33861387 racism in hollywood

8/8/2019 33861387 Racism in Hollywood

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Racism In Hollywood

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As some of you may know, Paramount commissioned (in)famous director M. Night Shyamalan to

adapt the popular Nickelodian series Avatar: The Last Airbender into a movie trilogy. The TV

series revolves a fantasical, Hayao Miyazaki-inspired universe that deals with individuals capable

of controlling and manipulating (aka bending) one or several of the earths elements Earth,

Wind, Water, and Fire and how the main protagonist, Aang, the Last Airbender, is destined to


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bring back balance when the Fire nations imperialistic and war-mongering desires get out of

hand. The movie is slated for release July 1st this year, and its production has led to a lot of

controversy specifically with regards to its casting.

Though Im not a particular fan of the show (nor do I dislike it) and am simply neutral overall, I

feel that it is necessary to state for several reasons why I will not support this movie for

professional, philosophical and personal reasons.

History of American Facepainting


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Americans have a long standing history of playing other ethnic minorities, starting as far as 1829

with the play Metamora. The play is about an Native American chief who at fi rst befriends

White settlers but throughpoliticsand a series of betrayals, eventually retaliates against the

impending colonists, ultimately dying in a climatically melodramatic scene. The main character,

Native American chief Metamora (who happened to be based off real Native American

Metacomet, aka King Philip) was portrayed by Edwin Forrest, marking one of the earliest

practices ofRedface in which White actors played Native American roles.

The humble beginnings of Redface lead up to the infamous time period of popular Blackface in

which White actors smeared their faces with black paint and depicted racist driven caricatures of

African Americans such as Zip Coon and Jim Crow. These caricatures were depicted in minstrel

shows to much popularity, a popularity distinguished by the first movie with a soundtrack, 1927s

The Jazz Singer in which Al Jolson portrays a Jewish son who dives into Broadway and the

show business via blackface; in fact, the climatic scene involves Jolson putting on his make up,

transforming his very Jewish distinction into a character popular to a widely racist White

majority.

Eventually, Blackface gave way to other and more subtle racist interjections, a prime example

being the 1961 film West Side Story. The studioopted to cast Natalie Wood as Maria, thePuerto Rican love interest and female lead. This was blatant Brownface in which White actors

were favored over Latin actors, and a further criticism was how Puerto Ricans were depicted in

the narrative. In fact, when approached for a possible remake, Ricky Martin downright refused,

stating that he could not endorse what he believed to be an ethnocentric depiction of Latin cultural

roots; Jennifer Lopez, also approached, disagreed with this sentiment and was enthusiastic about

the projects prospects. Though the basis for the ethnocentricism of West Side Story is still up


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for debate the fact remains that in the original 1961 film, a White actress was favored over a

Latina actress, which is enough to argue a blatant Hollywood practice of Brownface.

These three history examples lead up to my foremost argument about Hollywoods tradition in

racebending, exemplified by two examples currently in the spotlight Disneys Prince of Persia:

The Sands of Time and Paramounts The Last Airbender.

Racebending in Practice - Modern Edition

Both Prince of Persia and The Last Airbender are great offenses that demonstrate a

longstanding Hollywood tradition of racist undertones: both cast White actors to portray ethnic

characters over respective ethnic actors. However, I believe that The Last Airbender offends

more greatly than Prince of Persia for a few more reasons than expected:

Prince of Persia at least had some twisted Hollywood marketing sense in that they casted a A-

list actor, Jake Gyllenhaal, to portray Prince Dastan; despite the movie being uncannily silly in

premise and narrative function (foremost, its based off a video game franchise) a well-known

actor on the list would invariably pull in the numbers.


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As a disclaimer, I do not condone the casting for Prince of Persia, but for the record is was

already a stupid idea to begin with and starred an actor that many Americans are familiar with.

Given how it is a Jerry Bruckheimer production, Im s

ure big money was involved with intent ofcreating another hit like Johnny Depp did for the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, a franchise

that was in itself silly and based off a classic Disneyland attraction.

So while Prince of Persia offends with its casting of a A-list White actor for marketing reasons,

The Last Airbender offends even more with its casting of newcomer/lesser known White actors

over equivalent Asian actors to portray its starring Asian characters. The marketing reasons

attached to famous actors does not apply here; instead, the marketing assumption is that White

actors are more capable than Asian actors for pulling in viewers, with a possible secondary

assumption in their superiority in acting abilities. This overarching assumption is the basis for

an institutionalized racism innate to Hollywoods long, long history of ethnic narratives.

Why Paramount Pictures reinforces an Institutionalized Racism


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In her paper Levels of Racism: A Theoretic Framework and a Gardeners Tale, Camara PhyllisJones (MD, MPH, and PhD) postulates that there are three levels of racism: internalized,

personally-mediated, and institutionalized.

