On paper, it reads like a great week for Asian representation in Hollywood – but the Ancient One and the Major are played, respectively, by Tilda Swinton and Scarlett Johansson. And so these two projects – long awaited by many fans of their source material – instead join Gods of Egypt, Aloha and Pan as recent inductees to Hollywood's Whitewashing Hall of Shame.

Too many stories, from Lawrence of Arabia to Avatar, relegate natives of a culture to background players and, at best, mentor, antagonist, love interest or sidekick. In Doctor Strange, Swinton fills the mentor role, Mads Mikkelsen is the villain and Rachel McAdams seems to be the damsel, leaving British actor Benedict Wong to play Dr. Strange's personal valet.

Of the four, he's the only one not glimpsed in the two-minute trailer, which mostly features Benedict Cumberbatch's Dr. Strange wandering through streets in Nepal and Hong Kong and learning magical martial arts from Swinton in a temple beautifully appointed with traditional Asian architectural features. In other words, Doctor Strange is a movie that looks very Oriental, except for the people part.

The reaction to Johansson's Ghost in the Shell look reminds me of the backlash when the Nina Simone biopic starring Zoe Saldana was released last month. In both cases, the filmmakers went to some lengths to alter the appearance of their leading ladies, rather than cast actresses who more naturally matched the subjects. What makes these two examples different from the countless instances of actors transforming themselves for a role – Steve Carell in Foxcatcher, Nicole Kidman in The Hours – is that Asian women and dark-skinned black women rarely get to be the leads in Hollywood movies. So whitewashing any Asian character is unfortunate, but keeping the character Asian-ish (but not actually Asian) is salt on the wound.

Many online commenters have trumpeted Oscar nominee Rinko Kikuchi as the ideal live-action Kusanagi – no one has come closer than her to doing it already, as robot pilot Mako Mori in Pacific Rim. Many other actresses of Asian descent have been mentioned as well, but the harsh truth is that their combined star wattage doesn't even come close to touching Johansson's.

So how does an Asian actor become famous enough to play an Asian character? Judging by Speed Racer (starring Emile Hirsch), Dragonball Evolution (starring Shameless' Justin Chatwin), Ghost in the Shell and the upcoming Death Note (starring Nat Wolff), Hollywood has yet to answer the question.

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Krev said:

Is Johansson actually going to be playing 'Motoko Kusanagi'?

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Shard said:

I believe that is the case.

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Krev said:

Is Johansson actually going to be playing 'Motoko Kusanagi'?

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IMDb still lists the character as "Kusanagi," although the press copy released alongside Thursday's image refers to her simply by her police rank, "the Major." That photo continued to send an ambiguous message – Johansson appears in a short black bob and darkened eyebrows, hewing closely to how Kusanagi is depicted in the comics.

Traditionally, this is a fan's greatest hope – an adaptation as faithful to the source material as possible. But in this case, Paramount/DreamWorks seem to have retained all the markers of Kusanagi's Japanese identity – her name, her basic physical appearance – except for the actual ethnicity of her portrayer. Perhaps the whitewashing controversy wouldn't have gone quite as viral had the producers cleanly erased all traces of the material's origins, as Edge of Tomorrow did in adapting the Japanese novel All You Need is Kill and anglicizing protagonist Keiji Kiriya into William Cage, played by Tom Cruise.

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Krev said:

How did they think that was a good idea?

Why not just give her an anglicized name?

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The reaction to Johansson's Ghost in the Shell look reminds me of the backlash when the Nina Simone biopic starring Zoe Saldana was released last month. In both cases, the filmmakers went to some lengths to alter the appearance of their leading ladies, rather than cast actresses who more naturally matched the subjects.

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Shard said:

I have yet to see anything resembling a good idea from this shitshow.

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Ratrat said:

Dont buy the 'star power' argument. How many blockbusters featured unknown actors in the past? Too many to count. Hugh Jackman was unknown when he got X-Men. Hollywood is not going to bother trying to make an Asian movie star when the general racist public will reject it immediately.

