Re: [scifinoir2] Re: Black hero has race changed in 911 movie]
Let's get together and mass-mail Spike Lee. He can pick it up, now that he's
torn the Government to shreds with his Katrina doc. Speaking of which, who
here's watching that? And what are the opinions?
drcsaid [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: This woould be a good time to make
a film on one of the black
firefighters that lost his life...
--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, ravenadal [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
There are now only 312 Black firefighters in the New York City Fire
Department out of a total force of 11,350. They make up 2.7% of the
fire department, in a city where 24.5% of the population is Black
and
nearly 50% is minority. The fire department is the city's least
diverse municipal work force. Twelve Black firefighters gave their
lives along with 332 other emergency personnel in the World Trade
Center tragedy.
Anyway, here's the link you asked for:
http://www.pww.org/index.php/article/view/490/1/50/
The horrible events of 9/11 brought people together. But now there
is
an effort to destroy that unity. The statue planned to commemorate
firefighters lost at the World Trade Center has generated much
controversy and some thoughtful discussion.
Should the monument depict a team, made up of an African American, a
Latino, and a white firefighter raising the U.S. flag, as proposed
by
the artists? Or should it show three white firefighters, as in the
news photograph of the World Trade Center flag-raising which
suggested it?
-- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, KeithBJohnson@ wrote:
Are you trying to tell me that the NYC firefighters actually
claimed
that *none* of the hundreds of firefighters on the scenes were
Black??? That can't be possible. What about all the cops, Port
Authority, transportation cops pressed into service, medics,
doctors,
etc? Got any links to this particular bit of info?
-- Original message --
From: ravenadal ravenadal@
I find this interesting in light of all the flack the city of NYC
took
from NY firefighters when the city proposed erecting a 911
monument
with one of the memorialized firefighters being black. The
firefighters were adamant that since none of the 911 heros were
black
this would be the worse form of politcial correctness.
~(no)rave!
--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Tracey de Morsella (formerly
Tracey L. Minor) tdlists@ wrote:
Original Message
Subject: [AFAMHED] Black hero has race changed in 911 movie
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 13:16:34 -0400
From: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance bwatkins@
Reply-To: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance bwatkins@
To: AFAMHED@
'WTC' casting error draws flak from African-Americans
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
By L.A. Johnson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06228/713723-254.stm
A hero of another color in Oliver Stone's World Trade Center
has
some
people again balking at the whitewashing of a black character
in a
Hollywood film.
http://www.post-gazette.com/popup.asp?img=http://www.post-
gazette.com/images4/20060815ap_wtchero_450.jpg
Bebeto Matthews/The Associated Press
*Jason Thomas of Columbus, Ohio, helped rescue Port Authority
police
officers John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno on 9/11. In Oliver
Stone's
movie, World Trade Center, a white actor was cast to portray
Thomas. **
Click photo for larger image.*
This time it's the character of Marine Sgt. Thomas, one of two
former
Marines who help rescue New York Port Authority Officers Will
Jimeno
and
John McLoughlin from beneath 20 feet of twisted metal, broken
concrete
and sparking debris in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.
In the film, white actor William Mapother -- who's Tom Cruise's
cousin
and who played Ethan Rom in the first season of Lost and
Quecreek
miner John Flathead Phillippi in ABC's The Pennsylvania
Miners'
Story -- plays Sgt. Thomas.
Last week, the real Sgt. Thomas -- a black, former Marine named
Jason
Thomas of Columbus, Ohio -- came forward and told his story.
Someone needed help. It didn't matter who, Thomas told the
Associated
Press. I didn't even have a plan. But I have all this training
as a
Marine, and all I could think was, 'My city is in need.'
So, instead of heading to class at the John Jay College of
Criminal
Justice at City University of New York that fateful morning, he
headed
toward the devastation. At ground zero, he ran into another ex-
Marine
and Connecticut accountant, Staff Sgt. David Karnes, and the two
decided
to search for survivors. Eventually they found Jimeno and
McLoughlin.
Karnes, who couldn't reach Manhattan's 911 from his cell phone
at
ground
zero, called his sister in Munhall, Joy Karnes. She helped
relay
information to New York emergency services that helped them
pinpoint
the
trapped
[scifinoir2] Re: Black hero has race changed in 911 movie]
This woould be a good time to make a film on one of the black
firefighters that lost his life...
