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tinybear · May 23, 2005, 04:10 am

Yeah, you heard right. A black Huck Finn. Do you find that acceptable? Would Mark Twain have approved? What do you think?

Racial Switch Halts 'Huck Finn' Production

GLENELG, Md. (AP) - A black Huck Finn and a white Jim might be OK for a high school production of Mark Twain's classic tale - but those performances had to be edited out of a C-Span talent show after the copyright holder objected to the cross-casting.

Jay Frisby, a black student who played Huck, and Nick Lehan, a white student who played Jim, taped their performance of the song ``Muddy Water'' for ``Close Up,'' a weekly show that highlights high school excellence.

When the program aired Friday, the two Glenelg Country School seniors were introduced, but viewers were told that ``Close Up'' could not show their performance because of ``copyright restrictions.''

Lehan and Frisby had played the roles of Jim and Huck in the school's production of ``The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' without complaint. But when the show's executive producer asked for the right to air the students' performance, permission was denied.

Read More: http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/...ews_0405racism

Milton Bradley · May 23, 2005, 04:40 am

I supose this is just a way to stir up antimososity, and start a fight.

The next thing you know, you will be telling me that I can't hear Jimmy Hendrix because I'm white.

tinybear · May 23, 2005, 05:04 am

Do you not agree that there's something in this argument though?

``But when you're dealing with a theatrical work and race or ethnicity is a key factor, many authors or playwrights feel strongly that ethnicity has to be reflected in the actors who portray the characters,'' he said.

``In the books, Jim is a runaway slave. He is clearly in the novel an African-American man. And Huck is a free white man - that is central to the story. To ignore that component or to comment on it by switching is not faithful to the story.''

**Matt W** · May 23, 2005, 05:22 am

I've seen 'Othello' as a white man in an all-black cast.

And I'm suprised by their insistence on being 'faithful to the story', when in so many other works, stage and screen blatantly aren't.

tinybear · May 23, 2005, 05:59 am

That's the trouble isn't it? Why can't stage, TV or movie productions stay faithful to the original story? The audience won't be put off. It's unwise to second guess what the audeience wants and to modify the storyline because, more often than not, it is the original story which attracts the audience to the theatre in the first place.

Samildanach · May 23, 2005, 08:10 am

Plenty of movies do adaptations of books, I dont see what the big fuss is about.

tinybear · May 23, 2005, 09:10 am

No big fuss. Just annoying that the original's being for changed for no good reason. Quite annoying especially when you've read the book and liked it, which was why you went to see the movie in the first place.

castille · May 23, 2005, 09:52 am

Well, because books can't always be fitted into movies...

Can you imagine Homer's original books being turned into a blockbuster? They'd have to speak ancient Greek, wipe their ass with a cloth, and show homosexual sex scenes.

tinybear · May 23, 2005, 12:47 pm

Wow, do Homer's books describe these things in such graphic detail?

No, what I meant was the basic premise and the main characters and storyline must be faithful to the original. Having a black Huck Finn obviously is not. But why am I surprised? After all, we've had a black James West (The Wild Wild West), a black Kingpin (Daredevil) and black Catwoman. *Sigh*. So why not a black Huck Finn?

PatrickHenry · May 23, 2005, 01:43 pm

It's a historical novel, tinybear. Its events have a historical basis, something that can't be said of a revisionist production casting a white as the slave and a black as the master race.

tinybear · May 23, 2005, 01:46 pm

Quote:

Quote by: PatrickHenry

It's a historical novel, tinybear. iits events have a historical basis, something that can't be said of a revisionist production casting a white as the slave and a black as the master race.

It's especialy important for an adaptation of a historical novel or of a period in history not to deviate from the main historical events. I hate it when that happens.

Prometheus · May 23, 2005, 03:17 pm

I saw a broadway production of "Thouroghly Modern Millie" where a black woman was cast as the boss of like 15 white women even though the musical is set in th 1920's.

The anal-retentive PC liberal people out there are casting stuff like this just to make a point. There is nothing wrong with discriminating according to color in a media production. In "Phantom of the Opera", Carlotta is *always* cast as a brunette and Meg is *always* a blonde. Is this bad discrimination? No. Neither is casting people with the appropriate color skin.

