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Hollywood thinks Asians can’t be Asians, and that’s not okay

By Alvin Soon - on 27 May 2016, 6:25pm

Bruce Lee, in a still from ‘The Lost Interview’ with Pierre Berton.

In the 1970s, Bruce Lee helped to develop a TV show, in which the main character, an Asian monk, would travel the wild west, kicking ass and taking names.

Sounds cool, right? I would watch that.

But Bruce Lee didn’t land the part in the show, which eventually became the Kung Fu TV series . Instead, the main Eurasian character was played by David Carradine, a white actor — who, by the way, had no kung fu background.

In a later interview about this, Lee was pretty sanguine about the whole thing. He told Pierre Berton that; “They think that business-wise it is a risk. I don't blame them. If the situation were reversed, and an American star were to come to Hong Kong, and I was the man with the money, I would have my own concerns as to whether the acceptance would be there.”

But that was in 1971. Thank goodness that 45 years later, Asians are finally playing Asians in Hollywood, right?

Not really.

The Asian community was dealt a double blow recently by two in-your-face examples of how Hollywood doesn’t believe Asians should be Asians. In short, #whitewashing.

The first was a photo released from the upcoming Hollywood adaption of the Ghost in the Shell Japanese movie, in which Major Kusanagi — a Japanese character — is played by Scarlett Johansson.

Scarlett Johannson as Major Kusanagi. Image credit: Paramount Pictures.

The second blow came from the Doctor Strange movie trailer. In it, we see Doctor Stephen Strange journey to a clearly Asian nation, stand in a clearly Asian interior, and get schooled by a white woman in Asian garb played by Tilda Swinton, whom he begs to teach him.

This makes as much sense as an Asian man journeying to the heart of Scotland, and finding out that the greatest master of Scottish bagpipes is an Asian woman. Just don’t.

There’s been a clear backlash against these terrible casting choices. The #whitewashedOUT hashtag protest went viral, and then lately we’ve had #StarringJohnCho, which had people photoshopping John Cho’s face into major movie roles. That was followed by #StarringConstanceWu, which did the same with actress Constance Wu.

It was pretty awesome, to be honest.

Image source: Twitter (search #StarringJohnCho).

Is this even important?

But seriously, why is this important? It’s just a bunch of silly movies from Hollywood, isn’t it? And as “the man with the money,” they can do whatever they want with it, right?

Anyway, if you want to watch Asians playing lead roles, well, we’ve got plenty of those movies and TV shows here in Asia already. Who needs to watch this Hollywood stuff?

Well, yes. And no.

It’s important because, love them or hate them, American movies and TV series remain the dominant cultural force in the world today. You can bet more people in the world have seen The Avengers movie than the Korean drama Descendants of the Sun.

When you see white people playing clearly Asian characters, you might find yourself wondering why Asians can’t be Asians, why you can’t be you. Why the rest of the world can’t see you being you, and someone else has to impersonate you in order for the idea of you to be okay.

Popular culture has come a long way in portraying diversity. The main hero of the latest Star Wars movie is a woman. Black Panther in Captain America: Civil War is as strong and vital in the movie as the rest of its heroes. You wouldn’t dream of having a man play Rey or a white person acting as the Black Panther. So why is it okay for white people to portray Asians?

It’s disturbing that nearly half a century later, the west is still worrying “whether the acceptance would be there” when it comes to Asians being Asians.

Update: Tilda Swinton and Scott Derrickson, the director of Doctor Strange, have spoken up about the casting. Swinton says, “Anybody calling for more accurate representation of the diverse world we live in has got me standing right beside them,” while Derrickson explains in more detail the thinking behind the role (which I can understand but don’t agree with):

“Whitewashing, if you use the term the way it’s used now—it’s what I did with the role. But it also implies racial insensitivity and it implies racist motives and I don’t think I had either. I was really acting out of what I still feel is the best possible choice. But it’s like I chose the lesser evil—and just because you choose the lesser evil it doesn’t mean you’re not choosing an evil.” 

Meanwhile, Ghost in the Shell director Rupert Sanders has defended his casting of Scarlett Johansson for the role of Major Kusanagi, saying, “I stand by my decision—she’s the best actress of her generation. I was flattered and honored that she would be in this film.”

Alvin Soon

Alvin Soon / Former Deputy Editor

I like coffee and cameras, but not together.

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