Should POC voice-act POC characters only?

So the recent trend in Hollywood in light of systemic racism is to stop voice acting a person-of-color if you are white.

For example:

• Alison Brie (white) voices Diane (Vietnamese) in Bojack Horseman.
• Mike Henry (white) voices Cleveland Brown (Black) on Family Guy, The Cleveland Show, etc.
• Jenny Slate (white) voices Missy (Black) from Big Mouth

All the above actors have retired from those roles as voice actors for those characters.

So, what say you?

Hollywood overreaction from the leftist commie libs?

A very smart and rational move of integrity done by the noble Hollywood elite to smite the far-right fundamentalists?

What do I think? I think it is an OK move. I am white so I am not sure how to feel about this emotionally; I know if a non-white character voiced a white character I would not be offended, but then again I don't come from a place POC come from.

But I think it has to do more with the institution than overt racism; black and POC actors are under-represented (especially Asians) and these are jobs that "should" belong to them. It's more like "Hey, this is a black role. It should probably go to a black person."

I think if we start going into "this is as bad as blackface. It's blackvoice!" territory then the argument has gone too far, though.

What about bi-racial characters, though? If a character is half-white, half-black, is there shame in having a white person voice act their role?

im sick of this crap, weve gotten by this long, now i cant watch cops on TV and Carl from the simpsons going have to get his race changed behind a microphone, Uncle ben pisses people off apparently, this stuff is just dumb to me.

Side note... Goku is voiced by a female, she must be fired and replaced with someone witch a dick

I don't mean that shit lol

don't care either way. if they want to enforce the actor's voice? go ahead. if they want to not? that's fine too.

Yeah, it will be weird hearing Carl with a difference voice. Carl has been a supporting character for what? 20? 30 years?

Don't really care about Cops. That show depresses me.

Uncle Ben? Not sure what the problem is. Or maybe it's more about a "white company" having a black man as its mascot?

While we are at it I think Popeye's should jump on this train; they have a black woman on their commercials saying she is the owner/founder/whatever when it is owned by a white person.

This is sort of where I am at. They say silence is complicit, but I don't think so. I won't get in their way, I won't object unless it's ridiculous, and I will help if asked. But for the most part I just say nothing lol.

The best person for the job should do it. There are bigger things going on in the country I'm worried about than the color of the actor voicing a fictional character.

I could use the same logic to ask why Tara Strong voices so many boys when there are actual boys that can voice those characters.

I think they're going too far but I kind of don't care either. There are women that do voices for male characters. Should they only be able to do voices for female characters only? I would understand if the character in question is just used to degrade a race/ethnicity/gender, but otherwise I don't think it's a big deal. There's a lot of shit going on now and companies are trying to save face. We're seeing it with TV shows, food products like Aunt Jemima and beverages like Coke. Meh, let them figure it out, I don't envy them.

No. It doesn’t matter who voices the character! Bart is voiced by a woman, so what!?

I suppose that's an argument in and of itself. Do we apply these same rules to everything? Or just POC? Do women get a pass because they are underpaid?

Is this actually productive? Or are actors just trying to ease whatever guilt they might be feeling?

Plus, these are cartoons *shrug* does it really matter? It is so far removed from reality does the voice really matter?

Or is it about accuracy? I know there are "black" and "white" voices when it comes to singing, but speaking? I would have a hard time determining who the owner of a black or white voice would be if asked to just listen.

I honestly don't know what to say.

I think they should have the exact same skin tone if we want to get it right.

Maybe we should have people's skin tones registered in the passport and in a public database. So that companies can filter applicants based on their skin tones. Like "Based on the current representation of skin tones, we're looking for applicants between this and this range of skin tone. Please don't apply if your skin tone is out of range. Or if your nose is too small."

Of course not.

We'll see this happen though, in the USA. In the name of anti-racism and anti-meritocracy we have decided the color of your skin will define your ability, your chances, your rights. Check out the Affirmative Action Amendment. That's where you're heading. You're already halfway there. There's companies on social media saying we won't hire white people. Like Wizards of the Coast. Oh you oppose affirmative action? "You're not a good cultural fit here."

You're going from illegal racism to ever present systemic oppression based on race or skin color without legal recourse. Because it's not about fairness, it's not about facts. It's about emotion. It's all thoughtless. There's no consideration for the victims this will create. No consideration for the future. It's opening the doors to a never seen before level of racism. And if you think that would be too crazy. That it would never happen. Well I don't see anything or anyone stopping them.

