“…If you are a talented actor or actress, should you be limited to the parts you can play based on your ethnicity or skin color? If we say that Batman can only be played by a Caucasian person, should the same reasoning hold true for Shakespearian characters? If Avery Brooks plays Macbeth, does that spoil the play? I can’t see how it would. When I studied Shakespeare abroad, I saw actors of a variety of ethnicities and skin colors play traditionally ‘white’ roles. It didn’t make a difference. Shakespeare is timeless. So is the Bible. That’s why the best-selling ‘The Bible Experience’ audiobooks, featuring a star-studded cast of African-American actors and actresses, has been received so well. You know who is the voice of God in ‘The Bible Experience?’ Samuel L. Jackson. I can’t argue with that choice — can you?”

It’s a topic that has been discussed quite a bit lately, with a possible black Doctor Who in the works; the current James Bond, Daniel Craig, giving his approval for a black Bond; and Beyonce wanting to be Wonder Woman. It’s an idea whose time has certainly come, now that we have a black president.

But with all due respect to my colleague Valerie, I think all of this talk about cross-cultural casting misses a vital point: while I agree that it would be awesome to have more color-blind casting, it would be even more awesome to see original characters of color in genre films and television that can stand up with these iconic heroes. Morpheus and Niobe from The Matrix, Captain Sisko from Deep Space Nine, Jonas Moore, Afro Samurai, Tiana from The Princess and the Frog – there are more and more original creations popping up all the time and they deserve their shot at pop culture stardom. Also, there’s a rich tradition of black sci-fi/fantasy literature waiting for the wider audience that film and television can bring (and which, one hopes, will not suffer the fate of Earthsea).

My point is that we should not invest too much in this avenue of cross-cultural casting in order to get more black heroes on the small and big screens. Ultimately it seems a bit of a cheat, a side-door method of bypassing the glass ceiling, and one we should not have to settle for.