--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, ravenadal [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
There are now only 312 Black firefighters in the New York City Fire
Department out of a total force of 11,350. They make up 2.7% of the
fire department, in a city where 24.5% of the population is Black
and
nearly 50% is minority. The fire department is the city's least
diverse municipal work force. Twelve Black firefighters gave their
lives along with 332 other emergency personnel in the World Trade
Center tragedy.
Anyway, here's the link you asked for:
http://www.pww.org/index.php/article/view/490/1/50/
The horrible events of 9/11 brought people together. But now there
is
an effort to destroy that unity. The statue planned to commemorate
firefighters lost at the World Trade Center has generated much
controversy and some thoughtful discussion.
Should the monument depict a team, made up of an African American, a
Latino, and a white firefighter raising the U.S. flag, as proposed
by
the artists? Or should it show three white firefighters, as in the
news photograph of the World Trade Center flag-raising which
suggested it?
-- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, KeithBJohnson@ wrote:
Are you trying to tell me that the NYC firefighters actually
claimed
that *none* of the hundreds of firefighters on the scenes were
Black??? That can't be possible. What about all the cops, Port
Authority, transportation cops pressed into service, medics,
doctors,
etc? Got any links to this particular bit of info?
-- Original message --
From: ravenadal ravenadal@
I find this interesting in light of all the flack the city of NYC
took
from NY firefighters when the city proposed erecting a 911
monument
with one of the memorialized firefighters being black. The
firefighters were adamant that since none of the 911 heros were
black
this would be the worse form of politcial correctness.
~(no)rave!
--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Tracey de Morsella (formerly
Tracey L. Minor) tdlists@ wrote:
Original Message
Subject: [AFAMHED] Black hero has race changed in 911 movie
Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 13:16:34 -0400
From: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance bwatkins@
Reply-To: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance bwatkins@
To: AFAMHED@
'WTC' casting error draws flak from African-Americans
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
By L.A. Johnson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06228/713723-254.stm
A hero of another color in Oliver Stone's World Trade Center
has
some
people again balking at the whitewashing of a black character
in a
Hollywood film.
http://www.post-gazette.com/popup.asp?img=http://www.post-
gazette.com/images4/20060815ap_wtchero_450.jpg
Bebeto Matthews/The Associated Press
*Jason Thomas of Columbus, Ohio, helped rescue Port Authority
police
officers John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno on 9/11. In Oliver
Stone's
movie, World Trade Center, a white actor was cast to portray
Thomas. **
Click photo for larger image.*
This time it's the character of Marine Sgt. Thomas, one of two
former
Marines who help rescue New York Port Authority Officers Will
Jimeno
and
John McLoughlin from beneath 20 feet of twisted metal, broken
concrete
and sparking debris in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks.
In the film, white actor William Mapother -- who's Tom Cruise's
cousin
and who played Ethan Rom in the first season of Lost and
Quecreek
miner John Flathead Phillippi in ABC's The Pennsylvania
Miners'
Story -- plays Sgt. Thomas.
Last week, the real Sgt. Thomas -- a black, former Marine named
Jason
Thomas of Columbus, Ohio -- came forward and told his story.
Someone needed help. It didn't matter who, Thomas told the
Associated
Press. I didn't even have a plan. But I have all this training
as a
Marine, and all I could think was, 'My city is in need.'
So, instead of heading to class at the John Jay College of
Criminal
Justice at City University of New York that fateful morning, he
headed
toward the devastation. At ground zero, he ran into another ex-
Marine
and Connecticut accountant, Staff Sgt. David Karnes, and the two
decided
to search for survivors. Eventually they found Jimeno and
McLoughlin.
Karnes, who couldn't reach Manhattan's 911 from his cell phone
at
ground
zero, called his sister in Munhall, Joy Karnes. She helped
relay
information to New York emergency services that helped them
pinpoint
the
trapped men's location.
Film producer Michael Shamberg apologized to Thomas for the
racial
inaccuracy in the film, saying they realized the mistake only
after
production had already begun, the Associated Press reported.
