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Should Rachel Dolezal Play Beyoncé? #BoldCastingDecisions

Morgan Baila
June 10, 2016, 4:00 PM
Photo: Dave Allocca/StarPix/REX/Shutterstock.
Earlier this week, a Hollywood writer mentioned potential casting for a future film that has now become a hashtag on Twitter, pointing out all the ridiculous choices that could potentially come out of Hollywood. David Franzoni, who wrote Gladiator, spoke to The Guardian about a future project he was working on about the life of the poet Rumi. You have probably read a quote or two from him; the BBC reported was he the best-selling poet in America in 2014. Rumi was born in the (then) Persian Empire and wrote a bafflingly impressive amount of poetry in his lifetime — close to 70,000 pieces. He'd be 811 years old if he was still alive and a movie about him would pretty amazing. And guess who Hollywood wants to cast as Rumi? You know, a Persian poet; a Muslim preacher and scholar. How about...Leonardo DiCaprio? Oof. When news broke that the Franzoni was considering DiCaprio as Rumi, Twitter was quick to voice its disgust. But then, things escalated.
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Then, accidentally making matters worse, Twitter decided to feature the story on its Moments page, bringing a whole new slew of users into the fray. To further the conversation, someone decided to enact a conversation centered around two hashtags: #BoldCastingDecision and #Whitewashing. #BoldCastingDecision is basically a weird excuse for not casting a Persian man to play a Persian man. DiCaprio is a fantastic actor, as is Zoe Saldana, who was recently in the news for similar outrage for her role as singer and activist Nina Simone. But that doesn't mean they should play every ethnicity, ever. Has Hollywood really learned nothing? Of course, Twitter decided to take matters into its own hands. People have taken over the #BoldCastingDecision and are creating their own casts for future biopics. Rachel Dolezal as Beyoncé? Sure!
Emma Watson as Billie Holiday? Why not?!
The rest of the proposed #BoldCastingDecisions are as equally outrageous.
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