June 09, 2011

Adam Beach as Superman?

Why not Adam Beach as Superman? Based on Hollywood's "bottom line" thinking, I expect them to cast Adam Beach as the Man of Steel in the next Superman movie. Here's why Beach is a sound and logical choice:

  • Beach undoubtedly has as much "white" blood as Brandon Routh has "Indian" blood. If Routh's blood qualifies him to play a Native lacrosse coach, Beach's blood qualifies him to play Superman.

  • Routh's pale skin is just as suitable for a Native athlete as Beach's dark skin is for a Caucasian superhero.

  • Beach has immersed himself in "white" culture and knows how white people think and act. That puts him well ahead of Routh in terms of cross-cultural casting.

  • Routh was a complete unknown when he was cast in Superman Returns. For some reason he's considered a "big name" now, despite his notable lack of success, but he wasn't then.

    In contrast, Beach has starred in Windtalkers, Flags of Our Fathers, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Comanche Moon, Big Love, and Cowboys and Aliens. He has much more of a track record--a proven ability to carry a movie or TV series. If Hollywood cares about results, Beach is a much better choice than Routh was.

  • Note: If Routh is a "star" rather than a non-hit wonder, tell us what his second and third biggest roles are. Without looking them up, that is. I've got a prize for anyone--besides Routh, his agent, or his family--who can answer that question successfully.

    For all these reasons, I'm sure Hollywood will cast Beach as the next Superman. Because apologists assure us that race and bigotry play no role in casting decisions.

    For more on the subject, see Oprah Winfrey the Indian? and Denzel Washington as JFK?

    Below:  Note the obvious resemblance.

    7 comments:

    none said...

    Up until you started posting about this, I had never even heard of this Routh guy. Do I get a prize for being blissfully ignorant? *snort*

    I'm all in favor of Beach playing Superman. :)

    A.W. McQueen said...

    I would LOVE to see Adam as Superman! For that matter, I would love to see any ethnic group play whatever role that is out there traditionally given to Caucasian actors.

    Hollywood makes movies about equality and yet they do not support equality. Very narrow minded.

    dmarks said...

    Not a bad idea. Why?

    1) Nicholas Cage and Charles Bronson were seriously considered for the Superman role. They both look LESS like the comic book Superman than Beach does.

    2) Honestly, that British guy they choose for the next Superman does not impress me.

    3) If they chose Adam Beach, they could do something interesting with the origin story (if they end up redoing it).... perhaps something where the ship with baby Kal-eL alters him to fit the best with his surroundings. Perhaps by making him resemble the indigenous people of Kansas.

    -------------
    So yeah, 3 votes for Adam Beach as Superman.

    Anonymous said...

    Even then, that's not quite as bad, since Superman's an alien. Quite frankly, the fact that the inhabitants of Tatooine and Vulcan are so light-skinned always bugged me.

    I don't know if I'd call Beach a star in SVU, as much as a Sixth Ranger Traitor. Still, those are some of the most popular characters ever.

    lilt2259 said...

    I love me some Adam Beach...I dont care what he's on, I will watch it. Besides whoever said Superman was white ? He came from another planet, remember ? Superman only became white when the white cartoonists, writers, producers, directors and etc. actually put him on paper and formed him into what has morphed into today.

    dmarks said...

    "Superman only became white when the white cartoonists...."

    Honestly, he actually started white. That's how the creators have him in very earliest the beginning. There was no morphing.

    But I don't think that matters much. When they are constantly doing major reboots of comic book characters and tweaking large swaths of their origins, to change skin color seems a minor thing... so why not?

    DC Comics is rebooting ALL of its titles this summer. Any chance any of the ones that are white now will get rebooted as nonwhite?

    Rob said...

    DC is featuring a few minority heroes that it didn't before. One of them is Batwing, an African "Batman" from the BATMAN INC. series.

    But I don't think DC is changing any character's ethnicity. The white heroes still predominate.