A Black Tarzan

white avenger

white avenger

white avenger
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As some of you must know, the new Tarzan movie, "The Legend Of Tarzan," will be coming out soon, and this was a question that was asked on another forum.

Would a black Tarzan work?

My response is "No," or, at least, not without major changes to the character as he was described by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the creator. (I will elaborate if anyone is interested)

But, what is your opinion? Would a black Tarzan be believable?
 
On the surface, yes it would absolutely work. Because many doesn't know much more than "He's a guy living in the jungle and was raised by apes?" That he was white kind of made him the outsider in the story but at the same time probably more relatable for the intended reader. Obviously there's so much more to the character and for the Tarzan fans I can see why they'd have a problem with this. Well, not only fans but the average Joe as well since you know, change is never easy.

I'm very far from an expert on Tarzans history but considering the time it takes place in I sadly guess that not many, if any, black people could have been in his place. So depending on the story I'm sure they could make it work. But it would be a story inspired by the work of Burroughs and nothing else. If you want the movie to stay true to the original work it would be a very difficult sell and that there this ends. Him being white is important for many and it would cause an uproar (are there enough Tarzan fans to make an uproar?) if they changed it.

Personally, I think of Tarzan as white since that's how he's been portrayed so far but to be honest I don't care enough to make any kind of deal about them changing the colour of his skin to whatever they may please. So lets see what this swedish Tarzan can do. 😉
 
It would work for me.

They're actors playing roles in a story that isn't real, so for me there it a lot of room for interpretation.
I don't know how much this movie is trying to stick to the details of the books, so that would be a factor if they choose to make it one. That's an artistic call.

If race is actually critical to the story line, then it has to be taken into account. If race is a non issue in the story, then any actor that can play the part well is fine by me.
 
Yes it would work work. Unless the story is specifically about his race, which it is not, than he can get a race swap. Any generic white actor can be played by an actor of colour in my opinion. And truth is, most people get mad if they change a character from white to black, but they don't complain when othet details of the story are changed. It's really not a big deal, and it doesn't affect the plot if he's black. Maybe it would in the book, but so far from what I've seen of the movie trailer, him being white won't play into the story on the screen, meaning he can still be the exact same character while being black.
 
No, it would not work. They already race swapped once when then made Tarzan (from Mowgli) and his backstory. Part of Tarzan's story was because he WAS white, and the isolation and alienation he felt because of his differences in 'color' from his adopted family.
 
Mr. Pole said:
Part of Tarzan's story was because he WAS white, and the isolation and alienation he felt because of his differences in 'color' from his adopted family.
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But how does that change if he is black? He's still a different 'color' than his adopted family. The story can still play the same. (I haven't read the book, so I don't understand, hence why I'm asking, I will fully admit I don't know much about the book).
 
His name means White Skin.
 
@Blaze Fine. How about the native African tribe that kills Tarzan's ape-mother and sees him thinking he is a demon because of his white skin? Maybe sure, in the movie you could play around with the original text, but come on, we already had one Tarzan, The Ape Man that totally changed the story, don't need another. Greystoke was the closest you can get to a 'proper' Tarzan movie and even that treated the source material dubiously.
 
Blaze
Blaze
My cousin's last name is Brown, but he ain't brown :P
Mr. Pole said:
@Blaze Fine. How about the native African tribe that kills Tarzan's ape-mother and sees him thinking he is a demon because of his white skin? Maybe sure, in the movie you could play around with the original text, but come on, we already had one Tarzan, The Ape Man that totally changed the story, don't need another. Greystoke was the closest you can get to a 'proper' Tarzan movie and even that treated the source material dubiously.
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See that's the type of info I need, cause I didn't know this! Still, I think a black Tarzan can work for a movie adaptation because movie adaptations are never 100% faithful to the book. But if it were to be, than that is a good point.
 
I'm sorry, but how many casual movie-goers know that his name means "White Skin", how many even care? How many have intricate knowledge of his backstory?

Mr. Pole said:
Fine. How about the native African tribe that kills Tarzan's ape-mother and sees him thinking he is a demon because of his white skin?
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Don't mention that/tweak it and everything is absolutely fine... it wouldn't even be hard.

I mean, for crying out loud, how many caucasians haven't been put into ethnic roles where race was a part of the storyline? There is zero problem with a black Tarzan. Only hardcore fans would get upset about it.
 
