#all the actors/actresses are amazing
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teafiend · 4 months ago
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Am happily surprised to find that this latest drama adaptation has my favourite portrayal of Guo Jing (although the actor is not really my cup of tea visuals wise but am more concerned about portrayal and characterization than looks when it comes to my favourite male fictional characters. Aesthetics wise, though, I think Ci Sha is a perfect GJ as is described in the books. And the actor is very compelling and attractive in his own ways).
Ci Sha brought out the Guo Jing of my ideals and I am enamored with his portrayal, an especially steady and composed version of GJ, yet still wonderfully kind and gentle, earnest, chivalrous and generous. And he is so expressively devoted and loving *squee and swoon* towards HR 😍🤩✨🫡 Also a super-dogged bodyguard extraordinaire who can take instructions well ✨🫡☺️🥰 And his Wuxia moves are exceedingly magnificent and cool 👏🏽
This version is also particularly amazing at highlighting the relationship dynamics between my favourite OTP. So many little details in the pairing to make me squee in shipper-fangirl delight ✨🫡🥰☺️
(To be fair, I think all the versions of JingRong - and individual GJ and HR - did the pair justice, and simply a matter of preference which who one prefers. I love all the JingRong I have ever watched, and each brings a different flavour of fabulous to this evergreen pairing/and characters).
I just LOVE, LOVE them to bits ✨🤩🥰☺️🥹 They are literally the perfect canon OTP (JingRong forever✨)
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falllpoutboy · 1 year ago
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the actress who played lamina did an excellent job with literally no lines and limited screentime bc whenever she was on screen you felt her anguish of just being there and having to participate in the games. when she cut down marcus you can tell she had a gentle soul and empathized with his suffering
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lilidawnonthemoon · 4 months ago
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#The Atypical Family#I haven’t enjoyed/ been so moved by a drama in a very long time ❤️#just finished it I cried so much & SO hard haha#I was completely immersed and engaged from beginning to end which is rare (12 eps is a good length too)#I didn’t expect it to have so much depth and be so touching going into it I just wanted something different#mental illnesses complex interesting characters complicated -toxic- family relationships fantasy fated lovers found family...#well written and WONDERFULLY acted!!#the whole cast was amazing but the two leads were just outstanding wow#never saw either of them in big roles and now I’m a huge fan of both#Chun Woo Hee I’m so in love with you#I’m usually more touched by the female lead (actress/character) but the male lead actor was acting his ass off and made me SOB many times#his scenes with his daughter Ina oh I was a MESS and of course the lead couple scenes together <3#I also haven’t been that impressed by romance lately in shows but theirs was truly beautiful (and again: really well acted)#I could relate to parts of most characters: Dahae Donghee Gwiju Ina..#a poetic emotional rollercoaster and my favorite drama this year so far (by far)#now I want to carry on watching Queen of Tears (mainly for my Queen Kim Jiwon I’m her number one fan) and watch Lovely Runner too#but it will be hard to beat this one and I highly recommend it!!#deserved more love & attention#my mom loved it too it standed out to her and she watches ALL the kdramas lol#forgot to mention the magical OST I see you by the oh so great Lee Sora and her bewitching voice <3#I also haven’t been so moved by an ost in a long time it added so much to the atmosphere of the drama & really transported me into its worl#korean drama#2024#shots#cinematography#jang ki yong#cheon wo hee#Claudia Kim#park soyi
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starsstardust · 1 year ago
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What the fuck did I just watch? That was a freaking masterpiece. Like??? I cried? And I felt elated? And I still don't know whether what they did was right or not? But idfc anymore? THE CINEMATOGRAPHY!!! THE MUSIC!!! JISUNG'S ACTING!!! Take a bow. The last time I was this invested and scared for the entire time was when I was watching Beyond Evil.
