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| "The Martian's" Mindy Park, center and Dr. Kapoor, right, don't look Asian at all. |
The latest example of "white-washing" is in The Martian starring Matt Damon. In the book by Andy Weir, two key characters specifically identified as Asian were played by non-Asians in the movie.
The best-selling novel featured Dr. Venkat Kapoor, a character of Southeastern Asia descent, whose name in the film is changed to Vincent Kapoor, and is played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, an African-American actor.
Additionally, character Mindy Park, who is Korean-American in the book, is played by white actress Mackenzie Davis in director Ridley Scott's film.
“This insulting practice of white-washing has got to stop,” said Aki Aleong, president of the Media Action Network for Asian Americans, which has been battling the problem for decades. “Alarmingly, it has been increasing in frequency.
To be fair, we should mention that Asian actors weren’t employed in the film: Benedict Wong (Marco Polo) plays the role of Bruce Ng, the director of Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Other Asian actors playing small roles in the film include Chen Shu, Yang Haiwen, Eddy Ko, Yang Liu, Xue Xuxing and Narantsogt Tsogtsaikhan.
Perhaps producer Ridley Scott there were "too many" Asian actors in his move. Can there be too many Asians? Where's the cut off point?
“So few projects are written specifically with Asian-American characters in them, and he’s now changed them to a white woman and black man,” MANAA founding President Guy Aoki said of Scott’s casting choices. “This was a great opportunity to give meaty roles to talented Asian American actors — and boost their careers. … This feel-good movie, which has attracted Oscar buzz, shouldn’t get any awards for casting.”
Director M. Night Shyamalan was heavily criticized for casting white actors in lead roles instead of Asian actors, for the movie adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
A live-action adaption of the anime Akira has been stuck in development hell, but fans of the original animated film have started a campaign against some of the possible changes that have leaked out, which includes replacing the Asian characters of the original with white actors.
Additionally, character Mindy Park, who is Korean-American in the book, is played by white actress Mackenzie Davis in director Ridley Scott's film.
“This insulting practice of white-washing has got to stop,” said Aki Aleong, president of the Media Action Network for Asian Americans, which has been battling the problem for decades. “Alarmingly, it has been increasing in frequency.
To be fair, we should mention that Asian actors weren’t employed in the film: Benedict Wong (Marco Polo) plays the role of Bruce Ng, the director of Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Other Asian actors playing small roles in the film include Chen Shu, Yang Haiwen, Eddy Ko, Yang Liu, Xue Xuxing and Narantsogt Tsogtsaikhan.
Perhaps producer Ridley Scott there were "too many" Asian actors in his move. Can there be too many Asians? Where's the cut off point?
“So few projects are written specifically with Asian-American characters in them, and he’s now changed them to a white woman and black man,” MANAA founding President Guy Aoki said of Scott’s casting choices. “This was a great opportunity to give meaty roles to talented Asian American actors — and boost their careers. … This feel-good movie, which has attracted Oscar buzz, shouldn’t get any awards for casting.”
"This was a great opportunity to give meaty roles to talented Asian American actors — and boost their careers — which would've enabled our community to become a greater part of the rescue team," Aoki continued. "This feel-good movie, which has attracted Oscar buzz, shouldn't get any awards for casting."
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| Emma Stone, Hawaiian/Chinese, uh, really? |
No wonder Asian/Americans are so "invisible" in American society. We keep getting erased!
Another glaring example of the erasure of Asian/Americans: The hero of Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers, Johnny "Juan" Rico is written by the famous author as a Filipino. But ultimately, white actor Casper Van Dien got the role.
Director M. Night Shyamalan was heavily criticized for casting white actors in lead roles instead of Asian actors, for the movie adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
And apparently, it won't be the last time roles are "white-washed." Tilda Swinton has been cast to play The Ancient One, who’s identified in the comic book the film was based on as being an old Tibetan man. There’s also the upcoming Ghost In The Shell project, in which Scarlett Johansson is set to portray Motoko Kusanagi, a Japanese character in the popular anime series that the film is based on.
A live-action adaption of the anime Akira has been stuck in development hell, but fans of the original animated film have started a campaign against some of the possible changes that have leaked out, which includes replacing the Asian characters of the original with white actors.
Most recently, one of the most egregious example of "white-washing" is in the Cameron Crowe film Aloha, in which Emma Stone played a Hawaiian/Chinese character. Crowe and Stone were so embarrassed by the reaction that each made public apologies.
On a positive note, a 14-year-old Hawaiian girl, Auli‘i Cravalho, has been selected to give voice to Moana, a Disney production about a Polynesian girl learning and understanding her culture. Also cast in the same animated movie is Samoan.American Dwayne "Rock" Johnson.
Hollywood, as always, takes one step forward, ten steps back.
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