Whitewashing in Hollywood

Whiteness and whitewashing play a substantial part in our FTVMS 325 course, so I thought it’d be a good theme to cover in one of my blog posts. I’m sure we’re all aware of the recent controversies surrounding the lack of diversity in regards to the nominees featured at the 2016 Oscar award ceremony which is largely due to the lack of decent roles and opportunities afforded to minority actors in Hollywood. Or in other words, a vehement lack of minority representation in Hollywood. This issue has been brought up again recently with the casting of Scarlett Johansson as Kusanagi in the live-adaptation of the beloved Japanese anime, ‘Ghost in the Shell’.

Scarjo (left) portraying Kusanagi (right)

Johansson may or may not be made of cardboard, or at least her prior performances suggest so, but one thing is for sure: she is certainly not Japanese. Hollywood have done what they do best and whitewashed yet another role. What could have been the perfect opportunity to give a minority actress such as Rinko Kikuchi (star of Guillermo Del Toro’s 2013 smash hit, ‘Pacific Rim’) a chance to represent their own ethnicity in an industry dominated by whiteness, is instead given to a privileged white woman. The Japanese voice, which is one of the least represented in Hollywood, has been cast aside yet again. Even when a Japanese character is represented in Hollywood, Japanese actors are not always given a chance to represent their own voice.

Rinko Kikuchi as Mako in Pacific Rim

Now, the remedy is as simple as placing a Japanese actress in the lead role in a Hollywood vehicle, when in reality, it is as hard as placing a Japanese actress in the lead role in a Hollywood vehicle. As Jody Foster recently pointed out, these things are [sadly] not so black and white. Producers clearly do not want to risk placing an actor (minority or not) who has no pull, into a film that is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. They want to play it safe. To do this, these studios continuously use their ‘proven’ formulas when producing their films aimed at the lowest common dominator. This includes reusing the same handful of ‘stars’, ‘yes men’ directors, cookie-cutter writers, story structures and beats, often leaving films feeling as though they are made on an assembly line. This is made worse by the fact that in Hollywood, there are only a handful of studios producing the majority of the Hollywood blockbusters - 20th Century Fox, (Columbia) Sony Studios, Disney/Marvel and Warner Bros.

This ailing formula seems to play a large part of Hollywood’s diversity issue. Studios clearly don’t want to divulge from their formula and take a risk – which is ironic, considering the continual stream of box office bombs being funded, like ‘Tomorrowland’, ‘Ronin’, ‘Point Break’ and so on, all of which have lost hundreds of millions of dollars. And while we’re starting to see greater diversity in Hollywood films such as Ridley Scott’s ‘The Martian’ and Marvel’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, the lead roles are still dominated by white stars, such as Tom Cruise, Chris Pratt and Scarlett Johansson - though this can extend to African-American stars such as Denzel Washington, Will Smith and so on.

These stars bring in the big bucks, so they’re continuously cast again and again. Subsequently, less and less chances are being afforded to the ‘new blood’, which of course is even worse for minorities whom are already marginalized in Hollywood. In fact, the only blockbuster that has cast two unknowns in the lead roles was the recent Star Wars, because the brand name is bigger than anyone involved could ever be.

At the end of the day, Hollywood is only concerned about much profit they can reap from a project. Producers want to play it safe by casting the usual suspects, and they’re clearly not too interested in branching out or trying new things, despite the slowly failing studio system and the democratization of the industry. This is why Johansson was cast in a traditionally Japanese role. This is why Gerard Butler is playing an Egyptian in ‘Gods of Egypt’. This is why Jennifer Lawrence played a 40 year old mum while she herself was only in her early twenties. It will continue to stay this way unless more risk is taken, and more minority actors are afforded opportunities to prove their worth as able actors and hopefully become box office draws. Or until the collapse of the studio system. Then we will see a Japanese actress play Kusanagi.

Sources:

http://www.thewrap.com/money-monster-jodie-foster-female-directors/

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/apr/18/max-landis-denies-defence-of-scarlett-johansson-ghost-in-the-shell

https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/2016/04/18/ghost-in-the-shell-just-one-example-of-all-white-everything-asian-adaptations.html