Recently there has been a term that is floating around: Whitewashing. For those who don’t know, that is the act of placing a Caucasian actor/actress in a role that is traditionally portrayed by a (loosely used term here) foreigner. Recent examples include the casting of Benedict Cumberbatch to play Dr. Strange in the Marvel Cinematic Universe or for Scarlett Johansson to play the lead role in the upcoming film “Ghost in the Machine.”
The term also extends to cover the fact that among popular celebrities it is significantly harder to name more than a few non-white ones, with an even harder time naming more than one or two famous individuals with Asian or Indian heritage. Try quizzing yourself and it becomes painfully obvious. The lines between people of different backgrounds and walks of life are becoming blurrier every day and I find it more than a little disturbing that this area had remained seemingly unchanged. However, as I took a closer look, I began to notice a pattern that leads me to believe that even where no progress seems to have been made, there are systems working in the background to make slow and steady pushes forward.
As I paraphrased in my previous article, hypnotists and masters of deception all agree that it is impossible to make someone do something that they do not want to do. In other words, for anything to happen to you or your state of mind you have to be willing to let it, even in the slightest amount. Dealing with change is something that many people struggle to do, especially the older they get. You develop your view of how you think things are or should be, and the mind becomes less flexible in this belief the longer you hold it.
This election proved that even after years upon years of efforts made toward reinforcing the fact that every person deserves to be treated equally regardless of race, gender, religion, etc. there are a large number of people who were unchanged through it all. They have been stuck in their old-fashioned beliefs of how the world should work. I believe that it is for this reason that the complete diversification of cinematic casts hasn’t gone past the inclusion of a couple of side characters, and why I believe that it is an intelligent move both for the continued progress toward change and, of course, economically for the movie industry.
The best example to prove the point is that of Dr. Strange. When the movie was first announced, we didn’t know more than the fact that it was going to exist, but with the prior success of the Marvel movies in the portrayal of the comic book stories that many people knew from their childhoods it was enough to get those individuals excited. However, one of the aspects that contributes to the enormous success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is that for the part of the population that is not as invested in the storylines, they are still movies that attract the attention with stunning visuals, star-studded casts and a good balance of action and light witty humor.
Looking at the cast of Dr. Strange, there is no one that stands even close to Benedict Cumberbatch as being the biggest star of the show. Had they cast someone who would have fit the original character more closely then there would be the potential for a rather large section of the audience to become uninterested. With the inclusion of a “headliner” of sorts the movie has a wider spread of people interested, but with the rest of the people showing up matching the roles as they are supposed to, it lends itself to a sort-of exposure therapy.
Immediate change is not a thing that is possible in a world with so many people who all have their own thoughts and way to see things, and while I in no way support maintaining an un-encompassing set of “role models,” I believe that the way things are going is the only way to allow for the change to be natural and for people to accept it more easily.