Soon you won't hear anyone opposing it, because those problematic voices can be banned. Google buys YouTube. Facebook buys WhatsApp. And you'll be left wondering whether it's your fault. Maybe you're the one who has it all wrong. When your kids will have the 'difficult conversation' with you, you'll think maybe you're the crazy one. It can't be that bad. And you don't want to lose your kids, do you?

Who will be doing Benders voice now in Futurama?

Settle down there, dude. No one is coming after you.

First off, people already discriminate, especially in entertainment. It's why actors always have photos of themselves and stuff like that, so people can go "Oh, this guy is fat, he is perfect for this role" or "Oh, a black guy, he is perfect for our black guy role.".

Second, we are not heading to place where the color of your skin defines your ability, chances, and rights. WE ARE ALREADY THERE! What we have already is, as you said, an "ever-present systemic oppression based on race or skin color". That's what all the protests are about, man.

Stop acting like a victim. As for thoughts vs emotion, I'd argue we have been trying this whole time using facts and thoughts to combat racism. It's only recently with the protests that the emotions have taken over and who can blame them?

The voice formerly know as Stephen Hawking?

I want whoever who does the job better to get the job.

However, a change in roles for these black characters could be a good thing, depending on the accents these people have outside of their roles. From what I can gather accents in the black communities tend to be a bit different from what I can gather. So it might be good to let someone who does these accents naturally. To get the job instead.

Maybe... It could be a substitute until we have a real Bender robot walking around running on booze.

@mrbojangles25: We ASSUME racism. And then make sure there is a LOT more racism to make up for it. Just like the assumed sexism that Google tried to deal with in HR and they used a computer to remove all the systemic sexism. We'll have the computer look at the CV's and it won't take into account the gender... And it made it worse. And their minds broke. Right now we're assuming a lot of racism is happening among police and when applying for a job.

Look at the calls they get. The number of interactions, the actual deaths. Go through those deaths, what happened there. I'm not convinced that it's a widespread thing but everybody else seems to be. ACAP. Because it's feelings. What I do know, is that there are neighbourhoods in the USA where you don't want to walk around as a white person, or as a black person. I know there is racism and it's bad for everybody. The real kind we never talk about. I bet you 99% of cops are going to turn out to not be racist at all. But we'll abolish them to be sure.

What's for sure though, is no matter whether it's really widespread in these places or not (which it very well could be) we're going to make things way, way worse by officially treating people unfairly based on race. It's one step forward ten steps back. This is going to fuel racism for generations to come.

I'm ringing the alarm bell because I think it's going to logically result in an amount of suffering that nobody wants to see. I could be too cautious or I could be wrong. I just don't think it's a good idea. But it's happening. If we're fixing racism it should be fair or it will just go wrong again.

Whoever can do the best or has the best voice and acting for the role, sadly that doesn't matter right now because people have gone fully insane and are beyond stupid at this point.

Is there anything inherently wrong with taking a look at this process?

If they're looking for someone to voice for instance a Latin American character and they want it to be convincing then it makes sense to pay close attention to Latin American voice actors because fake accents are typically done poorly. But I'm against quota's or revenge racism.

I don't see how it's going to be beneficial to go down the route of " Only a person of this specific group of people can voice a fictional character from this specific group otherwise it's contributing to systemic racism."
Cause it's a slippery slope to things like " If this show that's written by a Caucasian/Asian/Hispanic etc. has any character with a different skin color then the writer, it's contributing to systemic racism"

The intentions are good but that doesn't mean it's necessarily a correct thing to do

So, this is where we have come to. Our standard of living is so high. The difficulties and problems we face are so trivial. The risks and dangers inherent in our lives are so miniscule.

That we obsess over the skin color/ethnicity of actors voicing cartoon characters.

FFS people, get a grip.

As my brother would say: First world problems. Quit your damn whining.

How many white characters are voiced by people of colour?

It's a good question. Follow up question: will these voice actors step down?

And another question: is it about the perceived racism (i.e. white person voicing a black person), or is about under-representation (i.e. there are too few black actors out there, the least you can do is give the black roles to them).

Fair point. I'm hoping this trend dies out before too many people step down.

This is an experiment that will never work. A good ideal in theory, but we’re simply too pathetic a species for this to ever work.

I’m so tired of this shit.

Ending racism. Good. Consequences for police brutality. Good. Going overboard on everything. Not good.

Why just stop with white people voicing non white characters? How about sex, creed, nationality, etc.., If one area is being addressed, why not the rest? The entire fiasco is asinine.

