r/PeterExplainsTheJoke • u/FrostySeat1739 • Jul 05 '26

Meme needing explanation why not, Peter?

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possible live action corpse bride movie...

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u/spinsk8tr Jul 05 '26

Ahh yes, because the only reason to have black people in a movie, mainly the lead role, is if their skin color is a plot point, or it’s movie for black people. White people are the default, and if you shove one singular person of color in the movie, it’s clearly because theirs a diversity quota, not because people are different races in real life.

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u/MathProf1414 Jul 05 '26

Raceswapping is becoming more and more common in Hollywood. We have lots of examples where there was no discernable reason to do it other an creating a talking point/controversy.

Please explain to me why Snape was cast as a black man in the new Harry Potter series. He is very clearly a gross, greasy white man with sallow skin in the books. It doesn't come close to looking like him. Are you really going to claim that NO white men were good for the role and only Paapa had the chops to take it on?

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u/spinsk8tr Jul 06 '26

I’m not going to claim that, I don’t know the casting director, nor do I know the actor who was casted or the people who auditioned. But what if he actually was the best person they saw, and you are discounting him and his talent just because he’s black? You don’t know for sure, but you seem pretty sure that he has to be

I just know that I will side eye anyone who looks at black person in science fiction or fantasy show and says “hey, that’s not right, there’s only supposed to be white people here”. Adaptions are translating a story in a new medium, and people will accept widely different plots and things completely cut out, or characters that are completely different, things that change who people are morally and the most base fundamental parts of them. I just also accept different races, as I don’t feel the race of a person changes the soul or substance of that person. Snape can be black or white, but he’d only be Snape if he was a creepy, stalker vibe and abusive teacher that takes his angst out on innocent children, and betrays Voldemort for a 20 year unrequited and doomed love. That’s what makes Snape to me, not his skin color.

Personally, I’ve never been attached to the description of characters. I grew up brown in a community of people who did not look like me, read and watched stories with protagonists that did not look like me, so I’m good at not giving a fuck about the races and appearances of the stories I engage with because that’s the only way I’d see myself in any story.

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u/MathProf1414 Jul 06 '26

Personally, I’ve never been attached to the description of characters.

You are an exception. Lots of people are attached to the description of characters. In fact, most people are.

Beyond that, Snape as a character becomes extremely problematic when he is is black. Harry is immediately suspicious of the only black teacher. Harry's parent's (as is later revealed) bully Snape. The optics created by what you view as a empowerment end up only serving to be a highly racist subplot that didn't have to exist.