By Nathalie Nivasnanda
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
With recent pushes for diversity in Hollywood, there’s an issue that I feel doesn’t get enough coverage: whitewashing. In light of Ghost in the Shell and the upcoming Netflix movie Death Note, I’m reminded of a conversation I had with a friend:
“You know they’re making an American version of Death Note?” she said.
“… Oh, really?” I said.
“Yeah, they’re casting Zac Efron."
“… What? Zac Efron?” I replied after a long pause.
“Yeah, I don’t know…”
Upon further research, I found that yes, they were adapting this Japanese manga for an American audience but that Nat Wolff would play the lead. Yes, Nat Wolff, that kid from Nickelodeon’s The Naked Brothers Band, whose ethnicity is listed as “Ashkenazi Jewish, English, German, some Scottish, along with 1/256 Portuguese and distant Welsh, Jersey/Channel Islander and French”, is going to play lead, Light Yagami, a character of Japanese descent (editor's note: Wolff's character was renamed Light Turner for the remake).
Technically speaking, whitewashing is defined by Wikipedia as “a casting practice in the film industry of the United States in which white actors are cast in historically non-white character roles”. Plain and simple, white actors play roles that are not meant for them. This also ties in with yellowface, a practice whereby white actors put on makeup as a way to portray Asian characters. The most well-known examples of this is I.Y. Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961). Mickey Rooney, a white actor plays the role of the Japanese neighbor, resulting in a portrayal that is disgusting and racist, to say the least. This movie came out in the '60s, and I’m sure we’d like to believe that we’ve advanced since then, but even 56 years since Yunisohi; this practice is still alive today. Here’s a short video from Last Week Tonight that helps explain whitewashing with a plethora of examples throughout movie history.
As an Asian woman, whitewashing is something that makes my blood boil. It’s a harmful practice that indirectly tells Asians that we are not worthy of being onscreen because of the way we look. In American society, we idolize those on film and television, and whitewashing Asian characters sends Asian kids the message that they are not as good as white actors. This can be harmful for people’s self-esteem, as they see these white actors being praised while their Asian counterparts are erased. As someone who has struggled with self-esteem for many years, I have gotten to a place in my life now where I am incredibly proud of who I am and love the fact that I’m Asian. However, Asian erasure in media is a constant reminder that I’m still seen somewhat as “other” and shows that I’m not treated equally to my white classmates. The fact that Hollywood still doesn’t get it is beyond frustrating.
Growing up, I rarely ever saw strong, Asian females who weren’t nerds, ”dragon ladies” or prostitutes on TV or in movies. Seeing someone that looks like you on television is an awesome thing. I remember when I was little and I saw the 2000s film Charlie’s Angels. In it, Chinese actress Lucy Liu plays angel Alex Munday. I remember seeing this movie and just thinking, “Whoa. That girl looks like me.” She was just a regular girl who could kick ass and who just so happened to be Asian. Her character fascinated me, as she was a strong Asian woman who had the brains and street smarts to defeat the bad guys. She could hold her own and was well respected by the other angels, Bosley and Charlie.
The thing about whitewashing is that there are POC (people of color) actors ready and able to play these roles. It’s not because there are no POC actors, but because Hollywood executives believe that a celebrity’s star power dictates how well a movie will do. It’s far too easy to whitewash a character.
They don’t even give actors of color a chance. Actor Edward Zo called out the Death Note casting directors for not even bothering to look into a POC actor for the film. Zo, a huge fan of the manga, applied for the role against the advice of his manager, and didn't hear anything until Wolff’s casting was announced. Prompted by this, he made a 20-minute YouTube Video ranting about this experience and what it’s like to be a POC in Hollywood.
POC actors should play POC characters. Putting Scarlett Johansson in a movie and using CGI to make her appear more “Asian” (whatever that means) is something I feel will never be justified. In recent years, movies that whitewashed have done horribly in theatres, so why is this practice still so commonplace? Of course, there are people who don’t see this issue as I do, claiming that it’s not a big deal for Hollywood to do this, as they need to appeal to American audiences. In my opinion, these movies are sending the message that American audiences can’t handle movies where a white person isn’t the main character.
Whitewashing ties in with the push for inclusion in Hollywood today, to better represent the diversity in America. As Master of None co-writers Alan Yang and Aziz Ansari said in their 2016 Emmy’s acceptance speech, “There's 17 million Asian-Americans in this country, and there's 17 million Italian Americans, they have The Godfather, Goodfellas, Rocky, The Sopranos. We've got Long Duk Dong. We have a long way to go. But I know that we can get there and I believe in us. And it’s just gonna take a lot of hard work.”