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While I'm happy to see a "white role" played by a black man in the movie, Ejiofor's casting reinforces the implications of Thor, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and the Iron Man movies that every white hero gets a black sidekick in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

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To make matters worse — or, at least, more frustrating — there's the fact that, in the casting of Cumberbatch, Marvel managed to sidestep the possibility of offering up a non-white, non-male lead in one of its movies for the first time.

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Dan said:

How does that one photo from Ghost in the Shell demonstrate production trying to change Johansson's appearance?

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IdreamofHIME said:

I have a lot of Asian friends who'd take issue with their use of 'Oriental' in describing people than Swinton playing that role.

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Ratrat said:

Dont buy the 'star power' argument. How many blockbusters featured unknown actors in the past? Too many to count. Hugh Jackman was unknown when he got X-Men. Hollywood is not going to bother trying to make an Asian movie star when the general racist public will reject it immediately.

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NotTheGuyYouKill said:

I actually think Tilda Swinton is inspired casting for the part.

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Dan said:

How does that one photo from Ghost in the Shell demonstrate production trying to change Johansson's appearance?

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Timbuktu said:

I really think it is easier for Asian American actors to leave Hollywood and try their luck making movies in Asia. Look at what happened with John Lone, brilliant actor that got barely any roles after the Last Emperor and things haven't really i proved since then.

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Kalentan said:

As for the Ancient One... It's hard to say cause on one hand it's changing a male character to a female character, on the other hand it still is white washing...

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Blackhead said:

Any examples of successful Japanese-Americans actors taking this path? How about Chinese-American actors with the Chinese B.O. booming in recent years? Bollywood has been around for decades, and the Korean Wave is a more recent phenomenon, but I don't know if any examples

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Blackhead said:

Any examples of successful Japanese-Americans actors taking this path? How about Chinese-American actors with the Chinese B.O. booming in recent years? Bollywood has been around for decades, and the Korean Wave is a more recent phenomenon, but I don't know if any examples

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To make matters worse — or, at least, more frustrating — there's the fact that, in the casting of Cumberbatch, Marvel managed to sidestep the possibility of offering up a non-white, non-male lead in one of its movies for the first time. Unlike, say, Iron Man or Captain America, there's nothing inherently gendered or racially-specific in the lead character's main concept

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That role, literally, could have gone to anyone.

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cdyhybrid said:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1208158

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IdreamofHIME said:

I have a feeling the writer heard a version of the rumour going around that the producers thought about making ScarJo look more Asian with post prod CG and assumed it's what they actually did.

The whole piece is horribly amateurish, even if it comes from a good place about a stronger Asian presence in Hollywood.

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Blackhead said:

Any examples of successful Japanese-Americans actors taking this path? How about Chinese-American actors with the Chinese B.O. booming in recent years? Bollywood has been around for decades, and the Korean Wave is a more recent phenomenon, but I don't know if any examples

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Donos said:

Some valid points but did i read that correct that Dr. Strange could have been e.g. an indian woman?





"Let's make a female Dr. strange, just to be diverse."

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MHWilliams said:

False dilemma. There's actually nothing pointing to the idea that the public will rejection Asian or Asian-American leads. In fact, TV shows the opposite is frequently true.

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IdreamofHIME said:

I have a lot of Asian friends who'd take issue with their use of 'Oriental' in describing people than Swinton playing that role.

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Village said:

Strange as a character unless i'm forgetting something isn't tied to race, hell he's not even tied to the title sorcer supreme. Brother Voodoo was running around as sorcer supreme for a hot minute.

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We’re never afraid to change. In the comic books, Jarvis is an elderly butler. In the movies, he’s an A.I. system which becomes Paul Bettany’s Vision. We are always looking for ways to change. I think if you look at some of the early incarnations of the Ancient One in the comics, they are what we would consider today to be quite, sort of, stereotypical. They don’t hold up to what would work today. Also, within the storyline of the comics, and our movie, ‘the Ancient One’ is a title that many people have had. We hit very early on on, What if the Ancient One was a woman? What if the title had been passed and the current Ancient One is a woman? Oh, that’s an interesting idea. [Clicks fingers.] Tilda Swinton! Whoah! And it just hit.”

