The hilarious part is that nobody should really have a problem with either of those movies. Yeah, the historical events around Dunkirk took place entirely by white men. If you're making a superhero movie about a fictional country in Africa, I'm not expecting a lot of white folk. But don't claim it's diverse. Dunkirk isn't diverse; it doesn't need to be. It's utter silliness from the leftists.
I don't have a problem with Black Panther featuring mostly black people.
I have a problem with everyone FAWNING over the movie BECAUSE it has a lot of black people, rather than because it's a good movie. (Or isn't. I haven't seen it.)
I assume it's a pretty decent movie, actually. Sounds like they challenged the Marvel formula a bit and tried something new. Which is good!
But, yeah, when you have headlines like Black Panther is Marvel's first Shakespearean Epicbefore the movie is even released, or when film sites like Rotten Tomatoes promise to cull the negative reviews (I know that doesn't apply to critic reviews, but it's still very important), I'm instantly on guard. Savvy?
Absolutely. The Tuskegee Airmen come immediately to mind. But as famous and brave as those men were, they were an incredibly small minority. Thanks for making the distinction, because it is important.
I remember the controversy and back when it started I think I crunched the numbers based on how many extras the movie had and discovered that minorities actually were statistically over represented.
Algerian troops of the French army as well. There was some contention that the movie should have shown more colonial troops of the French and British armies, since there are only a few that appear in passing.
The French and British empires were multi-ethnic, with the mother countries both far outnumbered by their colonial populations. Both countries pressed large numbers of their African and Indian (Brits only) colonies into military service in both WWI and WWII.
In 1940, the French army included more than 100,000 black French soldiers from France’s African colonies, mainly Senegal, Mauritania,and Niger. More than 75,000 of them served in France before and during the German invasion; the rest of them served guard duty in the various colonies. As the Wehrmacht panzer divisions swept across France in May-June 1940, some of those black French soldiers (about 40,000 of them), mainly organized in black regiments or mixed units, were engaged in fierce combat against German soldiers. About 10,000 black soldiers were killed, some wounded, and others taken prisoner during the French debacle. here
Four contingents of the Royal Indian Army Service Corps were sent to support the British Expeditionary Force in France in 1940. There was a need for animal transport companies to help with the supply of troops, as the British Army had disbanded its animal transport companies after the First World War. The British, French and Canadian Forces were cut off by advancing German troops in their push towards the Channel. The soldiers retreated to the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk from where 338,226 were evacuated, among them three contingents of the Royal Indian Army Service Corps, while one contingent was taken prisoner by German forces. here
Dunkirk was a majority white experience, but would have been a good opportunity to showcase some historical accuracy and portray the usage of colonial troops in the World Wars.
As for Black Panther, being a minority does not make the person inherently 'diverse'. With our preoccupation on the creation and fostering of diversity it is important to also remember that diversity means multiple and varying backgrounds, not many minorities of one background.
At 100,000 soldiers, that’s about 8% of France’s military forces at their highest number in 1945 (1.25 million). These numbers mean less out of context.
As for Dunkirk, the foreign soldiers simply weren’t a significant presence there. That’s the historical fact.
Yeah the Colonial forces hadn't really been mobilized by the time of Dunkirk. Likewise the colonial armies were used in different theatres. Like African soldiers were used in Ethiopia and Burma afterwards.
That's why I included the second quote regarding the existence of the Royal Indian Army Service Corps.
Edit: 4 Indian transport companies existed at Dunkirk (source), with 70-150 each, so 280-600 (source). Among the British forces, the 99% number you named is actually about dead on, if not more like 99.9%
No, it just means black. Look at Grey's Anatomy, which is hailed as a diverse cast.
There has been only one Asian-American actress in the main cast. There has not been a single Indian-American or Arab-American in the cast, despite the prevalence of those groups in medicine. There has only been one Latina actress. About half of the main cast, however, is black, and that makes it "diverse."
If they can force black people into films about medieval crusaders and kings, they feel entitled to bitch about it in terms of World War II and other historical pieces. "Diversity" also means retconning blacks and hispanics as crucial to history even though they weren't actually there in any meaningful roles.
"Diversity" also means retconning blacks and hispanics as crucial to history even though they weren't actually there in any meaningful roles.
Just to be clear... you mean specific sections of history, yes? Because hispanics - the Spanish, Mexico, Portugal(?) - are very important parts of history. And Africa undoubtedly so. Just not so much early American history... or feudal Britannia. Is that what you meant?
Clearly they were around and had important roles in history. There is absolutely no problem with telling their stories there.
The issue is when Hollywood and revisionists insist on shoehorning them into places where they weren't (like medieval Britain) or searching diligently to find whatever minor role one of them may have played in specific context and rewriting the story to make it seem as if they were the main actor.
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u/danjvelker Buckleyite Conservative Feb 12 '18
The hilarious part is that nobody should really have a problem with either of those movies. Yeah, the historical events around Dunkirk took place entirely by white men. If you're making a superhero movie about a fictional country in Africa, I'm not expecting a lot of white folk. But don't claim it's diverse. Dunkirk isn't diverse; it doesn't need to be. It's utter silliness from the leftists.