Key Takeaways
Minecraft got its first official trailer on Wednesday, giving us our first look at some of the movie's disturbingly realistic creatures and characters. Jason Momoa, Emma Myers, Danielle Brooks, and Sebastian Eugene Hansen all featured in the trailer, as did Jack Black, who appears to be taking his role as Steve pretty seriously by putting on a bright blue shirt. Way to commit to the role, my guy.
Unfortunately for Warner Bros, the reactions to the trailer have been pretty damning, as there doesn't seem to be a lot of enthusiasm for the movie from its first showing. One of the more specific criticisms leveled against the movie revolves around Jack Black's portrayal as Steve, as there appears to be quite a few people on social media accusing the movie of once again whitewashing the character.
One of the more vocal critics of this aspect of the trailer is Twitter user Jakeneutron, who says that a side by side of in-game Steve and Jack Black's portrayal of the character is making them think something "very controversial." They also allude to the movie's whitewashing by referencing the line of Minecraft toys from Mattell that made Steve's skin color a lot whiter than it is in the games.
The Minecraft Movie Is Being Accused Of Whitewashing Steve
Jakeneutron's tweet has blown up since it's creation, amassing over 24k likes and counting, along with dozens of people with similar opinions wondering why Jason Momoa wasn't cast as the character instead. Outside of Jakeneutron's tweet, you can also find countless other users complaining about Jack Black playing Steve, and how it's another example of the character being whitewashed.
Steve's skin color has been a topic of debate for quite a while, with arguments that Steve is supposed to be a blank slate character, or that he's actually just really tanned, often used to dismiss the fact that the character clearly isn't white in the game. We've never had an official answer, so those arguments will always persist until we do, but it's very clear that the Minecraft movie hasn't put a lot of effort into accurately portraying him.
