MovieChat Forums > The Untouchables (1987) Discussion > Tough viewing nowadays due to the lack o...

Tough viewing nowadays due to the lack of diversity


The lack of diversity in the cast is a huge elephant in the room one must pretend not to see to derive any enjoyment from this movie these days.

Simply stunning that not one actor of color was cast for ANY of the Untouchables roles. Surely by the 1980s producers would have been well aware that audiences knew they were watching an entertainment product, rather than an historic re-enactment, and that some representation would have been appropriate?

Anyway I see that Morgan Freeman was also Oscar nominated that year. I'm sure it would have been interesting to have seen him play the role of Malone...

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Oh, fuck off.

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I'm almost certain he's being facetious.

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No, sounds like he's genuinely trolling to me.

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Six of one, half a dozen of the other, as my pappy would have said.

The point is he's not airing a genuine thought.

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This n]movie must be destroyed and never spoken of again

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... Or remade with a more appropriate casting for today's more enlightened society.

I could see Michael B Jordan doing a fine job as as Eliot Ness.

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Eliot Ness was white, thus would and should be played by a white character, anyone that disagrees with me has issues with white people

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"anyone that disagrees with me has issues with white people "

not neccasarily
There might be people who dont give a fuck what colour actor plays a white historical figure , and yet really love white people .

same as , there are people who really dont give a shit wether the actor playing Lex Luthor is bald or not - it just does not follow that it means they hate bald people.

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Great , then based on your logic im really looking forward to a white figure play Nelson Mendela

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when you trot out these "white people play {insert black man} " retorts, Its always a black man who is a champion of the black fight for equality .
Ususally it MK , but when its not its NM

This makes it an unfair comparison.

Elliot ness was just a cop doing a job. doesent matter what colour he was.
Nelson Mandela was black oppressed South African anti-apartheid revolutionary leading the fight against the total subjugation of blacks.

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If you are playing a historical figure such as Elliot Ness then its very important to be as accurate as possible, Elliot Ness was a white man who had a job an American Probation Agent.

Nelson Mandela was a black South African anti apartheid figure , he also help create the African National Congress, which was deemed a terrorist organization, id expect very film he is played in , the actor be black.

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I'm disagreeing as such , i think its would be silly to have Ness played by a black man , as does the OP but wont admit it.

I still say theres a dfifference in color accuracy importance between our two examples.
Would it matter id Ness's hair was the wrong color? or not present?

Also , on a side note ...
How come no ones upset at jesus being portrayed as white pretty much always?
I'd put money on someone born in the middle east not , in fact , being white

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Semites are generally considered to be “Caucasian”.

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Jesus was a Semite, which racially is Caucasian (white). People from that part of the world can be fair-skinned and light-haired or dark and swarthy. The traditional fair Jesus of thousands of paintings is just as likely as the brown, hairy Jesus that has gained popularity among the race-obsessed recently.

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Jesus being white, hey I'm sure there are plenty of religious groups that are angry by this , its not know for certain if Jesus was a person of colour or was considered white, Psalm 45:2–3 describes him as "fairer than the children of men"

Now for arguments sake if we had a picture of Jesus and he was black , id expect him to be played by a black actor.

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Actually he was just a garden variety Communist with a blood thirsty wife but to each their own.

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No that would be if he only wanted white blonde haired blue eyed actors in the film.

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Jeffery Hunter is not a blond

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No it isn't.

No you're not.

You're ignoring the fact that Malone is played by a Scot with an obvious Scottish accent instead of an Irish one.

Andy Garcia is not Italian either.

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Yes, that's the "right" kind of diversity for some people though isn't it?

As per the OP the issue is with the lack of actors of color in this production.

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Is it ? Which people? I don't know what you are talking about.

Unless you cared about the Untouchables TV show, which was entertainment and not historically accurate either, you'd have no idea if the cast of the movie version has been diversified.

Just like with the TV show The Untouchables, making something entertainment instead of document means you automatically fewer restrictions and can make choices you believe will result in a better, more entertaining show or movie. It's not a prerequisite of entertainment based on historic events to diversify the casting of characters. That's just a thing that chickenshit people, and trolling cunts, say in order to make some perverse bullshit point about movies that haven't done specifically that.

