‘Soul’ Dubbing Ignites Controversies Overseas as White Actors Voice Black Lead
Posted on Wednesday, January 20th, 2021 by Hoai-Tran Bui
Soul struck a chord, not just for its beautiful photorealistic animation nor its wrangling with abstract concepts of the life, purpose, and beyond, but for its genuine depiction of the Black community, centered around lead character Joe (voiced by Jamie Foxx in English). And while a few things can get lost in translation in the film’s transition over to European markets, those elements remain crucial to Soul. But one choice by many European markets pertaining to the latter — Joe’s Black identity — has come under scrutiny.
