Actress Michelle Rodriguez doesn’t want a black Peter Parker
By Daniel Wood
So over the last week or so a big internet debate was kick-started by Dan Slott when he suggested that anybody could play Peter Parker, including a black or Asian actor. Several people had their opinions and it’s an argument that is still sort of happening! However actress Michelle Rodriguez has inadvertantly found herself indirectly involved in the argument as well!
Stop stealing all the white people’s superheroes
She hasn’t come out against a black Peter Parker specifically but changing character races in general. The Puerto Rican and Dominican actress was recently asked by TMZ if the rumours that she’d been cast in the typically white male role of Green Lantern, previously played by Ryan Reynolds were true. Her reaction was a bemused shut-down of the rumour, dismissing it as the “dumbest thing [she’d] ever heard” She backed up her point with the following sentence
"“It’s so stupid, it’s like, ‘Stop stealing all the white people’s superheroes’ … make up your own. You know what I’m saying?”"
Understandably there was quite a bit of backlash from people who were pretty much outraged that Michelle was seemingly telling minorities who typically struggle to get big blockbuster film roles to leave white people’s roles alone. However she then posted an explanation onto Facebook See what you think!
Just in case you can’t watch the video here’s the gist of what she says.
"“I have a tendency to speak without a filter. Sorry about that, What I really meant was ultimately, at the end of the day, there’s a language, and the language that you speak in Hollywood is successful franchise. I think that there are many cultures in Hollywood that are not white that can come up with their own mythology.Instead of trying to turn a girl character into a guy or instead of trying to turn a white character into a black character or a Latin character, I think that people should stop being lazy and that people should make an effort in Hollywood to develop their own mythology”"
She adds
"“It’s not about taking Catwoman or Superman or Green Lantern or whatever these characters are and trying to make them fit to whatever cultural background you are, I just feel like it should be more creative than that, I just think people should stop being lazy. It’s time to stop, stop trying to take what’s already there and try to fit a culture into it. I think it’s time for us to write our own mythology and our own story.”"
So, it’s clear to see from her comments that Michelle would be totally against changing the race of Peter Parker but she’d be beyond thrilled with Miles Morales as Spider-Man! What are we waiting for Marvel make it happen!
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