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Surface of Me said:

Fast & Furious continuing to be the most progessive block buster series.

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Krev said:

How did they think that was a good idea?

Why not just give her an anglicized name?

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Village said:

Strange as a character unless i'm forgetting something isn't tied to race, hell he's not even tied to the title sorcer supreme. Brother Voodoo was running around as sorcer supreme for a hot minute.

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Blackhead said:

Any examples of successful Japanese-Americans actors taking this path? How about Chinese-American actors with the Chinese B.O. booming in recent years? Bollywood has been around for decades, and the Korean Wave is a more recent phenomenon, but I don't know if any examples

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It was 1997, and I decided to visit Hong Kong because this historical moment was happening, with the island being handed back to China. I made the mistake of going to Japan first, where I spent all of my money. By the time I got to Hong Kong I was broke. I was in this bar having a drink, depressed that I’d have to go straight back to the U.S., and this guy came up to me and asked if I wanted to be in a TV commercial. I asked how much, and they told me $4,000. And because I wanted to keep traveling, I took the money and did the ad. Well, this director, Yonfan, saw my commercial, and he called me in for an interview, and by the end of the conversation, he asked me to play the lead in his next film. I said to him, “Are you crazy? I don’t act, and I can’t even speak Cantonese!”

That same week, I ran into Jackie Chan at a party, and within a few minutes of talking, he told me he wanted to be my manager. “What, are you serious?” My mind was blown. I went from drinking in a bar to starring in a feature film and having the biggest star in Asia as my manager.

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I knew from growing up that they wouldn’t put my kind of people onscreen. There were no decent roles for Asians, much less Asian males. Even when Jackie Chan broke through over here and people fell in love with him, they weren’t really seeing him as this iconic, superstar actor—they were seeing him as this cute, funny oriental dude who spoke broken English and did acrobatic tricks. As an Asian American male, what they were in love with is everything you hate, you know?

When they were premiering Rush Hour 2, Jackie invited all of the artists his company managed to come to L.A. for the premiere, and at the premiere party a producer came up to me and said, “Oh, you’re an actor in Hong Kong? But your English is amazing!” And I said, “Oh, I was born here.” “Oh, you’re not from Hong Kong?” And he lost interest in me as soon as he knew I was from America, not Asia. He bought into the stereotype that all Asians are foreigners, that we all speak with an accent.

I grew up with 16 Candles, Long Duk Dong, that shit. That character, for our generation, pretty much sealed the idea for a lot of Americans that all Asian people are like that.

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“These projects wouldn’t have been there, years ago. There are so many doors that are opening now. I think that its a natural progression. I think it is important for us, as Asian Americans and Asians, to make sure we are ready.”

Korea served as the launching pad for his acting career, the significance of which is not lost on Henney. His fondness for the nation is expressed through his time spent in the country, when he is not filming in the United States. He continued to speak about the Korean entertainment industry and his pursuit of quality projects, “For all the great dramas that come out of Korea and all the great movies, there are tons that don’t make an impact. I want to make sure that the one that I do is a good project. It is important to me and I want to do something soon, in Korea. It is a very special place to work, I owe everything to the country.”

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In essence, Q’s story traces the timeworn arc of the American dream, except that Hong Kong, China, is the place that made it all possible. From misfit American teenager, to Asian supermodel, to struggling Hong Kong action actress, to international screen star, Q’s ascension has been fast, rocky and improbable at every turn. “Maggie is the only young talent of her generation to come out of the Hong Kong system and make the transition to Hollywood success,” says local film producer and Hong Kong cinema expert Bey Logan, who was one of Q’s confidants and frequent collaborators during her later Hong Kong days.

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vinnygambini said:

TV shows are a different medium though and offer a lower financial risk to financiers - I don't think the comparison is apt as films like these (Ghost & Strange) require $100M+ on production and usually hover around the same area for P&A.