Aequo · May 23, 2005, 04:28 pm

Consider the reenactment of the Battle of Trafalgar: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4570301.stm

asterix404 · May 23, 2005, 08:43 pm

HOW is it descriminating? I don't get it... a black jim... yea... he was a slave... AN AMERICAN SLAVE! White people were never slaves... ever. It's like downplaying one of the most horrid things to happen in US history. As for shakepear being taken out of context... thats a bit different, I don't know one book where he described anyone as black or white, not to mention any other ethinicity. Jim if I remember correctly is described in 3 pages of text detaling him. I haven't read it for a while however... I deff do dissagree is a period piece is taken out of context... it would be like pride and predjus with black women and men... it just wouldn't have happend, how about that book about that black boy who murdered a woman and cut her up and put her in the furnace, or that book where 2 black boys didn't kill a white woman placed in the south and then both get hung. It shows racism clear and cut and that gets horrably distorted when people do such obvious things as this...

**Matt W** · May 24, 2005, 09:43 am

Quote:

White people were never slaves... ever.

Wrong. Not in the US, mebbe, but try to learn some stuff aside from that.

Personally, I couldn't give a toss about this. 'Artists' put all sorts of spin on their productions - to make it topical, to get things noticed...whatever. Who cares?

tinybear · May 24, 2005, 10:07 am

I do; when a perfectly good work of literature is spoiled for no good reason (and attempted political correctness is one of the worst reasons).

tinybear · May 24, 2005, 10:09 am

Quote:

Quote by: Aequo

Consider the reenactment of the Battle of Trafalgar: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4570301.stm

The French don't need to be bashed. They'll surrender before that happens. :)

**Matt W** · May 24, 2005, 10:11 am

Quote:

perfectly good work of literature is spoiled for no good reason

It's fiction. How many people would have seen it if a fuss hadn't been made? Hundred? Coupla hundred? How many of them read the book? How many are just there to support their kids?

*shrugs*

Doesn't matter.

tinybear · May 24, 2005, 12:59 pm

OK, let's have a Chinese James Bond then. Any suggestions on who should play the lead role? (Please don't say Jackie Chan; I'll scream if you do).

Eman Resu · May 24, 2005, 03:28 pm

This isn't anything new. There's a reason there are street performers and guerilla theater actors. The theater is extremely restrictive for the most part, and there's no way to do anything significantly different without someone being ticked off.

May 23, 2005, 04:10 am	#1 (permalink) (top)
tinybear Volcanic Erupter Location: Hong Kong (for now) Posts: 7,016	A Black Huckleberry Finn Yeah, you heard right. A black Huck Finn. Do you find that acceptable? Would Mark Twain have approved? What do you think? Racial Switch Halts 'Huck Finn' Production GLENELG, Md. (AP) - A black Huck Finn and a white Jim might be OK for a high school production of Mark Twain's classic tale - but those performances had to be edited out of a C-Span talent show after the copyright holder objected to the cross-casting. Jay Frisby, a black student who played Huck, and Nick Lehan, a white student who played Jim, taped their performance of the song ``Muddy Water'' for ``Close Up,'' a weekly show that highlights high school excellence. When the program aired Friday, the two Glenelg Country School seniors were introduced, but viewers were told that ``Close Up'' could not show their performance because of ``copyright restrictions.'' Lehan and Frisby had played the roles of Jim and Huck in the school's production of ``The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' without complaint. But when the show's executive producer asked for the right to air the students' performance, permission was denied. Read More: http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/ns/news/...ews_0405racism

May 23, 2005, 05:22 am	#4 (permalink) (top)
Matt W Moderator Location: Reading, UK. Posts: 6,384	I've seen 'Othello' as a white man in an all-black cast. And I'm suprised by their insistence on being 'faithful to the story', when in so many other works, stage and screen blatantly aren't. I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered. -George Best, on being asked what he did with his footballing fortunes.

May 23, 2005, 08:10 am	#6 (permalink) (top)
Samildanach Pragmatist Location: UK London Posts: 1,979	Plenty of movies do adaptations of books, I dont see what the big fuss is about. I wouldn't recommend sex, drugs and insanity for everyone, but its always worked for me. Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime." (Ernest Hemingway)

May 23, 2005, 09:52 am	#8 (permalink) (top)
castille Citizen #21521 Posts: 2,599	Well, because books can't always be fitted into movies... Can you imagine Homer's original books being turned into a blockbuster? They'd have to speak ancient Greek, wipe their ass with a cloth, and show homosexual sex scenes. Ideological loyalty is the act of giving your soul to a vague concept, to be manipulated by people smarter than you.

May 23, 2005, 01:43 pm	#10 (permalink) (top)
PatrickHenry 9/11: Inside Job Location: Hawai'i, Big Island Posts: 10,438	It's a historical novel, tinybear. Its events have a historical basis, something that can't be said of a revisionist production casting a white as the slave and a black as the master race. "Arms in the hands of the citizens may be used at individual discretion for the defense of the country, the overthrow of tyranny or private self-defense." -- John Adams Last edited by PatrickHenry; May 23, 2005 at 01:48 pm.

