I am actually more disappointed in the show’s portrayal of Zeus than its portrayal of Achilles because, unlike Achilles, Zeus’s iconography is pretty much universally agreed upon. Where Does the Idea of a “Saint” Come From? Not only that, but it sends the message that black people have always been part of the western story, even since the very beginning. Roteiro. Give him long, curly hair and a beard, a himation, a thunderbolt, and maybe an eagle. David Gyasi is arguably all of those things. It is important to remember that Achilles’s appearance has always been open to a certain degree of interpretation. Buy HD $2.99 According to the Aithiopis, the Achaian hero Antilochos, the son of Nestor, killed Memnon’s dear comrade Aisopos on the field of battle, so Memnon killed Antilochos. Again don’t speak about things you don’t understand yourself (books exist). Hugh Grant stars in this drama from Doctor Who/Sherlock writer Russell T Davies, which adapts John Preston’s book about the scandal that surrounded Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe. Most people “know” that Achillies is white and not black. It's where your interests connect you with your people. They also had to create a history for themselves because they have none. He wasn’t sure, but I said, ‘If the President of America can be black, you can be Spider-Man’. Aside from his son’s interest, his 18-year-old daughter attends a performing arts school. “Achilles has been led to believe he’ll kill some people in battle and put an end to it, but they keep coming and you see him wondering when will it end. Ways to Watch. And should not be assumed! I don’t why people have a problem with with Black actors playing the part of Zeus and Achilles. He was renowned as one of the greatest warriors who ever fought and was on par with Achilles. Memnon was such an epic warrior that the ancient Greeks actually had an epic poem about him (well, partly about him at least) called the Aithiopis, which was five books in length and part of the so-called “Epic Cycle.” Unfortunately, the poem itself has now been lost, but several summaries of its contents have survived. It is a decision productions are free to make as long as they own the reception, good or bad. Black Panther worked great. This doesn’t necessarily mean anything, however, since, in Greek black-figure vase paintings, all men are portrayed with black skin and all women are portrayed with white skin. It is, I think potentially dangerous to dismiss all who found the criticized the casting as racist. If anything, Gyasi is even more chilled out — perhaps because of confidence in the show, but also the simple familiarity of home. When Containment, an American thriller series which he led, wasn’t recommissioned, he flew straight back to London for Alex Garland’s Ex Machina follow-up, Annihilation, feeling positive. The same goes for stories set in other parts of the world. (I am going on the picture that you posted, I wouldn’t have noticed that she has red hair unless you said). We are all humans. So it is okay to have an English king portrayed by a black actor, or a Greek god, etc, but it is most definitely NOT okay for a white actor to play Malcolm X or Shaka Zulu or Kublai Khan. I think that the reason of the depiction of Achilles is controversial and Aphrodite as are did not is not hypocriticasy. West London born, British Ghanaian actor David Gyasi is one of those quietly talented actors who you don't realise their star power until you see them on your screen. 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Why not just get Greek actors, or at least those with a stereotypical ‘Mediterranean’ physical appearance? Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window). Unfortunately, in many cases, these features are exaggerated in what we would consider a racist manner. Required fields are marked *. None of this is to say that there is anything wrong per se with cross-racial casting. A lot of people have a hard time buying or even understanding the argument why “colorblind casting” is considered good when it benefits black actors than when it benefits white. Modern representations of Memnon more consistently show him as a black African. Why? The heroes were evenly matched and they fought for a long time before Achilles finally stabbed Memnon through the heart with his spear, killing him. The visual difference between a white blond Greek and a dark bald African is much more noticeable than the difference between a blond white women and a white woman with red hair, that looks almost blond. Fairly good article. In giving the role of Achilles to David Gyasi, the casting executives gave a talented black actor the opportunity to get ahead. https://hollywood.greekreporter.com/2018/01/19/why-is-achilles-never-greek-in-hollywood/. One of the first scenes was with a baby fairy washing up on the beach — I read it just as those images of the Syrian boy on a Turkish beach were in the news. The aithiopian of Homer and early Greeks weren’t black but Near Eastern while the Aithiopian from Vth century (and later) were seen as subsaharan african. No beard. The black characters Troy: Fall of a City left out. On a sunny afternoon last summer outside Cape Town, on the set of BBC One’s eight-part epic retelling of the Trojan Wars, Troy: Fall of a City, David Gyasi has the strut in his step to prove it. Achilles was most recently played on screen by blond, blue-eyed Brad Pitt in 2004’s Troy. David Farr; Produtores . I’m sorry, I can’t. I am from Denmark myself and if I saw a portrayal of gods and goddesses from Nordic mythology portrayed by people other than Scandinavians I would it strange and forced to put it mildly. “Ridiculous [that] Zeus, Achilles and Patriculus [are] all of African descent,” read one message. The most famous Aithiopian in Greek mythology is Memnon, the king of Aithiopia, who was an ally of the Trojans during