Jamaicans in movies

by Levi (Destiny) Johnson | February 21, 2022

A tale of misrepresentation

Recently,

Paramount Pictures announced that after a “year long, exhaustive search” for a role in their upcoming Bob Marley biopic, they had settled on the casting of British actor Kingsley Ben-Adir (known for his role in One night in Miami).

Kingsley is born of a Trinidadian mother and a British father, and as such he has no ethnic or cultural ties to the island of Jamaica.

^{_{This post is in no way meant to disrespect the actor himself, or his acting talents, but is instead addressing a larger problem in the film industry.}}

There is a booming theatre business in Jamaica that has been ongoing for decades, and There is no shortage of talented actors in Jamaica. It is quite surprising that in the exhaustive search for an actor to play the iconic role of Bob Marley, they didn’t think to look in Jamaica.

This movie could’ve been an opportunity for a Jamaican-born actor to get their ‘big break’, while expressing their native language and accent.

The Jamaican accent is highly regarded and mimicked throughout the world, appearing in such dialects as the “Toronto Slang” and British “Road man” slang.

Jamaican Patois is iconic, and extremely hard to be imitated by non-Jamaicans.

The Jamaican populace has already suffered through enough cringe-worthy patois performances. and the same for the island’s biggest reggae artist, would be even more unbearable. There is a certain nuance to the Jamaican accent and dialect that is nearly impossible for non-natives to perfect, especially one that has never lived in the country before.

Stereotypical Jamaicans in films are portrayed as having locs, speaking off-brand patois, and being a marijuana enthusiast. The one time the stereotypical Jamaican trope is called for, they’ve opted for variety.

Comments

^{“Bottom line is, no they should not have chosen a British person to play a Caribbean person. They shouldn’t even choose another Caribbean person to play, because of the (different) accents…Even though his family members are producers for the movie, the main people that are working on it are not making it to complement Jamaicans. That’s how everything works. Everything that is made by a foreign someting about people in the Caribbean nahve nothing to do wid wi and dem do not business whether we like it or not”}

_{-Danielle (she/her), 18}

^{“Whether or not Ben-Adir is able to perfect the Jamaican accent and deliver a great performance for this role, is not the main point of conflict here. It is especially saddening to see that casting producers are still denying actors from smaller countries the opportunity for bigger roles. It shouldn’t be that the only way to make it big in the film industry is to move to Hollywood, and Jamaicans shouldn’t have to sit back and watch the country’s biggest star be played by a man who’s only connection to the island is being born in the country that colonized it. We deserve better, and we deserve more opportunities. Paramount should’ve tried harder.“}

_{-James (she/her), 18}

^{“No offense, but I think a Jamaican actor would be better suited. If nothing else, then okay, but lighten the skin tone and I’m out.”’}

_{-Constellation (he/they), 17}

^{“i mean they went around the world to just not give an actual Jamaican the actual role. It just seems very purposefully ignorant like any “blackie” would do…they lack integrity. Like the accent is also gonna sound weird, as it always does when they hire some random person to play a Jamaican character.”}

_{-Marceline (she/her), 18}