Morgan Freeman Fans Respond to ‘Bruce Almighty’ with Outrage

Morgan Freeman is amongst the celebrities who’re well known as generational talents on the silver screen.

The 87-year-old has greater than six many years of film and tv work under his belt, with a few of his hottest roles including Driving Miss Daisy, Million Dollar Baby, The Shawshank Redemption and Bruce Almighty, starring Jim Carrey.

In the latter comedy, Freeman played God. According to Box Office Mojo, the 2003 film earned $484,592,874 on the worldwide box office. It is taken into account a fan favorite by longtime supporters of the Oscar winner. Freeman reprised the role in 2007’s “Evan Almighty.”

But nearly twenty years later, discussion of a black actor playing the role of God, who has historically been portrayed in text and on screen as a white man, has turn into a trending topic on Twitter.

On August 11, the account tweeted: “20 years ago, a black man was cast as God in a major motion picture that grossed almost $500 million (over $820 million today). No one was outraged. No one boycotted. No one cared. We are so lucky this came out before everything became a pointless and stupid “culture war” issue.”

It’s unclear what the unique intention of the post was, but Freeman’s fans took it as a possibility to shut down any insinuations that the star’s race must have been factored into the film’s plot.

“He was cast because he’s just so damn good. Morgan Freeman has been seen speaking out against racist topics on numerous occasions. He was never hired to tokenistically to make people feel better. He’s just HIMSELF,” we read in defense.

Another person he wrote“Who even said God is white? God, for all Abrahamic faiths, shouldn’t be portrayed at all, sure, but Morgan Freeman has the voice and is a great actor. No one just slipped in a black (or female) Lancelot, etc., or a terrible actor, just for DEI purposes.”

Others saw the post as a tool to repeat conflicting political narratives about racism. suggested things like, “I’ll watch a Morgan Freeman movie any day. The guy’s brilliant and seems to refuse to play political games. Smart guy. Just sayin’.”

Someone else hit back on the concept that race should influence roles, “He was perfect for the part. As the president of the United States, as a wrongly convicted banker, as a detective, as a neurologist, etc. A wonderful actor and one of my favorites. He joins James Earl Jones and Sidney Poitier as the best male voices of all time.”

The Oscar winner has discussed race in interviews which have gone viral lately. In a 2014 discussion with former CNN host Don Lemon, the actor disagreed that race played a job in wealth inequality. “No… You and I are proof of that,” he said.

“Why should race have anything to do with it? Figure out what you want to do and do it. It’s kind of like religion to me — it’s a good excuse not to get there,” Freeman added.

He can be often quoted for expressing disdain for Black History Month, arguing that black American history is American history and shouldn’t be condensed into 28 days. He also dislikes being categorized as African American, preferring as an alternative to be identified as American.

“I don’t sign under this title,” he said. Sunday Times. He joked that being called an African-American is an insult. “Black people have had all sorts of titles all the way to the N-word, and I don’t know how that stuff got stuck, but everybody uses African-American,” he said.

Regardless of race, his fans don’t support discussions that reduce his casting to Hollywood studios trying to convey a racial message. In Freeman’s case, they are saying the choice is all the time about talent.