Racist and racially-coded discourse ran amok on social media earlier this week after the cast of the forthcoming West End production of “Romeo and Juliet” was announced, with Tom Holland as Romeo and Francesca Amewudah-Rivers, a Black woman, as Juliet.
But some social media users are hitting back at the discourse with memes and quips of their own.
Outrage over the casting of Amewudah-Rivers was all but immediate—and drew similar reactions to the racist backlash against the casting of Halle Bailey as Ariel in The Little Mermaid.
“It’s the usual thing where they aren’t racist, they just don’t think you should change the race of characters,” one Reddit user posted, along with a screenshot of some examples among Facebook comments.
“The idea that they are being casting purists about Shakespeare of all things is very funny,” the user added. “If they really want to be accurate to the original, they would cast Timothée Chalamet in drag as Juliet.”
And on X, the commentary was no different—with a sprinkling of racist meme reactions and takes that quipped, “Did anyone consult William Shakespeare before they did this DEI, Romeo and Juliet?”
But one viral post calling attention to the casting in particular has drawn a flurry of memes mocking the outrage.
“Romeo & Juliet movie then vs. now. They are rewriting history in front of our very eyes,”
Source: https://www.dailydot.com/debug/romeo-and-juliet-west-end-memes/