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longagoitwastuesday · 2 months ago
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Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie as Heathcliff and Cathy seems like out of The Onion
#Who knows maybe they'll be amazing like how Tom Hardy is able to pull being an amazing Heathcliff#But I doubt it I've never been into any of their roles much idk#And also#Couldn't they just#Even if they were amazing#Couldn't they just cast amazing people that actually fit the air vibes and look of the characters?#And not just some actors that are popular at the moment of the process of filming?#Besides very popular actors playing very popular characters is always ALWAYS wrong#I don't understand at all#And in 2024 year of our lord or whatever how do you cast a white man as Heathcliff? With all the significance it has?#Have you read the book or only wikiquote?#I think Jacob Elordi is a better fit than some others before him. At least he has some charm and you could believe he could throw a punch#But. Couldn't they just. Cast a man that also has physical presence but that fits the description of the book#and is not the pretty boy of the moment? It's detrimental for such an iconic character that the actor is that well known#and Heathcliff being non white is key. How do you mess that up every time ahfkabdkskd or#This will sprout more obligatory Dev Patel fancast and I don't want to see that either#Dev Patel is also famous and doesn't fit Heathcliff at all in vibes or looks. He is lanky and soft faced#Those fancasts always sit so wrong on me#Won't even talk about Margot Robbie as Cathy. The vibes are all wrong. She could have been Catherine Linton perhaps when she was twenty#But as Cathy? Cathy Earnshaw? All the wrong vibes#Truly like out of The Onion what is this mess#I talk too much#I should probably delete this later#Weren't they going to make an East of Eden adaptation that also had Famous Actress of the Moment as Cathy Ames?#Why do they always do that? Don't they know it's always shit? ahfkabdkskd#Why do the Dev Patel fancasts sit wrong on me? Because they feel lazy and kinda racist#You know one very famous non black actor of colour and cast him as Heathcliff. Come on. There's more people in the world#There's more actors of colour. There's more Indian actors. Many of them must be amazing and many of them are not famous#and many of them must resemble Heathclif's air and looks way more than Patel. Who is amazing but is not a good choice here#Tbh WH fancasts always kinda give 'Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie as Heathcliff and Cathy' to me haha
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suuho · 9 months ago
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twitter kdrama stans would rather take a recycled romance drama over a well-written, well-executed, fascinating genre piece, and it never fails to annoy the fuck out of me. they would rather have a boring y/n fantasy than allow an actor to expand their career and do something fundamentally more interesting than just kissing their co-star in three slow-mo scenes. they behave like it's a failure if actors don't choose romcoms/romance dramas, and i wonder when this obsession will end, and we can finally make room for more interesting career trajectories.
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afnanbaty · 22 days ago
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idk-i-want-mcl-content · 3 months ago
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i'm sorry for my mutuals but i promise i will be really annoying and spamming the devon illu the sacred day i get it because!!!!!!!!!! also wanted to add, the man's wearing my favorite color like hello!!!!!!! ALSO also, i was thinking the other day about mcl ng + barbenheimer and in my head i thought "between those two, devon would absolutely go watch barbie (in his profile it says that he dislikes science and the movie is about making a fucking aTOMIC BOMB) and Thomas would go watch Oppenheimer" AND WOULDN'T YOU KNOW IT THEY ARE WEARING BARBENHEIMER COLORS come on noww, the story tells itself (i'm of course joking, just 'cause someone wears pink and someone wears black it's not automatically barbenheimer but you know what i mean lol) think about roy + i'm just ken, i'm so like SOLD on the idea of him saying "can you feeeeel the kenergy" OR or, her asking him for something at work really serious and Roy hasn't finished yet, but doesn't want to make her mad, so he would say "well idk what you want me to do, I'm just ken" (roy's my third route can u tell lol)
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rwbyofmyheart · 10 months ago
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OMG I JUST WATCHED THE MUSIC VIDEO FOR “Love Wins All” AND I’M FLOORED
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Both IU and V’s acting was top tier, I’m trying not to cry rn because of how beautiful it was 😭
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dribs-and-drabbles · 2 years ago
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Crying. Screaming. Throwing up.
If you want thriller and cool, watch Midnight Motel. If you want to laugh out loud, watch Dirty Laundry. If you want to cry and be dramatic, watch Moonlight Chicken.
