When race matters

Whether the casting is historically accurate or racially blind, Hollywood screen choices will be dictated more by market forces.

The release of a trailer for the upcoming Zhang Yimou film, The Great Wall, has whipped up a storm that centers on its casting choice for the lead role. The trailer opens with Matt Damon and, even though it squeezes in many of the big stars in its lineup, the Hollywood actor remains the marquee name.

Of the immediate reaction, some in China felt slighted that a big Chinese film would have an American as the male lead. Actually, this is more of an American film that hired a Chinese director and set the story in China.