Racial Conflict In Othello

Three sources analyze the racial conflicts of white actors playing colored parts, and all agreed that it was not a trivial situation, for black or white communities, or actors. Racial tensions are very popular with the media. While there is some minor tension today, the movies and plays of Othello top the charts for most racial conflicts. First, The article, “Othello: the role that entices and engages actors of all skin colours,” by Andrew Dickson shows the history of the actors that played Othello, and when the actors were black, they were either not cast, due to segregationists, or were criticized in their performance for the same reason. Also, this article is serious about the white vs. minority crisis, shows through diction. Next, the video,

Having black actors play lead roles in movies and plays can trailblaze for future actors and new opportunities. For example, if an actor of color were to appear in a major film, or production, the actor could inspire the youth of their race to seize the most out of life. The actor could also make way for a more positive future for other actors of the same race. This can be seen as Paul Robeson, one of the first black actors to play Othello starred in 1930 London with “the reviews were disparaging, with many outraged by the sight of Robeson kissing Peggy Ashcroft [a white actress]...When he returned to the role on Broadway in 1943, one reviewer declared that “no white man should ever dare play the part again.” (Dickson). This shows that while Robeson was criticized due to racial biases, he overcame the negative pressure, and because of this, he was recognized as one of the best actors that has ever played Othello, inspiring, and encouraging the future generation of minority actors. Also, while the two Othello movies both had white Othello’s, “Anthony Hopkins tried to minimize the problem by wearing a relatively subtle shade of makeup” (Harwood 0:12-0:19). Hopkins starred in the 1981 Othello film. Then in the 1964 Othello, Laurence Olivier “was very deliberately black-top.” (Harwood, 0:37-0:39) While it is not as impressive as Robeson making a comeback, and blazing the trail for dark-toned youth, it still shows that society was taking positive steps forward at racial equality, as the two movies show two very different Othello 's, a realistic one, and a stereotyped one. Eventually, more authentic actors entered the acting profession, one reason is due to the actors such as Hopkins who minimized the racists thoughts of white racists by showing making the Othello character more realistic to the real world, rather than a racist man 's conscience. This made way for more movies such as Aladdin whose setting is set in a Arab nation known as Agrabah. All in all, it just