I think people are really hesitant to cast Black Presidents now (this wasn't the first recent movie where I'd noticed the sudden change of standard casting and been kind of weirded out by it, though I can't remember the others now) because the meaning has changed - ten years ago it meant "this happened in a near-future that may not ever be," but if you cast a Black President now, you'd be unable to escape the weight of him being seen as portraying the only real Black President, and that would warp your story. It stops being an abstract symbol and starts being far-too-heavy political commentary, whether you want it to or not. Old white guys, on the other hand, can still be generic.
(Of course nothing's stopping them from casting a *female* President to symbolise "this happened in a near-future that may not ever be.")
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regna
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Date: 2013-05-13 19:46 (UTC)(Of course nothing's stopping them from casting a *female* President to symbolise "this happened in a near-future that may not ever be.")