Casting Agent fired from "The Hobbit" for 'racism'.

[Sauk]

http://insidemovies.ew.com/2010/11/29/the-hobbit-casting-agent-dismissed/

A casting agent working on director Peter Jackson’s adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit was fired from the production after placing ads in a regional New Zealand newspaper seeking extras with “light skin tones,” according to Agence France-Presse. The casting agent was also reported to have told a prospective background extra, a woman of Pakistani heritage named Naz Humphreys, that she wasn’t suitable to play a Hobbit because of her skin color. According to The Waikato Times, video footage shows the casting agent telling people at an audition, “We are looking for light-skinned people. I’m not trying to be … whatever. It’s just the brief. You’ve got to look like a Hobbit.” A spokesman for Jackson’s production company told Agence France-Presse that the casting director, who was contracted by the film, was never directed to make any restrictions based on skin color. “No such instructions were given,” the spokesman said. “The crew member in question took it upon themselves to do that and it’s not something we instructed or condoned,” adding, “It’s something we take very seriously.”

http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/w0008530.html

A representative for director Peter Jackson has admitted casting crews working on "The Hobbit" made "an incredibly unfortunate error" after a British actress claimed she was turned down for a role in the film because of her skin color. Naz Humphreys, who has Pakistani heritage, attended an audition in the New Zealand city of Hamilton last week but alleges she was rejected because movie bosses only wanted "pale-skinned" actors.

She tells the Waikato Times, "It's 2010 and I still can't believe I'm being discriminated against because I have brown skin. The casting manager basically said they weren't having anybody who wasn't pale-skinned. I would love to be an extra. But it just seemed like a shame because obviously hobbits are not brown or black or any other color."

"They all look kind of homogenized beige and all derived from the Caucasian gene pool." Humphreys has now created a campaign group on Facebook.com titled "Hire hobbits of all colors! Say no to Hobbit racism!" A representative for Jackson claims the director never issued such an order to casting bosses and has branded the incident "an incredibly unfortunate error".

The spokesman adds, "It is not something the producers or the director of The Hobbit were aware of. They would never issue instructions of this kind to the casting crew. All people meeting the age and height requirements are welcome to audition."

Cliffs:

-Casting agent tells Pakistani woman they're looking for "light-skinned people".
-Women gets angry, goes to newspaper
-Casting agent gets fired

I don't understand how it can be deemed racism when the story of the Hobbit has everything to do with Anglo-Saxon folklore.
That would be like saying the Kamasutram was racist because there are no depictions of fair skin Europeans. ( I know the Kamasutram was Indian, just an example )
She even stated that " hobbits are not brown or black or any other color. " ( could have been sarcasm, but sarcasm is hard to tell through text ).


Why audition then?

 

[Ellie]

It's raccist but in this case it can and has to be raccist. If something is set in a time when there were no black people then there wouldn't be any black people. Imagine you set a film based on a culture of only women, I dunno, lesbos or something - and a man was turned down the role for being male - and went on to protest, would that be illegal too?

 

[Sauk]

It's raccist but in this case it can and has to be raccist. If something is set in a time when there were no black people then there wouldn't be any black people. Imagine you set a film based on a culture of only women, I dunno, lesbos or something - and a man was turned down the role for being male - and went on to protest, would that be illegal too?

This.

That would be like me being turned down for the role of MLK, could I go on to protest that I can't play the role of a revolutionary Black man because I'm white?

My mind is full of fuck at the PC bullshit that goes on in the world.

 

[candle]

Technically, yes, but it could have been handled differently. the problem is people are way too oversensitive these days. for instance, my dad works out of our house, and to him it is unthinkable to work with any woman in the same building where he sleeps with his wife. So whenever a woman applied she was almost immediately turned down. my dad simply told them they weren't what he was looking for. if he had ever told them flat out he wasn't going to hire them because they were women, they would have had the right to sue.

 

[mawk]

this certainly can't be the first time people have cast only for certain skin tones or other features in a film, can it? I understand where she's coming from, but this decision was clearly motivated by a pragmatic understanding of the setting rather than actual hatred or supremacy. casting in a film just isn't the same as hiring for a job in some other field -- in most fields, race and appearance have no bearing on the employee's ability, so refusing to hire on those grounds is unprecedented discrimination. however, in a visual medium, where the casting calls for characters with certain features, those features are an important part of any actor's compatibility with the role, and disregarding them entirely is not a good idea.

that said, I can sort of see why the studio would do this. race is a way more sensitive issue right now than it needs to be, and it certainly makes more sense from a PR perspective to get rid of the offending employee and cut the issue off then and there than to try and explain the decision and get a bad reputation for it. I just hope this doesn't set a bad precedent.

