THE CULTURE WAR HAS NO PLACE IN THE CASTING ROOM:
Most disheartening about these banal debates is how little curiosity they show about what art might otherwise be capable of. No one asks what a black Helen of Troy might reveal about desire, beauty or war. No one asks what a contested casting choice might say about contemporary anxieties. No one asks if there are more profound relationships between actors and their characters than shared genetics. The conversation never manages to rise above the level of offence and entitlement.
This is what the culture war really boils down to: a philistine struggle to deliver a pre-approved message, as opposed to just letting artists crack on with making what they want to. It distrusts audiences to make sense of things for themselves. It squeezes out any room for imagination and interpretation. The upshot is a complete flattening of culture.
If Western cinema is to revive itself from the hollowed out zombie-industry it’s become, we must reject such black-and-white thinking. Art ought to be risky, unpredictable and open to exploring the full range of human experience – even ones that might make us uncomfortable. It’s high time to get the culture warriors out of the casting room.
QED:
Egypt hated Woke Cleopatra pic.twitter.com/HvxdDd7T38
— The Rabbit Hole (@TheRabbitHole) March 18, 2026