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Michelle Rodriguez has sparked controversy by slamming Hollywood for casting minority actors in superhero roles that were originally conceived as white characters. It all started when a paparazzo asked the actress about a rumor that she’d been considered to play the Green Lantern. Rodriguez gave a very blunt response. Watch the video below.
“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” said the star of the Green Lantern rumor. (Historically, the Green Lantern has been a white man.) Rodriguez then declared, “I think it’s so stupid… because of this whole, like, ‘minorities in Hollywood’ thing… it’s so stupid, it’s, like, stop stealing all the white people’s superheroes. Make up your own, you know what I’m saying? What’s up with that?”
Indeed, some non-white performers have recently portrayed white superheroes. The black actor Michael B. Jordan will play the Human Torch in the upcoming Fantastic Four, a casting decision that led to some debate when it was first announced. Nick Fury was a white character in the original Marvel comics, but is portrayed onscreen by Samuel L. Jackson. And while James Bond isn’t a superhero, per se, Rush Limbaugh recently created controversy when he declared that Idris Elba, who’s black, should not be considered as a future Bond because Ian Fleming conceived of Bond as a white man.
Take a look at what Rodriguez says in the clip below, and tell us what you think. Should superheroes only be portrayed by actors of the same race as the original characters? Or does it not matter?