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red1ight · 1 year ago
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the gatsby musical was.. good, nothing fantastic but overall enjoyable. i thought the second act was better than the first, but in general the majority songs were a bit pop-y for what I was hoping to get from a great gatsby musical and not super memorable. I thought the book & lyrics were a bit on the nose at times, a bit heavy handed on what they intended for the major take-aways, especially coming from a source material that if I recall correctly had a lot of subtlety and metaphor.. and there was a little too much straightforward exposition. gatsby's big showstopping number came a bit too early in the show imo, but it definitely showcased jeremy jordan's voice, and he was, of course, fantastic btw. And eva noblezada has such a beautiful beautiful voice I really loved hearing everything she sang, even if I didn't love the songs themselves. I thought the best number though was myrtle wilson's big song in the second act, though I probably would change the staging up a bit for that one.. the set pieces were cool, it was overall very beautiful to look at, if a little too much projection. I think there were a bit more practical set pieces in the second act which I liked.. but yeah overall not bad I'm curious to see if it will go to broadway, but i would hope they would tweak some things
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wingsy-keeper-of-songs · 1 year ago
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Me: *watching Most Dangerous Game: New York Flavored* This one is leagues better than Littlest Cancer Patient Liam Hemsworth.
Also me: Why is Victor's sister so goddamn stupid and why does that make me so mad??
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whirlinglikeaballet · 1 month ago
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RANT TIME ‼️‼️‼️
#the cast list came out and your girl is not pleased#I won’t say what show it is or anything bc i’m paranoid abt creepy stalkers finding me or whatever lol#but basically i worked really really REALLY hard for MONTHS for this certain role#and it’s a role well within my vocal range and typecast and stuff#at auditions and callbacks i read for it a lot of times and like a million people (some i’m friends with and some i’m not) came up to me#and told me what a good job i did or that i’d be perfect for the role etc etc#and i tried not to get my hopes up but i kinda was because i REALLY wanted it and i worked REALLY hard for it#and everyone was pretty positive at the end of callbacks that it came down to me and one other girl#now. this other girl. where do i even begin#let’s call her joanne#(that’s not her real name i swear)#now joanne is my least favorite person in this town- maybe this county- maybe this state- perhaps this country#she is the most irritating girl i have ever endured the presence of. she believes wholeheartedly that she is the best singer and#the best actress and the all-around best person in the entire world#she goes around telling people she has zero insecurities and being mean to her friends and ARGHHHHH when i tell you i cannot be around her#you see where this is going don’t you#so basically joanne told everyone that this other role in the show#a completely different role than what i was going for#is her ultimate dream role and the one she wants#so she doesn’t want the role i want at all and the two of us were obviously the top two contenders for it#but the thing is that the directors are OBSESSED with joanne. they fawn over her and feed her already-unbearably-inflated ego#and they’ve given her leads in shows before (keep in mind that they’ve cut me in shows before)#but since the times they’ve cut me I’ve actually come so so so far as an actor like i’ve played leads and they’ve SEEN ME play leads and#TOLD ME that i did amazing#but GUESS WHAT THEY DID???? i bet you’ll never guess!!!!#joanne got the role i wanted#i got a role too but it’s definitely on the smaller side and oh. here’s the kicker. i’ve PLAYED THIS ROLE BEFORE. VERY RECENTLY.#and they knew that!!! yet they cast me as her again!!!#and it would be fine (or at least better) if joanne was GOOD as this role#lav speaks
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very-lost-hobbit · 4 months ago
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the K-Drama Save Me is SO good- the character writing, the acting, the cinematography? *chef's kiss*!!!!!!!! It's a heavy and emotional watch, but if you have the time and energy for a 16 episode series I definitely recommend it! 👍 The summary on Tubi is a little funny though, it lures you in with the promise of four precocious young men and then you realize just how many characters are a part of this
