Race-swapping can be defined as the practice of changing a character’s race or ethnicity in a film or TV adaptation from the original source material. Race-swapping has become a topic within the entertainment industry, with much discourse on the internet. Some see it as a way to enhance diversity and inclusion within the industry, while others think it’s a way to shove “woke” propaganda down everyone’s throats. In my eyes, race-swapping usually isn’t an issue for me, but in stories where a character’s race is a central point to the plot, it becomes a problem.
One major recent example is Jacob Elordi in the new book-to-screen adaptation of Wuthering Heights. A lot of discourse around this film has been about whether it’s a good or horrible adaptation of the book of the same name. Under that discourse has been talk about Elordi’s character. Elordi plays a man named Heathcliff, and his character is madly in love with his co-star Margot Robbie’s character, Catherine Earnshaw. So throughout the film, they go through a forbidden-love tragedy that leads to a Romeo-and-Juliet situation, except one lives (spoiler alert). This example emphasizes my point, because Elordi’s character in the novel is a person of color. One of the main reasons Heathcliff and Earnshaw were frowned upon for being together in the novel is that Heathcliff has dark skin. In fact, in chapter four of the novel, written by the author Emily Brontë, a quote describes Heathcliff, stating: “A dark-skinned gypsy, in aspect in dress and manners a gentleman.” While this quote isn’t a very nice way to describe a character, you can probably imagine Heathcliff as a Black man rather than someone like Elordi. So, why even cast Elordi? Is it because his name is becoming big? That just might be the answer, honestly. It’s probably because the producers or director understood that Elordi is a big name, and because of that, decided to cast him instead of understanding the context of Heathcliff’s character.
Another example is the controversy surrounding the rising star Odessa A’Zion. In January, after her big success starring in the film Marty Supreme alongside Timothee Chalamet, A’Zion was announced to play the role of Zoe Gutierrez in the upcoming A24 book-to-screen adaptation, Deep Cuts. There was much backlash to this announcement. The reasoning is that the character that A’Zion was cast as is half-Jewish and half-Mexican in the novel. A’Zion herself, who doesn’t share the character’s heritage, responded to this backlash on Jan. 28, stating that she did not initially read for the role of Zoe. During her audition, she read for a different character named Percy, but was offered the role of Zoe and accepted. She also admitted that she never read the book, didn’t want to take the role from someone it was actually meant for, and left the project. A day after the controversy, an open letter signed by more than 100 Latino creatives, including Isabela Merced, Becky G, and Danny Ramirez, demanded greater accountability, equity, and intentionality within the industry.
As you can see, the main issue in this industry is that research is not taken seriously when adapting projects. I know a counterargument you might be thinking of is: Jaden, what about the whole thing with The Little Mermaid and Halle Bailey? That could be an example, right? First of all, Karen, no, it’s not, because Ariel is a cartoon, she is a fish. There is no point in the film that expresses the importance of Ariel’s race; if there were, then that could have been an issue. The whole concept of Ariel’s story was that she was a mermaid who longed to be on land and become human. So, that counterargument couldn’t have worked.
Or, if you make another counterargument, saying, well, what if Disney made a live-action Princess and the Frog, and Princess Tiana had a white actress play her? That would not only be worse, but also make no sense. Because in the film, Tiana’s background is the main reason why the two sellers would not give her the space for her dream, the restaurant. So, having a white actress playing this role would make no sense. Also how would you adapt a story when the context of Tiana not getting her dream is missing? Make it make sense.
Overall, the big issue here is that creatives are not researching when adapting projects. There needs to be a change; if Hollywood is very big on inclusion and diversity, then they need to align their actions with those values. This could be fixed if creatives took the time to understand who they’re casting in upcoming projects.