In our last issue, Gabriel Byrne made a searing critique of Hollywood’s lack of diversity, and noted the importance of the movement for recognition of black filmmakers.
“American society, even if we’re just talking about Hollywood, is much more complex than what we see on the screen,” he said. “You will never find a Korean actor being the lead in a movie simply because he’s a really good actor. American films reflect the white status quo.”
Byrne’s observation was very timely, with several recent casting decisions highlighting Hollywood’s reluctance to allow Asian and Asian-American actors to take leading roles. Despite the controversy caused by Emma Stone’s part as a Hawaiian/Asian character in Cameron Crowe’s Aloha last year, several similar cases of whitewashing and even yellowface are currently occurring in Hollywood. Scarlett Johansson was cast as Asian Major Motoko Kusnangi in the upcoming adaptation of Ghost In The Shell, based on the Japanese manga series and media franchise. While this casting decision was already problematic in its erasure of a major Japanese heroine, the filmmakers outdid themselves by contacting Lola VFX, the visual effects company responsible for Brad Pitt’s reverse aging in The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, and asking if CGI could be used to make the Caucasian actors look more Asian. This is effectively a modern version of the aforementioned yellowface, a form of theatrical make-up historically used by performers to represent an East Asian person. Meanwhile, Tilda Swinton’s upcoming role as Tibetan character the Ancient One in Doctor Strange has also drawn criticism, with another leading Asian role having been given to a white actor.
These modern iterations of whitewashing and yellowface systematically prevent Asian actors from getting jobs and achieving success.
Casting white actors to play Asian characters – that are often stereotypical caricatures – has always been a rampant problem in Hollywood, resulting in infamously offensive performances such as Mickey Rooney’s role as a buck-toothed Japanese landlord in Breakfast At Tiffany’s.
German-born actress Luise Rainer won an Oscar playing a Chinese peasant woman in The Good Earth (1937), Yul Brynner won Best Actor for playing Thai king Mongkut in The King And I (1956), and Linda Hunt won Best Supporting Actress for playing a Chinese photographer in The Year Of Living Dangerously (1982). Elsewhere, Katherine Hepburn literally taped her eyes to portray a Chinese woman in Dragon Seed (1944).
By casting white actresses to play Asian women, films perpetuate Western ideals of beauty – a huge issue in a world where eyelid surgery and skin-bleaching products are still common in Asia. And by refusing to cast Asian men as romantic leads, Hollywood also reinforces racist stereotypes that present Asian men as emasculated or asexual.
Asian actors are now highlighting what they see as systematic racism within Hollywood, with Constance Wu declaring Ghost In The Shell’s attempt at CGI yellowface to be “heinous.” Meanwhile, George Takei lambasted Swinton’s casting in Doctor Strange, stating that, “Marvel must think we’re all idiots. All the arguments in the world don’t change the fact that Hollywood offers very few roles to Asian actors, and when one comes along, they hire a white actor to do it. Until that mindset changes and the studios do something to stop this practice – remember The Last Airbender? Aloha? – I will continue to speak out.”