#save me kdrama#NOT FOR THE FAINT HEARTED IF YOU HAVE RELIGIOUS TRAUMA THOUGH ESPECIALLY OF THE XTIAN KIND#bad with names but the lead actress is SO GOOD oh my god I rooted for her SO HARD- CANNOT say enough about how good she was#Also all 4 of the main boys have my entire heart too but especially Dong Chul justice for my boy Dong Chul 😭🤎#I recognize two of the actors from bring it on ghost and honestly? The goofy streamer guy? King of comedic relief side characters I ADORE 😭#Also the other guy the govorner's son is amazing too and the big guy being the heart of the friend group? He is BIG and STRONG#he can lift his friends up physically AND emotionally 😭🤎#the semi-criminal haircutting dude in the hawiian shirt? 👀 😳#the curly haired villain is SO much fun to hate he is SO horrible to his core the actor for him is GREAT#the creepy pastor is great too though and the apostle Kang lady too everyone is SO GOOD#Also literally so many different plotlines HOW did they manage to mostly satisfy me with only 16 episodes I am in AWE#that's some damn ~GOOD WRITING~ babey!!!#UPDATE I had to search and Dong Chul's actor is OLDER than me so I no longer feel weird thinking he's pretty. so yeah that too lmao#and also an excellent actor I really really FELT for that boy. The proof is he's the only name I remember#(I am infamously bad at character names regardless but it's worse when it's a show in a language I don't speak)#this tag wall is so long but I have ~thoughts and feelings~#posts that are probably for no one but me but it's MY tumblr blog so I'm making them anyways#kat gets personal#me
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nexus-nebulae · 4 months ago
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watching the spirited away stage play over and over just for the background spirits (and the songs)
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superanimepirate · 3 months ago
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I would like to, respectfully, add an example of a blind actor playing a character who is blind and can "see" in different ways:
Bruce Horak as Leutienent Hemmer from Star Trek Strange New Worlds
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Horak is legally blind, and his character is an alien race called the Aenar who are blind and telepathic! Hemmer is also the chief engineer!
Exploring How Toph Beifong Could Be Played By A Blind Actress and Refuting Reasons Some People Believe She Couldn’t
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[Image Description: Toph Beifong from Avatar: The Last Airbender. She is waving her hand in front of her face after joking that she spotted the great library, tricking the Gaang only to remind them that she is blind. She rides on Appa who is flying above a desert landscape. End I.D.]
The live-action adaptation of season 2 of Avatar: The Last Airbender is underway. This means people are discussing Toph again, much like they did during pre-production of season 1. I have seen and even participated in promoting the idea of Toph being portrayed by a blind actress. Similarly, I have come across push-back against the idea.
Instead of if Toph Should Be Portrayed by a Blind Actress, Let’s Focus on How She Could
(should and could are bolded for emphasis)
This post will address common misconceptions that serve as barriers to the idea of a blind actress portraying Toph.
A Few Notes Before We Start
These points come from posts on online forums, YouTube comments on videos related to the casting of Toph, and tumblr posts. No one will be specifically called out here, as while these points may be attributed to certain individuals online, they represent much wider views that are shared by many, even without malicious intent. These common misconceptions stem from unchecked ableism and general lack of information. Keep in mind that my intention is not to call out any individual person, as ableism is a widespread, collective problem. The reasons I refuted in this post showed up repeatedly and were not isolated opinions of one or two people.
1. No, it would not be too difficult to find an actress who is Asian, blind, and the right age
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[Image Description: Toph as The Blind Bandit uses earthbending to create three pillars of rock that shoot at an angle from the ground and smash into her opponent, throwing him against the arena wall. End I.D.]
This point suggests that it is difficult to find candidates fitting Toph’s description. I suspect this is due to racism and ableism, in that a white and abled person is considered default and therefore believed to be more common, especially by Western studio standards. This is not truly the case. People of color and disabled people are auditioning, especially for the comparatively few roles that seek them out specifically, such as Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Blind Asian people exist. Some of these people are also actresses. Some have backgrounds in dance or martial arts, especially because many actors do similar activities to increase endurance and versatility. Finding a pre-teen or teenager to play Toph would not be as challenging as many people believe, especially those who already underestimate the amount of blind people in the world and their abilities.
Those who argue this point may be under the impression that a blind actress would be out of reach due to low numbers and lack of interest in auditioning. Blind people are auditioning. The reason you don’t see them on screen is because most of them are ignored in favor of abled actors. For example, in this video, Molly Burke discusses not being chosen to play a blind character whom she was told was based on her own life. The actress chosen to play the character was not blind. You can watch it here.
Additionally, Netflix has the ability to hold a widespread casting call. They are not a tiny studio doing productions in someone’s backyard. They have access to a wider pool of actresses than the average person might think, particularly if said person is not familiar with the resources big studios often have at their disposal.
