Forced Diversity Casting in Modern Film: Is it Really Forced?
Forced diversity casting within films has been the latest uproar all across the internet. When it comes to balancing the line between representation and accuracy, casting real live action actors has been a disaster for many directors. They risk angering the purists who vehemently forsake their lives on historical accuracy, while also risking the wrath of social justice warriors who might simply “review bomb” the film for lack of diversity. And so, in this ever-so-shifting world on the management of race and representation, is there a limit to how much we can stray from accuracy for the sake of representation and vice versa? What’s more, is the inclusion of diverse actors truly a forced attempt at representation at all?
Simply put, forced diversity is the incorporation of misrepresented people (either in sex or race) in order to promote the ideals of inclusion and diversity. The latest and most personal example that comes to mind is the adaptation of the beloved Percy Jackson and the Olympians series to Disney Plus. Disney’s casting choices sparked controversy in their alleged attempts to force diversity on the audience. In the books, Annabeth Chase is depicted as a Caucasian teen, specifically with dirty blonde hair and stormy gray eyes. Her appearance alone is homage to her mother, Athena, with her gray eyes symbolizing her sacred animal, the owl. In stark contrast, Anabeth was cast as Leah Jefferies, who, to no fault of hers, looks nothing like what the book depicts her as. To the fans who grew up with these characters and have endured prior awful movie adaptations, such a departure from the book can feel like a betrayal from the author himself, Rick Riordan, who helped direct the show. While one cast choice will not ruin an entire show, many readers are left curious if there is an ulterior motive behind the unfaithful and inaccurate casting..
When asked to address the casting choices, Riordan stated that this was not done for the sake of diversity but that Jefferies was simply the best choice for depicting Annabeth. Still, many fans doubt if Riordan’s honesty and assume more inclusivity and diversity were one of the reasons for casting Jefferies. Fortunately, although many fans on social media expressed their disappointment, many still had high hopes for the films to come.
Percy Jackson is only the surface of controversy when it comes to film and forced diversity, and there are people on both sides that take the debate too far. For example, Stefan Aguirre Quiroga, in a blog post for the De Gruyter, denies any instance of forced diversity and says that those who claim such a phenomenon exists are “guardians of an imaginary, racially segregated space.” His claims are far reaching to be based on reality. He questions why “some people’s immersion in the movie supposedly broken by the sight of a person of color and not of a magical ice queen or trolls” in reference to individuals arguing about a Black guard in Frozen 2. In this specific case , the controversies really were incorrect because having a royal guard of African descent was normal in the setting of the movie. These people represent the other side who seek any excuse to parade on diversity as some forced occasion. However, Quiroga’s generalizations are still wrong; misrepresentation will break immersion for the audience, and it is not an excuse to pander in a white mythic space. While there is no immediate remedy to finding the right place in casting, directors must strive to preserve accuracy while trying to overcompensate for diversity.