Can't say I agree with the concept of characters being required to match their voice actors ethnicity. I understand the sentiment, but I see it as misguided and doomed to failure.

It's more double standard bullshit. If that's the case people of color shouldn't play white characters.

Cleveland never sounded black to me, hated that :P

I don't think it is a question of whether only X should voice over X characters. It is a question of whether there is systemic racism in voice acting and if so what are the best ways to address it?

Certainly there is an under representation of visible minorities in Hollywood. I imagine that is mirrored in voice acting since they are drawing upon a considerable portion of the same pool of people. And if it largely white people hiring white people then there is probably built in bias.

One thing that crossed me mind earlier today about this issue is the dubbing off animated shows from other nations, Such as Japanese anime. If voice actors has to represent the same group and a anime takes place in Japan then do you get Japanese-americans to dub it or can only Japanese voice actors who live in Japan voice the characters?

Can Disney movies be translated to other languages or does it need to retain the language and use voice actors from where a Disney movie has it's setting?

It's food for thought.

I know what you mean, but for the most part I can't really tell the difference between a black voice and a white voice, all things being equal. I don't think there are really any defining characteristics that make a voice "sound black", only regional dialects, mannerisms in speech structure, and such that might lead you to believe so.

all things are not equal

@mrbojangles25: Yup, I think you can't even say that someone sounds white or someone sounds black these days, I wouldn't post something like this on my Facebook, because well, you know. Cleveland was the first character where I thought to myself, that he doesn't sound right, he doesn't sound like a black American. He didn't sound like any black person I had seen/heard in movies/series/youtube videos etc etc. Never had that problem with The Simpsons.

So we're at the point where it's socially acceptable to dismiss or choose an acting candidate based on their race. What a time to be alive.

What world do you live in? Have you not looked at Netflix lately? Half the actors in any show are minority's. And I use that term minority loosely. I love that we clammer for representation of Asians for an example when they have a massive movie industry themselves where they don't give a flying shit about diversity.

As for voice actors are you serious?

https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_560e9be0e4b0af3706e06b23

If we go by this standard it needs to be consistent. Sorry Christopher Judge no more Kratos for you.

The Asian industry is in their own country where other races are very negligible to total population. In the US all races should be represented in media.

Diversity only seems to matter in places that are mostly white.

Move to China and diversify it. :P

If they are done by Keith David, Morgan Freeman, or James Earl Jones then yes, yes they should.

Worthless strawman argument that does not add anything to the debate. There are always exceptions, which does not detract from the main point. Also, LOL at what happens in other xenophobic places as an excuse for not making our own societies better.

It would certainly be nice.

There are so many POC voice actors that never get jobs cause career voice actors have the momentum needed to get gigs.

No, and I don't think white characters should only be voiced by white VAs. Whoever's got the voice that matches what the creators have in mind for that character should get the job regardless of skin colour.

Yeah I sort of like this idea. It might not be what certain people want to hear, but it's the fair way. If it can be done fairly.

As far as the movement goes right now... this was nowhere near the top of the list of priorities. If white actors want to step down and give POC the opportunity to voice these roles, that's great. But this is voice acting, there's no need to start segregating off-camera roles, especially since so many talented people have brought life to these characters across the spectrum.

You also don't want to put minority actors in a position where they have to justify themselves to angry and irrational fandoms about why they're voicing characters out of their race when there's not a lot of them in the industry to begin with. Work is work. They didn't really ask for this. I know Phil Lamarr already said he's not giving up his non-black roles, and I don't blame him one bit.

Liberals are such hypocrites. So then wtf was that casting of Hamilton? The forefathers weren't even fictional characters so it makes even LESS sense.

Oh believe me they're not liberals. I'M a (social) liberal when it comes to anything but the corporations. (I'm neither a liberal nor a conservative when it comes to corporations because both apparently want minimal government involvement. And I think that's a mistake with how powerful corporations are becoming and I find it curious... that there is not a way to vote for more restrictions on powerful corporations.)

They're about as far removed from liberals as they could be, destroying anything liberals wanted. Individual freedom regardless of skin or sex, gone. The freedom to have intellectual discourse, gone. Learning from other cultures, gone. What is freedom if you can't even tell the truth? They're opting to be the slaves of the system. It's a hostile takeover in more ways than one.

Maybe they should be called anti-liberal or a-liberal, faux-liberal or illiberal. Maybe something different like corporate authoritarians. But if there's one thing in the world that they're not, it's liberal.