This would not be like taking the all-white "The Wizard of Oz" and turning it into the all-black "The Wiz". In "The Wizard of Oz", race was never part of the story, so any race would do. The point of Tarzan is that he is a minority of one in Africa whereas a black Tarzan would be in the local racial majority.

I don't think we need any prequels, sequels, remakes or rehashes of old stories. Is there already a movie version of Tarzan? Yes. Was there a satisfactory one? Yes. This is supposed to be the creative arts which to my mind means one and done. A black Tarzan story would have to be so different from the existing one that you might have to remake the name and the story line. And that would be a new movie.
 
Ethan Reigns said:
This would not be like taking the all-white "The Wizard of Oz" and turning it into the all-black "The Wiz". In "The Wizard of Oz", race was never part of the story, so any race would do. The point of Tarzan is that he is a minority of one in Africa whereas a black Tarzan would be in the local racial majority.

I don't think we need any prequels, sequels, remakes or rehashes of old stories. Is there already a movie version of Tarzan? Yes. Was there a satisfactory one? Yes. This is supposed to be the creative arts which to my mind means one and done. A black Tarzan story would have to be so different from the existing one that you might have to remake the name and the story line. And that would be a new movie.
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Exactly. Make a new story. Just like Burroughs did with Tarzan, as Tarzan was derived from Mowgli. You cannot have a black Tarzan and he still be Tarzan.
 
Mr. Pole said:
Exactly. Make a new story. Just like Burroughs did with Tarzan, as Tarzan was derived from Mowgli. You cannot have a black Tarzan and he still be Tarzan.
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Totally, now if only someone would have told Cecil B. DeMille and his ilk the same!


Ethan Reigns said:
I don't think we need any prequels, sequels, remakes or rehashes of old stories. Is there already a movie version of Tarzan? Yes. Was there a satisfactory one? Yes. This is supposed to be the creative arts which to my mind means one and done.
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So is the point that there should be no more Tarzan movies? That even the new one is redundant? Or is the point that there should just not be a new one with a black Tarzan?
 
Skanky Vamp
Skanky Vamp
Sorry. But that's also why I hate fan fiction. A writer creates this character as they wanted it to be.. that should be the character. It's not like comic books where it's expected another author comes on and changes everything about it.
Taake said:
So is the point that there should be no more Tarzan movies? That even the new one is redundant? Or is the point that there should just not be a new one with a black Tarzan?
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Well.. in my mind there has never been a Tarzan movie... not really. As each one fundamentally changed the character. But there certainly should not be a black, mexican, asian, indian (excluding Mowgli), swedish (sorry) or Eskimo Tarzan as Tarzan was an aristocratic caucasian heir of a British ruling class. Nor should they ever make Tarzan a female.

It's not the same thing as saying Idris Elba should be Bond (which he should) because the race is not a fundamental aspect of the character.
 
Taake
Taake
*eye roll*
I can see both sides in this.
Tarzan to me is always some alienated white guy in the middle of Africa and I don't se why his race needs to be changed for no good reason. It's like those Shaft movies. His race is fundimental to his character because of the time and place he finds himself in (70's New York/Colonial Africa respectively)

On the other hand I find Tarzan to be one of those hero-types that's just so dated and a bit cringe-worthy nowadays. There are so many other characters of the era that deserve a re-boot/get a better movie made about them.

...I always prefered Shanna the She-Devil anyway. 🙂
 
Buffy Summers said:
It should work, because it shouldn't matter, but it wouldn't work because people would cry racism if a black actor was cast as Tarzan.
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I wouldnt cry racism just stupidity.
 
Iwearthecheese said:
I can see both sides in this.
Tarzan to me is always some alienated white guy in the middle of Africa and I don't se why his race needs to be changed for no good reason.

On the other hand I find Tarzan to be one of those hero-types that's just so dated and a bit cringe-worthy nowadays. There are so many other characters of the era that deserve a re-boot/get a better movie made about them.
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Exactly correct.. Tarzan and the ideals espoused in Tarzan are antiquated, but that doesn't mean you can just randomly change whatever you want to make it more palatable to today's audience.
 
Buffy Summers said:
I wasn't saying YOU would, but there are people who would say the "Tarzan of the apes" connotation was on purpose and it would be a whole thing.
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I know you weren't saying that... but I feel like sometimes anyone that does outcry gets lumped in together. If I made note of my disdain it would automatically be viewed as 'because he was black' versus the actual reasons.
 
No, it's a person's preference, not thin lame excuses. I do not want classic characters, settings or themes changed simply because people want them changed.
 
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