It amazes me how many people completely missed the whole point of that portion of the film.
Apparently even RDJ himself missed the point, because he later donned brownface to play a Mexican person in a mercifully-unreleased movie:
Much like his performance in 2008’s “Tropic Thunder,” where he donned black-face, Downey Jr. plays a Mexican in the unreleased movie.
No that bloody ISN’T “much like his performance in Tropic Thunder,” you dipshits.
Bernstein often spoke of his nose.
the host: Presenting, The Private World of Leonard Bernstein, a private glimpse into a world-renowned family.
**lenny: This is the glamorous, world- famous, wildly fascinating, mysterious, hard-to-approach Leonard Bernstein. Think of it. You arc listening to his very own voice at this moment. Only think! The sounds you are hearing issue from the throat, *the tender, golden throat of what is certainly the greatest conductor of his time, what will certainly turn out to be the greatest composer of his time. A charming social figure. A lovable family man. An expert aquatic performer. A skier, horseback-rider, and loafer! This is he, friends. Yes. this is he. At this very moment. Can you imagine it? I put my lips together: Mmmmm. Take them apart: Aaaaa. Can you see these very lips in your mind’s eye? Mmmmmm—coming through my Roman nose. That nose you dream about at night. I have on my right and left two of my twenty adorable children. These being the sixth and seventeenth. Jamie and Alexander. Ah, Jamie and Alexander! The children all of you wish you had. Perfect, beautiful, well-mannered, intelligent, humorous. obedient.
I dunno. My grandfather had a rather large nose, and mom inherited about half of it, so naturally I’m partial to such schnozes.
On the one hand, actors have been using prosthetics to make themselves look more like the people they’re portraying since, like, forever. And from what I was able to find in image comparisons, Cooper’s nose prosthetic isn’t far from reality (though it does look larger in the B&W scenes). On the other hand, I’m not Jewish, so I can’t speak to how a Jewish person would feel about something like this. Based on the trailer, instead of just focusing on still images, I certainly don’t think anyone on the production meant to do anything but portray Bernstein as faithfully as possible.
The people don’t get the point of that character are the same ones who missed the point of Blazing Saddles. They seem oblivious to the fact that it’s making fun of/punching up at the racists.
I, um, maybe missed the point, but, I didn’t like that movie very much.
Liking the movie isn’t required to understand how context changes the target of the joke.
CGI Nose!!! 
I hope she got the front part!
What Brainspore said.
I’m Jewish and eh. He’s playing an actual person who had a great impressive schnozz. I don’t see the problem.
Also Jewish here. IMO, not a problem as long as it’s in service of a visually accurate depiction of the person portrayed.
so, from now on every actual person which appears in a movie has to be played by that person itself?
I think an audience, especially those with a little facial blindness can stretch their imaginations enough to imagine a well-acted portrayal of a famous person in a biopic without the use of prosthetic.
Get On Up did a good job overall, showed James Brown’s intensity, while glossing over his darker side, but it was the prosthetic that took me way out of the experience.
Zoe Saldana playing Nina Simone, later apologized for it, not because there must have been a long lineup of talented actors who can sing and act the part, but because of her prosthetics… but she has yet to comment on portraying both green and blue.
*Just throwing it out there: Lorraine Toussaint as Nina Simone
*Furthermore, as an A-lister being cast in projects like this, you would think they have a say in the creative direction, to an extent. They aren’t going to lose the part if they are carrying the whole thing. They must have the agency to say No to the prosthetic. Instead they agreed to it… maybe it was in the script so they felt torn?
Maybe they should have cast a Jewish composer who is no greater that 5 ft 8 inches tall and lived in Manhattan.
No blackface, brownface etc should all be perfectly accpetable because only cis-het White people’s perspectives and feelings matter, obviously.
/S
Come on, this is pretty simple. If you think you look similar enough to the person you are playing, go for it. If you don’t – for instance you’d need makeup or prosthetics – maybe reconsider if you are the right person for it.