In fact, Netflix is doing just that. Below is a link to their casting call, which encourages blind and low vision actresses to audition.
Link to casting call here with alt text.
2. Some people believe Toph isn’t really blind and therefore the actress who plays her needs to be able to see
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[Image Description: Toph as The Blind Bandit using bending, with shots showing her hands and feet. As her bare foot slides sideways across the ground, the camera zooms out to show her sensing vibrations. The image turns greyscale, with circles of white vibrations emanating from around Toph’s body, where they expand and flow outward. End I.D.]
The rationale behind this is probably the same as it is for Daredevil, meaning some don’t consider Toph to be blind because of the way she uses her bending.
An argument could be made that Toph’s powers erase her blindness or that her powerful abilities make her less relatable to the average blind person. However, I suspect that many sighted people engaging with these discussions of Toph’s casting are not also concerned with questions of erasure or relatability. In discussions questioning her blindness, the evidence given mostly centers on Toph’s physical abilities rather than relatability to real blind people.
Her bending aside, Toph is certainly blind. She experiences ableism from her parents and general community. Blindness shaped her life in a lot of ways, even with her bending, which is also influenced by her disability.
We see Toph being guided while running on the airship, needing assistance while walking on ice, and struggling to travel in a desert. She uses her other senses, including hearing and tactile senses. She has limitations regarding how she is able to interact with an unaccommodating world, such as inaccessible reading and writing systems.
There are also lifestyle and cultural implications of blindness extending beyond the inability to see. Being blind is not only about what one can and cannot do, which is true of Toph’s experience as well. Blind people may have different values, experiences with family and friends, different senses of humor, or may place higher value on other sensory experiences compared to sighted peers.
Whether or not Toph is good blindness representation can be argued. However, she is still a blind character. Her blindness influences her whole life, even as she is more than her blindness at the same time. Her life as a blind person is about more than limitations and abilities. Reducing her, and any blind person, for that matter, to only these facets of her experience oversimplifies what it is like to be a blind person.
Claiming that she isn’t a blind character because of her ability to do x, y, and z can be incorrect for a lot of reasons.
Blind people are more than what we can do or what we produce. Our experiences are rich and varied. Our lives are inherently meaningful no matter our abilities or limitations. It is both ableist and inaccurate for sighted people to attempt to put us all into boxes.
Additionally, blindness is a spectrum. [Bolded for emphasis.] You can read about it at the following posts on my blog:
here
here
here
and here.
Here is a good list of legally blind YouTubers with various types of visual experiences.
According to various sources on the blindness spectrum, about 85% to 95% of blind people have some remaining vision:
93% according to RNIB
This Perkins School For the Blind fact sheet estimates about 90 to 95% of blind have some remaining vision
American Foundation for the Blind estimates about 15% of blind people are totally blind and discusses the spectrum of blindness here
The spectrum of blindness is important because our experiences become even more diverse when the spectrum is considered. This means that assumptions about what we can and cannot do become even harder for sighted folks to guess accurately.
This accuracy is important if sighted people are going to try to put limitations on blind people, which they have no business doing anyway. They are not the authority on what blind people can do, what we cannot do, or what is good for us. Only blind people can answer that for themselves.
Lastly, blind people are already used to navigating and interacting with their surroundings. They have had anywhere from months to a lifetime of experience, which would translate better to Toph’s ease with her blindness and confidence in her bending.
While an actor wearing contacts to obscure their vision might stumble around and have difficulty on set, someone who is actually blind could lend Toph’s character a much more relaxed, confident attitude in addition to possessing experience navigating in a way that works for her. She is used to being blind. Therefore, an actress who is also used to being blind brings a lot to the performance in terms of physicality, attitude, and the ability to focus on portraying the character, rather than simulating blindness.
Which leads me into the next point.
3. The idea that Toph doesn’t move like a blind person relies on stereotypes of blind people
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[Image Description: A GIF from the episode “The Runaway”. Toph, Sokka, and Aang all con some con artists and cheer after their victory, Toph raising her arms high before snatching the prizes. They all run away. End I.D.]