Internalized racism is how one personally feels about race and its meaning, though they may not

necessarily act out on these underlying and internalized assumptions it most definitely affects

them at the subconscious level (eg. It had occurred to Pecola some time ago that if her eyes,

those eyes that held the pictures, and knew the sights-if those eyes of hers were different, that is to

say, beautiful, she herself would be different. Toni Morrisons The Bluest Eye).

Personally-mediated racism maintains social-structural barriers, the result of assumptions held

by people or a community (eg. This town was so much better before those goddamn ___ moved

in. Its their fault the towns economy has gone down so much).

Lastly, institutionalized racism is racism at the highest infrastructural level, in which policy is

dictated by racial assumptions and discrimination (eg. South Africas long history of Apartheidin

which black South Africans werepolitically and legally segregated from whites, spearheaded by

the South African Nationalist Party from 1948 to 1994).

Herein this last level of racism lies Paramount Studios greatest offense of reinforcing

institutionalized racism within the Hollywood business.


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By openly preferring Caucasian actors over Asian actors in an open casting call, Paramount

demonstrated their innate racist assumptions that a no name White actor was more capable of

increasing box office numbers and (perhaps) acting than an equivalent Asian actor regardless of

the Eastern-based characters in the series. Additionally, by casting Asian actors as secondary or

supporting characters, Paramount clearly wished to create an authentically diverse universe, one

that is distinctly Eastern and non-Western in its roots.


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This assumption is wrong, unfounded and offensive on so many levels. Who is to say a Asian

American boy is less articulate in English and capable in acting prowess than a Caucasian boy?

Pixar casted Japanese-American Jordan Nagai to voice act Korean-American inspired Russell in

their 2009 film UP, and it was arguably one of the most commercially and critically acclaimed

successes of the year. Obviously this assumption cant be the case, especially considering thesuccessofotherAsian American cinema such as Better Luck Tomorrow in 2002 and The Joy

Luck Club in 1993.


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And who is to say Asian actors in distinctly Asian narratives are any less capable of drawing in

American audiences? Ang Lees Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in 2000 opened the gateways

to a Hollywood flood of Hong Kong and Asian cinema that had been established by star Asian

actor predecessors such as Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. These legacies proved that American

audiences do enjoy Asian cinema, and though they were heavily based on martial arts lore they

were nonetheless marketable and a great potential for Hollywood to spread out and include more

Asian actors in their films.


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Perhaps the greatest offense thatthe heroi

characters are portrayed by lily White actors while

the villainous characters are portrayed dark-skinned Indian actors in lieu ofthe factthat allthecharacters have distinctly Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian and Inuit characteristics regardless of

their good or badness.

This purports my conceitthat Paramount blatantly reinforces racism attheinstitutionallevel,

driven by innately racistassumptionsand an ethnocentric desireto bundle Eastern culture rich in

history and human stories into a big old Yell

e bowtie. Make it as pretty and shiny and

Asian-y as you want in the end, this movie is racist and a disrespectful slap in the face ofthe

Eastern heritage it so wishes to profit off of. The studios underlying assumption about

marketability and acting capability of White over Asian actors is insulting, and to claim thattheir

production is diverse because they cast Asians as secondary and supporting characters ignores

the biggerissue at hand the starring, main Asian characters are portrayed by White actorsinstead of Asian actors.

Shyamalan Sol

out, Oblivious, or both?


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Indian-American director M. Night Shyamalan has consistently defended the movie as diverse

much in the same vein of Paramounts assertions, citing that the production team took careful

means to create a film rich in Asian culture and aesthetics and like the studio, not once has he

addressed the bigger issue at hand, that White actors have been favored over Asian actors to play

Asian characters.

He completely misses the point about ethnic and racial diversity: dress it up all you want, but at

the end of the day its Yellowface all over again. Its an insult to assume that Asians and AsianAmericans will be ok with White actors once again taking on the starring roles that are Asian

archetypes, and worse that Shyamalan seems peachy keen on the whole premise.


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Shyamalan has even stated that he desired to work with Nicola Peltz, the Caucasian actress slated

to play the water benderKatara. This statement highlights my other postulate that Shyamalanisnot

a dumbfounded, overridden director force fed to direct a Yellowface film that instead he

obviously had a say in who he wanted casted, that he fully endorse White actors over Asian actors

to play the main parts.

Was he bought? Is he oblivious to the institutionalized racism hes endorsing? Or is it a bit of

both? Whatever the reason, its clear Shyamalan is in lovewithhis cinematic vision despite the

social implications at hand, and for that Ive lost all respect for him, especially considering that hehimself is a minority director and would presumably empathize with minority actors barred from

acting roles due to Hollywoods underlying racial assumptions. As of now, this director is

unredeemable in screenwriting, in career, and in a self-indulgent streak that ignores world issues

for his own self-fulfillment. This is simply shameless.

