While, I was reading this news article, I was thinking, "but this happens in every industry in North America & Europe." Every race is stereotyped in the labour market, & hence, all, or at least, most, of the jobs in a particular industry goes to people of certain skin colour or ethnicity.
For instance, South Asians are hired mostly for computer-related work, whereas, sales & marketing roles, even in the same company (e.g. IBM) go to "white" people. Check out most of the sales & marketing jobs in any industry & you will find majority of those are filled by "white" people.
Another thing this story highlights is how much racism there is in North American & European labour market, esp. in such lucrative industries as movie & film industry. Even those roles which require ethnic & non-white actors are filled by white actors. The general public thinks that there is no or minimal racism in Western labour markets & people are hired on talent & competency.
These actors are obviously not being hired on the basis of talent, but what would the customer want. Using same logic, it is then understandable that sales & marketing, or even any customer-facing but lucrative, jobs mostly go to white people, since, the employer is thinking that that the customer would want. Although, most, if not all, employers advertise the fact to the world that they hire people on their competencies & try to reflect the diversity in the general public.
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In Aloha, Cameron Crowe's latest film, Emma Stone, a American actress with blonde hair & green eyes, was cast as Allison Ng - a junior fighter pilot who was part-Chinese, part-Hawaiian & part-Swedish.
Soon after the release, there was an uproar of criticism from social media against Crowe's casting choice.
Both Asians & non-Asians asked why they didn't pick an Asian actress to play a character who is part-Asian.
One advocacy group called Aloha "a whitewashed film" that failed to portray the ethnical diversity of Hawaii.
The Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA) noted 60% of Hawaii's population is Asian-American Pacific Islanders & 30% Caucasian, a fact not reflected in the film.
Crowe apologised on his website but said he based the Ng character on a real-life redheaded Hawaiian who felt compelled to constantly over-explain her unlikely ethnicity.
"I can understand what Crowe said about his intention that he based his character on someone that didn't look Asian but identified with the culture but you could have casted someone who was part Hawaiian," Guy Aoki, the founding president of MANAA, said.
...
Hollywood has been accused of whitewashing Asians for decades.
In the early days of big budget film, directors put eye & cheek prosthetics on actors to approximate Asian facial features. This is how Marlon Brando filled the role of a Japanese interpreter in The Teahouse of the August Moon, John Wayne became Genghis Khan in The Conquerors, & Mickey Rooney was cast as Mr. Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany's.
There was a lack of Asian actors in Hollywood in the 1950s, Lisa Nakamura, a professor of American culture at the University of Michigan said, but it is not an excuse today.
There are a multitude of Asian actresses who could have played Ng in Aloha, she said, including Kristin Kreuk, a bi-racial actress seen in the US TV show Smallville.
But Hollywood continues to cast popular white actors for economic reasons.
"They need to have names that most Americans recognise above the title," Nakamura said.
"Taking a risk on an actor that is not famous but fits the character's ethnicity is not a sound strategy to make money."
And so Hollywood casts famous white actors to attract the crowds, such as George Clooney who played Hawaiian lawyer in The Descendants, or director Ridley Scott who said he chose Christian Bale to play Moses in Exodus: Gods and Kings to get his movie financed.
But even if this strategy is profitable, Nakamura said that white actors playing Asian roles are not convincing, effectively breaking the movie's "fourth wall".
It's not only odd, Aoki said, it's also insulting to Asian actors, who struggle to find roles in a predominately white Hollywood.
"A white actor does not need to play an Asian person to survive in this industry," Aoki said.
He added the outrage over Emma Stone's casting might mark the beginning of a change in the industry but he believes white people need to speak up & "say that this is not right, this is ridiculous".
But whitewashing still appears to be prevalent in today's Hollywood.
When Scarlett Johansson was cast as Motoko Kusanagi, a Japanese character in Ghost in the Shell, angry fans launched a petition calling for the actress to be dismissed from the role. And Tilda Swinton's negotiation to play the role of the Ancient One, a male Tibetan mystic, in Dr. Strange has also been criticised on social media.
Nakamura said the industry will start changing when casting decisions are made based on talent & character's accuracy, but for now Hollywood will continue to cast famous white actors to bring in the audience.