May 23, 2005, 04:40 am	#2 (permalink) (top)
Milton Bradley BANNED Location: Ohio Province, Rep. of Comerica Posts: 7,320	I supose this is just a way to stir up antimososity, and start a fight. The next thing you know, you will be telling me that I can't hear Jimmy Hendrix because I'm white.

May 23, 2005, 05:04 am	#3 (permalink) (top)
tinybear Volcanic Erupter Location: Hong Kong (for now) Posts: 7,016	Do you not agree that there's something in this argument though? ``But when you're dealing with a theatrical work and race or ethnicity is a key factor, many authors or playwrights feel strongly that ethnicity has to be reflected in the actors who portray the characters,'' he said. ``In the books, Jim is a runaway slave. He is clearly in the novel an African-American man. And Huck is a free white man - that is central to the story. To ignore that component or to comment on it by switching is not faithful to the story.''

May 23, 2005, 05:59 am	#5 (permalink) (top)
tinybear Volcanic Erupter Location: Hong Kong (for now) Posts: 7,016	That's the trouble isn't it? Why can't stage, TV or movie productions stay faithful to the original story? The audience won't be put off. It's unwise to second guess what the audeience wants and to modify the storyline because, more often than not, it is the original story which attracts the audience to the theatre in the first place.

May 23, 2005, 09:10 am	#7 (permalink) (top)
tinybear Volcanic Erupter Location: Hong Kong (for now) Posts: 7,016	No big fuss. Just annoying that the original's being for changed for no good reason. Quite annoying especially when you've read the book and liked it, which was why you went to see the movie in the first place.

May 23, 2005, 12:47 pm	#9 (permalink) (top)
tinybear Volcanic Erupter Location: Hong Kong (for now) Posts: 7,016	Wow, do Homer's books describe these things in such graphic detail? No, what I meant was the basic premise and the main characters and storyline must be faithful to the original. Having a black Huck Finn obviously is not. But why am I surprised? After all, we've had a black James West (The Wild Wild West), a black Kingpin (Daredevil) and black Catwoman. Sigh. So why not a black Huck Finn?

May 23, 2005, 03:17 pm	#12 (permalink) (top)
Prometheus Glad to be back! Location: Vernal, UT Posts: 1,725	I saw a broadway production of "Thouroghly Modern Millie" where a black woman was cast as the boss of like 15 white women even though the musical is set in th 1920's. The anal-retentive PC liberal people out there are casting stuff like this just to make a point. There is nothing wrong with discriminating according to color in a media production. In "Phantom of the Opera", Carlotta is always cast as a brunette and Meg is always a blonde. Is this bad discrimination? No. Neither is casting people with the appropriate color skin. Fixed ideas are like a cramp in the foot - the best remedy against it is to tread on it. -Søren Kierkegaard

May 23, 2005, 04:28 pm	#13 (permalink) (top)
Aequo Igneous Magma Posts: 241	Consider the reenactment of the Battle of Trafalgar: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4570301.stm

May 23, 2005, 08:43 pm	#14 (permalink) (top)
asterix404 Igneous Magma Posts: 257	HOW is it descriminating? I don't get it... a black jim... yea... he was a slave... AN AMERICAN SLAVE! White people were never slaves... ever. It's like downplaying one of the most horrid things to happen in US history. As for shakepear being taken out of context... thats a bit different, I don't know one book where he described anyone as black or white, not to mention any other ethinicity. Jim if I remember correctly is described in 3 pages of text detaling him. I haven't read it for a while however... I deff do dissagree is a period piece is taken out of context... it would be like pride and predjus with black women and men... it just wouldn't have happend, how about that book about that black boy who murdered a woman and cut her up and put her in the furnace, or that book where 2 black boys didn't kill a white woman placed in the south and then both get hung. It shows racism clear and cut and that gets horrably distorted when people do such obvious things as this...

May 24, 2005, 10:07 am	#16 (permalink) (top)
tinybear Volcanic Erupter Location: Hong Kong (for now) Posts: 7,016	I do; when a perfectly good work of literature is spoiled for no good reason (and attempted political correctness is one of the worst reasons).

May 24, 2005, 12:59 pm	#19 (permalink) (top)
tinybear Volcanic Erupter Location: Hong Kong (for now) Posts: 7,016	OK, let's have a Chinese James Bond then. Any suggestions on who should play the lead role? (Please don't say Jackie Chan; I'll scream if you do).

May 24, 2005, 03:28 pm	#20 (permalink) (top)
Eman Resu Self, No Other Posts: 1	This isn't anything new. There's a reason there are street performers and guerilla theater actors. The theater is extremely restrictive for the most part, and there's no way to do anything significantly different without someone being ticked off.