting. It’s racist when you make the point that it shouldn’t be done because the character is supposed to be a certain color for no other reason than your preference.

    • Zozano@lemy.lol
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      10 months ago

      I would say it’s similar to the shock of a character played by another actor, but slightly different.

      Unfortunately we were raised in a society where skin colour says more about a person, than the differences of a person’s face within that group.

      Yet, there is more variation within groups than between them. This is no doubt a failure of the way my brain works, and regrettably I’m not the only one.

      So when ethnicity-swapping happens, my brain defaults to “but what is the significance?”, and even when I remind myself that it doesn’t matter, it’s too late, my indoctrination has already kicked in and I’m taken out of the movie.

      • Seasoned_Greetings@lemm.ee
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        10 months ago

        You know, I get what you’re saying. It definitely is ingrained in our society that skin color says more about a person. I also think it’s not wise to say we should just ignore it altogether.

        The way my mind deals with it, honestly, is to create a new character with a slightly different personality. Instead of asking why they did it in the first place, I just try to acknowledge that it’s not the same character I’m expecting. If it’s a remake of something, it probably won’t be the same story I’m expecting either.

        It’s like a multiverse thing. The problem only comes if you’re comparing the old to the new. So I try to avoid that.

        But it isn’t wrong to say that your perception of a character changes with their skin color, because society conditioned us like that. It’s up to you to create a new perception though. It really only becomes wrong when you say that a character’s skin color breaks your perception of them because it’s unacceptable. Does that make sense?