Modern Geekery

Now that The Dark Knight has surpassed $500 million at the domestic box office, it was only a matter of time before Warner Brothers went mad with power.  Modern Geekery got a hold of this SECRET INTERNAL WB MEMO that should make for some interesting films in the near future. Read it now before we’re forced to take it down!

I’m really interested to see how these new ”guidelines” will affect one of the WB’s next films, “Nights in Rodanthe.”  What’s Diane Lane’s Bed & Breakfast viral website going to look like?! And what Rodanthe-related clues will it unlock?!?!

There’s apparently been some controversy over the film “Tropic Thunder,” in which Robert Downey, Jr. portrays an actor in blackface.  The interesting thing is I haven’t read anything from the actual offended parties, only articles refering to this elusive “controversy”.  I think this is the case because he is indeed playing a character who plays a black man.  If Robert Downey, Jr. was playing the part of Mohammed Ali, people would have license to be upset (although I’d personally love to see that flick).

But it begs the underlying question: is it appropriate for an actor to play a race other than their own?  Can “blackface” be acceptable?  I would put forth it is acceptable if the filmmakers do it for a reason and do it well.

As an analysis of the issue, let’s take a look back at the cinematic history of people pretending to be other people’s people. Read the rest of this entry »