With the release on Netflix of "Lupine, in the Shadow of Arsene", criticism is being heard about the skin color of the hero, played by Omar Sy. A controversy that has become systematic as soon as a previously white character is taken up by a black actor.
Cinema and television still have a long way to go in terms of inclusiveness, but, fortunately, we are seeing real progress in the representation of racialized people on the screen … at the risk of displeasing some. Latest example: since Friday, January 8, 2021, on social networks, hundreds of Internet users are questioning (or rather, protesting) that Netflix has cast a black actor, namely Omar Sy, for his reboot by Arsène Lupine. A polemic to say the least tiring, which says a lot about the hitherto crying lack of representation, in which the spectator seems to want to take pleasure. We explain why white heroes who turn black shouldn't even elicit a raised eyebrow.
Characters that have no defined color
Before Lupine / Omar Sy was controversial, in November 2020, actress Lashana Lynch found herself in the eye of the storm, after being announced to take over number 007 in the franchise James bond. If, in the drafting, we then evoked some reservations about this new film (can we really modernize this story of a spy obsessed with his phallus?), We have no problem with the fact that a black woman embodies a cult hero of pop culture. Why ? Quite simply because the character of the famous British books is not linked to any ethnic group, like Ariel, in the live action of Disney, which will be played by singer and actress Halle Bailey. And so is Arsène Lupine. Written by Maurice Leblanc in 1905, this character is not built around an ethnic origin. So he could very well be white or racialized, that would not impact the plot. Unlike Mulan, for example, whose role luckily went to an Asian actress in Disney's live action.
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Productions that revisit myths
Not insignificant about Arsène Lupine and James Bond, this series and this film intend to reinvent myths. And neither Omar Sy nor Lashana Lynch embody the characters of the original franchises. On social networks, however, we have seen certain Internet users deplore the choice of Omar Sy to play Arsène Lupine. However, the actor does not play the famous burglar, but a hardcore fan who, at the dawn of 2021, pays homage to him through his most spectacular crimes. Same story for Lashana Lynch in To die can wait : The actress does not play James Bond but Nomi, a woman who takes over the famous agent's number after the latter has retired. These productions wish to breathe new life into, modernize the pillars of our cultural pantheon. And what better way to do that than including new profiles?
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The importance of portraying racialized people on screen
Besides the scriptwriting arguments, as with Mulan, which required a heroine of a precise ethic, the portrayal of racialized people on the screen is not to be neglected. First, and quite simply, because minorities have existed since the dawn of time. No, they are not a "marketing argument" in 2020, as critics claim! In Arsène Lupine's time, French society included blacks and mestizos, some of whom are famous: the circus artist Chocolat, the writer Alexandre Dumas … It is therefore time to make them exist on our screens.
Then, getting to characters who look like everyone else is an important part of building each other. As proof, when the cast of Disney's live action, The little Mermaid, was announced, fans were devastated because Ariel no longer looked like what they had known as children: a white heroine like them.
So much so that the hashtag #NotMyAriel was popping up everywhere. Yet if you ask a woman concerned with this choice to cast Halle Bailey, she will no doubt tell you that it's a bit of a little girl's dream come true, like revenge on a childhood that lacked role models. … To contemplate a character who looks like us, who emancipates himself like a white hero, what better gift for a child? To deploy, we all need to be able to identify ourselves. And this goes particularly through pop culture, which inspires us and is an integral part of our daily lives. Let it show our society in all its plurality!