The folks over at Universal Pictures have made a great deal of progress with the upcoming film "Straight Outta Compton," which will tell the story of the infamous West Coast rap group N.W.A.
The biopic, produced by former N.W.A members Ice Cube and Dr. Dre along with Tomica Woods-Wright, the widow of fellow N.W.A rapper Eazy-E, garnered quite a bit of excitement in June, when Universal announced that the film will hit theaters in August 2015. That announcement was accompanied by a thrilling photo of the featured cast members. But the latest glimpse into the movie's progress is too cringe-worthy for words.
A casting call for the movie was recently posted on the Facebook page of the Sande Alessi Casting company. The post will raise quite a few eyebrows:
SAG OR NON UNION CASTING NOTICE FOR FEMALES-ALL ETHNICITIES- from the late 80's. Shoots on "Straight Outta Compton". Shoot date TBD. We are pulling photos for the director of featured extras. VERY IMPORTANT – You MUST live in the Los Angeles area (Orange County is fine too) to work on this show. DO NOT SUBMIT if you live out of the area. Nobody is going to be flying into LA to do extra work on this show - and don't tell me you are willing to fly in.
SAG OR NON UNION FEMALES - PLEASE SEE BELOW FOR SPECIFIC BREAKDOWN. DO NOT EMAIL IN FOR MORE THAN ONE CATEGORY:
A GIRLS: These are the hottest of the hottest. Models. MUST have real hair - no extensions, very classy looking, great bodies. You can be black, white, asian, hispanic, mid eastern, or mixed race too. Age 18-30. Please email a current color photo, your name, Union status, height/weight, age, city in which you live and phone number to: SandeAlessiCasting@gmail.com subject line should read: A GIRLS
B GIRLS: These are fine girls, long natural hair, really nice bodies. Small waists, nice hips. You should be light-skinned. Beyonce is a prototype here. Age 18-30. Please email a current color photo, your name, Union status, height/weight, age, city in which you live and phone number to: SandeAlessiCasting@gmail.com subject line should read: B GIRLS
C GIRLS: These are African American girls, medium to light skinned with a weave. Age 18-30. Please email a current color photo, your name, Union status, height/weight, age, city in which you live and phone number to: SandeAlessiCasting@gmail.com subject line should read: C GIRLS
D GIRLS: These are African American girls. Poor, not in good shape. Medium to dark skin tone. Character types. Age 18-30. Please email a current color photo, your name, Union status, height/weight, age, city in which you live and phone number to: SandeAlessiCasting@gmail.com subject line should read: D GIRLS
Although the original Facebook post has since been removed, the page includes other casting calls for the film.
Where do we begin? From the "hottest of the hottest" girls with "great bodies," to the "fine" girls who "should be light-skinned," right down to the girls who are "not in good shape" with "medium to dark skin tone," this casting call reeks of so many problematic things -- most notably, colorism and sexism.
Sande Alessi Casting has yet to respond to the criticism. In the meantime, plenty of commenters have expressed their outrage on the company's Facebook page.
We were certainly impressed with the casting of the flick's lead roles, including Ice Cube's son, O'Shea Jackson, Jr., depicting his father. But this move seriously has our skin crawling.