That apology comes a
[scifinoir2] Re: Black hero has race changed in 911 movie]
--- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Amy Harlib [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Couldn't agree more that changing from black to white is a very bad thing. Amy Looks like it's going to happen again, Angelina Jolie is set to play Mariane Pearl (widow of slain NY Times Reporter Daniel Pearl) in adaptation of her novel, A Mighty Heart. Mariane Pearl is Afro Cuban/Dutch, obviously a woman of color. Google her image. Jolie looks nothing like her. Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[scifinoir2] Re: Black hero has race changed in 911 movie]
Wow! Arrogant and very insulting. What other facts did the movie makers miss? George --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Tracey de Morsella (formerly Tracey L. Minor) [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Original Message Subject: [AFAMHED] Black hero has race changed in 911 movie Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 13:16:34 -0400 From: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 'WTC' casting error draws flak from African-Americans Wednesday, August 16, 2006 By L.A. Johnson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06228/713723-254.stm A hero of another color in Oliver Stone's World Trade Center has some people again balking at the whitewashing of a black character in a Hollywood film. http://www.post-gazette.com/popup.asp?img=http://www.post- gazette.com/images4/20060815ap_wtchero_450.jpg snip Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[scifinoir2] Re: Black hero has race changed in 911 movie]
I find this interesting in light of all the flack the city of NYC took from NY firefighters when the city proposed erecting a 911 monument with one of the memorialized firefighters being black. The firefighters were adamant that since none of the 911 heros were black this would be the worse form of politcial correctness. ~(no)rave! --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Tracey de Morsella (formerly Tracey L. Minor) [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Original Message Subject: [AFAMHED] Black hero has race changed in 911 movie Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 13:16:34 -0400 From: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 'WTC' casting error draws flak from African-Americans Wednesday, August 16, 2006 By L.A. Johnson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06228/713723-254.stm A hero of another color in Oliver Stone's World Trade Center has some people again balking at the whitewashing of a black character in a Hollywood film. http://www.post-gazette.com/popup.asp?img=http://www.post-gazette.com/images4/20060815ap_wtchero_450.jpg Bebeto Matthews/The Associated Press *Jason Thomas of Columbus, Ohio, helped rescue Port Authority police officers John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno on 9/11. In Oliver Stone's movie, World Trade Center, a white actor was cast to portray Thomas. ** Click photo for larger image.* This time it's the character of Marine Sgt. Thomas, one of two former Marines who help rescue New York Port Authority Officers Will Jimeno and John McLoughlin from beneath 20 feet of twisted metal, broken concrete and sparking debris in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. In the film, white actor William Mapother -- who's Tom Cruise's cousin and who played Ethan Rom in the first season of Lost and Quecreek miner John Flathead Phillippi in ABC's The Pennsylvania Miners' Story -- plays Sgt. Thomas. Last week, the real Sgt. Thomas -- a black, former Marine named Jason Thomas of Columbus, Ohio -- came forward and told his story. Someone needed help. It didn't matter who, Thomas told the Associated Press. I didn't even have a plan. But I have all this training as a Marine, and all I could think was, 'My city is in need.' So, instead of heading to class at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice at City University of New York that fateful morning, he headed toward the devastation. At ground zero, he ran into another ex-Marine and Connecticut accountant, Staff Sgt. David Karnes, and the two decided to search for survivors. Eventually they found Jimeno and McLoughlin. Karnes, who couldn't reach Manhattan's 911 from his cell phone at ground zero, called his sister in Munhall, Joy Karnes. She helped relay information to New York emergency services that helped them pinpoint the trapped men's location. Film producer Michael Shamberg apologized to Thomas for the racial inaccuracy in the film, saying they realized the mistake only after production had already begun, the Associated Press reported. That apology comes a bit late for Paradise Gray, 42, of Wilkinsburg who sent out e-mails to hundreds of thousands via African-American list serves and Internet groups, such as the Luv4Self Network yesterday calling for a boycott of the film. You want to apologize to me? Mr. Gray says. Stop it. Black men so rarely are portrayed or presented as heroes in popular culture and the media that when the opportunity to do so arises, they should be, he says. It's so natural for Hollywood to assume that every hero is a white man, Mr. Gray wrote in his e-mail. Hollywood