The other night my housemate and I got on the topic of white washing roles in modern media.
She's full Korean and I'm mixed with Korean, Italian, and a bunch of other things, so this topic really hits home for the both of us. Many people still don’t understand what the “big deal” it is to have ethnic roles white washed. Movies like Aloha star Emma Stone as a Chinese, Hawaiian, and Caucasian mix. The upcoming marvel movie, Dr. Strange, which re-cast the role of a Tibetan monk to an Irish mystic played by Tilda Swinton are nothing short of disappointing. Avatar: The Last Air Bender, cast a movie with a majority of Caucasian actors to roles that were originally intended to be Asian; Cloud Atlas cast Jim Sturgess, and gave him facial prosthetic to play a Korean role. Even the Hunger Games white washed the lead role, Katniss. She was supposed to have olive skin and dark hair. And yes, Jennifer Lawrence did an amazing job as Katniss, but the fact remains the studio never looked for an actress fitting the description.
The Hunger Games is one franchise that is particularly disappointing for me. I've always loved reading, and when I hit middle school the Twilight craze created book after book featuring pale white girls. I wanted to be like so many of the protagonists I read about. At times it made me wish I had pale skin, because that’s what was pushed as the most beautiful. When I read the Hunger Games I was excited, because there was a main character described like me. I could see someone that looked like me playing her in the movie and maybe that was silly of me to identify with something so superficial. But it meant something to me, olive skin and dark hair wasn't usually a popular choice in the novels I read, unless it described some kind of over sexualized and "exotic" mean girl. Katniss was strong and selfless, and I’m sure I’m not the only young girl to identify with characters based on appearance. Who doesn’t want to see themselves in a strong female character?
We can’t forget the blatant under-representation of Asian actors and other minorities in blockbuster movies. I don’t know about you, but I want to see Korean actors playing Korean roles. I don't want to hear there aren't any Asian actors out there because several online articles tried to justify yellow face in Cloud Atlas with this excuse. So many young people look up to the heroes in their favorite movie or TV show or book, and by white washing, Hollywood sends the message that being a minority isn’t good enough. Asian Americans and other minority actors have been fighting this for years, and its time their voices are heard.