 

[Sauk]

Technically, yes, but it could have been handled differently. the problem is people are way too oversensitive these days. for instance, my dad works out of our house, and to him it is unthinkable to work with any woman in the same building where he sleeps with his wife. So whenever a woman applied she was almost immediately turned down. my dad simply told them they weren't what he was looking for. if he had ever told them flat out he wasn't going to hire them because they were women, they would have had the right to sue.

I agree that he could have handled it way better, and should have known how to handle situations like this, but I still find it bullshit.

this certainly can't be the first time people have cast only for certain skin tones or other features in a film, can it? I understand where she's coming from, but this decision was clearly motivated by a pragmatic understanding of the setting rather than actual hatred or supremacy. casting in a film just isn't the same as hiring for a job in some other field -- in most fields, race and appearance have no bearing on the employee's ability, so refusing to hire on those grounds is unprecedented discrimination. however, in a visual medium, where the casting calls for characters with certain features, those features are an important part of any actor's compatibility with the role, and disregarding them entirely is not a good idea.

that said, I can sort of see why the studio would do this. race is a way more sensitive issue right now than it needs to be, and it certainly makes more sense from a PR perspective to get rid of the offending employee and cut the issue off then and there than to try and explain the decision and get a bad reputation for it.

This as well, I just can't fathom why she would get that upset knowing full well what was expected of their cast. That's like someone going on American Idol and rapping thinking that they'd hire you because you were different and trying to break grounds then getting mad that they weren't looking for that sound at all.
( That example might be horrible ^ )

 

[Venetia]

wait so if i try out to play Idi Amin, and I don't get the part, I can sue over not getting the role because I'm not black or male?

hot damn why didn't i follow Forest Whitaker into that audition??

there MUST be some stipulation in NZ employment law regarding this ...

this is US law, but i've also always wondered why prostitution is illegal but porn isn't. i think both should be legal personally, but in porn aren't you paying someone to do sexual acts?

i guess you could say "well we're paying you for ACTING, not paying you to HAVE SEX" but ... well, the job kind of requires the latter?

oh well everyone's silly

 

[Ellie]

Imagine the outrage if you did and blacked-up to suit the role.

 

[Juan J. Sánchez]

I rarely use this word, but in this case, it's perfectly reasonable: bullshit. There are no Black hobbits. I read the book. It's like casting for the Queen of Narnia, and having to include Black woman.

 

[BlueScope]

Someone's always scared of being called a racist, so defending a person who did the logical thing is way more dangerous than just looking for a new casting agent; ad loosing one's job and reputation over it because it'll be bloated throughout all media is not worth it most of the time.
Simple topic with an obvious background, not worth a topic dedicated to it. Our times aren't exactly well-known for common sense when it comes to racism topics, so yeah...

this is US law, but i've also always wondered why prostitution is illegal but porn isn't. i think both should be legal personally, but in porn aren't you paying someone to do sexual acts?

i guess you could say "well we're paying you for ACTING, not paying you to HAVE SEX" but ... well, the job kind of requires the latter?

In general, yes - theoretically, no. Porn is considered video material showing sexual topics and acts, however it doesn't have to be sexual intercourse.
However, that obviously doesn't mean what you said is wrong, and those laws obviously derive from trying to avoid women getting forced into prostitution (or make it harder for whoever's forcing them) - what apparently noone thought about is pornographic material that's being created without consent...

There are no Black hobbits. I read the book. It's like casting for the Queen of Narnia, and having to include Black woman.

Don't say it too loud, someone could sue the creators of those books because they only included white people :huh:

 

[candle]

No, they couldn't because he's been dead for nearly 40 years.

 

[Venetia]

BRB guys

going to a casting call for Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Africa

 

[Ellie]

Does it also mean that prostitution is legal if there's a web cam in the room?

 

[mawk]

only if you have terrible tribal tattoos

 

[Incognitus]

You know this means when it comes to the editing room, they're going to be sure to leave in a lot of shots with multicoloured Hobbits in, right? :lol:

 

[coreball]

Does it also mean that prostitution is legal if there's a web cam in the room?

I think you need to make the hooker sign a release form and fill out a W2 so Uncle Sam can collect them banging taxes.

 

[Venetia]

i am the president and ceo of the

League Of Rather Disgruntled Orators & Foils Repeatedly Ignored for Niche, Generic Subcasting (LORDOFRINGS)

i dream of a time when there is a positive representative of every minority on earth in the background of every movie scene

please donate, and, please, donate generously

 

[Venetia]

(we're hungry)

 

[mawk]

the world is not truly tolerant until every gathering looks like the cover of a textbook from the 80s

p.s. what's a rong

 

[candle]

ven, that's LORDOFRONGS you dont have an I in there