There is no specific way of moving like a blind person. Like sighted people, the way blind people move may be influenced by many factors, such as level of vision, how long they have been blind, their mobility aid, navigation techniques, familiarity with their environment, level of confidence, feelings of safety, other disabilities, energy levels, cultural factors, and more.
While there are mannerisms that are recognizable to blind communities, there is no one way to move like a blind person. Just as there is no one way to look blind.
The ideas of “not moving like a blind person” or “not looking blind” come from stereotypes of blindness. In fact, these ideas can be so pervasive that blind people who don’t fit stereotypes may be accused of faking. I explore this subject here.
In this video, Sam from The Blind Life discusses the experience of performing blindness or being pressured to act more blind than he is. Link here. He explains while he has some vision, he uses his cane to indicate to others that he is blind. This is one of the main functions of a cane. Sam explains feeling pressure to adhere to certain stereotypes about blindness or risk being accused of faking.
Similarly, in this video linked here, Molly Burke discusses the stereotype that blind people’s eyes look noticeably different from sighted eyes. This includes the inaccurate belief that all blind people have cloudy eyes, blank eyes, eyes that are always closed, or eyes that simply must be covered in dark sunglasses to protect the sensibilities of sighted people. Molly explains that while blind people can certainly have these attributes, not all of us do. Molly laments that the phrase, “You don’t look blind,” is either used to invalidate her or to praise her for passing as a sighted person, which is ableist.
Just as blind people don’t look the same way, we don’t move the exact same ways either. That applies to Toph as well. For example, she prefers to keep her feet on solid ground for bending purposes, orientation, and possibly due to cultural factors valuing stability and connection to the earth.
4. The idea that accommodations would be impossible to provide is rooted in ableism
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[Image description: A GIF of Toph and Zuko sitting beside each other on the floor at the Ember Island theatre episode. Toph punches Zuko’s arm. Metaphorically for the purposes of this post, she is punching ableist ideas that have nothing to do with Zuko. End I.D]
Here is a thread I shared in the early days of this blog, wherein the topics of blind actors and accommodations are discussed. The entire thread might also be helpful for this post, as I explore the same points, which shows how common these misconceptions are. While this may seem to be an isolated online disagreement, none of these arguments are new. That is why I believe this topic is important— these arguments about accommodations being too difficult or a burden on others also pop up in conversations about other workforces and other disabilities.
A blind character not being played by a blind actor is one thing. A blind person not being hired for a job they are qualified for due to resistance to providing accommodations is not so easy to ignore, not so seemingly isolated a concern. These barriers don’t only apply to blind actors looking for work. They apply to all blind people looking for work.
That means most of this isn’t really about Toph, nor the opinions of random people online. Instead, I hope to highlight common patterns in ableist thinking and dispel these ideas using a character people care about. This is, of course, in addition to my own desire to have a blind actress play Toph.
With that said, let’s explore what work accommodations might look like using examples of blind actors.
Dionne Quan is a blind actress who has an extensive filmography for voiceover work, including popular characters such as Kimi from Rugrats. In this article from when the character was first introduced, she discusses how she performs. Link.
Quote from the article: “Most of the recording was done in a studio with just a mike and a stand for the script. I had the lines in braille, and I would read them on the way over to get into character. You have to have your bag of tricks ready to go.”
Most of the work Quan discusses involves typical acting stuff. The accommodations given to her are similar to adaptations that might be made in an office setting. Additionally, with all the technology available now, it is easy to make a script accessible through large print, VoiceOver and memorization, Word document instead of a PDF, a Braille display, etc.
And as of August 2024, Quan can add adult Toph Beifong to her list of characters. Which is super exciting and, I thought, an appropriate fact to include in this post. You can read more here.
To continue the discussion of accommodations for actors, I would like to discuss Ellie Wallwork. Wallwork is a blind actress who has performed on Doctor Who.
She describes her experiences on set, such as blocking scenes and using tactile accommodations in this short video from the SeeSaw podcast. Link here.
