It was an interesting move on the part of Lionsgate when they cast Jason Momoa, a distinctly non-white actor (he's of native Hawaiian descent), to play Conan the Barbarian, a role originated by white-as-they-come Arnold Schwarzenegger. It was an interesting move toward an actually post-racial America, but now they've gone and made it all confusing again by pursuing Mickey Rourke to play Conan's father.

Yes, Mickey Rourke, who is also pretty dang white despite whatever tan he might be sporting in the Iron Man 2 promo images. Deadline Hollywood reports that Rourke is being wooed for that part in addition to a role in War of the Gods, a movie that director Tarsem Singh (The Fall) probably swears isn't a knockoff of Clash of the Titans, but come on.

Scheduling conflicts may mean that Rourke will have to choose between the parts, though given that Conan's story probably won't linger too much on family drama, he may be able to bop briefly by the Conan set in Bulgaria before moving on to Clash of-- er, I mean War of the Gods. At this point any amount of Mickey Rourke is a good thing, so schedule away I say. Aside from the funky racial politics here, it's hard to see a downside.