TV shows seem to be much less burdened and given creative license comparatively to the output of film studios - I think that is one of the reasons why people gravitate more to TV these days and go to the movies solely for blockbuster entertainment.

A lot of the films picked up (greenlight) live in and die on the cast availability and talent, same for TV, but more so for films it seems (old mentality that still remains in Hollywood maybe?)

Duno if I explained myself well, it is late

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Epagogix a U.K. company led by Nick Meaney relies on neural networks to make predictive analyses about films that should or should not go into production by looking for script elements that correspond with either success or failure at the box office. They try to assess risk, for example, by looking at factors such as cast and location. Epagogix has found that A-list actors and directors are for the most part irrelevant to a film's bottom line.

The highly successful The Pirates of the Caribbean and the ill-fated Lone Ranger films illustrate this finding. Both films were produced by the same studio (Disney), same director (Gore Verbinkski) and boasted the same star (Johnny Depp). While the same writing team from Pirates worked on the Ranger film in the development at the mid-point, the Lone Ranger was subjected to numerous and substantial rewrites. The script was considered significantly weaker.

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Hiring an actor who has previously played the lead in a successful film does not necessarily convert into success and hiring a non-star cast doesn’t ensure failure. Hiring a star does always mean a higher budget for the picture and, sometimes, that the best actor for the part was passed over because he or she was not deemed “bankable” by the studio. I don’t think any studio executive would disagree with me on any of this, and yet when a studio has a script that they like and are thinking about making, whether or not that picture goes into production most likely depends on the attachment of a “bankable star.” And yet, history shows that there isn’t really any actor whose participation means a project will succeed.

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I asked the successful head of marketing at a major studio if he needed a star to market a movie and he responded, “People pay money for concepts. Having a star doesn’t matter. There are a couple of stars who work within a concept. Daniel Craig is the best example; he hasn’t worked outside Bond. There is a legitimacy in Liam Neeson. I feel that Brad Pitt legitimized Inglourious Basterds. It made it mainstream. But if you have to take a leap with the concept, like on [Johnny Depp’s] Rum Diary, then it doesn’t matter. I’d rather have a $6 million actor and a good concept than someone else for $15 million and hope that the concept works.” All of that does make sense: The right actor in the right role will be attractive to an audience. It puts the horse before the cart; unfortunately, that’s not how studios usually green-light a movie.

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The foreign market is frequently cited as the reason that stars matter. Whenever I’m trying to get an independent film going, I am always presented with a list that comes from a sales agent working on behalf of a prospective financier; this list shows the predicted international value of various actors or actresses on whose name the film is to be financed. The problem with this practice tends to be that those who are valuable internationally may not be as worthy to distributors in the U.S., or right creatively for the movie. A top international sales agent gave me the example that, “Jean Claude Van Damme is still huge in Eastern Europe and he may still be the No. 1 star in Turkey. That’s why he continues to get projects financed.” That’s all fine, but I could never get him approved to lead a movie here. If I’m trying to get an independent movie going with a female lead, the first two names that I’m almost always given from whoever is selling the movie around the world, regardless of what the movie is about, are Milla Jovovich and Kate Beckinsale, based on the overwhelming strength of the Resident Evil and Underworld franchises in most international markets. It could be a comedy about a bookish woman from Alabama and the first thing I will hear from the sales agent will be “Jovovich.” If I counter with anyone from Rachel McAdams to Emily Blunt, I will receive a disappointed, “Maybe … if you get someone like Gerard Butler to play the guy who works at the gas station.”

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Why, then, do studios continue to chase so-called “movie stars” for their films as opposed to just casting whoever would make the best movie? Because it provides cover for the decision-makers: If it fails, they can say, “I couldn’t have made a mistake by green-lighting this film because Leo is in it.” It’s about insecurity, which is rarely the basis of superior decision-making.

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Surface of Me said:

Fast & Furious continuing to be the most progessive block buster series.

