Does race have to change a character's behavior?

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ironpony
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24 Apr 2021, 12:22 pm

I am into screenplay writing and filmmaking and I for a screenplay I wrote, one of the characters I had a possible actress I know in mind for, and I was told by someone else I work with not to cast her for role, because it wouldn't make sense for the character's behavior. In the story, the character is a woman and men are trying to break into her house. She calls the police and this is how the main cop character gets involved in the plot when he gets the call, that kickstarts a chain reaction of events.

But I was told not to cast the actress in the role, because actress is not white, and the casting director I know said, a non-white person wouldn't call the police, out of fear of being shot to death herself. But what do you think? Race doesn't have anything to do with the story in my opinion, but maybe it will if I cast characters like this and I really should keep race in mind when it comes to character behavior, even if race is not a theme? Thank you for any advice on it! I really appreciate it!



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24 Apr 2021, 1:09 pm

It doesn't have to, but it's worth at least considering how a community's experiences with police will impact how willing they are to involve police in situations.

If the character is part of a community that doesn't feel police tend to care about their interests and that also faces baseless harassment and an increased risk of experiencing violence at the hands of police that combination of factors is going to make members of that community less likely to trust that involving police can have a positive influence on the situation.

Would you ask a bully for help or would that be likely to result in receiving more bullying and no help?

Obviously it's more complicated than just that and it's not a strict black and white issue; it's one where there might be hesitancy but where most people have a point they'll flip and reconsider contacting police depending on how substantial they view the threat. That character won't call the cops because someone's BBQing in the park without a permit and they probably won't call the cops if their home gets vandalized but they might if they're cowering in the crawl space as people sack the rooms above them.

Then again they might consider hiding and just moving on afterwards a better strategy because they don't believe the police report will go anywhere.


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magz
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24 Apr 2021, 1:44 pm

In the Ladykillers remake, the Old Lady is Black and bothers cops all the time for petty reasons.
Sure, this movie doesn't even try to be realistic, it's meant to be pretty surreal, but that's what came to my mind when you mentioned "non-white character calling cops".
With enough air of respectability (non-ghetto setting), I think it wouldn't feel bad or odd.

Though, I'm not really competent on the topic of race in the US. I believe it varies a lot between places and groups.


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GGPViper
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24 Apr 2021, 3:34 pm

ironpony wrote:
I am into screenplay writing and filmmaking and I for a screenplay I wrote, one of the characters I had a possible actress I know in mind for, and I was told by someone else I work with not to cast her for role, because it wouldn't make sense for the character's behavior. In the story, the character is a woman and men are trying to break into her house. She calls the police and this is how the main cop character gets involved in the plot when he gets the call, that kickstarts a chain reaction of events.

But I was told not to cast the actress in the role, because actress is not white, and the casting director I know said, a non-white person wouldn't call the police, out of fear of being shot to death herself. But what do you think? Race doesn't have anything to do with the story in my opinion, but maybe it will if I cast characters like this and I really should keep race in mind when it comes to character behavior, even if race is not a theme? Thank you for any advice on it! I really appreciate it!


Well, according a survey made by the US Bureau of Justice Statistics in 2018, White persons were 1.4 - 1.5 times more likely (15.5 %) than Black, Hispanic or Other persons (10.3 - 10.9 %) to contact the police.
https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/cbpp18st.pdf (see page 3)

However, the same survey showed that more than 10 million non-white persons contacted the police in the US in 2018. So it's probably going a bit (a lot) too far to claim that a non-white person "wouldn't call the police".

It *might* make sense if it was part of a broader setting, though... like if it was a black person living in a rural area in the Deep South in the US with a long history of racial tensions.

Or if the cop is Judge Dredd and it's Mega-City One... but then *everyone* would be scared to call the cops...



PhosphorusDecree
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01 May 2021, 5:21 am

It might have a slight effect on how you write the scene, and how she plays it. But I don't think this would be a bad thing. If anything, it'd add to the drama if calling the police is a bigger step for her to take than it would be for a white woman.

My favourite example of race affecting character's behaviour subtly is the "Rivers of London" books by Ben Aaronovitch. His hero is a mixed-race (half black, half white) police officer. There are lots of nice details in the books about how he interacts with suspects, members of the public and other officers. It's not like every conversation is "OMG I'm black!! !! ! This changes everything!! !! !" It's more that people react slightly differently to him than they would to a white officer. And he sees people of various ethnic groups slightly differently to how a white officer would. It's nicely done.


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01 May 2021, 8:44 am

PhosphorusDecree wrote:
It might have a slight effect on how you write the scene, and how she plays it. But I don't think this would be a bad thing. If anything, it'd add to the drama if calling the police is a bigger step for her to take than it would be for a white woman.

My favourite example of race affecting character's behaviour subtly is the "Rivers of London" books by Ben Aaronovitch. His hero is a mixed-race (half black, half white) police officer. There are lots of nice details in the books about how he interacts with suspects, members of the public and other officers. It's not like every conversation is "OMG I'm black!! ! ! ! This changes everything!! ! ! !" It's more that people react slightly differently to him than they would to a white officer. And he sees people of various ethnic groups slightly differently to how a white officer would. It's nicely done.


Absolutely . Culture and Appearance Can Affect How Other Characters Interact & Perceive



cbd
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01 May 2021, 8:50 am

ironpony wrote:
I am into screenplay writing and filmmaking and I for a screenplay I wrote, one of the characters I had a possible actress I know in mind for, and I was told by someone else I work with not to cast her for role, because it wouldn't make sense for the character's behavior. In the story, the character is a woman and men are trying to break into her house. She calls the police and this is how the main cop character gets involved in the plot when he gets the call, that kickstarts a chain reaction of events.

But I was told not to cast the actress in the role, because actress is not white, and the casting director I know said, a non-white person wouldn't call the police, out of fear of being shot to death herself. But what do you think? Race doesn't have anything to do with the story in my opinion, but maybe it will if I cast characters like this and I really should keep race in mind when it comes to character behavior, even if race is not a theme? Thank you for any advice on it! I really appreciate it!


interestingly enough .. Your Friend Has a Point .. However , it Depends on the 'Social Class' you Want the Character to Be Played . Food For Thought . in General Different People will or Won't Steer in a Particular Line of Action . However it is Subjective to the Character's Back Story .

Cast Who You Feel is Right For The Job , then Make any Adjustments to Dialogue etc if it Makes Sense to .. or Not .

[youtube]https://youtu.be/Q5_GOCZmq0A[/youyube]

Personally it Never Made Sense for Luther to Fit a Specific Type Because of Idris as a Person and His Portrayal of The Character . Sometimes We Don't Need Stereotypical Behaviour Because it Compromises the Feel