So... it's still hard for people of color to get "regular"/starring roles in Hollywood. And one of the things I like about the sketch comedy show Key & Peele is how they kind of address this.
Key and Peele do a lot of movie satires, and they get to cast themselves in all these mainstream roles. One of the show's fortes is the fantastic production values when they spoof movies--the costumes, music, lighting, is all spot on. So you really get a chance to imagine what a mainstream movie would Look Like with black actors in the main roles.
If that's all there was to the show, then I'd agree K&P are guilty of the critique that they're ignoring race, etc. But they do their share of skits that play on racial themes as well, à la Chappelle-Pryor. And I just don't like to underestimate what they're doing in their non-race based movie skits, cause I think they're helping create a space where we can imagine people of color in "white roles."
Below are three slightly different examples. In the first, we see Peele as a Nazi--obviously you can't cast a black Nazi in a serious historical movie, but I like how you come to "ignore" his race as you get drawn into the actual joke of the skit. The second is straight forward example of a black guy in regular role--the post-apocalyptic survivor. And the third is another of their well-made Hollywood spoofs, only this time the main joke is race based.
Key and Peele do a lot of movie satires, and they get to cast themselves in all these mainstream roles. One of the show's fortes is the fantastic production values when they spoof movies--the costumes, music, lighting, is all spot on. So you really get a chance to imagine what a mainstream movie would Look Like with black actors in the main roles.
If that's all there was to the show, then I'd agree K&P are guilty of the critique that they're ignoring race, etc. But they do their share of skits that play on racial themes as well, à la Chappelle-Pryor. And I just don't like to underestimate what they're doing in their non-race based movie skits, cause I think they're helping create a space where we can imagine people of color in "white roles."
Below are three slightly different examples. In the first, we see Peele as a Nazi--obviously you can't cast a black Nazi in a serious historical movie, but I like how you come to "ignore" his race as you get drawn into the actual joke of the skit. The second is straight forward example of a black guy in regular role--the post-apocalyptic survivor. And the third is another of their well-made Hollywood spoofs, only this time the main joke is race based.
RSS Feed
