I am African-American. I had the extreme "pleasure" of being born and living in the South for nine years. Even at a young age I was exposed and experienced racial hate in many forms.
It's never the overt stuff that got to me.
I simply could not take the passive or covert racism. Passive racism can be as simple as asking to play in my hair or as semi-complex as following me in a store to "make sure" I'm not going to steal anything. Another form of passive racism has been prevalent in Hollywood since it's inception. In the same Hollywood where Hattie McDaniel, the first black person ever to win an Academy Award, was not allowed to attend the ceremony or accept her award in person; this is the same Hollywood that will cast a Caucasian in a role obviously better suited for a person of color. Notice I said 'will' cast because this is something that continues on to this day. From the offensive black-face in film "classics" as "Lawrence of Arabia" to the orange tanning of white actors in "Exodus: Gods and Kings." This stain on the otherwise illustrious backdrop of Hollywood is called White-Washing and it continues to infest and infect our entertainment today.
First, let me illustrate how easy it is to pass off white-washing in today's movies. "Aloha" wasn't a huge blockbuster but starred big names like Bradley Cooper and Emma Stone. Unfortunately, Stone played a character, Alison Ng, who is supposed to be native Hawaiian of Chinese descent. Now I'm not saying that those exact criteria need to be met for finding an actress to play the character but an effort needs to be made. Now there was a bit of outrage attached to this-so much so that Stone apologized but the problem still persists and it's not usually an actor's fault. It's the director's.
Ridley Scott, director of classic films such as "Legend" and "Alien", also directed the aforementioned "Exodus: Gods and Kings". He cast Christian Bale as Moses, a religious figure that should be portrayed as Middle Eastern specifically Israeli or Palestinian. And Ramses II, who was a real historical Pharaoh,was portrayed by Joel Edgerton in tan-face.
When asked about his controversial casting choice, Scott said, "the short sharp crude answer is, I couldn’t get a film like that mounted for that kind of budget — we were $145 million, not $260 million, so that wasn’t bad — but to make Moses Black and his wife Ethiopian? They never would have made the movie."
Except I recall a film that had a $40 million budget and managed to gross $120.6 million with a full ethnic cast that spoke in Yucatan Maya throughout the film. Of course I'm talking about Mel Gibson's "Apocalypto" made all the way back in 2006.
I could go on and on forever about this topic but, I'm going to give my editor a break. Next week however, my dearest readers, I will coming back strong with a list showing twelve examples of whitewashing in major Hollywood films past and present. This is something that affects all people of color. It's already difficult enough to be cast for roles they are meant for let alone cast at all. I'm touching on everything from Mickey Rooney's Mr. Yunioshi to Scarlet Johansson being cast as Major Makoto for the upcoming "Ghost in the Shell" film. Until then, this is Patrick Smith telling you good luck and keep on watching.
