The Jamie Lloyd Company has hit back after its production of Shakespeare’s “Romeo & Juliet” has been the subject of what they call a “barrage of deplorable racial abuse” aimed at an unnamed cast member.

The play, directed by Jamie Lloyd (“Sunset Boulevard”), stars “Spider-Man: No Way Home” star Tom Holland as Romeo and Francesca Amewaduh-Rivers (“Sex Education”) as Juliet.

On Friday, the Jamie Lloyd Company issued a statement, saying: “Following the announcement of our ‘Romeo & Juliet’ cast, there has been a barrage of deplorable racial abuse online directed towards a member of our company. This must stop.”

  • Breezy@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    The little mermaid one didn’t make sense to me, they’re under water probably 95% of their lives getting no sun. They all were definitely pale.

    • El Barto@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      The “underwater therefore white” doesn’t hold much water, in my opinion.

      What about all those dark-colored creatures? Tuna, whales, squids?

      • Breezy@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Fish colors have nothing to do with melanin which determines human skin tone.

        • Passerby6497@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          Why do mermaids have to follow human skin tone rules instead of other aquatic mammals? Even if they’re humans who evolved a fish tail, they’ve been underwater long enough for melanin to not be the deciding color…

        • El Barto@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          So what?

          Bro, we’re talking about a fictional creature.

          Plus “fish color” is just one attribute. I also mentioned whales and squids.

          And we don’t even know how humans would evolve to live underwater.

    • Ech@lemm.ee
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      7 months ago

      They weren’t “definitely” anything. They’re fictional creatures.

    • partial_accumen@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      they’re under water probably 95% of their lives getting no sun. They all were definitely pale.

      You’re applying scientific principles to human skin and UV exposure response with regards to evolution and calling into question the scientific accuracy of the portrayal in the mermaid, and that leads you to disagreeing with the skin color of the actor.

      With your scientific explanation you missed a couple key points if your goal is accuracy to the biological world:

      • Why does she have a full head of hair? Scientifically, hair’s purpose is thermal regulation. There would be no need for hair when the entire mermaid body is immersed in water all the time.
      • How the hell is Ariel breathing underwater? Fish do this by having gills for the gas exchange in the water. Whales and dolphins are air breathers, but have to go to the surface to get a breath. We don’t see Ariel going to the surface to do this.

      You didn’t call either of these out as scientifically inaccurate.

      Can I ask why your scientific explanation of the mermaid was only skin color?

    • ABCDE@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Do black people lose their pigmentation completely if they stay indoors?

      • leftzero@lemmynsfw.com
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        7 months ago

        Existing circumstancial evidence suggests that if you give them somewhat around forty to eighty thousand years they might lose at least some of it, depending on how much exposure to solar radiation they get… though interbreeding with Neanderthals and/or Denisovans might also help, too.

        • Breezy@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          I read somewhere else that a Japanese study suggests 500 years is enough for skin tone to change.

          • feedum_sneedson@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            I would question the validity of that research; the Japanese still have a lot invested in the idea they are somehow different from other people, nearby East Asians particularly. They literally think they have a lower body temperature, for example.

            • Breezy@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              To my understanding, the study only focused on the natives of Japan that stayed secular in comparison to the rest of their population. I do not remember their name, but the Japanese version of native americans.