I recently read somewhere that J.J. Abrams will be remaking the Japanese anime “Your Name.” Let me tell you, the film was extraordinary and one of the most beautiful anime films I’ve seen this year. At this moment, all I know is that he’s at the beginning stages of writing the script, no casting ideas yet. But I hope and pray he doesn’t screw this up, and do what every western filmmaker does when they get their hands on an Asian or foreign film: whiten it up.

Hollywood has a HUGE problem with this every time an Asian, or foreign film, or drama comes out. Americans always have a need to remake it. And when I say remake, it I mean whitewash the heck out of it. I’m sure you have heard of the long list of movies and television shows being whitewashed: Ghost in the Shell, Death Note, Speed Racer, Gods of Egypt, The Great Wall, Doctor Strange (Tilda Swinton's character,Ancient One), Aloha (Emma Stone's character, Allison Ng); the list of movies and characters goes on and on. Oh, I almost forgot one, the new ABC show, The Good Doctor. It stars Freddie Highmore, and is based on a Korean drama with the same name. The worst part is that one of the producers is a Korean actor that I love (frankly, I knew I wasn’t going to get a whole Asian cast, but come on). To be truthful, it is a great show, and Freddie Highmore is a great actor, but still!

(You know what kills me about these photos above? That the Asian person in the movie is a side character. Ridiculous).

Hey, you remember the live action film Dragonball: Evolution (2009), or the movie, The Last Airbender (2010). I’m sure you do because they were so god awful. But this raises the question, why does Hollywood feel the need to remake every foreign film into some Hollywood blockbuster? Also, why do white actors take on roles that are obviously meant for other ethnicities, like Asian, Native American, or Hispanic, like why? I mean, come on. Remember the movie Aloha, starring Bradly Cooper and Emma Stone, who famously played a woman named Allison Ng, a half Asian woman who also happens to be a quarter Hawaiian. Everyone knows how Emma Stones looks, right?

If you don’t, here’s a picture.

Now does that look like a half Asian woman to you? I mean I could see it if she had like, 15% percent Asian, but half??? BABY BYE! When I think of half Asian I think of Kristin Kreuk, the chick from Smallville, or Chloe Bennet from Marvel’s Agents of Shield. Those are my ideas of half Asian, or at least something resembling Asian of some sort. Instead of some obvious white woman portraying something she is not. What kills me is that Hollywood’s excuse is that they couldn’t find any actresses that fit the role (really?). Let me tell you, I’ve seen a lot of shows and movies with Asian actors. The fact that they couldn’t find one woman to play this damn role really has me dumbfounded.

As a person who knows a bit about the industry, I can see the actor’s point of view. Most actors think "This is a great role, I want in." They don’t, to me, see color, they just see "Oh, well this is a great role." I respect that, I get it. But these roles are made for people of color, and yet Hollywood casts white actresses and actors. Let’s not forget Angelina Jolie playing a black woman in the movie A Mighty Heart, which is based off of a real person. So why was she cast for a role that was meant for a black woman?

Why? Because Hollywood is racist. Let’s put it simply: how many Oscars have the black community won? Answer: 36. How many Asians have won an Oscar? Answer: 40. How many Latinas have won Oscars? Answer: 32. How many white actors/actress do you think have won? To tell you the truth, I don't know, it was too many to count.

What we need now is Real Representation; there are so many children of color looking up to these white actors instead of seeing faces that look like their own. Don’t we want our children to see someone who looks like them, and think "he/she looks just like me, WOW! I want to be just like them!"

No More Whitewashing!