Bill Maher Blasts Appropriation Movement in Casting Decisions for Movie Roles

Bill Maher made an incredibly strong case Friday night that Hollywood is ruining itself by pigeonholing actors into narrow lanes based on their heritage, sexual orientation, identity, etc.

The "Real Time" host made his case and, frankly, you gotta listen to it because it cuts to the core ... that casting directors now take their cues from the casting cops.

He lays out his case, beginning with John Leguizamo, who was incredulous James Franco was picked to play Fidel Castro, saying "No more appropriation Hollywood ... Boycott! This f'd up."  Bill noted John, a Columbian actor, ain't Venetian but he played one ... nor is he a little French man nor an Italian plumber ... but yeah, he played them too.

As he says, "People become actors so they can spend their lives not being who they are."

He notes Sean Penn snagged an Oscar for playing gay activist Harvey Milk ... that was once considered courageous ... now it's the opposite.

Eddie Redmayne played a transgender woman, but he now calls that a mistake. Bill asks if the logical conclusion to that is transgender people can only play transgender people, yet that's clearly not something they would want.

Ditto straight people playing gay people ... something Tom Hanks says he now regrets. So can gay people play a straight romantic role? The idea is to get rid of the prejudice, not the roles, and for that allies are necessary.

On on the subject of Hanks ... should he have played Forrest Gump, who was mentally challenged?