IN By a nose

As if we don’t have enough to worry about, the hoi polloi are getting all upset about Bradley Cooper’s nose.
Seems Brad, in his new movie “Maestro”, is acting the role of famed musician Leonard Bernstein. Now, Lenny had a big nose, so Brad had the makeup folks assemble a proboscis for him to wear on camera. Some folks think it’s too big. And that’s fine: everyone’s entitled to their opinion. But where I lose patience is when Cooper is branded as being anti-Semitic, sticking a “Jew nose on his face”. C’mon people: we’re talking a makeup issue, not a religious comment! Even Bernstein’s children have laughed this off: “We’re perfectly fine with it. We’re also certain that our dad would have been fine with it as well.” They also refer to “disingenuous attempts to bring a successful person down a notch – a practice we observed perpetrated all too often on our father.”
 
But it doesn’t stop there, because this opens up the question of casting when it comes to certain groups. Specifically, we’re talking about those folks who think that film roles must be played by representatives of the community being portrayed. You know, because we don’t count acting as any kind of talent. Tom Hanks should not have played the lead in “Philadelphia”: some gay actor should have done so. Why is Dame Helen Mirren playing Golda Meir? She’s not Jewish (notwithstanding the fact that Ms. Meir's grandson applauds her acting). And Jeffrey Tambor shouldn’t play a transgendered character: a transgendered actor should. That kind of thing.
Hey folks: we’re talking acting! Not showboating. In my opinion, this casting issue is as disingenuous as the argument about Cooper’s anti-Semitic nose. I mean, Sir Laurence Olivier should never have played Hamlet because he was English, not Danish, right? And Judi Dench isn’t Scottish: why the hell did she play Lady McBeth?
 
This world has real issues to deal with, like the climate, war, political unrest, etc. Let’s give this movie nonsense a rest and focus on what really matters.

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