Race swapping and whitewashing

[Zkuq]

Ka-pi96 said:

shikamaru317 said:

Not a fan of race swapping characters in either direction, not a fan at all. If you want more representation for minority races in film/tv/games, then don't race swap characters in established IP's, instead create original IP's or new characters within an established IP (only if it makes sense within the lore of that IP, don't pull an Amazon LOTR Rings of Power situation). And if you're adapting something that has black characters and purposefully casting the lightest skinned, heavily mixed race black people you can find in order to make the movie more palatable in China or something, that is also not cool.

But then not enough people will be interested for them to make money. They need to use existing IPs for the guaranteed sales from existing fans!

Meant sarcastically, because a new IP would do fine if it actually had some decent talent behind it. It's just the people usually behind stuff like this are seriously lacking in that regard.

That's actually one issue I have with race swapping: It's a really cheap way to increase inclusivity, and that's cheap with the negative meanings as well. To me, it shows that you don't really want to invest in inclusivity, you just want to get quick bang for your buck. Clearly it seems to be appreciated many, but it also seems somewhat controversial. I suppose that's not the only reason for race swapping, but it's probably one factor, and one I don't really personally appreciate.