White Actors in Minority Roles - Why?

There was a time when if a white actor or actress was cast in the role of a character of color, there was very little outcry.

When Swedish actor Warner Oland portrayed Asian detective Charlie Chan or Elizabeth Taylor was cast as Cleopatra, the Queen of Egypt, there was no call for boycotts or publicized outrage.

But times have changed, and these days some fans ask the question why, with so many talented black, Latino and Asian actors, does Hollywood continue to pass them over?

The latest example is the controversy surrounding the news that Angelina Jolie has been tapped to play the Queen of the Nile in a planned film based on the forthcoming biography "Cleopatra: A Life."

What are your thoughts on the matter?

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Female condoms with 'teeth' to fight rape

South African Dr. Sonnet Ehlers has developed a female condom with teeth to fight rape.

Ehlers is distributing the female condoms in the various South African cities where the World Cup soccer games are taking place.
The woman inserts the latex condom like a tampon. Jagged rows of teeth-like hooks line its inside and attach on a man's penis during penetration, Ehlers said.

Once it lodges, only a doctor can remove it -- a procedure Ehlers hopes will be done with authorities on standby to make an arrest.

Critics say the female condom is not a long-term solution and makes women vulnerable to more violence from men trapped by the device.

It's also a form of "enslavement," said Victoria Kajja, a fellow for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the east African country of Uganda. "The fears surrounding the victim, the act of wearing the condom in anticipation of being assaulted all represent enslavement that no woman should be subjected to."

Kajja said the device constantly reminds women of their vulnerability.

However, its one advantage is it allows justice to be served, she said.

Various rights organizations that work in South Africa declined to comment, including Human Rights Watch and Care International.

South Africa has one of the highest rape rates in the world, Human Rights Watch says on its website. A 2009 report by the nation's Medical Research Council found that 28 percent of men surveyed had raped a woman or girl, with one in 20 saying they had raped in the past year, according to Human Rights Watch.

In most African countries, rape convictions are not common. Affected women don't get immediate access to medical care, and DNA tests to provide evidence are unaffordable.

Women take drastic measures to prevent rape in South Africa, Ehlers said, with some wearing extra tight biker shorts and others inserting razor blades in their private parts.

Critics have accused her of developing a medieval device to fight rape.

"Yes, my device may be a medieval, but it's for a medieval deed that has been around for decades," she said. "I believe something's got to be done ... and this will make some men rethink before they assault a woman."

Desperate Housewives - New Season Scoop!

Image Credit: Janet Mayer/PR Photos; Danny Feld/ABC

Details about Vanessa Williams’ new housewife character on Desperate Housewives are starting to trickle out, and it looks like producers are set to have her feuding with Felicity Huffman’s super-fierce mom Lynette Scavo. Yet another showdown on Wisteria Lane seems likely!

Williams will be introduced on the Lane as Renee Filmore-Jones, an old college pal of Lynette’s. But calling the pair “pals” might be putting it too kindly, since they were supposedly at odds during their collegiate days in the ’80s — no doubt that will bubble over into present-day lady-fight situations, too.

To which I say: Yes, please! Lynette is always at her best when she’s on alert, especially if she’s having to protect her children.

Additionally, Renee comes with a longtime husband, who’s most likely an athlete; no children; and — dun dun dun! — a big ol’ secret. Secrets on Wisteria Lane? Well, I never thought we’d see the day…

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Ian Somerhalder asks where all the Hollywood help is for the BP Oil spill?

Ian Somerhalder, Louisiana native and 'Lost' and 'The Vampire Diaries' star Ian Somerhalder is upset about BP's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. But he's especially miffed at Hollywood's weak support for the catastrophe.

"Coming from the entertainment world, I'm really shaken by how quiet Hollywood is," Somerhalder, 31, tells E! Online. "And I say that out of respect for my peers and colleagues, but I'm really bummed that no one is really coming up to help the situation. This is ground zero right now. This place is going to need money, that is the bottom line."

Somerhalder recently told the LA Times, "I never talk about politics, but right now is a time to be angry and sad."

Somerhalder, who hails from Covington, Louisiana, is doing his part assisting at the animal shelter St. Tammany's Humane Society where pelicans harmed by the oil slick are being treated. He recently filmed a public service announcement in his hometown.



""There's so many people here working around the clock to try and tame this beast," he says of the situation. "If you look at all these beaches right here. It's a June afternoon -- this beach would be littered with families, kids playing, dads on the pier with their buddies fishing. None of that's here ... The things you remember, the times you spent with your parents or your grandparents, brothers, sisters, fishing and learning about the ecology here is ... it's your base, it's your root and you'll do anything, you will fight tooth and nail to protect it."