8) 300
300 is a kind of double whammy for racial controversy, in that it takes two separate races of people and seemingly tries its hardest to get them both completely wrong.
First, Zack Snyder’s movie takes the characters of the Spartans – Greeks – and throws white folks at them until the cast list is entirely Caucasian, with people like Michael Fassbender and Dominic West playing characters named Stelios and Theron.
Then, 300 bungles the Spartans’ adversaries the Persians too, by making the Persian army mostly white. You do get some diversity, sure, but it’s not exactly historically accurate; the emissaries are played by black actors, while the Brazilian Rodrigo Santoro takes on the role of Xerxes, a legendary Persian king.
Honestly, it’s almost as though the casting director thought nobody would notice and/or care.