NBC News learns it's 'complicated' whether straight actors should still play gay characters

We learned this summer that the creators of “The Simpsons” will no longer have white actors voice people of color; Hank Azaria seemed very apologetic to have played an Indian-American for, like, 30 years. Also, the voice actor who played Cleveland Brown on “Family Guy” quit because “persons of color should play characters of color.”

It was a couple of years ago when Scarlett Johannson dropped out of a film she was producing where she would have played a trans character; funny that we haven’t heard any updates on how that film is coming along.

NBC News is bringing in the new year by reviving the controversy, determining that it’s “complicated” whether straight actors should play gay characters.

While many straight actors have been praised for their performances in LGBTQ roles, some argue only queer actors have the authenticity to bring these parts to life. https://t.co/wFKORkqo6F – @NBCOUT

— NBC News (@NBCNews) January 2, 2021

James Corden's performance in 'The Prom' condemned as homophobic: 'It's not brave' https://t.co/xB7GG7Nxr2

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) December 14, 2020

Ah, James Corden’s performance was “aggressively flamboyant.”

Julie Compton tips us in to why this is suddenly problematic:

In early December, Netflix dropped its highly anticipated musical comedy “The Prom,” starring Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, Andrew Rannells and James Corden as fading Broadway stars who set out to help a lesbian teen take her girlfriend to the prom.The film, helmed by out director Ryan Murphy, got mixed reviews, but some lambasted it as “homophobic” and “offensive” because of the casting of Corden, a straight actor, in what they saw as an “aggressively flamboyant” caricature of a gay man.

It’s not at all complicated, shut the fuck up. Any actor can play any role. Straights can play gays and gays can play straights, just as they can also play superheroes, secret agents, werewolves, or anything else that ACTING entails.

Putting people into boxes isn’t progress. pic.twitter.com/lC5e7zjx8y

— Sophia (Pineapple Pizza) Narwitz (@SophNar0747) January 2, 2021

The nut bars are at it again I see.

— Crawford (@silver_dillo) January 2, 2021

Nothing better than mob-enforced typecasting…

— Auxityne (@Auxityne) January 2, 2021

Segregation but woke

— Darth Nihl ??#SimpingForKawakami (@L0rdNihl) January 2, 2021

Nothing has hurt my brain as much in recent years than the "progressive" move to reinstate segregation.

— The Biggest Forehead (@mattbearnest) January 2, 2021

"Should actors act? The answer to that may be more problematic than you think"

— Grey Canadian (@GreyCanadian7) January 3, 2021

It's almost as if acting is about portraying people who are different than yourself. Damn man that's crazy.

— ? Cory??Vexed? (@CoryVexed) January 2, 2021

I saw a black soprano sing the lead role in Puccini's "Tosca," an opera about an ITALIAN actress/singer.

I was dragged out of the hall screaming about cultural appropriation moments after her first appearance, in act 1.

(some of the above might not be entirely accurate)

— DEATH'S GUINEA PIG 4.0 (Parler: DGP 4.0)?? (@DeathsGuineaPig) January 2, 2021

To be clear… actors should be treated like court jesters or actors in the old days

— President-elect Icecinder (@Icecinder) January 2, 2021

Yes.

They have straight actors in America?

— ben (@Cingq) January 2, 2021

It’s complicated.

No. No ones allowed to act in an acting role ever again.

— Reen (@thisisnotbsok) January 2, 2021

Related:

Trans culture critic explains why Scarlett Johansson deserved outrage for wanting to play a trans person https://t.co/2VUmYvWq85

— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) July 14, 2018