has always changed facts and edited history. From Charlton Heston as Moses and Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra. They are only continuing their tradition of whitewashing our history. He also criticized the black community for not speaking out more. The Jewish community's mantra is never forget while the black community's mantra is forgive and forget, he said. The black community should speak up every time this happens. Six years ago, there was a similar controversy surrounding color-blind casting in the film Pay It Forward. Kevin Spacey's white burn victim in the movie actually was a black Vietnam veteran in the book. Though disappointed his character in the World Trade Center movie wasn't black, Thomas, who lived on Long Island during the attacks and now works as an officer in Ohio's Supreme Court, told the Associated Press he's not upset. I don't want to shed any negativity on what they were trying to show, he said. The movie is much bigger than him, Thomas told the New Pittsburgh Courier, and it's the people who lost their lives who need to remembered. Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ * To unsubscribe from this
Re: [scifinoir2] Re: Black hero has race changed in 911 movie]
Are you trying to tell me that the NYC firefighters actually claimed that *none* of the hundreds of firefighters on the scenes were Black??? That can't be possible. What about all the cops, Port Authority, transportation cops pressed into service, medics, doctors, etc? Got any links to this particular bit of info? -- Original message -- From: ravenadal [EMAIL PROTECTED] I find this interesting in light of all the flack the city of NYC took from NY firefighters when the city proposed erecting a 911 monument with one of the memorialized firefighters being black. The firefighters were adamant that since none of the 911 heros were black this would be the worse form of politcial correctness. ~(no)rave! --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Tracey de Morsella (formerly Tracey L. Minor) [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Original Message Subject: [AFAMHED] Black hero has race changed in 911 movie Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 13:16:34 -0400 From: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 'WTC' casting error draws flak from African-Americans Wednesday, August 16, 2006 By L.A. Johnson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06228/713723-254.stm A hero of another color in Oliver Stone's World Trade Center has some people again balking at the whitewashing of a black character in a Hollywood film. http://www.post-gazette.com/popup.asp?img=http://www.post-gazette.com/images4/20060815ap_wtchero_450.jpg Bebeto Matthews/The Associated Press *Jason Thomas of Columbus, Ohio, helped rescue Port Authority police officers John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno on 9/11. In Oliver Stone's movie, World Trade Center, a white actor was cast to portray Thomas. ** Click photo for larger image.* This time it's the character of Marine Sgt. Thomas, one of two former Marines who help rescue New York Port Authority Officers Will Jimeno and John McLoughlin from beneath 20 feet of twisted metal, broken concrete and sparking debris in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. In the film, white actor William Mapother -- who's Tom Cruise's cousin and who played Ethan Rom in the first season of Lost and Quecreek miner John Flathead Phillippi in ABC's The Pennsylvania Miners' Story -- plays Sgt. Thomas. Last week, the real Sgt. Thomas -- a black, former Marine named Jason Thomas of Columbus, Ohio -- came forward and told his story. Someone needed help. It didn't matter who, Thomas told the Associated Press. I didn't even have a plan. But I have all this training as a Marine, and all I could think was, 'My city is in need.' So, instead of heading to class at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice at City University of New York that fateful morning, he headed toward the devastation. At ground zero, he ran into another ex-Marine and Connecticut accountant, Staff Sgt. David Karnes, and the two decided to search for survivors. Eventually they found Jimeno and McLoughlin. Karnes, who couldn't reach Manhattan's 911 from his cell phone at ground zero, called his sister in Munhall, Joy Karnes. She helped relay information to New York emergency services that helped them pinpoint the trapped men's location. Film producer Michael Shamberg apologized to Thomas for the racial inaccuracy in the film, saying they realized the mistake only after production had already begun, the Associated Press reported. That apology comes a bit late for Paradise Gray, 42, of Wilkinsburg who sent out e-mails to hundreds of thousands via African-American list serves and Internet groups, such as the Luv4Self Network yesterday calling for a boycott of the film. You want to apologize to me? Mr. Gray says. Stop it. Black men so rarely are portrayed or presented as heroes in popular culture and the media that when the opportunity to do so arises, they should be, he says. It's so natural for Hollywood to assume that every hero is a white man, Mr. Gray wrote in his e-mail. Hollywood has always changed facts and edited history. From Charlton