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cdyhybrid said:

And even they killed the Asian guy as soon as he landed the white girl ;-;

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harSon said:

They tried to explain their fuckery last year:

http://www.hitfix.com/harpy/marvel-...ir-whitewashing-of-doctor-strange-ancient-one


Unfortunately, the diversity flow chart always seems to make the jump to white women and then abruptly stops. Why not an Asian woman? It's not like Tilda Swinton is a seat filling box office juggernaut, and Marvel has proven that its the brand, and not necessarily the actors/actresses filling the screen - that are ultimately key to their film's continued success. So in a film with a bunch of recognizable faces like Benedict Cumberbatch, Mads Mikkelsen, Rachel McAdams and Chiwetel Ejiofor - why not seize an opportunity to cast an Asian woman if you're so keen on moving forward with a female Ancient One? Because Hollywood and Marvel ain't shit. That's why.

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harSon said:

They tried to explain their fuckery last year:

http://www.hitfix.com/harpy/marvel-...ir-whitewashing-of-doctor-strange-ancient-one


Unfortunately, the diversity flow chart always seems to make the jump to white women and then abruptly stops. Why not an Asian woman? It's not like Tilda Swinton is a seat filling box office juggernaut, and Marvel has proven that its the brand, and not necessarily the actors/actresses filling the screen - that are ultimately key to their film's continued success. So in a film with a bunch of recognizable faces like Benedict Cumberbatch, Mads Mikkelsen, Rachel McAdams and Chiwetel Ejiofor - why not seize an opportunity to cast an Asian woman if you're so keen on moving forward with a female Ancient One? Because Hollywood and Marvel ain't shit. That's why.

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harSon said:

They tried to explain their fuckery last year:

http://www.hitfix.com/harpy/marvel-...ir-whitewashing-of-doctor-strange-ancient-one


Unfortunately, the diversity flow chart always seems to make the jump to white women and then abruptly stops. Why not an Asian woman? It's not like Tilda Swinton is a seat filling box office juggernaut, and Marvel has proven that its the brand, and not necessarily the actors/actresses filling the screen - that are ultimately key to their film's continued success. So in a film with a bunch of recognizable faces like Benedict Cumberbatch, Mads Mikkelsen, Rachel McAdams and Chiwetel Ejiofor - why not seize an opportunity to cast an Asian woman if you're so keen on moving forward with a female Ancient One? Because Hollywood and Marvel ain't shit. That's why.

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Shard said:

On the other hand they are also trying to court the likes of China and still have not made the connection that maybe having Asian leads would maybe help with that.

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Kalentan said:

While I do agree with a decent bit of the article, there are some parts that seem like a lack of understanding of the characters, like this:



While we can't be for sure yet... Baron Mordo, if I recall correctly, has mostly been a villain to Doctor Strange, never a side kick.

Also:



While I don't think they needed to cast someone white for Doctor Strange, this sentiment seems to be from a lack of understand that Doctor Strange or rather Steven Strange, was already mentioned before hand (specifically mentioned in Winter Soldier). It seems like an odd complaint after the fact.

As for the Ancient One... It's hard to say cause on one hand it's changing a male character to a female character, on the other hand it still is white washing...

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Village said:

Strange as a character unless i'm forgetting something isn't tied to race, hell he's not even tied to the title sorcer supreme. Brother Voodoo was running around as sorcer supreme for a hot minute.

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ElBoxyBrown said:

Strange is a weird one cuz in the comics he always looked hispanic to me. I don't think the comics ever talk about his ethnicity.

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Dan said:

Also, how does an article like this not mention 21? There's a case where the story was already entirely localized and based on reality. No weird questions about whether to move the story to America for a western adaptation or something. They still went and subbed in a white guy to play the character based on a real-life Asian-American.

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ElBoxyBrown said:

White actresses are no longer becoming the minority in Hollywood. There getting a lot of work now and Hollywood thinks that's where diversity ends.

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MHWilliams said:

As I've pointed out elsewhere, the star-driven picture is mostly a myth and crutch these days, not based in any reality.

Here's a result from crunching the hard data.

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IdreamofHIME said:

I have a lot of Asian friends who'd take issue with their use of 'Oriental' in describing people than Swinton playing that role.

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