Transcript:
Elie Wallwork speaking:
“Obviously, markers are just normally flat bits of tape on the floor. I had to have some sort of tactile ones so I knew where I was stepping onto. And it takes longer. It definitely takes a bit longer. I guess the thing that frustrates me about the industry is that sometimes casting directors will think, ‘Well, how could a blind person possibly do this, do that? How could they do stunts? How could they even navigate around set?’ But it’s perfectly possible if you— for example, with the crew that I had on all the productions I’ve been on, they’ve all been really kind, really patient with me and able to understand that, yeah, okay, it might take me five minutes longer to block a scene, but that’s fine because it means it’s authentic.”
End transcript.
You can listen to the full episode here.
Lastly, I find that many sighted people are not generally knowledgeable when it pertains to what blind people can or cannot do. Examples of this lack of knowledge include frequent questions about how blind people read, exist in online spaces, cook, etc—and these are simply from posts on my own blog.
Here is a link to a discussion thread that explores ableist assumptions people often make what blind people are or are not able to do. It particularly relevant for this topic. Link can be found here. Please remember that while I did respond to some folks who expressed opinions colored by ableist assumptions, that post is not about them. Just as this post is about addressing ableism in general rather than from a specific source.
The point is: consider why abled people are so comfortable stating what blind people can and cannot do, when one of the most common questions about blindness is still “how do you use a phone or the internet?��
People who aren’t blind often fail to grasp what our limitations actually are. Many people are still surprised to learn that technology or accommodations exist for us, despite having access to various forms of technology themselves. They struggle to understand that we can live our daily lives, possibly because they personally cannot imagine themselves without the vision they rely on, such as that time a professor asked blind content creator Stephanie Renburg [quote] “How do you live?” when the conversation was supposed to be about school accommodations [Link here].
This brings me to an assertion that is often made when sighted actors obscure their vision in order to play blind characters. It is often noted that it was too hard for them emotionally, mentally, and physically. Because of this reaction, the assumption is made that a blind person cannot possibly perform the role.
For example, in the article linked here, this is stated about Jamie Foxx in his role as Ray Charles. “Some actors, including Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles in “Ray” (2004, best actor) and Blake Lively in “All I See Is You” (2017), have chosen to wear ocular prosthetics, rendering them literally blind during their performances. But this creates a new problem: Unlike real blind people, who can spend years honing their orientation and mobility skills, the blindfolded sighted person becomes lost, confused and frightened with the sudden loss of sight — Foxx told interviewers he began hyperventilating as soon as his eyes were glued shut with the custom prosthetic eyelids that the filmmakers affixed over his eyes.”
Being blind is different from a sighted person temporarily obscuring their vision. Blind people have a better handle on being blind because we’ve been doing it longer. Blindness is part of our lives. Of course blind people are going to have an easier time portraying blind characters. This means most of the concerns people bring up when discussing sighted actors struggling with being unable to see won’t actually apply to blind people who have been at this for far longer.
I also wanted to address the idea that hiring blind actors would cost more, according to the assertion made in that thread about hiring blind actors, which you can read here if you haven’t already. While I can understand why someone might believe hiring a blind actor would cost more, I believe it would actually cost less.
Blind actors can use their own canes or other assistive devices used by the character, which saves money on expensive materials
Blind actors likely already have experience with O&M training, saving money and time that would otherwise be spent training a sighted actor, such as described here
Blind actors don’t need contacts or prosthetics, which may otherwise be used help an actor simulate blindness
And blind actors would have an easier time navigating sets, dancing, or doing required physical activities while blind, which reduces the learning curve that sighted actors with obscured vision need
A few Disclaimers:
1) Blind people learn from our communities and through life experience. While we naturally have more experience being blind, our knowledge is enhanced through learning from other blind people and participating in training designed to improve our life skills. I maintain that a sighted person obscuring their vision for a few hours will not have the same level of experience.
2) Reminder that blindness is a spectrum that a blindfold cannot replicate.
and 3) This post is not to say that sighted actors cannot do well or cannot put effort into their performance. According to the article above, Charlie Cox won an award from the AFB for his commitment to portraying Daredevil. However, just because there are sighted actors willing to put in the work does not mean blind actors can’t. I wanted to include this disclaimer in case someone sees the AFB article I shared and worried I’m trying to disparage actors who have already portrayed blind characters and happened to do a good job. After all, I love the original performance we received from Michaela Murphy, who originally voiced Toph. That doesn’t mean studios should not make an effort to cast more blind actors moving forward, nor does it justify any of the silly or explicitly ableist reasons people give for why sighted actors must be chosen over blind ones.
