With so much controversy and uproar surrounding the former possibility of casting black actor Idris Elba in the role of James Bond, now the critics are speaking out against a new production where casting seems to be the exact opposite problem. A new stage play production, The Mountain Top, written by Kent State University playwright Katori Hall on the Martin Luther King Jr. story, has cast a white man to play the role of Dr. King.
According to a BET report, Kent State University in Ohio recently began production of the stage play, The Mountaintop, based on the life of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The story was presented through the vision of playwright Katori Hall, and directed by Michael Oatman who decided to take a different approach in the casting of the play. Instead of casting a black male to play Dr. King, he chose to cast a white male. According to BET, an outraged Hall voiced her disapproval of the casting choice in an open letter written and submitted to The Root.
In the letter, Hall explained how she received a link to the production from a colleague and was taken aback when she saw who had been cast to play the civil rights leader. The surprise had nothing to do with his talent, or lack thereof, but everything to do with his skin color. "At first glance I was like, 'Unh-uh, maybe he light-skinned. Don't punish the brother for being able to pass.' But further Googling told me otherwise." Hall described her reaction after watching the clip in her letter to The Root. Seeing what she described as "creamy buffed" skin portraying Dr. King sent her into a rage, prompting her to call her agent, who then reached out to Dramatic Play Services in a letter suggesting, "while that might be considered an interesting experiment, it is also-quite clearly-not what the author wrote or intended."
Hall explained how her reimagining of The Mountaintop was inspired by a conversation she had with her mother who caught a glimpse of Dr. King on March 28, 1968 when he came to Memphis, Tennessee. Her mother distinctly remembered one thing about Dr. King, "I remember he had the prettiest skin I had ever seen," Hall wrote of her conversation with her mom. "Flawless. So chocolate you could see yourself reflected in it." That image was not reflected in the play, and after having a conversation with Oatman, she finally received a response as to why he chose to switch things up in casting. According to Hall in her letter, Oatman's response was "there was no 'prohibition against nontraditional casting'." In further explanation he stated, "I wanted to see if a white actor, or a light-skinned actor, had the same cultural buy-in and could portray Dr. King." Hall wrote of Oatman's vision, "Dr. King is not just a prominent African American, he's a prominent American. Why can't an American play another prominent American?" Considering Hall's own admitted first response of having a different opinion had it been a light-skinned black man this argument makes some sense. However, it fails to take into account the deep important and place within the hearts and minds that Dr. King sits for many people as a black man.
This question prompted the responses of readers who both agreed and disagreed with Oatman. Allan Powell commented on The Root's report expressing, "for a society that strives to be color blind we sure spend a lot of time talking about our skin colors. I read some of Michael Oatman's rationale for his casting choice and it made sense to me. It's too bad today's activists have replaced thoughtful discourse with faux outrage as a means to effect change. In doing so they lose all credibility." Sabrina Messenger wrote, "it's interesting how some get outraged over racial minorities playing a fictional character who is traditionally depicted as white such as Superman or James Bond or even a Shakespearean character, but yet they think it's perfectly ok to take a person who is/was an ACTUAL historical figure like MLK and turn him white? Makes no sense to me whatsoever."
The outrage that Sabrina Messenger speaks of regarding minorities playing fictional characters like James Bond, is exactly what Elba endured in attempting to land the role of Bond in the forthcoming film. Bond, who is normally depicted by a white male actor, would encounter what Oatman described as a "non-traditional "approach in casting. Although Anthony Harowitz, author of the James Bond new 007 adventure called Trigger Mortis, didn't exactly say he didn't want Elba cast in the role of Bond because he is a black actor, what he did say according to Variety, was that the actor is "too street." Perhaps a poor choice of words to describe the differences between Elba's perception by audiences when compared to the British upper class style Bond usually has in the films (although that wasn't always Bond's style in the books).
Harowitz' comments sparked backlash on social media causing him to issue an apology to Elba. According to Variety, he tweeted: "I'm really sorry my comments about Idris Elba have caused offense," he wrote to Twitter followers. "That wasn't my intention," Horowitz said on Twitter. "I was asked in my interview if Idris Elba would make a good James Bond. In the article I expressed the opinion that to my mind Adrian Lester would be a better choice but I'm a writer not a casting director so what do I know?"
Subsequent to Harowitz's apology, Elba posted a screenshot of a story headline about the apology with the caption that spoke directly to his "too street" comment. "Always Keep Smiling!! It takes no energy and never hurts! Learned that from the streets!"
A photo posted by Idris Elba (@idriselba) on Sep 1, 2015 at 3:30pm PDT
