Political Correctness gone too far

I didn’t know about the ‘controversy’ over a non-African American portraying Barack Obama on Saturday Night Live until today, having read this article. But I did watch the actual SNL skit last weekend, and thought it was a good impression. I actually thought the actor was Hispanic, so that shows how much I know. I honestly believe that people make a big deal over things that *really shouldn’t be a big deal,* instead of focusing on real issues.

The article notes that the selection for the actor was made based on merit and general likeness (the actor who played Barack was thin, with ears that stuck out slightly), not skin color:
“[SNL creator Lorne] Michaels said that the show auditioned ‘four to five’ actors for the Obama role, including Thompson. And the winner, he says, was based on merit. ‘When it came down to it, I went with the person with the cleanest comedy 'take' on’ Obama, Michaels said.”

The opposing viewpoint, posited by “Todd Boyd, a professor of critical studies at the University of Southern California” makes this argument: “…viewers might have a different reaction if the roles were reversed. What if, he says, ‘SNL’ had cast a black woman to portray Hillary Clinton? ‘Do you think there's ever going to be a day when we start casting Queen Latifah to portray Princess Diana?’ he asks. ‘We just don't have the same representations going in other direction. If we had as many examples of black actors playing white figures, no one would need to discuss it. But when you have a figure as historically important as Barack Obama . . . people can get mighty protective of his image.’”

I find that argument ridiculous. Comparing Queen Latifah and Princess Diana is just sensationalistic nonsense, considering the two are separated by at least 100 lbs. As such, there’s no reasonable explanation of why she would make a good impersonation. However, I think if a film were made with an African-American actress who could, in fact, closely resemble Princess Diana -- Halle Berry, for example -- then that would be fine. In fact, I think many people were regard it as great progress in race relations to have a black person portray a white one. Keep in mind that Cate Blanchett (a female) recently portrayed Bob Dylan (a male) in a movie about the singer’s life -- and I don’t think anyone cried “foul,” that it was sexist against men to have a woman play a man. So in the case of SNL, because the roles are reversed, it’s supposed to be some sort of racism? Nope. Not gonna buy that.