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As per the OP the issue is with the lack of actors of color in this production.

No it isnt .
Absolutley no one is upset about that including , crucially , YOU

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There weren't any black.Untouchables. What's so good about diversity?

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He was very good in it actually!

Not quite at Clancy Brown villainy levels but he also managed to get Sean Connery in the end...

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Frankly I like the role Morgan Freeman was nominated for that year. He played a villain in Street Smart which isn't the kind of role he became most known for. By the way I like this movie and if you hate it for being a cast of white people you must hate a lot of American movies from the past. I suggest you never watch any American movies from before the 80s as most of them star white people. Also this movie the Untouchables is based off a TV show. Not historical fact. Heck, Sean Connery's character didn't even exist in real life and Elliot Ness didn't throw a guy off a building.

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Also this movie the Untouchables is based off a TV show. Not historical fact. Heck, Sean Connery's character didn't even exist in real life

That actually makes the casting choices even worse!

I don't hate this movie btw - as per the OP I just said it's tough to watch now without acknowledging the racial (/racist?) aspect of the casting.

I've never seen Street Smart. Worth a watch? Co-starring Christopher Reeve I see...

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I think it is worthwhile.

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Can you cite one example where the casting of white actors to play white characters has been labelled racist?

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I think it’s more enjoyable without being polluted with unnecessarily cast minority actors. It has enough diversity.

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Agreed. They should reboot this movie and have Capone be played by Jodie Turner-Smith. The audience would love that.

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The white population in 1930 was 88% so it’s fairly accurate, they could have squeezed a janitor character in there maybe, but that’s about it.

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This misses the morally just, beating heart righteousness of the OP - The film was not made in the 1930s, it was made in the 1980s.

Therefore there is no excuse for the segregated casting.

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Where's the evidence of segregation? (i.e. Where does the [u]movie[/u] dictate that whites are only permitted in certain places and non-whites in other places?)

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I'm not sure I get you - are you asking where in the movie is segregation shown?

If so, that's not what I meant. My point was that the casting was made on a segregated manner. e.g. Morgan Freeman would never have been considered for the part of Malone as the casting was clearly done on a whites only basis.

That's something we should all feel uncomfortable with.

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How do you know they were made in that manner? Where you present at the production casting meetings?

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No. I watched the film.

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The casting wasn't shot on film. It was made before the film was shot.

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Indeed.

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So you admit you don't know if the movie was cast in a "segregated manner".

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No, I simply concurred that casting was obviously done before the film was shot (with the cast which had been selected).

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Which means you can't see the "manner" in which the casting was conducted by watching the film.

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I can see an entirely white cast when I watch the film.

That's literally the entire point of my OP.

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The cast and the manner in which they were cast are two entirely different things.

If the movie had half white and half black actors, that still wouldn't determine if the movie was cast in a segregated "manner" or not.

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What is the point of the OP? That a country that is predominantly white, and a studio that is run predominantly by white individuals , got together a production team that were predominantly white, to make a film from an era that was predominantly white that had characters that we all white?? i mean , where does the person of colour come into this ?

How come the majority of the cast of the colour purple were black ?

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Has it occurred to you that this may indicate simply the fact that white actors are better at acting?

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The film was not made in the 1930s, it was made in the 1980s.

Therefore there is no excuse for the segregated casting.


hahahahahaahahahaahahahahahaahahahhahahahahahahahahhaah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

do you even lift 80s film?

80s film was last time you watch film with no affirm action. actor picked on talent in 80s and film better because no one was race obsess retard like now with shit film:

ET - biggest film of decade. no diversitys!

the goonies - childhood classic. no divesitys!! (chinese kid does not count as diversity has to be black or latinos)

summer blockbuster: indiana jones and last crusades, superman 2 - no diversitys.

drama: dead poet societys, wargames, dirtys dancing, rain man, saint elmo's fire - no diversitys

comedy: planes trains and automobile, secret of my succes, great outdoors, uncle bucks, three men and babys - no diversitys

high school teen movie: breakfast clubs, teen wolf, the lost boy, stands by me, can buy me love, ferris bueller day out, pretty in pink, some kind of wonderful, footloose - no diversitys in any of these cast!

action genres: road houses, rambo 1 2 and 3, tango and cash, cobra, raw deal, masters of universe, top guns, day of thunders, superman iv - no diversitys


i could go on forver!! point is 80s film proof you do not need diversitys to make good film. you need good script and actor to make good film!

stop obsess with race!! that attitude is killing film! film do not need diverse cast they need non-shit script and actor!