Heston as Moses and Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra. They are only continuing their tradition of whitewashing our history. He also criticized the black community for not speaking out more. The Jewish community's mantra is never forget while the black community's mantra is forgive and forget, he said. The black community should speak up every time this happens. Six years ago, there was a similar controversy surrounding color-blind casting in the film Pay It Forward. Kevin Spacey's white burn victim in the movie actually was a black Vietnam veteran in the book. Though disappointed his character in the World Trade Center movie wasn't black, Thomas, who lived on Long Island during the attacks and now works as an officer in Ohio's Supreme Court, told the Associated Press he's not upset. I
[scifinoir2] Re: Black hero has race changed in 911 movie]
As I read the article below, Gray's comments reminded me of the movie, Memoirs of a Geisha what had several Chinese actors portraying Japanese characters. The actors were all fine actors but this film's casting approach pissed off people, too. George Captain USS McNair --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Tracey de Morsella (formerly Tracey L. Minor) [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Original Message Subject: [AFAMHED] Black hero has race changed in 911 movie Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 13:16:34 -0400 From: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 'WTC' casting error draws flak from African-Americans Wednesday, August 16, 2006 By L.A. Johnson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06228/713723-254.stm A hero of another color in Oliver Stone's World Trade Center has some people again balking at the whitewashing of a black character in a Hollywood film. http://www.post-gazette.com/popup.asp?img=http://www.post- gazette.com/images4/20060815ap_wtchero_450.jpg Bebeto Matthews/The Associated Press *Jason Thomas of Columbus, Ohio, helped rescue Port Authority police officers John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno on 9/11. In Oliver Stone's movie, World Trade Center, a white actor was cast to portray Thomas. ** This time it's the character of Marine Sgt. Thomas, one of two former Marines who help rescue New York Port Authority Officers Will Jimeno and John McLoughlin from beneath 20 feet of twisted metal, broken concrete and sparking debris in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. In the film, white actor William Mapother -- who's Tom Cruise's cousin and who played Ethan Rom in the first season of Lost and Quecreek miner John Flathead Phillippi in ABC's The Pennsylvania Miners' Story -- plays Sgt. Thomas. Last week, the real Sgt. Thomas -- a black, former Marine named Jason Thomas of Columbus, Ohio -- came forward and told his story. Someone needed help. It didn't matter who, Thomas told the Associated Press. I didn't even have a plan. But I have all this training as a Marine, and all I could think was, 'My city is in need.' So, instead of heading to class at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice at City University of New York that fateful morning, he headed toward the devastation. At ground zero, he ran into another ex-Marine and Connecticut accountant, Staff Sgt. David Karnes, and the two decided to search for survivors. Eventually they found Jimeno and McLoughlin. Karnes, who couldn't reach Manhattan's 911 from his cell phone at ground zero, called his sister in Munhall, Joy Karnes. She helped relay information to New York emergency services that helped them pinpoint the trapped men's location. Film producer Michael Shamberg apologized to Thomas for the racial inaccuracy in the film, saying they realized the mistake only after production had already begun, the Associated Press reported. That apology comes a bit late for Paradise Gray, 42, of Wilkinsburg who sent out e-mails to hundreds of thousands via African-American list serves and Internet groups, such as the Luv4Self Network yesterday calling for a boycott of the film. You want to apologize to me? Mr. Gray says. Stop it. Black men so rarely are portrayed or presented as heroes in popular culture and the media that when the opportunity to do so arises, they should be, he says. It's so natural for Hollywood to assume that every hero is a white man, Mr. Gray wrote in his e- mail. Hollywood has always changed facts and edited history. From Charlton Heston as Moses and Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra. They are only continuing their tradition of whitewashing our history. He also criticized the black community for not speaking out more. The Jewish community's mantra is never forget while the black community's mantra is forgive and forget, he said. The black community should speak up every time this happens. Six years ago, there was a similar controversy surrounding color-blind casting in the film Pay It Forward. Kevin Spacey's white burn victim in the movie actually was a black Vietnam veteran in the book. Though disappointed his character in the World Trade Center movie wasn't black, Thomas, who lived on Long Island during the attacks and now works as an officer in Ohio's Supreme Court, told the Associated Press he's not upset. I don't want to shed any negativity on what they were trying to show, he said. The movie is much bigger than him, Thomas told the New Pittsburgh Courier, and it's the people who lost their lives who need to remembered. -0- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [scifinoir2] Re: Black hero has race changed in 911 movie]
