Asian/Americans decry whitewashing of Asian characters

IT'S BEEN a hell of a week for Asian/American actresses. They lost out three prominent roles that called for Asian characters.

After the #OscarsSoWhite controversy regarding diversity in the movie and TV industries, some thought that perhaps if we had more Asian writers and Asian-centric stories we would be able to generate more roles  for Asian actors.

Apparently, that was a blind alley.

Recently, the Internet has been buzzing about the casting of Scarlett Johansson as Ghost in the Shell heroine Major Motoko Kusanagi.

"It was particularly heinous because they ran CGI tests to make her look more Asian," said Constance Wu during a luncheon last week. She was one of the Asian/American actresss on the panel. Paramount has since denied that the studio tried to alter Johansson's appearance via computer graphics.

Wu, one of the stars of TV's Fresh Off The Boat, explained that the problem with the alleged tests is that "it reduces our race and ethnicity to mere physical appearance, when our race and culture are so much deeper than how we look."

Speaking out on issues always runs the risk of adverse reaction by Hollywood power-brokers but that didn't prevent Ming-Na Wen of Agents of SHIELD, who upon seeing the image of Johansson "with her Asian-esque haircut," she tweeted, "Nothing against Scarlett Johansson. In fact, I'm a big fan. But everything against this Whitewashing of Asian role."

The tweet went somewhat viral, which Wen said made her feel "happy and afraid, because to get back on the soapbox is scary, but I feel I need to. It's about accepting that part of the job," as reported in the Hollywood Reporter article about the panel.

RELATED: Another egregioius case of 'whitewashing'

For those of you who are not familiar with Ghost In A Shell and feel they've been dropped into an alternate universe, Ghost is based on a Japanese comic book, created by Japanese writers and artists, takes place in a Japanese setting and features an all-Japanese cast of characters.

This is not a case of Magnificent Seven's John Sturgis stealing Seven Samurai from Akira Kurosawa. At least in Magnificent Seven, by changing the setting to the Old American West, they could easily cast Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, et al, as the lead characters.

Ghost will still take place in a futuristic Tokyo, the values and mysticism will lean heavily on Buddhist principles and values and the SUPPORTING characters will still be Japanese, or at least, Asian.

At least they died Johansson's hair black. That will make her blend in, right?

Tilda Swinton, almost an albino, plays The Ancient One.

Another role made for an Asian actress is The Ancient One in Marvel's Dr. Strange. The producers tried to throw fans off balance by gender-bending the role by having a woman play the role of the Tibetan wise man. Maybe that makes it OK that Tilda Swinton, one of the whiter than white actresses, got the role of the monk.

"Well, it's not actually an Asian character — that's what I need to tell you about it. I wasn't asked to play an Asian character, you can be very well assured of that," Swinton is quoted as saying.

Duh, well ... not anymore. But the character still wears Asian-inspired clothes, and Dr. Strange still has to travel to Tibet to learn the mystical arts. The Ancient One's "power" seems to derive from his/her mastery of chi, or inner force, much in line with goals or higher levels of consciousness espoused in several Asian religions or martial arts.

UPDATED: Earlier versions of this post did not have the reaction of screenwriter Robert Cargill, which were made to The Guardian after the original posting.

Screenwriter C. Robert Cargill gives an explanation of turning the role the Tibetan monk to a Celtic wizard:  “[The Ancient One is] a racist stereotype who comes from a region of the world that is in [a] very weird political place,” he said in an interview for the Double Toasted Podcast, via The Guardian.

“He originates from Tibet, so if you acknowledge that Tibet is a place and that he’s Tibetan, you risk alienating one billion people who think that that’s bullsh*t and risk the Chinese government going, ‘Hey, you know one of the biggest film-watching countries in the world? We’re not going to show your movie because you decided to get political.’”

But the Chinese haven't erased Tibet as an entity and still recognize it as a identifiable part of their country. And if that's the best Cargill can give as an explanation, consider this: Asian audiences, particularly China's market, identify easier with Asian characters than non-Asian characters.

Cargill went on to say that if they cast the character with a Chinese actress, they risk the ire from other Asians. “If you are telling me you think it’s a good idea to cast a Chinese actress as a Tibetan character, you are out of your damn fool mind and have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about,” he said. “Oh, ‘she could be Asian!’ Asian? She should be Japanese, she should be Indian, really? The levels of cultural sensitivity around this thing is, everyone is staking out their one particular place and not realizing that every single thing here is a losing proposition.”

Elizabeth Bank's Rita Repulsa has been updated
to be more sexy and evil-looking.

AAPI actors didn't have time to recover from this double whammy of whitewashing when pictures were released of actress Elizabeth Banks as the villain Rita Repulsa in the reboot of the Power Rangers.

The character, though not specifically Asian, was an Asian creation using Asian source material. The role has been played historically by actresses of color. In the last live-action movie, Repulsa was played by Filipina/American actress Julia Cortez.

The newest reincarnation of Repulsa has been updated so she doesn't look so comedic in her two-cone headgear. She's a villain, after all.

So what exactly is happening in Hollywood? What happened about all the promises made surrounding #OscarsSoWhite?

Nothing new is happening that hasn't been done before. There have been more white actresses playing Asian women who have won Oscars than there have been Oscars awarded to actual Asian actresses: Luise Rainer, who won the Oscar for Best Actress for playing a Chinese woman named O-Lan in The Good Earth and Linda Hunt, who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for playing male Chinese-Australian photographer Billy Kwan in The Year of Living Dangerously. The sole REAL Asian woman to win an Oscar was Miyoshi Umeki  for her supporting role in Sayonara.

RELATED: Hollywood grapples with 'whitewashing' Asian roles - AGAIN!

I'm not sure which disappointed me more: the fact that these actresses were cast in Asian roles or the fact that they agreed to play those roles. I thought better of them.

I could almost understand the casting of Scarlett Johansson. She's one of the most bankable stars around. Her appeal is worldwide, not just in the U.S. Any project she's associated with will earn big bucks. But how will the film explain the existence of a white character as played by Johansson in a futuristic Tokyo and everybody else is Asian?  We'll have to wait and see. 

But Tilda Swinton and Elizabeth Banks? I really like their work but I wouldn't put them in the same category as Johansson. The economic argument for their casting is weaker. Certainly there are Asian/American and Asian actresses who are fully capable of playing any of these roles.

How can any Asian or Asian/American actress get to Johansson's level of popularity and bankability if they are never given the roles that would elevate them to that status? 

"Culturally, I think it is not in our (Asian) nature to confront these types of conflicts, to voice our concerns, to band together to voice our concerns, and that needs to change," Wen said in the panel discussion.

She said that African/Americans were right to protest #OscarsSoWhite and demand more opportunities for African/American actors. Asians should learn a lesson from that. "We have to fight our own fight," said Wen.