Is He Black?

Black actors were not a popular or present thing during Shakespearian time. Othello is supposed to be a black person, and he does a good job of presenting that way. But there are a couple of things that makes the audience second guess his race. One thing is that in many different forms of lighting, Othello looks purple. His purple tint is due to the make-up of the time. They do a thorough job of completely covering Othello's body, even in scenes where he has his shirt off; however, his purplish tint is very questionable. Also, Othello has an Arabian accent. His looks and his accent are contradicting each other and makes it very confusing for the audience. Even though there are these tiny errors, the make-up artists do a phenomenal job of completely covering his arms, legs, chest, and face. He also has a very believable whig that resembles a black person's hair. Othello has a very distinct idiosyncrasy where he always rolls his eyes in the back of his head. This may be an idea for the character that he is playing, or it may be one of his odd characteristics that he cannot control. Overall, for the time that this movie is filmed, he is a believable black person.