True. I had a guy hear asking what was the big deal that Chinese women played Japanese characters. He gave the standard can't we all get along speech. That's too difficult to explain to some, as many people don't care in many circumstances. I tend to think you should try to honor the people about whom the story is told as much as possible. I know many don't care, but often the conversation's usually focused on people of at least the same race simply faking accents, and often doing it well. (Don Cheadle in Hotel Rwanda, Renee Zellwegger in Bridget Jones' Diary, Meryl Streep in everything she did before 1990). I still have issues sometimes with Americans always hiring Americans to play people from other countries, but again, at least the skin color is the same. Completely chaning the race? That's just crazy. -- Original message -- From: g123curious [EMAIL PROTECTED] As I read the article below, Gray's comments reminded me of the movie, Memoirs of a Geisha what had several Chinese actors portraying Japanese characters. The actors were all fine actors but this film's casting approach pissed off people, too. George Captain USS McNair --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Tracey de Morsella (formerly Tracey L. Minor) [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Original Message Subject: [AFAMHED] Black hero has race changed in 911 movie Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 13:16:34 -0400 From: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 'WTC' casting error draws flak from African-Americans Wednesday, August 16, 2006 By L.A. Johnson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06228/713723-254.stm A hero of another color in Oliver Stone's World Trade Center has some people again balking at the whitewashing of a black character in a Hollywood film. http://www.post-gazette.com/popup.asp?img=http://www.post- gazette.com/images4/20060815ap_wtchero_450.jpg Bebeto Matthews/The Associated Press *Jason Thomas of Columbus, Ohio, helped rescue Port Authority police officers John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno on 9/11. In Oliver Stone's movie, World Trade Center, a white actor was cast to portray Thomas. ** This time it's the character of Marine Sgt. Thomas, one of two former Marines who help rescue New York Port Authority Officers Will Jimeno and John McLoughlin from beneath 20 feet of twisted metal, broken concrete and sparking debris in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. In the film, white actor William Mapother -- who's Tom Cruise's cousin and who played Ethan Rom in the first season of Lost and Quecreek miner John Flathead Phillippi in ABC's The Pennsylvania Miners' Story -- plays Sgt. Thomas. Last week, the real Sgt. Thomas -- a black, former Marine named Jason Thomas of Columbus, Ohio -- came forward and told his story. Someone needed help. It didn't matter who, Thomas told the Associated Press. I didn't even have a plan. But I have all this training as a Marine, and all I could think was, 'My city is in need.' So, instead of heading to class at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice at City University of New York that fateful morning, he headed toward the devastation. At ground zero, he ran into another ex-Marine and Connecticut accountant, Staff Sgt. David Karnes, and the two decided to search for survivors. Eventually they found Jimeno and McLoughlin. Karnes, who couldn't reach Manhattan's 911 from his cell phone at ground zero, called his sister in Munhall, Joy Karnes. She helped relay information to New York emergency services that helped them pinpoint the trapped men's location. Film producer Michael Shamberg apologized to Thomas for the racial inaccuracy in the film, saying they realized the mistake only after production had already begun, the Associated Press reported. That apology comes a bit late for Paradise Gray, 42, of Wilkinsburg who sent out e-mails to hundreds of thousands via African-American list serves and Internet groups, such as the Luv4Self Network yesterday calling for a boycott of the film. You want to apologize to me? Mr. Gray says. Stop it. Black men so rarely are portrayed or presented as heroes in popular culture and the media that when the opportunity to do so arises, they should be, he says. It's so natural for Hollywood to assume that every hero is a white man, Mr. Gray wrote in his e- mail. Hollywood has always changed facts and edited history. From Charlton Heston as Moses and Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra. They are only continuing their tradition of whitewashing our history. He also criticized the black community for not speaking out more. The Jewish community's mantra is never forget while the black community's mantra is forgive and forget, he said. The black community should speak up every time this happens. Six years ago, there was a similar controversy surrounding
[scifinoir2] Re: Black hero has race changed in 911 movie]
