"There would be an immense backlash to a show about African mythology in which a white actor plays a major god, so why is it acceptable (and even lauded) to do the reverse?"
Because white people in diversity-controlled narratives are incorrectly seen as all being "oppressors" of "minorities", and thus "theft" of their background identity is treated in a trivial manner in comparison to that of "minority" characters. Hollywood has merely succeeded in turning a vibrant social movement into capitalist propaganda, as it so often has over its history.
I agree that this show didn’t live up to the standards of the book, but hey at least it wasn’t as bad as the movie. Great article!
"There would be an immense backlash to a show about African mythology in which a white actor plays a major god, so why is it acceptable (and even lauded) to do the reverse?"
Because white people in diversity-controlled narratives are incorrectly seen as all being "oppressors" of "minorities", and thus "theft" of their background identity is treated in a trivial manner in comparison to that of "minority" characters. Hollywood has merely succeeded in turning a vibrant social movement into capitalist propaganda, as it so often has over its history.