Left Should Be More Careful Choosing PC Casting Battles

On Tues., Aug. 15, Netflix released a trailer for “Maestro," the upcoming Leonard Bernstein biographical drama co-written, co-produced, directed by, and starring Bradley Cooper as the legendary composer and conductor.

Before the day was done, actress Sarah Silverman decried Mr. Cooper, accusing him of performing "Jew face" because he wore a prosthetic nose in order to make him look more like the man he was portraying.

This is interesting on a number of levels, not the least being that Ms. Silverman co-stars in "Maestro" as Bernstein’s sister Shirley.

Given that Ms. Silverman has been bandying about the "Jew face" label since 2021, why would she agree to be in the film in the first place?

Or, after playing opposite Mr. Cooper and his artificial nose at least once during shooting, why didn’t she simply leave the production?

It's worth noting that on the day after Ms. Silverman’s comments, Bernstein’s children issued a joint statement saying they had no issue with Mr. Cooper’s prosthetics.

Ms. Silverman has also stated that only Jewish performers should portray Jewish characters.

If that's the case, she must think only gentile actors should portray gentile characters.

I wonder what her take would be on Jewish actress Natalie Portman’s portrayal of the Catholic Jacqueline Kennedy in "Jackie," the Jewish Kirk Douglas portraying non-Jew Vincent Van Gogh in "Lust For Life" or the Jewish Daniel Day-Lewis playing Protestant President Abraham Lincoln in "Lincoln."

Speaking of the physically-able Mr. Day-Lewis; he portrayed the physically-challenged Irish artist Christy Brown in "My Left Foot."

According to the Ruderman Family Foundation (RFF), that would not be acceptable.

Founded in 2002, the RFF is a philanthropic organization with two mission statements: strengthening the relationship between Israel and the American Jewish community and promoting the inclusion of disabled people into society.

In addition to Mr. Day-Lewis, Patty Duke ("The Miracle Worker"), Colin Firth ("The King’s Speech"), Jamie Foxx ("Ray"), Marlee Matlin ("Children of a Lesser God"), Al Pacino ("Scent of a Woman"), Eddie Redmayne ("The Theory of Everything"), Harold Russell ("The Best Years of Our Lives"), and Jon Voight ("Coming Home") have all won Academy Awards for portraying physically disabled people.

Based on what was contained in the RFF 2016 white paper, just two of the above-mentioned performers deserved their Oscars: Ms. Matlin and Russell because they’re the only ones with disabilities playing persons with a disability.

Sorry, RFF, you’re wrong; that’s why it's called "acting."

In the 2017 film "Wonder," actor Jacob Tremblay ("Room") starred as a nine-year-old boy with an unspecified facial deformity who was beginning his first year at a government school after years of home-based education.

Again the RFF accused the filmmakers of not considering a disabled actor for the part.

I wonder how many facially disfigured, nine-year-old Caucasian boys that are in possession of a SAG card RFF believes would be ready to play this role.

Mr. Tremblay did a great job in just an average movie.

Then you have Cliff Robertson ("Charly"), Dustin Hoffman ("Rainman"), Tom Hanks ("Forrest Gump"), and Sean Penn ("I Am Sam"), who all received Oscar nominations for playing mentally challenged men and all, save for Mr. Penn, won.

Let’s take it a step further.

For her work in the 1982 "The Year of Living Dangerously," actress Linda Hunt won an Oscar for playing a male photographer. Surely Ms. Silverman and/or the RFF would find this to be problematic.

Let’s talk about the most taboo of all performance/casting issues: Blackface.

From the time motion pictures began, non-Black actors frequently performed in what was then the acceptable practice of applying dark make-up to portray --- and often mock --- Black characters.

From Al Jolson ("The Jazz Singer") to Minstrel Shows, it was widely accepted --- until it wasn’t.

This didn’t seem to bother many living performers who have recently donned Blackface in public, in movies, or on TV.

Among them: Ted Danson, Howard Stern, Jack Black, Jimmy Kimmel, and Mr. Kimmel’s former girlfriend, Ms. Silverman.

Perhaps the most glaring example of Blackface is the many screen performances of non-Black actors portraying the Black Moor title character in William Shakespeare's "Othello."

Although there have been many Black actors who have played Othello, the most memorable of these performances were done by Caucasians including Laurence Olivier, Orson Welles, Paul Scofield, Richard Burton, John Gielgud, and Anthony Hopkins.

There are many people who would be happy if these movies starring Caucasian Othello’s were removed from circulation.

The left really has to begin being more careful about how they pick their battles.

The PC police are rapidly losing their already tenuous grip on reality.

We are getting to a point where filmmakers will be forced to hire actors in order to fulfill a quota. Not everything on the planet needs to be equal all the time.

Not everyone in the acting community is due a metaphorical participation trophy merely by possessing a SAG card.

Whatever happened to succeeding on one’s own talent?

If you are a disabled person who acts, should you get the gig you want solely because of your physical limitations or because of your acting talents?

It can’t be both.

I don’t relish delivering bad news but must do so here with the RFF and any other entity subscribing to the delusional manner by voicing skewed PC opinions of entertainment industry employment dictums.

Filmmakers and movie studios produce works designed to entertain, enlighten, make money, and maybe win awards and do so with the most authentic means possible.

They have to market movies to audiences open to the suspension of disbelief and including a person or persons based on anything but talent by force or pressure is not going to heighten or enhance said disbelief.

If anything, this will dilute believability, not enhance it.

A person convincingly pretending to be other people on stage and screen is much harder than it looks. It's a talent few possess and shouldn’t be qualified based on ethnicity or gender or given a pass because of physical limitations.

Originally from Washington, D.C., Michael Clark has written for over 30 local and national film industry media outlets and is based in the Atlanta Top 10 media marketplace. He co-founded the Atlanta Film Critics Circle in 2017 and is a regular contributor to The Shannon Burke Show on floridamanradio.com. Over the last 25 years, Mr. Clark has written over 4,000 movie reviews and film-related articles. He is one of the few conservative U.S. movie critics. Read Michael Clark's Reports — More Here.