There are now only 312 Black firefighters in the New York City Fire Department out of a total force of 11,350. They make up 2.7% of the fire department, in a city where 24.5% of the population is Black and nearly 50% is minority. The fire department is the city's least diverse municipal work force. Twelve Black firefighters gave their lives along with 332 other emergency personnel in the World Trade Center tragedy. Anyway, here's the link you asked for: http://www.pww.org/index.php/article/view/490/1/50/ The horrible events of 9/11 brought people together. But now there is an effort to destroy that unity. The statue planned to commemorate firefighters lost at the World Trade Center has generated much controversy and some thoughtful discussion. Should the monument depict a team, made up of an African American, a Latino, and a white firefighter raising the U.S. flag, as proposed by the artists? Or should it show three white firefighters, as in the news photograph of the World Trade Center flag-raising which suggested it? -- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Are you trying to tell me that the NYC firefighters actually claimed that *none* of the hundreds of firefighters on the scenes were Black??? That can't be possible. What about all the cops, Port Authority, transportation cops pressed into service, medics, doctors, etc? Got any links to this particular bit of info? -- Original message -- From: ravenadal [EMAIL PROTECTED] I find this interesting in light of all the flack the city of NYC took from NY firefighters when the city proposed erecting a 911 monument with one of the memorialized firefighters being black. The firefighters were adamant that since none of the 911 heros were black this would be the worse form of politcial correctness. ~(no)rave! --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Tracey de Morsella (formerly Tracey L. Minor) tdlists@ wrote: Original Message Subject: [AFAMHED] Black hero has race changed in 911 movie Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2006 13:16:34 -0400 From: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance bwatkins@ Reply-To: Boyce Watkins - Syracuse Finance bwatkins@ To: AFAMHED@ 'WTC' casting error draws flak from African-Americans Wednesday, August 16, 2006 By L.A. Johnson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06228/713723-254.stm A hero of another color in Oliver Stone's World Trade Center has some people again balking at the whitewashing of a black character in a Hollywood film. http://www.post-gazette.com/popup.asp?img=http://www.post-gazette.com/images4/20060815ap_wtchero_450.jpg Bebeto Matthews/The Associated Press *Jason Thomas of Columbus, Ohio, helped rescue Port Authority police officers John McLoughlin and Will Jimeno on 9/11. In Oliver Stone's movie, World Trade Center, a white actor was cast to portray Thomas. ** Click photo for larger image.* This time it's the character of Marine Sgt. Thomas, one of two former Marines who help rescue New York Port Authority Officers Will Jimeno and John McLoughlin from beneath 20 feet of twisted metal, broken concrete and sparking debris in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. In the film, white actor William Mapother -- who's Tom Cruise's cousin and who played Ethan Rom in the first season of Lost and Quecreek miner John Flathead Phillippi in ABC's The Pennsylvania Miners' Story -- plays Sgt. Thomas. Last week, the real Sgt. Thomas -- a black, former Marine named Jason Thomas of Columbus, Ohio -- came forward and told his story. Someone needed help. It didn't matter who, Thomas told the Associated Press. I didn't even have a plan. But I have all this training as a Marine, and all I could think was, 'My city is in need.' So, instead of heading to class at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice at City University of New York that fateful morning, he headed toward the devastation. At ground zero, he ran into another ex-Marine and Connecticut accountant, Staff Sgt. David Karnes, and the two decided to search for survivors. Eventually they found Jimeno and McLoughlin. Karnes, who couldn't reach Manhattan's 911 from his cell phone at ground zero, called his sister in Munhall, Joy Karnes. She helped relay information to New York emergency services that helped them pinpoint the trapped men's location. Film producer Michael Shamberg apologized to Thomas for the racial inaccuracy in the film, saying they realized the mistake only after production had already begun, the Associated Press reported. That apology comes a bit late for Paradise Gray, 42, of Wilkinsburg who sent out e-mails to hundreds of thousands via African-American list serves and Internet groups, such as the Luv4Self Network yesterday calling for a boycott of the film. You want to apologize to me? Mr. Gray says. Stop it. Black men so
[scifinoir2] Re: Black hero has race changed in 911 movie]
I wonder if during the development and production of World Trade Center was the following question asked of the two men that were rescued: What did the two men that rescued you look like? I'm not seeing the film... http://blog.thebayindogroup.com/ - Do you Yahoo!? Next-gen email? Have it all with the all-new Yahoo! Mail Beta. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
