Alai

[Taalcon]

via Variety and Ender's Ansible.

[Mich]

This was one of the two actors that the Variety article said nothing about. Anyone ever heard about him anywhere? He's not on IMDb.

[elfprince13]

Isn't Alai supposed to be black?

[Gravity Defier]

No, Bean is.

[elfprince13]

No, Bean is.

I'm pretty sure Bean is Greek/Mediterranean. I remember from the Shadow Quartet that some of Alai's followers call him a "black dog" and he has to hide out in Africa for a while before he leaves

[Gravity Defier]

Hmm, maybe you're right. Is he the one who Ender jokes with about being a "nigger"? Probably.


Though, with that said, hiding out in Africa does not mean you look black. There's a whole country, or more, where looking brown in general is close enough. Take a look at most Egyptians sometime.

[elfprince13]

Though, with that said, hiding out in Africa does not mean you look black. There's a whole country, or more, where looking brown in general is close enough. Take a look at most Egyptians sometime.

No, but being called a "black dog" sort of implies it.

[Gravity Defier]

Sure, but that's a Shadow reference and I pretend those don't exist. It's for my sanity. :)

[Mich]

Bean is Greek, but that only came up in the Shadow books, and Alai is some sort of dark-skinned because there is a rather infamous passage that was Boulderized where Ender called him "the n-word," along with other references in the Shadow series to whatever his race is.

We happy?

[Gravity Defier]

I wasn't even arguing with him on that point; I guess it wasn't clear that I was conceding I was wrong when I mentioned the "n-word," as you put it, being used by Ender in that funny conversation they had and as an aside mentioned you can't stereotype a whole continent. There are some whiteys down in South Africa, too, for instance.

So, if I wasn't clear, yes, I believe elf is right about him being black and the black dog comment supports that but hiding in Africa does not, necessarily.

[Mich]

(the n-word is "nigger")

hee hee hee hee

[LilBee91]

Bean does have some African ancestry though. Somewhere in the Shadow series.

Maybe they wanted to make it obvious that Alai is Muslim. After all, anybody who looks vaguely Middle Eastern has to be a Muslim. And you couldn't be a Muslim of another race... Or is this kid Southeast Asian? His name kinda looks like it. I suck at races.

[Craig]

Bean is half Greek and half North African. I think the quote was something like, "When in Greece he looked African, but while in Africa he looked Greek." Alai was definitely "black" in the traditional sense, but the fact that his ethnicity is even up for debate shows how vague it is within the text. That said, his ethnicity is largely unimportant. His religion, as portrayed on screen on the other hand, is very important.

Salaam

[elfprince13]

Bean is half Greek and half North African. I think the quote was something like, "When in Greece he looked African, but while in Africa he looked Greek."

Good point! I'd forgotten about that line =)

Alai was definitely "black" in the traditional sense, but the fact that his ethnicity is even up for debate shows how vague it is within the text. That said, his ethnicity is largely unimportant.

Though it will be more important if they take the franchise route.

[EAGLE]

You know its funny cause i've always pictured Alai as being middle eastern or indian. I think the kid fits the picture in my head when i first read the books back around 04-05