the Trojan War and led a massive army of Aithiopians against the Achaians. Nestor, Antilochos’s father, begged Achilles to kill Memnon and avenge Antilochos’s death. With Netflix releasing Troy globally after its BBC One debut, stardom could come his way sooner than he thinks. I do think it is also important that not to assume to many people care too much about these things. An engraving by the French engraver Bernard Picart (lived 1673 – 1733), for instance, clearly depicts him as such. David Gyasi, a London-born actor of Ghanaian descent, plays the role of Achilles in the BBC’s and Netflix’ miniseries Troy: Fall of a City. Andromache (Chloe Pirrie) receives both good news and bad. When I imagine a stereotypical Greek woman I always think of Maria Callas. I can totally understand them making Zeus black, but, come on guys, you’ve got to keep at least some part of the traditional iconography to make him recognizable as Zeus. He could change to mimic any form, why he would choose African when approaching Greeks is beyond me but still, it’s plausable. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. We try to make the characters believable. So there is over representation in most major media categories and have been for at least the past ten years. … BBC / The Little Drummer Girl Distribution Limited. Do you think it unusual Achilles' (David Gyasi) shock attack on Troy's ally Cilicia devastates the Trojans and puts the spotlight on Helen (Bella Dayne). This show is so bad on so many levels. As usual, you skillfully separate the concerns of people who genuinely *care* about ancient culture and artistic integrity from the popular misconceptions of those who seek to appropriate every cultural artifact they can in the service of contemporary if regressive political power. You can find our Community Guidelines in full here. This strongly signals to me that all the outrage online over Zeus and Achilles being portrayed as black is not really outrage over the fact that the characters look different from how they are traditionally portrayed, but rather outrage over the fact that traditionally white characters are being portrayed specifically as black. Troy: Fall of a City, coprodução épica da Netflix com a BBC, atraiu críticas no Twitter por sua escalação do ator britânico/ganense David Gyasi como Aquiles, … See how ridiculous that is when you apply that sort of logic globally. The ever-reliable Sarah Lancashire is unconventional social worker Miriam, who finds herself being blamed. The experience has made him sanguine about the industry. Why would they change a character so completely but try to mimic the rest? Your email address will not be published. While the community response to the former inspired him — “I was in the gym and wanted to go: ‘That’s my city!’ I lifted heavier and ran longer that day” — he followed the social media response to the latter with mounting horror. Season 1 2018 TV-NR. Because of this, the ancient Greeks said their skin was burnt black by the heat of the sun. Drama. That’s why the Norse gods looked like Scandinavian and had Scandinavian values. What must it be like to suck the life out of hundreds of men, to see the light go out of their eyes? However I forgave these poor choices in favour of the historical accuracy, the ships, the costumes, the props, I was trying my hardest to get on board up until I saw Achilles. I am currently a student at Indiana University Bloomington pursuing a double major in classical studies and history. I found that hard to handle — I wasn’t sure how I would do six months, then I took communion in this amazing church and got talking to a white guy called Henrik. He’d been homeless for eight years but never missed a service — it was the only church where he didn’t feel judged.”, Gyasi’s faith has guided him countless times, not least when he considered giving up acting to become a PE teacher in 2010. “I’d done some good work but I needed to challenge myself,” he explains. f ever there was a role to make a star, it’s the Greek demigod Achilles. After spending half the family’s savings on moving to LA, changing manager and moving in with the in-laws on his return, the outlook was bleak. People can portray myths however they like. ITV and Amazon's remake of William. If Genghis Khan was played by a red headed Irishmen or Cleopatra as a blonde haired blue eyed Scandinavian the masses would question the director’s racial thought process. In fact, they even feature prominently in the story of the Trojan War itself; there are several highly significant, canonically black characters in the story of the Trojan War that Troy: Fall of a City completely omitted. I think that is something different than thinking that black people shouldn’t be in a story seen as western. Scandinavia 1000 years ago had a more homogenenous population than today and pretending otherwise is to my mind silly. Bella Dayne Helena de Tróia; Louis Hunter Paris; Aimee-Ffion Edwards Cassandra; Alex Lanipekun Pândaro; Amy Louise Wilson Briseis; Carl Beukes Diomedes; Chloe Pirrie Andrómaca; Chris Fisher Deiphobus; Chris Fisher Dêifobo; Christiaan Schoombie Troillus; David Avery Xanthius; David Gyasi Achilles; Garion Dowds … After a series of small but significant roles in big films including Tom Tykwer’s Cloud Atlas and Christopher Nolan’s Intersellar he’s absorbed in discovering the man behind the myth of history’s greatest warrior. It is not an adaption of Homer's Iliad or Odyssey but rather an original take on the Greek myths, and covers some ground only alluded to in those works. Release Calendar DVD & Blu-ray Releases Top Rated Movies Most Popular Movies Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Showtimes & Tickets In Theaters Coming … His father’s initial resistance — “My choices were lawyer, doctor or engineer” — crumbled after seeing his son play Prospero at college but Gyasi faces a similar dilemma. Have a Dixie day! The term blackwashing makes this clear. He is usually seen holding either a scepter or a thunderbolt. Further racist backlash against “Black Achilles” April 6th, 2018 In January Pharos documented a racist site commenting on the casting of David Gyasi to play Achilles in the BBC’s miniseries Troy: Fall of a City. English. Filmed in Wales and Prague, Jez Butterworth’s historical drama is set in 43AD, when Roman General Aulus (David Morrissey) is attempting to conquer the Celts. Now I saw Zeus too, but had no idea who he was meant to be until I read this article. All Videos. The Memnon shown in the portrait head from the Berlin Antikensammlung is reported to have been an extraordinarily talented student and orator, whom Herodes Atticus loved greatly. I kept wondering all through the first episode, “Who is the black guy in the cloak with the deep voice?”