Could not miss this week: the emotional reactions of dozens of girls astonished to discover the first images of the live-action of The little Mermaid. Adorable heart-warming images as an answer torrents of racist reflections on social networks.
By choosing singer Halle Bailey to play dreamy Ariel, Disney would have committed a terrible affront to this popular culture masterpiece … really? As if an imaginary creature couldn’t be black and as if, in the past, the film industry he never took great liberties in choosing white actors and actresses embody people, sometimes having really existed! – racialized.
To answer all this bad faith marked by a good dose of racism, we have listed some recent examples …
Jake Gyllenhaal in Prince of Persia
Frankly, when the name of a country or region is literally in the title of a work, a little casting effort should be expected. Wanting to adapt the video game of the same name, Disney could have taken an Iranian actor … but no.
Jake Gyllenhaal has since expressed regret about choosing the film, saying he has learned a lot from the controversy.
Scarlett Johansson in Ghost in the Shell
In this remake of the cult manga of the same name, Hollywood did not hesitate to choose Scarlett Johansson to play Mokoto Musanagi. Despite a petition asking DreamWorks to reconsider its decision, nothing has changed.
Worst defense, to say that the character is not human but cyborg … and therefore that he can have any aspect. A difficult topic to hear given the considerably fewer role opportunities for Asian actors and actresses than their Caucasian counterparts.
Tilda Swinton in Doctor Strange
“We thought we were smart and super avant-garde. We would not have fallen into the cliché of the wise, magical old Asian. “ Except that in wanting to be smart, producer Kevin Feige made a mistake, and admitted it: Tilda Swinton for the role of the Elder was not such a subtle idea and indeed perpetuated the long and racist tradition. Asians played by whites.
Rooney Mara in Pan
“I really hated, I hated, I hated being on this side of the whitewash discussion. It’s true. I never want to be in this position again. I understand why people were so angry and frustrated. “
Targeted by a petition for embodying the character of Lily the Tiger in a new adaptation of Peter Pan, then playing the role of a Native American teenager, Rooney Mara has long regretted this choice.
Emma Stone in Aloha
Critical and commercial failure, Aloha almost got more talked about for her reckless casting choice. Emma Stone was chosen for the role of Allison Ng, a woman of Chinese and Hawaiian origins.
Vanished from Sandra Oh on this topic in the middle of the Golden Globes ceremony in 2019, Emma Stone had screamed ” I’m sorry ! “.
Christian Bale, Sigourney Weaver, Aaron Paul and Joel Edgerton in Exodus: Gods and Kings
Seeing Joel Edgerton, a white-and-blonde Australian actor with abundantly sun-tanned blue eyes to play Ramses II, one would think that perhaps there were more relevant casting choices.
In this high-budget Biblical fresco by Ridley Scott, we simply hired four Caucasian actors to play the roles of racialized historical figures. A choice that the director made for purely budgetary reasons.
Angelina Jolie in Undefeated Heart
Of Cuban and Dutch descent, journalist Mariane Pearl has seen part of her life brought to the screen An unconquered heartwhich recounts the investigation into the murder of her husband, journalist Daniel Pearl.
To embody it, however, is Angelina Jolie, the will of Mariane Pearl herself, which, however, has been questioned by many black actresses.
Max Minghella in The Social Network
Coming from an Indian immigrant family to the United States, Divya Narendra was involved in the creation of Facebook. It was therefore natural to see him star in David Fincher’s thriller.
The role, however, was not entrusted to a desi actor, but to Max Minghella, a comedian of English and Chinese origins.
And these are just a few recent examples, but the Hollywood industry has been installing these practices for a long time … And you, do you have other examples of whitewashing?
Source: Madmoizelle
Ashley Root is an author and celebrity journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a keen eye for all things celebrity, Ashley is always up-to-date on the latest gossip and trends in the world of entertainment.