"I think in the US this strikes a sensitive subject," Nakamura said. "But casting is important as it represents how viewers see themselves & that still matters."
For instance, South Asians are hired mostly for computer-related work, whereas, sales & marketing roles, even in the same company (e.g. IBM) go to "white" people. Check out most of the sales & marketing jobs in any industry & you will find majority of those are filled by "white" people.
Another thing this story highlights is how much racism there is in North American & European labour market, esp. in such lucrative industries as movie & film industry. Even those roles which require ethnic & non-white actors are filled by white actors. The general public thinks that there is no or minimal racism in Western labour markets & people are hired on talent & competency.
These actors are obviously not being hired on the basis of talent, but what would the customer want. Using same logic, it is then understandable that sales & marketing, or even any customer-facing but lucrative, jobs mostly go to white people, since, the employer is thinking that that the customer would want. Although, most, if not all, employers advertise the fact to the world that they hire people on their competencies & try to reflect the diversity in the general public.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In Aloha, Cameron Crowe's latest film, Emma Stone, a American actress with blonde hair & green eyes, was cast as Allison Ng - a junior fighter pilot who was part-Chinese, part-Hawaiian & part-Swedish.
Soon after the release, there was an uproar of criticism from social media against Crowe's casting choice.
Both Asians & non-Asians asked why they didn't pick an Asian actress to play a character who is part-Asian.
One advocacy group called Aloha "a whitewashed film" that failed to portray the ethnical diversity of Hawaii.
The Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA) noted 60% of Hawaii's population is Asian-American Pacific Islanders & 30% Caucasian, a fact not reflected in the film.
Crowe apologised on his website but said he based the Ng character on a real-life redheaded Hawaiian who felt compelled to constantly over-explain her unlikely ethnicity.
"I can understand what Crowe said about his intention that he based his character on someone that didn't look Asian but identified with the culture but you could have casted someone who was part Hawaiian," Guy Aoki, the founding president of MANAA, said.
...
Hollywood has been accused of whitewashing Asians for decades.
In the early days of big budget film, directors put eye & cheek prosthetics on actors to approximate Asian facial features. This is how Marlon Brando filled the role of a Japanese interpreter in The Teahouse of the August Moon, John Wayne became Genghis Khan in The Conquerors, & Mickey Rooney was cast as Mr. Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany's.
There was a lack of Asian actors in Hollywood in the 1950s, Lisa Nakamura, a professor of American culture at the University of Michigan said, but it is not an excuse today.
There are a multitude of Asian actresses who could have played Ng in Aloha, she said, including Kristin Kreuk, a bi-racial actress seen in the US TV show Smallville.
But Hollywood continues to cast popular white actors for economic reasons.
"They need to have names that most Americans recognise above the title," Nakamura said.
"Taking a risk on an actor that is not famous but fits the character's ethnicity is not a sound strategy to make money."
And so Hollywood casts famous white actors to attract the crowds, such as George Clooney who played Hawaiian lawyer in The Descendants, or director Ridley Scott who said he chose Christian Bale to play Moses in Exodus: Gods and Kings to get his movie financed.
But even if this strategy is profitable, Nakamura said that white actors playing Asian roles are not convincing, effectively breaking the movie's "fourth wall".
It's not only odd, Aoki said, it's also insulting to Asian actors, who struggle to find roles in a predominately white Hollywood.
"A white actor does not need to play an Asian person to survive in this industry," Aoki said.
He added the outrage over Emma Stone's casting might mark the beginning of a change in the industry but he believes white people need to speak up & "say that this is not right, this is ridiculous".
But whitewashing still appears to be prevalent in today's Hollywood.
When Scarlett Johansson was cast as Motoko Kusanagi, a Japanese character in Ghost in the Shell, angry fans launched a petition calling for the actress to be dismissed from the role. And Tilda Swinton's negotiation to play the role of the Ancient One, a male Tibetan mystic, in Dr. Strange has also been criticised on social media.
Nakamura said the industry will start changing when casting decisions are made based on talent & character's accuracy, but for now Hollywood will continue to cast famous white actors to bring in the audience.
"I think in the US this strikes a sensitive subject," Nakamura said. "But casting is important as it represents how viewers see themselves & that still matters."
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