Consumers greeted the news that filmmaker and “Blackish” producer Kenya Barris is making “diverse” reboots of “The Wizard of Oz” and “It’s a Wonderful Life” with a long, belabored sigh.
Not again.
On-screen diversity in Hollywood has made tremendous strides in recent decades, but the modern DEI push to commandeer every available property is a bit much.
We routinely see white characters replaced by black actors, decisions that often yield positive results. Few, if any, complained when superstar Samuel L. Jackson became the MCU’s Nick Fury, a spy character originally depicted as white in Marvel Comics.
For all the hue and cry over Halle Bailey’s casting in “The Little Mermaid,” the young actress commanded the screen and more than held her own bringing those classic songs to life.
Yet revisiting classics for the sake of an Identity Politics “upgrade” feels…
