The Racial Conflict In Shakespeare's Othello

Three sources analyze the racial conflicts of white actors playing colored parts, and all agreed that it was not a trivial situation, for audiences, 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, “SHAKESPEARE

This is because in the first article, “Othello: the role that entices and engages actors of all skin colours,” Quarshie previously black actors should not play Othello, but over time, he decided that black actors should “address some of the racist traditions and assumptions that the play is based on” (Dickson). Quarshie basically says that the black actor who plays Othello can break the racial conflicts the play is based on. Quarshie also states that there will be a black Iago joining him on stage, but questions if Iago can still be black, but still racist towards Othello. Clearly, this article shows the controversy behind different races playing characters not of their heritage, but also reveals that it would be beneficial for a black person to play Othello, and other roles, as it will diversify and address some racial tensions within the play and society. Similarly, the article, “Aladdin: putting a white character in Disney’s live-action remake is offensive,” by Hannah Flint, protests the issue of whitewashing modern stories and movies in a more aggressive manner. Flint, enraged, says that many Arab actors are “playing taxi drivers, terrorists or devout Muslim's, so when Disney announced they were going to make Aladdin into a live-action movie we celebrated. Finally we were going to see a mainstream, big-budget movie whose cast would

Also, by doing this, the film industries ignores the accurate representation of minorities completely. For example, Harwood explains the inaccurate representation of black people through the acting in both Othello movies. Harwood states in the video, “SHAKESPEARE UNCOVERED White Actors Playing Othello” that a famous actor Laurence Olivier “looks utterly ridiculous...He would walk around the dressing room becoming more and more black… I don’t know any black people who speak like that” (Harwood, 1:24-1:52). This shows that because white people were cast to play Othello, there was an inaccurate representation of the culture,and lifestyles of these people, as the white actors are assuming what minorities act like, rather than finding out for themselves. This one factor can ruin the movie by creating an authentic representation of a certain race by casting a white person to play a coloured character. Also, Hannah Flint, a woman of Arab descent displays profound antipathy for white washing in modern films. Flint describes that it was insulting“to not have a totally made-up white male character thrown into this story is more than insulting, it’s damn offensive. Maybe the filmmakers don’t think there is enough white-led movies out there. This Prince Anders has been shoehorned into the script, reducing Princess Jasmine even further as the object of male attention”