Inktober Redux 2022 - Day 01 - James Edwards, Othello
01/10/22 13:46 Filed in: Personal | inktober redux 2022
Inktober 2022 is back, but wanted to come in with a different spin. With all the perplexing and backwards backlash against casting people of color in popular fantasy genres like House of the Dragon, The Rings of Power and The Little Mermaid, I’m turning back the clock and revisiting/recasting roles that were BIPOC in their creation or influence played by white actors and popular cinematic characters that could have been portrayed by an equally accomplished person of color. A sort of WHAT IF? What if that role had been played by a person of color of that generation?
Day 1, Shakespeare’s Othello, infamously played by Laurence Oliver in the 1965 version, completely covered in ridiculously coal black makeup. What if James Edwards (1918-1970), actor from The Manchurian, The Killing and Patton had played him, in say, an Orson Welles version of the film? Imagine how having a seminal film like this in circulation for over 50 years could have done to a whole generation of kids and their interest in the arts, writing and literature and the stage? Took a little flavor from both the '51 and the '65 films.
Day 1, Shakespeare’s Othello, infamously played by Laurence Oliver in the 1965 version, completely covered in ridiculously coal black makeup. What if James Edwards (1918-1970), actor from The Manchurian, The Killing and Patton had played him, in say, an Orson Welles version of the film? Imagine how having a seminal film like this in circulation for over 50 years could have done to a whole generation of kids and their interest in the arts, writing and literature and the stage? Took a little flavor from both the '51 and the '65 films.