. Or have I missed your point with writing it? Troy: Fall of a City, coprodução épica da Netflix com a BBC, atraiu críticas no Twitter por sua escalação do ator britânico/ganense Where is the honour? All this being said, I think that there is quite a bit of hypocrisy here when it comes to the people complaining about how the producers of Troy: Fall of City chose to portray mythical figures. Hakeem Kae-Kazim (“Black Sails”) … No scepter. Comentários com insultos ou que podem gerar brigas são deletados. A bitter dispute erupts between Agamemnon (Johnny Harris) and Achilles. But it would not have any inherent value by itself. We resume our conversation some months later at BFI Southbank. We’re going to have eight episodes of this and no good will come of it.”. Likewise, Troy: Fall of a City is a fictional television series. Achilles was most recently played on screen by blond, blue-eyed Brad Pitt in 2004’s Troy. Certainly some people really are just pedantic and even you found the depiction of Zeus a bit confusing. Carey Mulligan plays Detective Inspector Kip Glaspie, who investigates. It means nothing for someone seeking self-worth, greatness and legacy. Interpretations can change and in our world it seems to be about sending a political signal which is okay, because that is how it works. “I’ve been going to the gym six days a week, eating every three hours, protein shakes, no rice or bread… Achilles is a graceful, elegant killer, so I was doing my wife’s [Emma, a dance teacher] class in preparation.”. In all honesty, if I had been in charge of the show, I probably wouldn’t have chosen to portray Achilles as black, but I am not at all angry that the people who did the casting for Troy: Fall of a City chose to make him black. The racist backlash against this casting has not, however, been confined to … I had just finished reading the great book “Song of Achilles” and built up a mental picture of what Achillies may have looked like. I was just getting in to the show, I had only just managed to get over the poor casting choices of the other characters. Arguing the skin-color of Greek gods is ridiculous, in my opinion. The portrait head in the Berlin Antikensammlung does not depict the mythical Aithiopian king Memnon, but it does depict Herodes Atticus’s adoptive son and protégé, who was named “Memnon” after the mythical Aithiopian king. My guess is the majority of people would have preferred a white actor, but don’t see it as important. That isn’t oppression, that’s marketing. We have costumes for a reason. because of racism? “Imagine the reaction if they [had] done a doc about Nelson Mandela and … Regarding redhead Aphrodite, they probably take her look from Botticelli’s rendition of Venus, which is rather known. ABOVE: David Gyasi as Achilles in the 2018 BBC One miniseries Troy: Fall of a City. They would have looked like Greek people. They make up well over 13% of artists in the music industry, there are entire TV networks dedicated to showing Exclusively black Created content and over the past decade approximately 20% of film roles have been played by black actors. Sean, that is one seriously lazy and poorly-argued post. By giving traditionally white roles to Black actors, makers of films and television shows can help give those actors the opportunity for success. The same character was played in the 2004 film Troy by Brad Pitt. Assuming everything is racist is in it’s self racist in my eyes as it’s drawing clear lines in the sand where there aught not be. To be very clear here, I am not mad over this; I was just confused and a little disappointed. You do what you can for the next generation — there’s hope there. In my view Brad Pitt as Achilles is as stupid as David Gyasi. Any Bollywood movies which are screened in the USA need to have 13% of the cast be black. Any attempt to have a white actor play a role of a prominent black historical figure would likely meet with enough backlash that the production would have to change their choice or be shut down. Even if you know nothing about Greek mythology, you probably know that Zeus looks like this: ABOVE: Photograph from Wikimedia Commons of an ancient Greek marble statue of Zeus wielding his thunderbolt from the city of Smyrna in Asia Minor, dating to roughly the third century AD, ABOVE: Photograph from Wikimedia Commons of the Otricoli Zeus, a Roman marble head of Zeus on display in the Pio-Clementine Vatican Museum, ABOVE: Photograph from Wikimedia Commons of an ancient Roman marble colossal head of Zeus from the British Museum, ABOVE: Photograph from Wikimedia Commons of a gold slater of Zeus from Lampsakos dating to c. 360 – c. 340 BC, ABOVE: Photograph from Wikimedia Commons of a Roman bronze and marble sculpture of Zeus enthroned with an eagle by his side, probably based on the earlier Greek Statue of Zeus at Olympia by Pheidias, ABOVE: Minerva and the Triumph of Jupiter, painted in 1706 by the French Neoclassical painter René-Antoine Houasse, ABOVE: Modern portrayal of Zeus I found on Google Images.