Fantasy Uni erse


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Defenders claim that this just a fantasy universe, some stating that they saw main protagonist

Aang as a White guy and that the casting is simply interpretational. This again misses the

point completely this is a narrative based explicitly on Asian roots, and for a movie that lavishes

in the history and beauty of Eastern culture its casting of White actors in the lead hero roles is

racist and ethnocentric. Avatar: The Last Airbender creators Michael Dante DiMartino and

BryanKonietzko have stated multiple time that the storyis Asianinspired characters, costumes,

scenery, everything. They envisioned a fantasy universe that dealt with Asian folklore, with

cultural and image aesthetics derived from their respective Eastern roots.

An additional angle of the fantasy universe defense is that this narrative is fictional and thus

subject to interpretation in any adaptation so why should The Last Airbender be sideswiped as

an offense in its film adaptation?


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Foremost, a great many narratives are fictional regardless of the universe they occupy. Period

pieces/history-based, science fiction, epic fantasies, thrillers, romances, psychological these are

all human narratives with fictionalized characters in their respective universes (the exception

would be for nonfictions and autobiographies, but even the factual legitimacy can be called into

question). When critics lambasted InglouriousBasterds as inaccurate and a rewriting of history,

directorQuentin Tarantino replied:

My characters dont know that they are part ofhistory. They have no pre-recorded future, and

they are not aware of anything they can orcannot do. Ihave never pre-destined my characters,

ever. And I felt now wasnt the time to start. So basically, where Im coming from on this issue is:

(1) My characters changed thecourse of the war.

(2) Now that didnthappen because in real life my characters didntexist.

(3) But if they hadveexisted, from Frederick Zoller on down,everything thathappens is quite

plausible.


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Extending this to The Last Airbender story, the characters are presumably in a universe that is

centeredaround what we otherwise identify with as Eastern culture. The characters themselvesmay not know it, but we know full well that they are analogous to many aspects of Asian culture.

From the philosophies to the customs, the narrative of elemental benders lends itself to Eastern

heritage; these characters dont exist in real life, but in their universe they are very much Asian in

roots, and with their existence comes the story popular and beloved by many fans of the series.

With this in mind, Paramounts casting is even more offensive and disrespectful. If they had any

sort of cultural humiliation and decency, thestudio would understand that they are in fact

depicting cultures that have histories and legacies of human stories and accomplishments specific

to the Eastern hemisphere in this narration, and to bundle it all up all nice and pretty with a

Yellowface frosting is nothing short of ethnocentrism and institutionalized racism.

But the oice actors spoke English in the original tele ision series!


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Of course they did. English is the predominant language in America, and lets face it most

viewers prefer to watch instead of watch and and read at the same time. On the opposite fold, the

anime series Fullmetal Alchemist is Western inspired with some Chinese and Middle Eastern

characters and yet they speak Japanese, simply because the production is Japanese and primarily

marketed to a Japanese audience. Similarly, Avatar: The Last Airbender is an Americanproduction that was marketed primarily to a American audience that is predominantly English-

speaking.

Does this make Avatar: The Last Airbender any less Eastern or Fullmetal Alchemist any less

Western?


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No. The creators of each series have explicitly stated their respective influences: The Last

Airbender creators DiMartino and Konieztko listed Asianculture and Hayao Miyazakis

cinematiclegacy as main influences for their narrative premise; Fullmetal Alchemist creator

Hiromu Arakawa detailed how she researched the European Industrial Revolution and Western-

based hypotheses on alchemy in order to flesh out a convincing world.

Their narratives may be conveyed in the non-traditional language, but the narrative structure and

influences are true to their origins in both series. This is what matters the most, and its what

Paramount and Shyamalan completely misunderstand when they so thoroughly believe they are

being true to the series distinctly Eastern cultural and aesthetic roots when theyve casted

White actors for the main roles.

Isnt it time we stopped looking at race?

NO.

This argument flies from the ends of Shyamalan and Paramount defenders, who believe that in

this day and age we should all be colorblind to race and its associated implications.

However, as presented in the PBS award-winning documentary Unnatural Causes, its been

proven that ethnic minorities, compared to White Americans in the same socioeconomic statuses,

have higher rates of chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular diseases and heart attacks than their

white counterparts.

