2. A race switch is OK but only if you look at it as one. Let's say the guy who playes Ralph Kramden is white but thin. Would that be "wrong," because the first Ralph was fat?
Actually, in the particular case of Ralph Kramden, I think that changing him to a thin guy would be much
more antithetical to the character than the race switch. Ralph's size was just sooooo engrained into what that character was. It wasn't just the verbal shots that Alice would take at his weight. It was just such a big part of how he interacted with everybody: the big bellowing blowhard. If you change him into a
little (slightly built) bellowing blowhard, it completely changes the perceptions and the dynamics of all of the interactions.
I really don't mind race switches in general (actual historical personages aside). Now if the producers are doing just because they want a race switch to be PC, or to "broaden their audiance", or some such thing even though the best person for the part is the original race ..... well, that's just stupid. However, if the movie deal was for a Cedric the Entertainer vehicle, and Cedric wants to play Ralph Kramden, and he can play the character well enough (sometimes stars need to be saved from themselves in their choice of roles) ..... then I don't see any reason why he shouldn't be able to make a "black Honeymooners".
I don't even mind things like Denzel in
Much Ado. It's pretty much the same thing. I don't see why
all black actors should be told that the only Shakespeare that they will ever be allowed to play is the title role in Othello.
With respect to the specifics of the casting:
I can see Cedric playing Ralph. I would expect his version to be fairly different from Gleason's, but I can see him still getting the essense of it.
The one that will *really* be tough is Norton. Nothing against Epps, but Art Carney *was* Ed Norton. Through his variety shows, Jackie Gleason resurected the Honeymooners for sketches repeatedly over the years. He recast Alice (and Trixie, for that matter) multiple times without worrying about it. However, even Gleason would never do a Honeymooners sketch without Carney. Ed Norton played any other way is just a completely different character, and changes the whole tone and feel of the entire piece. It wouldn't really be the Honeymooners any more. On the other hand, if you play it the same way then it just becomes an Art Carney impression ..... and you can't win that way. Carney will always be a better Art Carney than you can be. It is something of a Catch-22 of a role.