Is it really discrimination?

UPDATE: The latest on this story is that the casting agent has now been sacked. Apparently the light-skinned option was the choice of the casting agent, an independent contractor, not the producers.

Oh well, I still say having a whinge about not getting a particular role because you don’t have the right look is ridiculous.

ORIGINAL POST
Wannabe actress/hobbit Naz Humphreys is complaining about what she calls discrimination after being turned down for the role of a hobbit extra in the movie The Hobbit because she’s “not white enough”.

But is that really discrimination?

Ms Humphreys is of Pakistani descent and has got the pip because the casting manager for The Hobbit “basically said they weren’t having anybody who wasn’t pale-skinned”.

I guess that’s up to the casting manager to decide … it would be like me auditioning to play Tina Turner or Kate Moss, since I’m quite corpse-like in my colouring and not particularly, er, svelte.

Ms Humphreys says: “It’s 2010 and I still can’t believe I’m being discriminated against because I have brown skin.”

She has also gone on to start a Facebook page (don’t they always) entitled “Hire Hobbits of all colours! Say No to Hobbit racism!”

Even worse, Human Rights Commission spokesman Gilbert Wong said it was unlawful to discriminate against someone over their ethnicity or national origin but a complaint would have to be received before the commission could act.

Really? Come one, we’re talking hobbits here people! Next you’ll be saying they can’t discriminate based on height, so we may very well end up with a couple of 6-footers popping up on our screens.

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