Today is
August 14th, 2019. In the United States, we are in the midst of, what feels like, a battle for
our nation's soul. We face the heaviest challenges that have been at our
doorstep, yet they've gone ignored in the past. My parent's generation and
those before let social plights dig their roots deeper into our proverbial
soil. If you look at today's date and compare it to a timeline of historical
events, here or around the World, you would think that our common sense
would've caught up to us by now. Although cooler heads may prevail from time to time, racism rears its disgusting head in every possible arena.
That’s amplified in this day and age where phones are the means of news, social
media and overall exposure to the outside world. Older folks to pre-teens
are susceptible to information and misinformation. Through the years of cinema, Hollywood has projected the idea that white audiences are the only market and want to see themselves on screen. From adaptations to reconfiguring historical facts to fit their agenda, there's no denying that films get whitewashed. In this article, I want to cover some of the most popular instances and the changing landscape we're witnessing before our very eyes.
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| Genghis Khan |
The film business in and of itself has been sadly
male-dominated. White males to be exact. Sadly, that’s still the prevailing attitude
today, yet more and more diverse choices in the cast and crew are paving the way
for inclusion. However, there’s an insidious form of racism that’s been a topic
of many articles and discussions online. Whitewashing. In a 2015 article
written by Lester Andrist, a sociology professor at the University of Maryland,
he defines whitewashing as “the tendency of media to be dominated by white
characters, played by white actors, navigating their way through a story that
will likely resonate most deeply with white audiences.” That’s the simplest way
to explain it, also in that same piece, Andrist delves deeper. He explains that
there are a few types of whitewashing that Hollywood practices. The first is implemented
during films based on historical events. An example I was exposed to at an
early age was Genghis Khan (1965). The titular figure, Khan, is
portrayed by John Wayne who is famously white and about as far from Chinese as
you can get. Another instance would be Argo (2012), where Ben Affleck
played CIA agent Tony Mendez, who was Mexican Italian. These were real people that
are replaced for a “digestible” movie white audiences can relate to. Another
thing to note, Hollywood’s presumption that white people are the majority of
moviegoers is nonsense within itself. (See also A Mighty Heart where
Angelina Jolie is given a corkscrew wig and darker skin tone.)
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| Ghost In The Shell Comparison |
This line of whitewashing also applies to comic
book, literature or anime adaptations. Fictional characters who are written or
illustrated as people of color should not change. Yet, they do. Those points of
view are integral to the plot and when changed, not only lose the core of the
subject matter but spit in the face of representation. These are still common today,
of course, and cause a constant uproar on the internet when a role finds itself
whitewashed. Famously, in 2014, DreamWorks Pictures announced that Scarlett
Johansson would be playing the main character in Ghost In The Shell. In
the original manga and following anime, the main character’s name is Mokoto
Kusanagi, a character of Japanese descent. Along with her casting, Michael Pitt
and Pilou Asbaek joined in prominent roles from the source material but were again whitewashed roles. To add insult to injury, her whiteness becomes the plot twist
later on in the film. The writers concocted a way to have Scarlett play the protagonist
by renaming her “ Mira Killian”, but it turns out her whiteness becomes the plot
twist later in the film. We find out that her brain belonged to Mokoto all
along! The “twist” only confirmed what the suspecting audience already knew,
that Hollywood whitewashed this for monetary gain. Now, the director for the
anime adaptation, Mamoru Oshii said in an email via IGN “What issue could there
possibly be with casting her? The Major is a cyborg and her physical form is an
entirely assumed one. The name ‘Motoko Kusanagi’ and her current body are not
her original name and body, so there is no basis for saying that an Asian actress
must portray her…Even if her original body (presuming such a thing existed)
were a Japanese one, that would still apply.” That was met with immediate
criticism from fans of the manga, frankly, stating the obvious: He wasn’t the creator
of the source material. In a 2017 interview with Marie Claire, Johansson defended
her role in GITS “I certainly would never presume to play another race
of a person. Diversity is important in Hollywood, and I would never want to
feel like I was playing a character that was offensive.” She says that but had
done it anyway. When looking at the rest of Hollywood’s whitewashing
adaptations, GITS obviously isn’t the only one. The Lone Ranger featured
Johnny Depp as the Native American Tonto, most of the cast in The Last
Airbender, the Ancient One in Doctor Strange and Death Note just
to name a few. Contrary to the online discourse, there are plenty of actors fits for those roles. The sad thing is when the business is based on clout and box office draw, they will go that route. Truth is, marketing is a skill I don't think a lot of studios really put work into. Casting the right person for the role would do you more favors in the long run rather than spending money. That's my theory anyway.
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| Green Book |
That form of whitewashing is the most
obvious to the eye due to the preceding source materials, however, in our media,
we’re faced with much more than we realize. In that same article written by
Andrist, he describes another type of whitewashing as “the constellation of
events that comprise a historical moment are reconfigured, forcing the audience
to experience the story from a white perspective, as such, this type of
whitewashing is a principal-agent in shifting the public memory of real events.” Or commonly known as the "White Savior."Andrist cites Dances with Wolves as such. This warps an experience the viewers
have right off the bat. A historical period that is most notably not white has become
experienced by a white individual. A third type is when the majority of the
cast is of a certain race, yet the main protagonist is white, so the typical “White
Savior” model. Dangerous Minds is one of the first movies I remember watching
when I was a child and it became alarmingly clear to me that it was indeed “white
savior” fetishization. These are the most egregious due to the fact they simply
rewrite history or even in some cases barely glance at racism as an issue.
Green Book, 2019’s Best Picture winner, is supposed to be about Don Shirley who was an accomplished composer and jazz musician.
Instead, the movie tells his story through his white driver. The driver, Tony
Lip, was a racist himself, however, the film goes out of its way to make Shirley
look out of touch with Black culture. Films like Hidden Figures, The
Help, The Blind Side and Glory insert the tired and false narrative
that African Americans need help from white people. The “white savior” usually takes
the shape of an inspirational teacher or a person of principle. And often, the
person of principle in the historical retelling was racist.
At the end of the day, we still have a long
way to go when it comes to representation, that’s obvious. In the United States
alone we have a multitude of battles regarding the subject, but we can start to
implement change in any way we can. Hollywood still has the tendency to
whitewash, sure, yet movies like Crazy, Rich Asians and Black Panther made an
impact at the box office. Unfortunately, its money that has made a difference. The studios
have seen that diversity equates to money and that’ll be the way a lot of them
will make these culturally important decisions. Cinema has a direct impact on
our health, behavior and how we feel. The feeling of seeing someone like you on
the screen is empowering, it truly is. Now, it’s time we feel that way all the
time.
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