“I think I learned a lot from that movie in that I spend a lot of time trying to be very thoughtful about the roles that I pick and why I’m picking them,” Gyllenhaal said. You’re bound to slip up and be like, ‘That wasn’t for me,’ or ‘That didn’t fit perfectly…There have been a number of roles like that. And then a number of roles that do.”
– Jake Gyllenhaal, on playing the errr…. Prince of… Persia?
I’m half Persian. Some Persians are white some are not. My father had pale skin with freckles, blue eyes, and red hair. Many of his Persian friends have dark hair, dark eyes, and dark or olive skin. Had an interesting conversation once with my father and one of his friends where she was saying she identified as a woman of color and my father insisting that Persians were caucasian. I had to explain to him that it didn’t matter what he thought Persians were. Because of her dark skin other people looked at her and saw a woman of color so that was how she was treated and how she felt. Like most Iranian men he was pretty stubborn so I don’t really think it sank in.
At the time the Jake Gyllenhall casting didn’t bother me much because I certainly know Iranians who look like him but I’m glad he acknowledges now that it wasn’t the best roll for him. Persian actors should get to play princes and not just Arab sheiks and terrorists.
I would always pay to see Jake half-dressed as a sheik.
I for one find it very interesting that everyone is focusing on the regional ethnic demographics and not the fact this movie is based on a videogame. So he was not selected to portray an entire ethnic group but rather a single character. And given the fact that the character in game is shown to be rather light skinned and based on features possibly Caucasian I really feel like a lot of people are getting necessarily upset. Yes representation does matter but white washing a character is different than what likely would have been a “colour blind” casting.
I’ll bet my last dime you’re white….
PQ? Quem precisa pesquisar mais e vc. Os iranianos (Persas) são sim um povo indo-europeu. Tudo que ele falou esta correto. Vc é que deve ser um desses “ativistas” raciais radicais que possuem uma visão extremamente reducionista e maniqueísta que pensam que só existem brancos e negros no mundo, e que brancos são apenas os europeus étnicos. É de uma miserabilidade intelectual que dá pena.
Who cares ? We are all humans no matter what colour, religion or part of the world we were born in. There are many instances of colour diversification within family’s with siblings sharing the same biological mother & father.
The people who don’t see themselves and people who look like them represented in film and fiction care. Especially when those roles are taken by white people. You speak about humanity as if we hadn’t had a history of exploitation and colonialism in the last 300 years, and still thriving.
If we continue to find so many reasons not to tell stories, we’ll lose ourselves, our past, and our future
So you are arguing that not caring out white washing is equivalent to not telling stories?
For me is just a question of casting. There are a ton of actors of all hues in this world. Why only hire fit white guys?
Well, the fact of the matter is: without a bankable (known, nearly always white) male lead, the movie would certainly not have been made at the time. Even today, it’d be a hard get to find backers for a big budget summer blockbuster that featured a race appropriate male (because there aren’t really any with the box office pull).
Hello-
my comment is in league with Clint’s. granted their hair and skin hues might be a tad
darker in many cases but i have seen many Persians/Iranians who look as white as the
Queen of England. plus in terms of anthropology Persians/Iranians are considered
Caucasian so i never understood the comments about inappropriate casting when the film
came out.
They are not
As far as I’m concerned, Persians are white. They speak an Indo-European language, their ancestral religion, Zoroastrianism, gave the Jews who came back from exile many beliefs and practices that are integral to post-exilic Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (and others), and culturally they’re cousins to the rest of us of European cultural descent.
They are not
Get yo life Adolf!
Wait, Adam, I know to refer to someone as Hitler is as common as drops of rain but who are you calling Hitler? The guy who considers Persian White or the guy who doesn’t?
Dude, go do more research.