Quote Originally Posted by Don Corleone
I find this whole discussion of whether Hannibal was 'black' or 'white' ridiculous. First of all, those two terms mean many different things to people. It would probably surprise most 'white' people to learn that until the 1950s, most 'white' purists didn't consider anyone from southern europe or eastern europe white. That's right, Lithuanians wouldn't be considered 'white' by the group that came up with the concept of whiteness. Irish would qualify, except that Irish weren't considered human. No, I'm not kidding, go read some history books of the timeframe.

Second, there's this ridiculous notion in America that you're either white or you're black. One drop of 'black blood' makes you black. So, people like Cameron Diaz don't qualify as 'white' either.

Does anyone see where I'm heading with this? Due to immigration patterns, warfare and intermarriage, there is absolutely no meaning to 'race' categorizations, especially something so crude and inaccurate as 'white' and 'black'. There are some isolated island communities that haven't intermingled, but they're about the only true 'racial' groups left.

Now, you add into all of this the discussion about Denzel Washington and things really break down. The craft of acting is about your ability to make your audience believe you are the character whom you claim to be. Not that you are, not that you're of the same genetic stock, just that people believe you to be who you say are for the two hours. In my opinion, very very few people practice this craft better then Denzel Washington and I think if he wanted to play Beowulf by the end of the film I'd believe Beowulf must have been a black man.

Now, to say Hannibal must have looked semitic (arabic or Jewish) brings up one small problem... Phoenicians weren't Semitic. There were a lot of semitic seafarers, and semitic empires in the neighborhood at that time (Assyrians) even in ancient days, and they probably arrived and married in Carthage, but how could you know even what they looked like.

Finally, somebody mentioned Greeks, as though they're a racial group. Well, again, big problem. There's about 3 or 4 different groups of people who mixed in what's now Greece to produce the Hellenes (only two I can think of off the top of my head is the Dorians and the Mycenans).

My point in all of this? This question, was Hannibal white or black....it's akin to asking if St. Peter was a Republican or a Democrat (and PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DON'T START)
Correct in every point, except that Denzel isn't fit for the job. Historical films have to take into consideration the populations of those days and that means ethnicity too.