I'm bisexual, of mixed race, and I'm an Aaspie. Being a bigot is not exactly possible for me. The person who started this reblog frenzy is a fool just looking to stir up drama. My issue has nothing to do with race. It has to do with changing classic characters in major ways to suit BS political correctness. Just because I didn't bring up every single issue of this sort since the beginning of media history doesn't mean a thing other than I don't have unlimited time to mention all. Pass it on.
Firstly, I have so many issues with the term political correctness. It's a nice way of saying that you'd rather uphold the status quo, because acknowledging that your words and actions have meaning is more difficult than making a positive change in them.
But with that out of the way, what pisses me off with this is that this shit only seems to happen a) when a white character is cast as a POC* or b) when someone changes a male character to a female one.
Here's the thing about shows like Once Upon a Time: the whole point is retelling the stories we already know. No one whined when the made Red Riding Hood a werewolf or made Rumpelstiltskin the beast. But increase a character's melanin content and the internet freaks the fuck out.
And here's the crazy thing about this kerfuffle: this isn't the first time that OUaT took a character from a myth and changed their ethnic background. They cast the pasty white, New Zealand Alan Dale to play the Mediterranean King Midas. But did people rise up, screaming about historical accuracy? Not for a second. So why is it "BS political correctness" when a black guy is cast, but not even noticed when it's the other way around?
*Oddly, people often throw fits when a POC is cast as a POC character. See: anything involving the Hunger Games, particularly with Rue, Cinna and the reaction to the online campaign to cast Jesse Williams as Finnick (whose race is left up to interpretation), because him being biracial was just wrong, despite him being gorgeous, sexy with some of the most striking ocean blue eyes
