The Lone Ranger trailer

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by WV

So let me get this straight....they couldn't find one legitimate Native American to play Tonto? Pretty tasteless and crappy for Disney IMO.

Because people go to movies for reality.

[WV]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

Because people go to movies for reality.

I don't understand what you mean? You mean people will go because of Depp and wouldn't necessarily if they cast an actual Native American?

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by WV

I don't understand what you mean? You mean people will go because of Depp and wouldn't necessarily if they cast an actual Native American?

Its a big budget studio flick. Of course they need a legit "Star" to help sell it.

This isnt meant to be a gritty realistic take on the old west. Its just fun escapism.

[Bump]

Originally Posted by WV

I don't understand what you mean? You mean people will go because of Depp and wouldn't necessarily if they cast an actual Native American?

ya, Johnny Depp would sell more tickets than any native american.

Every single girl in the USA just went from:

0 ****s given

to

OMG JOHNNY DEPP, REMINDS ME OF PIRATES GOTTA SEE IT

[Red Brooklyn]

Originally Posted by WV

I don't understand what you mean? You mean people will go because of Depp and wouldn't necessarily if they cast an actual Native American?

Johnny Depp actually has some Native American blood in him. There is ancestry there. And many in the Native American community have embraces him and his portrayal.

That gives him more credibility than some others. Did you also have a problem with an Irishman playing Abraham Lincoln? Or an Australian playing a Spaniard with an American accent? Or an American woman playing Margaret Thatcher? What about an Englishman playing Gandhi?

And those are all pretty serious, heavy movie examples where the actor won or as nominated for an Academy Award (DDL will surely get a nod, probably another win). The Lone Ranger looks like nothing but mindless popcorn fun.

[WV]

Originally Posted by Red Brooklyn

Johnny Depp actually has some Native American blood in him. There is ancestry there. And many in the Native American community have embraces him and his portrayal.

That gives him more credibility than some others. Did you also have a problem with an Irishman playing Abraham Lincoln? Or an Australian playing a Spaniard with an American accent? Or an American woman playing Margaret Thatcher? What about an Englishman playing Gandhi?

And those are all pretty serious, heavy movie examples where the actor won or as nominated for an Academy Award (DDL will surely get a nod, probably another win). The Lone Ranger looks like nothing but mindless popcorn fun.

It does appear to be a mindless fun movie. I've never been a Lone Ranger fan, so it doesn't particularly interest me either. I just find it a little ridiculous that even today the Native American part of Tonto is still cast as a tan white dude instead of getting an actual native american. Sure Depp can claim some Native blood and we'll never really know, but still. I don't think you can compare it to the ones you mentioned either, they are at least the right ethnicity. It isn't a huge deal because of the type movie this is, but it is still pretty sad commentary in todays hyper sensitive world to every other race issue.

[Red Brooklyn]

Originally Posted by WV

It does appear to be a mindless fun movie. I've never been a Lone Ranger fan, so it doesn't particularly interest me either. I just find it a little ridiculous that even today the Native American part of Tonto is still cast as a tan white dude instead of getting an actual native american. Sure Depp can claim some Native blood and we'll never really know, but still. I don't think you can compare it to the ones you mentioned either, they are at least the right ethnicity. It isn't a huge deal because of the type movie this is, but it is still pretty sad commentary in todays hyper sensitive world to every other race issue.

Ben Kinglsey is Indian? Russell Crowe is Spanish? How were those guys "at least the right ethnicity?"

I guess I can see where you're coming from. But I don't think it's an issue isolated to the Native American population. Hollywood does this kind of thing all the time. I'm not saying it's right, but it's certainly nothing new.

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by WV

It does appear to be a mindless fun movie. I've never been a Lone Ranger fan, so it doesn't particularly interest me either. I just find it a little ridiculous that even today the Native American part of Tonto is still cast as a tan white dude instead of getting an actual native american. Sure Depp can claim some Native blood and we'll never really know, but still. I don't think you can compare it to the ones you mentioned either, they are at least the right ethnicity. It isn't a huge deal because of the type movie this is, but it is still pretty sad commentary in todays hyper sensitive world to every other race issue.

What native American actor would have been as big a "sell" as Johnny Depp?

Depp was cast for purely financial reasons, no racism involved.

[Red Brooklyn]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

What native American actor would have been as big a "sell" as Johnny Depp?

Depp was cast for purely financial reasons, no racism involved.

Exactly.

Also:

Depp, who with his "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Rango" director Gore Verbinski is bringing the classic 1940's and 50's TV series about a western lawman and his Native American sidekick to the big screen, wants to change up the roles and give Native American Tonto the lead in the partnership. Set to play Tonto himself, Depp sees the film as an important step in remedying the way Native Americans were treated in classic TV and cinema.

"I remember watching it as a kid, with Jay Silverheels and Clayton Moore, and going: 'Why is the f--ing Lone Ranger telling Tonto what to do?'" Depp told Entertainment Weekly. "I liked Tonto, even at that tender age, and knew Tonto was getting the unpleasant end of the stick here. That's stuck with me. And when the idea came up [for the movie], I started thinking about Tonto and what could be done in my own small way try to -- 'eliminate' isn't possible -- but reinvent the relationship, to attempt to take some of the ugliness thrown on the Native Americans, not only in The Lone Ranger, but the way Indians were treated throughout history of cinema, and turn it on its head."

For Depp, it's a personal mission: he says he's part Native American, and shudders to think about the treatment the tribes received as white settlers encroached on their lands.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._n_859279.html

Very telling about the film itself, but also Depp's involvement and any cries of racism.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by WV

It does appear to be a mindless fun movie. I've never been a Lone Ranger fan, so it doesn't particularly interest me either. I just find it a little ridiculous that even today the Native American part of Tonto is still cast as a tan white dude instead of getting an actual native american. Sure Depp can claim some Native blood and we'll never really know, but still. I don't think you can compare it to the ones you mentioned either, they are at least the right ethnicity. It isn't a huge deal because of the type movie this is, but it is still pretty sad commentary in todays hyper sensitive world to every other race issue.

And I hope that you realize that studios make films to earn money.

Spending $150 million dollars on a film starring an unknown Native American in the role of Tonto, just to be accurate, would be a tremendous risk and most likely, an enormous loss of money.

Again, Hollywood films aren't reality. If you want realism, watch a documentary.