OK, John Wayne in The Conquerer, Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Joel Grey in Remo Williams, Jonathan Price in Miss Saigon…
When did Jimmy Stewart play an Asian character? Not that it matters to your point, many, many white actors (way too many) have done so. I just don’t recall Stewart (or, for that matter, Tony Randall) having done so.
Then what were you talking about when you said
Because, yes, of course that’s true, and it’s nothing to complain about, because that’s perfectly fair.
I’m not sure I understand the question; different people of course mean different things by “white supremacy”. Could you elaborate a touch?
That said, I’m not sure I see the relevance in any event. If, for the sake of argument, an equal number of used-to-be-white characters get portrayed by non-white actors, and vice versa, is that better or worse than if no characters were switched around in adaptations? If it’s, like, 51% to 49%, could that be better for striking a blow against “white supremacy” than if no roles get switched? Or what?
Part of the problem in Hollywood is the very understanding of which roles “call for a white person.”
You guys are throwing “Asian” around here as if Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese and so on are all the same thing. How closely must an actor’s real-life ancestry match the character he or she is playing?
And now we have to worry about black actors not being black enough?
For godsake, they put fine-featured Afro-Latina Saldana in dark makeup and a prosthetic nose. Because this was thought more “bankable,” no doubt.
(from “Nina Simone’s Face”)
Ideally it should be the same: a Japanese actress playing a Japanese character, a Korean playing a Korean, etcetera. But because Hollywood, I’m hoping for a first good step being casting any Asians at all in roles where appropriate. After we establish that, we can move on to the next step of even better casting.
In reference to an earlier post about whether Ghost in the Shell is an inherently Japanese movie: the Japanese certainly think it is. After going from powerful to demilitarized, they started becoming tech giants. They were the cutting edge of everything. So when a Japanese author creates a story about Japan clawing back to being a world power, the leader in technology, better than the USA, more glorious than they ever were before…well, yeah, that sounds like a pretty Japanese-centric story to me. In Ghost in the Shell, Japan is the only one who developed and has radiation scrubber nanomachines and they named them the “Japanese Miracle”. The story is built on top of Japanese nationalism, really.
7 Faces of Dr Lao. Great movie, even better book, but terrible use of asian blackfacing.
You misunderstand; I wasn’t saying this alone is unfair. I was simply walking you through the crazy illogic of saying CGI would make it easier for minorities to get “white” roles by starting with the basic fact that numbers alone would make this unlikely. But when you factor in racial bias, “unlikely” becomes “so damn close to impossible it’s really absurd you can’t see otherwise”.
Without the chance to play a more diverse role, of course minority actors are less successful. It still doesn’t answer the question of “why” though, why should a role originating in Japan starring Japanese characters be switched over to white?
Its not “whatever”, power and influence are a very real thing. Its just harder to quantify than raw population numbers, but even if whites are no longer the majority, there will still be a significant amount of time where they are still the most powerful racial group. Since the goal of a diverse society, casting in this case, is to try and equalize power, or share it, or get rid of systemic bigotry, then we should work towards a more equal casting that takes into account the reality of what the power dynamics are. Its harder, less black and white, and more prone to personal biases, but so what? Nobody said this would be easy. Just accept that you won’t get clear answers most of the time
The fact that there are few minorities is going to be in effect regardless of the attitudes of casting directors or of technology. Right now, minority actors face the additional hurdle that they can’t get white roles because they don’t look the part. Digital race-changing would remove that hurdle. How could this possibly decrease the chances of a minority actor getting a role?
…well no, the point is that no it wouldn’t.
Here’s a simple example.
I’m Maori. I have brown skin. If someone were to suggest I use technology to whiten my skin so I could apply for white roles, I would consider punching them in the mouth.
Because what you are suggesting is downright insulting. You want me to paint my face white? Seriously?
How are you going to overcome that hurdle?
Because casting directors and other decision makers will be even freer to go with their personal biases—many of which are unconscious—and go ahead and hire white people all the time.
And your point is that we have to honor the Japanese nationalism in the original script in anyway we can? You feel that is a worthy goal?
Update: I was sure Jimmy Stewart had done a movie in which he played a Chinese character, but a sweep of the IMDB doesn’t show such a role.
There are many other cases of “yellowfacing,” but I may have imagined or misremembered Jimmy Stewart doing it.
Would you have the same reaction if someone asked you to dye your hair for a role? Why or why not? But actors do that all the time. What if the role has blue or green skin-- Should you be offended by that request? Zoe Saldana apparently wasn’t.
If you don’t understand it after multiple explanations, I fear you will never understand it.
…if I told you to wear blackface to win a role: would you wear it?
I recall a disbelief about casting Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher:
Is Hollywood biased against big guys?
I’d like to say an unqualified “No, of course not”, except for Tropic Thunder. But that may just be the exception that proves the rule.