First the Karate Kid, Next Spiderman? - The Orange Mane

TheReverend · 06-01-2010, 05:38 PM

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/movi...pider-man.html

Twitter Campaign Wants 'Community' Actor to Be First Non-White Spider-Man
by Lindsay Robertson · June 1, 2010
Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart in 'The Twilight Saga: Eclipse'

Could the movies soon have the first African American Spider-Man?

If thousands of Twitter users get their way, the star of Sony's upcoming reboot of the franchise will be Donald Glover, best known from his role on NBC's "Community." This weekend the Twitter hashtag "donald4spiderman" became the #3 trending topic in the U.S., and the campaign is still gaining steam.

The origins of this latest attempt by social media users to influence casting decisions occurred last week. After surveying the five mostly unknown white actors said to be vying for the role, Marc Bernadin, a writer for the sci-fi site io9.com, called the choices "bland" and asked, "In this day and age, why does Spidey have to be a white guy?" In response, commenters threw out Donald Glover's name as a possible contender, and a Twitter campaign was born.

A unique aspect of this latest fan campaign is its wholehearted support by the subject in question. Glover seems to like the idea (though he makes it clear on his Twitter page that he's interested in auditioning, not just being handed the role without first having to prove his worthiness). While he had nothing to do with its inception, Glover himself has been promoting the campaign, instructing fans to tweet the #donald4spiderman hash tag at strategic times to keep it trending.

In years past, an Internet petition of this kind might not be given much credence, but given the overwhelming success of the recent social-media uprising to get Betty White a hosting gig on "Saturday Night Live," this could be Glover's ticket to director Marc Webb's tryout room. He and his fans will have to act fast, though: The Hollywood Reporter is already forecasting the five most likely contenders for the role, and Glover is not on the list

Glover, a comedian and former writer for "30 Rock," has starred in only one movie so far: "Mystery Team," a comedy he co-created with his sketch comedy team, Derrick Comedy, which came out in 2009.

One hurdle Glover's fans will have is in his presumed bankability as a movie star: "Mystery Team" brought in a meager $89.4 thousand in domestic box-office sales.

TheReverend · 06-01-2010, 05:40 PM

I'm ridiculously pro equal rights... but this is ridiculous.

The character is white. Comic fans like me throw a **** fit if any of the story line is messed with or poorly portrayed. Intentionally changing a major part of the character was forgivable for a small role like Nick Fury and the Kingpin in the B movie "Daredevil"... but Spiderman? Get the **** out.

sirhcyennek81 · 06-01-2010, 05:41 PM

What next? A white Shaft?

TheReverend · 06-01-2010, 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sirhcyennek81

What next? A white Shaft?

Great joke. Where'd you get it from?

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheReverend

Anyone else mad the new karate kid is black?

In b4 "that's racist"

Sorry, but it changes the brand. It'd be like if Marlon Wayans had played Duke in GI Joe (not that the guy they picked was any better... angry face insert here), or Hasselhof starring in a remake of Shaft, or a black Dread Pirate Roberts in a Princess Bride remake, or if they made Optimus Prime a jet.

It's on par with the "Wtf?" I'm still getting forced down my throat that Hollywood Nick Fury is Sam Jackson. Someone like Mel Gibson would've been perfect... just let him throw in an obscure Jew hating reference and he totally would've been on board.

Dagmar · 06-01-2010, 05:48 PM

Why does his race make a difference to the character of Spiderman?

sirhcyennek81 · 06-01-2010, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheReverend

Great joke. Where'd you get it from?

Actually I pulled that out of my ass. But apparently GMTA.

sirhcyennek81 · 06-01-2010, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dagmar

Why does his race make a difference to the character of Spiderman?

Because Peter Parker has never been portrayed as black. Its not about being upset that they want a black spider man, but the source material has him being white. It would actually hurt the flick to change the race of the character despite the source material.

Would you make a movie of Huck Finn and make Jim a white guy?

cmhargrove · 06-01-2010, 05:50 PM

I heard they're already working on the next Blade film starring Jean Claude Van Damme. Here's a sneak preview (still in production):

- The most amazing home videos are here

TheReverend · 06-01-2010, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dagmar

Why does his race make a difference to the character of Spiderman?

Because it's Spiderman.

I'm all for getting more black characters in movies. That's fantastic. Just make a new character then and leave childhood/American icons alone.

I'd be just as pissed if they cast a white chick to play storm in X-Men.

Are we going to cast a Latino to play Captain America?

FADERPROOF · 06-01-2010, 05:52 PM

Does black spiderman still have a white girlfriend? Or do they change all chracter protrayals?

sirhcyennek81 · 06-01-2010, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FADERPROOF

Does black spiderman still have a white girlfriend? Or do they change all chracter protrayals?

I am seeing flashes of the Wiz...and not in a good way.

TheReverend · 06-01-2010, 05:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FADERPROOF

Does black spiderman still have a white girlfriend? Or do they change all chracter protrayals?

