Margaret Cho, George Takei protest over Hollywood ‘whitewashing’ of Asian characters
Entertainers fear a return to the xenophobic Tinseltown of old, and are aghast at recent casting decisions that put Caucasian actors in Asian roles – a practice with a long and ignoble history
Hollywood’s having a rough PR week in the Asian-American community as celebrities such as Margaret Cho and George Takei protest against high-profile castings in Marvel and Paramount films.
On Saturday, actor Takei publicly took issue with white actress Tilda Swinton being cast as The Ancient One in the upcoming film adaptation of the Doctor Strange comic. In the books, the character is of Tibetan origin. After a backlash, a Marvel Studios spokesperson defended the casting in a statement reading, in part, “The Ancient One is a title that is not exclusively held by any one character, but rather a moniker passed down through time, and in this particular film the embodiment is Celtic”.
Takei was not impressed.
“So let me get this straight. You cast a white actress so you wouldn’t hurt sales ... in Asia? This back-pedalling is nearly as cringeworthy as the casting. Marvel must think we’re all idiots,” Takei wrote on Facebook.
He’s not the only one who feels this way, in general. During a conversation with Asian-American actresses Joan Chen, Ming-Na Wen and Lynn Chen, actress Constance Wu spoke out against Scarlett Johansson’s casting as Major Motoko Kusanagi in the upcoming Ghost in the Shell.