system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
CMV: Saying only actors who are like the part should play them is racist/discriminatory.

So I'm really confused by these changes over the past few years.

I think I saw the simpsons saying they would only have actors of the same ethinic background doing the voices for those parts. I was surprised by the hank azaria thing and think it's sad.

And I've also seen other people saying that parts for a disabled role should go to a real disabled person rather than someone just playing the role.

I don't get how that isn't just saying that actually we aren't all the same and therefore you shouldn't play for example play an Indian part because you're not Indian.

I can understand how portraying a person of a different race to you can be offensive but that depends on how the character is portrayed not by the mere fact that it's a person not from the same ethnic background playing it. There are definately lots of films such as the carry on movies for instance where they are in black/brown face doing terrible stereotypes and you can see how that would be offensive.

There have been plays/films where actors who were black or female have famously played a part typically portrayed as a white person or a man and there is a big hoorah about how groundbreaking it is etc.

Isn't that just undermining the whole thing of us all being equal? Shouldn't it just be a case of whoever the actor is is bringing the best of what they have to the role.

So yeah I just don't understand this at all, and if we are doing it carte blanche based on who the people are rather than the content of the role or portayle then you're just doing the same thing you are acusing them of doing which is judging them for who they are.
gpt
You've failed to take into account the fundamental argument, and that argument centers on the lack of proportionate representation of people of color in entertainment. There would not be as much an issue of a white person voicing a black character, for example, if the number of working black actors were proportionate to their demographics. Because they are disproportionately under-represented, we have to ask... why do white people voice black characters when there are talented black actors available?