A Much Needed Re-Vamp AND Race-Specific Roles

First things first, blogspot is acting up shit so it may take a while before this blog looks vaguely functional again.

I haven't been here for months because I have a life now and things (important things) have gotten in the way. I am still working on projects that were mentioned here previously (The Twilight thing, Alternatively), but going a different way about both. "Twilight" will be completed in full before I post each chapter here month by month. Alternatively is being completely re-written as a novel that may take me years to finish.

In other news, I've had a long year. A very long and meaningful self-searching type of year. And I've discovered that I really don't like most of this blog anymore. I want to change it. This blog has been very me-centric since its creation and I'm just about sick of that now. This blog started out being an unconventional method of me extending my trivial frustrations to the rest of the world and I have no reason to do that anymore. So no more rants about random stereotypes, if anything were to come out of that topic it would be a long article about stereotyping happens. That's not to say this is gonna some hippie "meaning of life" vibe to it from now on. Sometimes it probably will, but not always.

From time I might throw in a comment here or there about a project that I'm working on. But the point here is that this blog is no longer about that on a whole. Some of my older posts have been deleted for either exposing to much of my personal info or just serving no purpose whatsoever. I couldn't find it in me to delete a few of the old ones. But they just may go eventually too. I have no idea when I'll update this again.

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AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!

I was surfing the net the other day and stumbled upon a Broadway fansite that had spawned an everlasting argument about whether some roles were race-specific. Specifically, Glinda of Wicked:

And while it makes perfect sense to assume that this character should be played by a white woman because the character has been casted almost exclusively as white women (and in some cases Asians), does this mean that the role is racially exclusive to white women?

I vote "No". I believe this role should be open to women of any race given that they have the talent and ability required to play it. It's been done before (there's been a few cases of understudies or standbys who are black taking over for a night). First of all, the argument that usually is brought up would be "G(a)linda is blonde. We can't re-write the script to erase all references to her defining feature."

Right. Because never...


In the history of forever...



Has there ever...


Been a dark-skinned woman pulling off the blonde look...ever. There are many different shades of blonde in the world. I have a hard time believing none of them could suit a black (or hispanic, or any) woman. Would it take a bit longer for wigmakers to do their job because they'd have to discover the perfect shade for the actress? Yes. But the point here is a black woman can be blonde and since there is no specific mention of what shade of blonde Glinda's hair is, it would be fair to give her any.

Glinda's main claim to fame in the musical is being blonde and aside from that, ambitious and rich. (Not her entire character, mind you, just the memorable bits) Being "ethnic" should not keep someone from being either of those things, and Glinda has never been given a specific race according to the script (Actually, the only characters that have come close are Elphaba- who is green- and Doctor Dillamond- who is a Goat). And while some roles (such as those in Hairspray or The Wiz) are pretty much exclusive to the races they were written for, the ones from Wicked are not.

At least I think so. What do you think? Leave a comment and don't be afraid to disagree.

Two Parts: Jamaica Land We Love

RANTING

I take YouTube seriously. But I don't have a proper camera right now. And all the ideas that my friends and I had about all sorts of cool videos that show Jamaica in a better light have been put on hold. For once, I'm not even thinking of shallow YouTube fame. There are millions of vloggers and comedians on YT that never get noticed. So it's not about that. I'm just so very tired of seeing the negative light that is shining over Jamaica all over the media. YouTube is filled with idiotic high school boys who, though they may be bright, tend to act like well...boys. They post retarded videos of them pretending to fight one another, "hitting" each other with chairs, cussing and throwing things. All the while, they wear their uniforms. It LOOKS BAD.

Let me say something to all those who watch these videos and having never been to, lived in, or been educated in Jamaica, don't know the intellectual capacity of the average Jamaican: It's rather simple. Most Jamaicans are bright. And capable of so much more than childish behaviour and play fighting. You see those boys who are throwing chairs at each other? Most of them are probably going to get extremely high marks on an examination that most Americans couldn't pass without college-level preparation before they turn 18. Most of them have the ability to gain an edge over you in the working world because American employers know that Jamaican schools push their students. We don't excel because we have a backbone and spoon-feeder in our teachers. We excel because the majority of them don't do shit. And we have to rely on ourselves to get into Ivy League colleges. You call these people ignorant, poor and ugly. Potheads, rastas, ghetto yutes, etc. It doesn't matter. We push even harder.

And to all Jamaicans who have lost your self-respect and somehow feel that this is the necessary way to get attention: STOP IT! Bugger off. STFU! Because you make us look bad. Jamaica itself gives so much way for comedy and art and eediat pickney wah step up and call demself star cau' dem tro a bokkle affa anedda yute. Dat mek sense? Stooooop. Gawd.

JAMteenz [that's the name my peeps and I came up with] was formed to help give Jamaican teens a chance to express themselves without being completely foolish. It's about comedy, art, dance and politics. And its coming whenever we get a camera....
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CUZ MI a JAMAICAN!!

[Based off of the "Cause I am..." series on YouTube.]
Any recreation or publication of this blog must be requested by the publisher to the creator,Nikii G(c), or I swear I will hunt you down. Blogspot has a date stamp. It should also be noted that this was written for the sake of satire. I have nothing against Jamaicans, black people, rastafarians, white people, teenage mothers or Bob Marley's libido. Thank You.

So there've been a lot of stereotypes about Jamaicans running around and I just want to make sure you've got them all perfect.

I know all of Bob Marley's illegitimate children.
-Cuz mi a Jamaican.

I live in a house made of zinc.
-Cuz mi a Jamaican.

I got pregnant five times before I turned twelve.
-Cuz mi a Jamaican.

I cannot speak proper English.
-Cuz mi a Jamaican.

"Ah tauk laik dis oll di taim, mon"
-Cuz mi a Jamaican.

I'm black.
-Cuz mi a Jamaican.

I'm rastafarian.
-Cuz mi a Jamaican.

I own a donkey
-Cuz mi a Jamaican.

I can beat an Olympic world record without even trying.
-Cuz mi a Jamaican.

I've never seen a white person before.
-Cuz mi a Jamaican.