Volpone
Zombie Hunter
So. Once upon a time, blackface was a thing. It was even a genre in performance, with minstrel shows and "Amos & Andy" on TV. Or the movie "Soul Man." It has, to say the least, fallen out of favor. Or ...yellowface(?) "Breakfast at Tiffany's." Wonderful film. Great soundtrack. And...Mickey Rooney as a bucktoothed, bespectacled Japanese man. So what about 'Tardface?
The 80s lawyer drama "L.A. Law" featured Benny, a retarded employee. Benny was played by...Larry Drake(?) who is NOT retarded. A few years later we got some family show..."Life Goes On"(?) which featured Corky, a retarded kid, who was played by an actual retarded kid. So now, in 2019, would it be wrong for a non-retarded actor* to play a retarded character?
I ask because I got to thinking about the novel "Flowers for Algernon," the story of Charlie, a retarded person who undergoes an experimental procedure to make him normal. Unfortunately the experiment fails and he loses his increased capacity. (Does he die in the end? I forget.) Anyway, it's been made into a movie at least once. But how do you do it now? Cast a normal person to play a retard for part of the movie or hire a retard to play a normal person for part of the movie?
The 80s lawyer drama "L.A. Law" featured Benny, a retarded employee. Benny was played by...Larry Drake(?) who is NOT retarded. A few years later we got some family show..."Life Goes On"(?) which featured Corky, a retarded kid, who was played by an actual retarded kid. So now, in 2019, would it be wrong for a non-retarded actor* to play a retarded character?
I ask because I got to thinking about the novel "Flowers for Algernon," the story of Charlie, a retarded person who undergoes an experimental procedure to make him normal. Unfortunately the experiment fails and he loses his increased capacity. (Does he die in the end? I forget.) Anyway, it's been made into a movie at least once. But how do you do it now? Cast a normal person to play a retard for part of the movie or hire a retard to play a normal person for part of the movie?
