Severus Snape reincarnated in Black?

Paapa Essiedu seems to be raking in some great movie roles. I just read that fresh from his Professor Snape casting, he lands the role of a Catholic priest on the Channel 4 drama, "Falling". Controversary breeds success, it seems.

In the meantime...

A ‘Black Snape’ in the new Harry Potter movie seems designed to cause controversy – but it could work.

Ignore the fuss: Paapa Essiedu is a brilliant actor who can bring his own depth and style to enrich the iconic character. Says Jason Okundaye of the Guardian.

"After months of speculation, HBO has announced part of the cast of the latest round of Harry Potter IP-mining: the new TV adaptation of the original books will feature John Lithgow as Dumbledore, Nick Frost as Hagrid – and Paapa Essiedu as Snape. As the Mail and Telegraph’s headlines were quick to inform their readers, yes, this means a “Black actor” in that iconic role.

There is a real concern that Essiedu is drinking from a poisoned chalice – that he will be associated with an author who is at the forefront of a gender-critical movement that has succeeded in redefining the rights of trans people to their detriment; that he will have to weather the racist storm of Potterheads enraged at the diversion from “book accuracy” (Snape is described as having “sallow skin”); and deal with opportunists looking to illustrate their next rant about how the world has succumbed to “woke orthodoxy”. All of this in a show that is slated to last a decade.

I’m sceptical about colour-blind casting, especially when it’s presented as a magic bullet for diversity concerns in the arts – but I can’t help but enjoy the audacity of Black Snape. If any performances from the original films were going to be rethought considerably – considering that casting so far is relatively aligned in appearance, bar a more handsome Quirrell – Snape is the most obvious choice. Alan Rickman’s depiction was so singular that any actor who hewed closely to it would likely be written off as doing a pastiche. He is also arguably the most complex and tragic figure in the series, inviting the most interpretation. So why not play around with it a bit?

Many detractors are insistent that they would’ve been OK with, say, a Black Dumbledore or a Black Professor McGonagall, but that the details of Snape’s arc within the series are made invariably more touchy and loaded if the character is Black".

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Everyone keeps saying they are not against diversity in storytelling. They welcome it when it makes sense, they say.

Maybe they should do a complete turn and recast the whole series to make them all a different shade of Ivory.

In this age when the pick of gender is up for grabs, why is making Snape a Black man such a hard sell.

Is J. K. Rowling having objections, if so, I don't see it.

If the situation were reverse, would Black people object to a White pick for the part. They would absolutely roar.

So many ifs, buts and maybes.

It is, after all, just an actor upon the screen, pretending to be somebody else. Black or white, does it really matter. Don't we have more important things to think about. People spend so much time on the unimportant while the world burns.

Still, a White James Potter bullying a Black Severus Snape may not carry muster in the grand scheme of things. What once was a complex rivalry now carries racial undertones, intentionally or not, racism is now thrown into the ring of angry boxers.

But, if executed well, this casting represents an opportunity. I too, am incredibly intrigued by this new development. Let us see where it leads.

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"If you change the way you look at things...the things you look at change". W. Dyer.

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Who exactly is:

Paapa Kwaakye Essiedu: A British actor. He started his career in 2012 when he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company acting in numerous production including The Merry Wives of Windsor (2012), Hamlet (2016), and King Lear (2016).

His breakthrough came with his role in the BBC's "I May Destroy You", (2020) earning nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award and British Academy Television Award. He portrayed George Boleyn in the Channel 5 historical drama Anne Boleyn (2021). He had starring roles in the AMC+ action series Gangs of London (2020–2022), the science fiction series The Lazarus Project (2020–2023), and Black Mirror: Demon 79 (2023).