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And in 2010 it was 87% so... its still accurate now.

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Not at all, why should there be diversity , the majority of the population of America was white in the 30s, this film portrays that period wonderfully, people of colour should never be shoe horned into a movie to tick a box, that's an insult to people of colour " come hither young man , im going to put you in this picture because society says so , not because of your talents" id personally be insulted if that was me.

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The demographics of 1930s are irrelevant as the film wasn't made in the 1930s. That's the point.

And just to see if I can push you to think a little outside the box here:-

What happens in a hundred years time say, when a "white" population largely doesn't exist anymore? Would you have it that you cannot make fictional films set in historic times any more as you'll only have mixed race actors to select from?

Sounds like nonsense to me. I'm sure we'll be able to continue to make films in the future and the producers will do so safe in the knowledge that audiences aren't complete morons and will know that they are watching actors playing parts.

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If the demographics are irrelevant then why are you only focusing on skin color?

Are you really going to argue that people of color are more important than those who are handicapped? What about little people, the mentally challenged, people without limbs, Albinos, and people in comas? Why aren’t you fighting for these people to be seen?

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The film wasn't made in the 1930s you are very correct , it was made in 1988 and it represents life in the 1930s very accurately , not sure what the issue is here.

Take boyz in the hood for instance, if you were to replace the cast with mostly white men , so Tre Styles white, do you think that film would have the same impact? no it wouldn't.

I like my films that are based on historical events to be as accurate as possible, otherwise it just doesn't appear authentic, imagine a film about Mohamed Ali played by Chris Hemsworth , meh , aint going to work is it, or Hitler played by Michael B Jordan , not for me im afraid.

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What happens in a hundred years time say, when a "white" population largely doesn't exist anymore

Are you advocating for genocide?

What is your issue with white skin colour. You sound pretty racist to me.

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Nonsense.

I was simply putting forward a very simple truth for consideration in context.

We are pretty much at the point now were the white population no longer forms the majority of the country's population.

So does anyone really believe that people at some juncture in the future going to say, "No, we can no longer make films set in historical time periods because we no longer have enough 'pure' white actors to fill the roles. So hey ho, I guess we just have to abandon our history"...

Or is it POSSIBLY more likely that people will go "Hey, you know what, I realize thatI have gone into a theatre rather than a time machine and I am therefore capable of watching a production, in the full knowledge that I am watching actors"?

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white population no longer forms the majority of the countries population

Which country?

Britain black population about 3%. Many other countries in Europe at very similar numbers. So again which country falls into your example.

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Times will change, everything will change. I can see a time a hundred years hence when people get upset because a new entertainment (movie/TV/Interactive...whatever) is set in Chicago in the 1930s yet all the people look brown. Everybody knows the early 20th century was practically slave times so they should have fixed the skin tones and features so the people in positions of power look white, like the Nazis.
People will always have something to complain about. Me, I have no problem watching something made a generation ago fictionalizing events that occurred three generations ago--and ignoring the fact that Hollywood was whiter back then and the events were pretty white anyway (Ignoring the fact that in the '30s Italian and Irish were "races" in the eyes of most mainstream, white, Americans).
Race... What a concept. It mattered to people back in the 21st century.

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>The demographics of 1930s are irrelevant as the film wasn't made in the 1930s.

Thei film displayed the period of 1930s therefore the demographics of the 1930 is the only thing relevant.

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You didn't have this problem with the Bond girls of Thunderball did you? Racist Sh!t.

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I have absolutely no problem with the stunning Bond girls in Thunderball, no.

But what's your logic here?

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Where's the diversity?

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There wasn't any. They were all, without exeption, stunners.

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