They found the choice a bit soulless.
Disney Pixar’s latest film, “Soul,” has received a huge backlash online, and viewers view Tina Fey’s role in the film as “racially insensitive.” The criticism comes amid a flood of glowing reviews praising the Disney + release’s music, animation and depiction of black culture.
The groundbreaking animated film, which is the studio’s first African-American protagonist, follows high school jazz teacher Joe Gardner (played by Jamie Foxx), whose untimely death prompted him to embark on a posthumous pilgrimage to to restore his lost soul.
Along the way, Joe helps a disillusioned spirit named 22 (played by Fey) to rediscover her reason for living – and gain a greater understanding of what it means to live.
Needless to say, Fey’s cast came under fire from the ever-outspoken Twitterati, who felt the key role should have gone to a black actor or actress.
“Yeah, to roll Tina Fey as 22 in Soul didn’t do it for me, 22 had to be voiced by a black boy instead,” mocked a watchdog on social media.
Another wrote“I think they should have gotten Regina King or Tiffany Haddish to rather pronounce Tina Fey’s character.”
Some viewers were particularly divided over the long stretch of the film, where Fey’s voice commands Gardner’s corpse a la ‘Freaky Friday’.
“The studio’s first black protagonist needed the soul of a middle-aged white woman to get his life on track,” strung one critic of the film-white savior-ism. ‘Thank you for considering’ racist images’. Wow … ”
Another grabbed, “The inclusion of Tina Fey for the body-swap pieces and not a predominantly black comedian, feels very much like someone said, ‘We do not want to alienate our white audience’ … and I’m even more disappointed about the film.
“Soul” is not the only project accused of racially inappropriate casting in recent times. ‘Wonder Woman’ 1984 star Gal Gadot was slammed for her portrayal of Cleopatra, and critics said an Arab or African actress should have portrayed the iconic Egyptian leader in place of the 35-year-old Israeli actress.
Gadot quickly shut down the perpetrators. “In the first place, if you want to be true to the facts, then Cleopatra was Macedonian,” she told BBC Arabic. ‘We were looking for a Macedonian actress who could fit Cleopatra. She was not there. And I was very passionate about Cleopatra. ”