Love Medicine
Detail of beadwork from an Ojibwe medicine pouch
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Race in the film Othello
Have you noticed that the race question in the play is clearer than in the movie? I think they cut several disparaging references to Othello's blackness in the movie. Why do you think that the director chose to de-emphasize Othello's race in the film? Or do you not agree with me?
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4 comments:
It's because they used an actual black actor as opposed to a white guy in blackface
Like you said how he dressed so exotically in the murder scene.. the director may have been trying to heighten the differences, visually as opposed to verbally.
And Lex, how do you know that they did not actually have black actors? In every performance of Othello today, a black actor is used, yet the references are still there. I just think that since movies have more freedom when it comes to set-up as opposed to plays, it's not a nessecary to have all the references that are almost always needed in a live performance. And also, "blackface" was not around in Shakespeare's time. It originated in the U.S. "Blackface was an important performance tradition in the American theater for roughly 100 years beginning around 1830."
i agree with maryclaire. i think because there was an obvious different in skin color the director did not have to make it as clear. i think the terms "fair" and "black" would have been just as effective in the movie though. The book HAD to use them to remind the reader of the skin difference. The light and dark can also be seen as good and evil
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