casting memes and the uneven swap
Feb. 15th, 2011 03:59 am[please do not link on newsletters etc.]
I'm thinking a bit about the exchange rate. Not of money, but of actors -- and actresses -- in roles.
( on making mad men chromatic: not really about the show )
( on genderswapping dexter: also not really about the show, but a little bit spoilery )
I don't know where I'm going with this.
And I don't know if other people's experiences doing casting memes are anything like mine. The chromatic casting meme did start in the world of comics, not 1960s Madison Avenue. And probably most other shows have less explicitly gendered violence. Maybe I'm just drawn to doing this with extremely ill-suited sources.
Or maybe the swap should become a standard writing tool to test the strength of your characters and your anti-fail. If these roles look wrong on any other axis, maybe your role needs a kick in the ass. I'm not saying that any specific context should be interchangeable with any other. We do need stories about race and disability and rape and gender. But what is the story SUPPOSED to be about? Why should it be? What's slipping right by without notice?
Who in the exchange rate is getting shortchanged?
I'm thinking a bit about the exchange rate. Not of money, but of actors -- and actresses -- in roles.
( on making mad men chromatic: not really about the show )
( on genderswapping dexter: also not really about the show, but a little bit spoilery )
I don't know where I'm going with this.
And I don't know if other people's experiences doing casting memes are anything like mine. The chromatic casting meme did start in the world of comics, not 1960s Madison Avenue. And probably most other shows have less explicitly gendered violence. Maybe I'm just drawn to doing this with extremely ill-suited sources.
Or maybe the swap should become a standard writing tool to test the strength of your characters and your anti-fail. If these roles look wrong on any other axis, maybe your role needs a kick in the ass. I'm not saying that any specific context should be interchangeable with any other. We do need stories about race and disability and rape and gender. But what is the story SUPPOSED to be about? Why should it be? What's slipping right by without notice?
Who in the exchange rate is getting shortchanged?