Let us return to refuting those excuses with the last thing I wanted to address.
5. Some people are concerned that a blind person might get hurt doing martial arts, but so can literally anyone else
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[Image description: GIF of Toph dressed in Fire Nation attire. She punches through a rock.]
Kids can get hurt in any kind of sport, yet society doesn’t try to keep children from these activities for their own safety. However, disabled kids—and adults for that matter—are often reminded that we are being kept out of spaces for our own protection. Which we didn’t need, nor ask for.
This need to protect disabled people can be not only infantilizing, but hypocritical as well. For example, a blind person might be discouraged from playing recreational sports in a misguided attempt to protect them. Conversely, structures that keep blind people at risk are allowed to stay firmly in place, such as discrimination around transportation, inaccessible infrastructure, and poverty.
Blind people play sports anyway. Often, these sports carry their own risks of injury, as most sports do. Blind people have the agency to understand this and consent to it. Examples include blind football [link] and goalball [link].
Here is a video of Sadi the Blind Lady discussing goalball with Eliana Mason, a Paralympic athlete who plays goalball professionally.
Transcript: “Goalball is sport for blind and visually impaired athletes. It was created after World War II for blinded veterans and is now a Paralympic sport. The coolest thing about it is that everyone wears eyeshades so no matter what your level of vision loss is—because blindness is a spectrum— it equalizes it. The ball has bells in it and the court is straight with tape over it. It’s on a volleyball sized court. It’s three on three. And basically in offense, we are throwing the ball as hard as we can with a lot of technique involved, about 30 to 45 miles an hour to have it hit the ground and roll and hit the other players on their bodies. And on defense, you are throwing your body out and diving in front of this 3 pound ball and blocking it. So essentially you want to get hit with the ball.”
End transcript.
Getting hit with a ball, especially in the face or stomach area, is going to hurt. That is okay, because as long as safety precautions are taken, pain might be part of the experience depending on the rules and anticipated possibility of injury.
Martial arts and dance, which are backgrounds sought specifically in the Netflix Toph casting call, can also lead to accepted forms of pain or discomfort. While one could argue that sports injuries could and should be preventable, this post is more concerned with the expectation of pain, injuries, and what steps are taken to prevent them, such as protective gear or an experienced coach / teacher.
A blind person auditioning for Toph knows that martial arts will be involved. She will spend time learning choreography, building trust with co-actors, and figuring out works best for her. This structure is similar for blind people playing football or goalball or tennis or fencing or whatever else they want to do.
Lastly, people who aren’t blind also experience pain or injury during sports. Same with martial arts or dance.
The actress who plays Toph might get hurt. She might not. Some pain might even be an expected part of training. That is no reason to exclude a blind person from participating. That is no reason to say Toph couldn’t be played by a blind actress. [Bolded for emphasis]
Lastly, anyone training actors on fight choreography already knows how to do so safely. That fact that this is choreography is also helpful, allowing for memorization of actions and reactions. Conversely, the sports and physical activities I listed above are not choreographed, with the exception of dance, and are therefore less predictable. Therefore, if blind people can get head injuries playing on a recreational blind football team, a blind actress can handle fight choreography.
Closing
Thank you for reading all of this. My points still stand whether or not a blind person is actually cast for Toph.
Too Long, Didn’t Read:
Unchecked ableism can lead to oppression even if it is unintentional
Blind actors exist
A blind actor would better capture Toph’s ease and confidence with her blindness
Blind people can do a lot more than sighted people usually think they can
Blind people also face discrimination and limitations that sighted people may not have considered
Blindness is a spectrum and most blind people can still see something
There is no one way to look or move like a blind person
Accommodations are not that difficult to provide
Hiring a blind person would actually cost less money
Most of the popular reasons people believe Toph cannot be played by a blind actress are rooted in ableism
This post is not only about Toph or actors, but an example of how unchecked ableism can be harmful
For example, low employment rates for blind people, inaccessible online resources, or Toph-related posts shared without image descriptions
Toph Beifong could totally be played by a blind actress
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