Picspam: The West Wing Race!Swap Casting

[lirazel]

Aaron Sorkin is a ridiculously talented man. The West Wing is a ridiculously awesome show. But one way in which they both fail is in portrayals of people of color. Charlie Young was written into the show specifically because they didn't have any characters of color--the epitome of tokenism. But our world isn't whitewashed, and neither is the White House, and this is what it might look like if the characters from The West Wing had their races swapped.

Thanks to gingerwall for helping me find a Leo! You're the best!

Note: I haven't made it past Season 5 of the show yet because I am a bad person. So think of this as a race!swap for the first four seasons.


The West Wing: A Race!Swap Casting





Avery Brooks as President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet





Robert Guillaume as Leo McGarry





Tamara Taylor as CJ Cregg





Alexander Siddig as Toby Ziegler





Daniel Dae Kim as Josh Lyman






Enrique Murciano as Sam Seaborn





Dichen Lachman as Donna Moss





Shohreh Aghdashloo as Abbey Bartlet





Anton Yelchin as Charlie Young





Jay Hernandez as Will Bailey






Jasika Nicole as Mandy Hampton






Cicely Tyson as Mrs. Landingham





Irrfan Khan as Danny Concannon






Jessica Sula as Zoey Bartlet






Maggie Q as Amy Gardner






Kerry Washington as Ainsley Hayes






Archie Panjabi as Andrea Wyatt

Comments

[angearia.livejournal.com]

OMG YES YES YES

Archie Panjabi and Maggie Q (oh god I love her so much you should watch Nikita!) and okay, you picked the very best quotes ever ever ever.

This is wonderful, truly, indeed. Although there's a part of me that feels that the casting for the West Wing was such absolute perfection that I can't bear to see anyone else playing the roles. I know, what? It defeats the purpose of race!swap casting which is bad. OH, SELF.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

OMG YAY YAY YAY!

ARCHIE IS MY FAVORITE PERSON. I want to cast her in everything ever.

I tried watching Nikita and didn't get into it? But if it's that lovely, I'll give it another chance.

Seriously, picking the quotes was the most fun thing ever.

I know what you mean! It was flawlessly, flawlessly cast.

this is a flail coming right at ya

[angearia.livejournal.com]

I think Nikita starts off really slow. And it's now suddenly become brilliant. Like how did that happen? And sometimes the lines are a bit really, really now oh come on really? But some of the recent episodes have been like the best television I've seen in a while. It's crazy. And okay, I'm never not gonna love watching women kick ass. I remember you saying once how it seemed unrealistic for women to beat up men, but Slayer works 'cause superstrength, and for me it's like if they have martial training, it's on. Because training teaches you how to use your opponent's strength and weight and size against them. Plus as a woman you have this edge of them underestimating you. And ngl, Maggie Q does the most amazing stunts I've ever seen. It's like she's dancing, then flipping, then suddenly she's flipping around your body and taking you down while breaking your leg and I have to rewind to watch it and I'm like I DON'T KNOW WHAT JUST HAPPENED BUT IT WAS AWESOME AND SHE SHOULD DO IT AGAIN 10 MORE TIMES.

*flaily*

Plus, this show is very much about the ladies. Nikita has a protege on the inside who's she's mentoring and their relationship is wonderful. All the love. All the trust. It's like they're sisters with really different hair who go around killing bad guys and being bamf spies.

Re: this is a flail coming right at ya

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

That...sounds really awesome! I will definitely have to give it another try! YAY MORE TV ABOUT AWESOME LADIES!

Re: this is a flail coming right at ya

[angearia.livejournal.com]

Nikita was infiltrating this bad guy's compound last night and she'd fought against him before and he legit said he hated her because she cut his face last time she beat his ass and he called her WONDER WOMAN.

True story.

Re: this is a flail coming right at ya

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

I bet you flailed so much!

Re: this is a flail coming right at ya

[angearia.livejournal.com]

I did! Especially because of the news about how David E. Kelley is ruining Wonder Woman, ugh. So it was like THIS THIS IS THE REAL WONDER WOMAN, YOU ASSHOLE.

I'm now reblogging nikita-ness on tumblr. Love it.