I heard 50 cent is now playing Dr Connor (The Lizard) and P Diddy is now J Jonah Jameson and the newspaper was scrapped and changed to a record label.

Dagmar · 06-01-2010, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sirhcyennek81

Because Peter Parker has never been portrayed as black. Its not about being upset that they want a black spider man, but the source material has him being white. It would actually hurt the flick to change the race of the character despite the source material.

Would you make a movie of Huck Finn and make Jim a white guy?

But that has themes of race. Spiderman should not.

sirhcyennek81 · 06-01-2010, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dagmar

But that has themes of race. Spiderman should not.

Spiderman is white, not black. It makes zero sense to the story to change the character to fulfill some BS political correctness. There are black superheros. Spiderman is not one of them.

TheReverend · 06-01-2010, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dagmar

But that has themes of race. Spiderman should not.

Spiderman is one of the most entrenched American characters/icons in history.

Period.

extralife · 06-01-2010, 06:28 PM

Comic book dorks cry, news at 11. You can change a character, I promise. I know I've had enough of smart-alec goody two shoes emo white kid spiderman. If they feel like making him black, that's fine. I'm sure it'll suck either way.

WolfpackGuy · 06-01-2010, 06:31 PM

Jason in LA · 06-01-2010, 06:32 PM

Well I see no issue with a black Karate Kid. But I'd be against a black Spiderman.

The Karate Kid doesn't have to be Daniel LaRusso. The Karate Kid was a different character in the 4th one (looked dumb so I never saw it). Actually, it was a female. Going by that, there really isn't a problem with the Karate Kid being a non white male. The character just has to be a kid. Either gender or any race would work.

But Spiderman is Peter Parker, and Peter Parker is a white guy. Only way it would work is if Spiderman wasn't Peter Parker, but some other guy. But that's kind of lame too. So we're back to Spiderman being played by a white actor. If it ain't broke, why fix it?

I actually think that considering a black actor as Spiderman is going to cause more problems than good. Now we'll have to hear all the lame ass statements that will put black people down.

STBumpkin · 06-01-2010, 06:36 PM

Lets make a movie about the life of George Washington, but this time he can be played by Denzel. Their last names are the same, so it won't even be that much of a stretch.

ZONA · 06-01-2010, 06:36 PM

I don't see any problem with it.

ZONA · 06-01-2010, 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by STBumpkin

Lets make a movie about the life of George Washington, but this time he can be played by Denzel. Their last names are the same, so it won't even be that much of a stretch.

Only George was real and Spiderman is not. I knew somebody would start blurring the lines.

El Minion · 06-01-2010, 06:38 PM

So what, they changed Jesus from this:

to this:

It's the story that matters, not the racial makeup of the actors unless you can't empathize with people not your race. Their is more than one way to tell a story.

STBumpkin · 06-01-2010, 06:41 PM

Spiderman has been white since he was created in 1962. He may not have lived, but he has been the same person and same persona since then. Changing his race now would be the same. White is white and black is black unless you are Michael Jackson. You can't change it on a whim.

STBumpkin · 06-01-2010, 06:42 PM

The only reason to change his race is to make a point about race. There are other, better ways to do that.

hookemhess · 06-01-2010, 06:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason in McLA

But Spiderman is Peter Parker, and Peter Parker is a white guy.

This.

It might be a different story if it wasn't a COMIC BOOK. The artwork is absolutely intrinsic to the whole experience. I'm not a comic book fan, but I can see how this would just annoy me while watching if I was.

06-01-2010, 05:38 PM	#1
TheReverend www.PatrickTurley.org ^ "not an athlete" Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Jacksonville, FL Posts: 33,348 Adopt-a-Bronco: Mike Shanahan	First the Karate Kid, Next Spiderman? http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/movi...pider-man.html Twitter Campaign Wants 'Community' Actor to Be First Non-White Spider-Man by Lindsay Robertson · June 1, 2010 Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart in 'The Twilight Saga: Eclipse' Could the movies soon have the first African American Spider-Man? If thousands of Twitter users get their way, the star of Sony's upcoming reboot of the franchise will be Donald Glover, best known from his role on NBC's "Community." This weekend the Twitter hashtag "donald4spiderman" became the #3 trending topic in the U.S., and the campaign is still gaining steam. The origins of this latest attempt by social media users to influence casting decisions occurred last week. After surveying the five mostly unknown white actors said to be vying for the role, Marc Bernadin, a writer for the sci-fi site io9.com, called the choices "bland" and asked, "In this day and age, why does Spidey have to be a white guy?" In response, commenters threw out Donald Glover's name as a possible contender, and a Twitter campaign was born. A unique aspect of this latest fan campaign is its wholehearted support by the subject in question. Glover seems to like the idea (though he makes it clear on his Twitter page that he's interested in auditioning, not just being handed the role without first having to prove his worthiness). While he had nothing to do with its inception, Glover himself has been promoting the campaign, instructing fans to tweet the #donald4spiderman hash tag at strategic times to keep it trending. In years past, an Internet petition of this kind might not be given much credence, but given the overwhelming success of the recent social-media uprising to get Betty White a hosting gig on "Saturday Night Live," this could be Glover's ticket to director Marc Webb's tryout room. He and his fans will have to act fast, though: The Hollywood Reporter is already forecasting the five most likely contenders for the role, and Glover is not on the list Glover, a comedian and former writer for "30 Rock," has starred in only one movie so far: "Mystery Team," a comedy he co-created with his sketch comedy team, Derrick Comedy, which came out in 2009. One hurdle Glover's fans will have is in his presumed bankability as a movie star: "Mystery Team" brought in a meager $89.4 thousand in domestic box-office sales.

