"I'm TOTALLY on board with Joseph Fiennes playing Michael Jackson

[Kind of Blue]

IF AND ONLY IF Angela Bassett is cast as Elizabeth Taylor" https://twitter.com/TheOrlandoJones/status/692155486318280704

I thought at first that a white dude playing Martin Luther King, Jr. was an Onion piece but now this.

The actor plays the singer in the comedy about a supposed road trip taken by Jackson, Marlon Brando and Elizabeth Taylor after the 9/11 terror attacks.

Some fans have reacted angrily to the casting, but Fiennes said he thought Jackson was "probably closer to my colour than his original colour."

Fiennes said he believed Jackson - who died in 2009 - had a pigmentation issue with his skin, so the issue of race should not come into play.

"I'm a white, middle-class guy from London - I'm as shocked [about the casting] as you might be." http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-35427381

Really?

The internet has been ablaze questioning the wisdom of Fiennes going forth to play the King of Pop in Elizabeth, Michael and Marlon. But according to the British production cable channel Sky Arts, the casting is a done deal, as the half-hour comedy was shot last year. Though a story surfaced this week quoting Fiennes as if he just received the script “the other day”, the project is already in post-production. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/28/joseph-fiennes-michael-jackson-race-problems-oscarssowhite

BRILLIANT! Ordered my violet contacts & bathed in White Diamonds this morning, so I'm READY! Let's do this! xo! Ang https://twitter.com/TheOrlandoJones/status/692155486318280704 …

But no, the role will not be played by Bassett. Stockard Channing was cast as Taylor.

[NV Whino]

1. I want to know if Fiennes is going to get a nose job to play the role

And can he moon walk?

This has to be the most bizarre piece of casting since Oliver played Othello.

[Kind of Blue]

3. I'm stunned, again. Literally speechless.

[zappaman]

2. I'm having trouble believing this will happen

It's so insane that I just wonder if this is trying to drum up publicity for the project?

[Kind of Blue]

4. From the second article, the film is in

post-production, shot last year. It would be a relief if this was just a publicity stunt and not another terrible attempt at appropriation.

[JI7]

6. yeah, just reading what it's about. it seems more like an SNL thing

[Coolest Ranger]

5. I will not waste a dime on that garbage

I don't care. It's disrespectful and as a black person I'm so sick of being disrespected

[Kind of Blue]

9. Yeah, it's pretty repulsive.

I'm thinking the point is to drive home we can do whatever we want to you and your culture. It's a wonder why they didn't cast an Asian or even a black person, for that matter, to portray Brando and Taylor - not really. I'm expecting Cherlize Theron to play Angela Davis.

[Starry Messenger]

7. This is so sickening, it is insane.

It still seems like blackface to me, even if one is arguing over "hue." Black people are not just a pigmentation.

[Kind of Blue]

10. I agree completely that it is blackface

and another opportunity to promote "diversity," I've found in some articles on the net. The backlash to this in the U.S. is pretty swift though it continues to persist, so I wondered about how Europeans are about it and found this little documentary below, but unfortunately it can only be viewed on YouTube. And this interesting article http://black-face.com/blackface-world.htm

[SusanCalvin]

8. I don't go to many movies anyway,

but I will consciously avoid this one.

[Kind of Blue]

11. Yeah, me neither.

I hope many others avoid it, too.