These higher rates are the result ofallostatic load and weathering the resultant and combined

stresses that can result from differing levels of racism that are either explicit or implicit. For

instance, a Mexican lawyer with a degree from Yale who is followed around in a store wouldexperience self-mediated racism; another example would be a African American doctor with a

MD and PhD who sees a woman gripping her purse tightly when they ride the same elevator

together, in which case he would also experience self-mediated racism. Both examples highlight

how ethnic minorities experience a day-to-day incident of racism, and presumably these incidents

activate a certain amount of distress (stressors) that subconsciously build up and cause them to be

more susceptible to illnesses when the stressors inadvertently compromisetheir immunity.


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Consequently, ignoring the effects and significance of race, while a ideal vision, is inapplicable

and inappropriate to current social and political infrastructures at hand. We must consider race as

a factor in any case since racism still plays a active role in how people operate on a daily basis.

This is not to say that we simply cast aside all inhibitions: if youre in the projects, its generally a

bad idea to assist anyone find their lost dog in the alleyway. What is important and relevant is

understanding our own racist tendencies in order to begin rising above them; furthermore,

comprehending that other ethnicities are people jut like ourselves, that their behaviors and

lifestyles are governed by their own culture, histories and respective political and social

infrastructures that they occupy.


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For these reasons, I was never a fan of the original Karate Kid because despite its casting of

Noriyuki Pat Morita as the famous Kesuke Miyagi (aka Mr. Miyagi), the story was a classic

Western-style coming-of-age parable that, in a sense, shallowly alluded to Eastern philosophy for

Western application and usage.

The newer adaptation with Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan while not without its editing faults

dealt not only with a coming-of-age story but also with a universal message of humane goodness

that unites us all despite cultural differences. The 2010 remake went even further to highlight

these differences, and instead of exoticizing such discrepancies breaks away from traditional

ethnocentrism and endorses cultural humility, a willingness to step away from an all-knowing

outsidersapproach.

This deep respect for Eastern cultural roots in the 2010 Karate Kid is gapingly missing from

Paramounts and Shyamalans approach in The Last Airbender, in which they so thoroughly

believe in the appropriateness of their sidestepping Asian actors for White actors in the main roles,

actors who could never fullyempathize with the Eastern philosophies and aesthetics they are set to

act out.

A Personal Argument


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Theres a reason why Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, despite its untimely silliness, was so

successful when it first launched in the US: for one, its cast was ethnically diverse alongside the

awesomeness of gigantic monsters blowing up cardboard buildings and grey putty minions

sidestepping haplessly as the rangers whooped their respective butts.

I knew many Asian children (especially Asian American girls) who loved the Yellow Ranger

Trini Kwan because she was played by the late Vietnamese-American actress ThuyTrang. Theyloved her not only because she kicked ass, but additionally because she was Asian. Many of the

same girls also loved FaMulan in Disneys 1998 Mulan for this same reason, and it was a major

plus that she was voiced by Macanese-born American actress Ming Na. These women, these

characters they were them, they empathized and sympathized with their cultural

roots, they were heroes.


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The point is that they had an Asian hero to look up to on the big movie screens and television

series, that with these heroes they were assured that as Asians, they had value to some Hollywood

and network executives. Above all, they were being represented, which meant that someone

understood that as Asians they too comprised the American public.

I can only imagine how many disappointed Asian American children will flock to the theaters

only to see that their animated heroes are now depicted by White actors who could never truly

empathize with their distinct Asian cultural roots. This is a movie that casted actor Jackson

Rathbone, who believes that being Asian means [pulling] my hair up, [shaving] the sides, and

definitely [getting] a tan. Its one of those things where, hopefully, the audience will suspend

disbelief a little bit.

Suspending belief, Mr. Rathbone? I believe the term youre looking for is Yellowface.

Closing Remarks


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The Last Airbender had so much potential to break Hollywoods tradition of racebending.Paramount disappointingly chose not to, and Shyamalan shamelessly agreed to the terms at the

expense ofhis own cultural roots.

I dont blame the actors they are simply looking for work in an unforgiving business, trying to

make a name for themselves. And while their comments can beidiotic it must be noted that they

were recruited by a largerinstitution that revels in racist assumptions.


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For these numerous reasons, I will not endorse this film. As a Vietnamese American, I

findTheLastAirbendersproduction and casting a great offense to my cultural roots, and believethat Paramount andespecially Shyamalan should be ashamed of themselves. Frankly, I hope

they go down in film anthropology as infamous practioners of self-indulgent, self-delusional

ignorance, stupidity and racism.

I only hope that one day, if I happen to have a kid, that they will have someone to look up to on

the big screen, someone that shares their innate empathy and understanding of their Eastern (and

perhaps mixed) cultural roots. If not, Ill be damned to get Hollywood away from wallet when

they try to profit off of racebending and that blasted 3D gimmick they seem to love so much.

For more information on thecontroversy, go here. For a satirical take on the issue, go here.

33861387 racism in hollywood

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