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06-01-2010, 05:40 PM	#2
TheReverend www.PatrickTurley.org ^ "not an athlete" Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Jacksonville, FL Posts: 33,348 Adopt-a-Bronco: Mike Shanahan	I'm ridiculously pro equal rights... but this is ridiculous. The character is white. Comic fans like me throw a ** fit if any of the story line is messed with or poorly portrayed. Intentionally changing a major part of the character was forgivable for a small role like Nick Fury and the Kingpin in the B movie "Daredevil"... but Spiderman? Get the ** out.

06-01-2010, 05:41 PM	#3
sirhcyennek81 Yes...swooping is bad... Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Florence, Colorado Posts: 20,768 Adopt-a-Bronco: All of them.	What next? A white Shaft?

06-01-2010, 05:48 PM	#5
Dagmar ...there ain't no devil ..there's just God when he's drunk. Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Morrison Posts: 17,132 Adopt-a-Bronco: Tim Tebow	Why does his race make a difference to the character of Spiderman?

06-01-2010, 05:50 PM	#8
cmhargrove Is this thing on??? Travis Henry's love child... Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Tulsa, OK Posts: 6,423 Adopt-a-Bronco: Peyton Hillis	I heard they're already working on the next Blade film starring Jean Claude Van Damme. Here's a sneak preview (still in production): - The most amazing home videos are here

06-01-2010, 05:52 PM	#10
FADERPROOF Bucknuts Colossus Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Eastlake OH Posts: 17,338	Does black spiderman still have a white girlfriend? Or do they change all chracter protrayals?

06-01-2010, 06:28 PM	#16
extralife Ring of Famer Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 3,987	Comic book dorks cry, news at 11. You can change a character, I promise. I know I've had enough of smart-alec goody two shoes emo white kid spiderman. If they feel like making him black, that's fine. I'm sure it'll suck either way.

06-01-2010, 06:31 PM	#17
WolfpackGuy Call me, "Maybe" Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Delaware Posts: 5,694

06-01-2010, 06:32 PM	#18
Jason in LA Gimmie that rep fool! Speaking of Butts & Boob Mojo Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: LA Posts: 12,254	Well I see no issue with a black Karate Kid. But I'd be against a black Spiderman. The Karate Kid doesn't have to be Daniel LaRusso. The Karate Kid was a different character in the 4th one (looked dumb so I never saw it). Actually, it was a female. Going by that, there really isn't a problem with the Karate Kid being a non white male. The character just has to be a kid. Either gender or any race would work. But Spiderman is Peter Parker, and Peter Parker is a white guy. Only way it would work is if Spiderman wasn't Peter Parker, but some other guy. But that's kind of lame too. So we're back to Spiderman being played by a white actor. If it ain't broke, why fix it? I actually think that considering a black actor as Spiderman is going to cause more problems than good. Now we'll have to hear all the lame ass statements that will put black people down.

06-01-2010, 06:36 PM	#19
STBumpkin burnin' it at both ends Livin' The Dream Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Bowie, MD Posts: 757 Adopt-a-Bronco: Rod Smith	Lets make a movie about the life of George Washington, but this time he can be played by Denzel. Their last names are the same, so it won't even be that much of a stretch.

06-01-2010, 06:36 PM	#20
ZONA Ring of Famer If you smacked your screen, hahaha Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 7,492 Adopt-a-Bronco: Chris Harris	I don't see any problem with it.

06-01-2010, 06:38 PM	#22
El Minion Ring of Famer Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 1,551	So what, they changed Jesus from this: to this: It's the story that matters, not the racial makeup of the actors unless you can't empathize with people not your race. Their is more than one way to tell a story.

06-01-2010, 06:41 PM	#23
STBumpkin burnin' it at both ends Livin' The Dream Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Bowie, MD Posts: 757 Adopt-a-Bronco: Rod Smith	Spiderman has been white since he was created in 1962. He may not have lived, but he has been the same person and same persona since then. Changing his race now would be the same. White is white and black is black unless you are Michael Jackson. You can't change it on a whim.

06-01-2010, 06:42 PM	#24
STBumpkin burnin' it at both ends Livin' The Dream Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Bowie, MD Posts: 757 Adopt-a-Bronco: Rod Smith	The only reason to change his race is to make a point about race. There are other, better ways to do that.