Let me Preface this by stating that I am not Asian, because someone will undoubtedly comment about this later. However, as a Black Woman in America, I can see why the Asian community is so angry with Marvel. Not only are they about to ruin one of the few characters that have any sense of Asian representation, but then you have the opportunity to right a story line that cannot be descried as anything other than an oppressive orientalist narrative, and they chose not to. Iron Fist was created in a time when racism was prevalent, when it was okay, to think of others as your lesser, as long as you were white. It was okay to write stories that painted other races as monsters, thieves, lesser thans. Sure, we can create a story that pits a rich white boy in the mountains of Asian Glory, one stone that has more history, more respect of, more humanity than the Child who wrote him. Lets send a rich white boy into respectable Asian culture, and have him trample all over it. Lets send him in to show those silly Asians that as a white man he can best them at everything that THEY created. Its a story that needs a serious re-telling.
With Paramount destroying Ghost in a Shell, by creating a movie that cant be described as anything other than Scarlett Johanson in Yellowface, Doctor Strange, seems to be suffering the same fate. As much as I enjoy, going to see Marvel movies; as a Blogger and as a comic book fan. I will not be attending, buying or watching Dr. Strange, Netflix assisted Ironfist, or Paramount's Ghost In The Shell. In solidarity with the Asian community.We need to stand together, we need to unite, and when people roll their eyes as they read this and reply, "Oh, there are more important things to be concerned with, let me just inform you, that everything is Connected. Comic Books, Films, Media, they all carry and shape our worlds' narrative, and if this how we are portrayed and how they choose to protray other to us, how will we ever be seen as equal? When they choose to portray us in a negative light, or even worse to completely erase us from the narrative all together?
United we stand and divided we fall, I hope you will join me by boycotting Hollywood's white washing of Asian culture. If you are interested in more information about Whitewashing, Check out the Feeds of the following:- @jontsuei
- @rachelkuo
- @Loudlysilent
- @Nerdsofcolor
Until Next Time
Stay United,
Stay Woke,
Stay Nerdy,
~Spokhette!~
Exactly, what you wrote! (Warning: This is gonna be long) With Ghost in the Shell, while whitewashing sucks, whitewashing AND yellowface is so much worse. I would find it more bearable if Scarlett Johansson had been cast to play a character not named Motoko Kusanagi, who isn't Japanese, and where the location isn't in Japan. I haven't yet received a straight answer from the defenders of the casting choice why it's so important that those features be part of the film, but that they don't want an actual Japanese actress to play the role. The A-list argument is often trotted out, which completely ignores that Hollywood will cast lesser known White actors for large budget films, to whom I point to Shailene Woodly going into Divergent and Kristin Stewart going into Twilight, never mind Daisy Ridley in Star Wars, Chris Pine in Star Trek, Sam Worthington in Avatar, and Chris Hemsworth in Thor. The role of Kusanagi practically screams Rinko Kikuchi, who does action and who was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her portrayal as Chieko Wataya in Babel; so, she can act. Why not the same consideration?
ReplyDeleteFor Doctor Strange, there are several issues at play, like the one you mentioned regarding cultural appropriation. Cargill should have gone all the way, or not at all. Either keep Tilda Swinton as a Celtic Ancient One, but strip out all of the Asian cultural elements, like her look, clothing, and other trapping, and move the location to somewhere not in Asia. Also, have Strange's magic have its basis in European Sorcery and not in Eastern Mysticism. The other route would be to keep the Ancient One as an Asian which shouldn't have been problematic since the location has been set in Nepal, as George Takei pointed out. Besides, Tibet is the home of Buddhism, not the art of sorcery. For this, I like James Hong, who played the sorcerer Lo Pan in Big Trouble in Little China. While that was a rather light-hearted and semi-comedic depiction, the filmmakers could have played off the sorcerer part, but with a serious take in direct contrast to the prior role.
One thing that annoys me is the cop-out counter-argument that asks where's our outrage when White characters are recast as Black, like with Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury in the Avengers. I addressed one guy who took up that banner, by pointing that he's based upon the Earth-1610 Ultimates 'alternate' universe where Nick Fury is Black versus the 'original' Earth-616 universe where Nick Fury is White and is still White comic book source material, that, 'no', the Ultimates comic books came out a decade before the Avengers movie, and that race doesn't transcend alternate universes, so take it up with the gods of the comic book multiverse.
Someone told me of a defender of whitewashing who suggested the hypothetical instance of a White guy being cast as John Shaft. Which, I guess the guy didn't comprehend that with movies like Shaft, and other Blaxploitation movies, there's the coopting of the theme and/or message (a Black hero fighting on behalf of Blacks against the systemic, institutionalized racism on the parts of Whites who are the ones in power), which I don't think is okay to do, so it's not simply a matter of swapping out a Black person for a White person. It changes the whole narrative of the story; it becomes that Blacks need a White champion.
Anyway, that's my input, thoughts, and feedback. Yes, we do need to stick together. It's like a lot of the defenders of whitewashing and yellowface don't understand, either through deliberate ignorance or denial.
RW