Okay, one quick note before we get started, I'm sorry if you can hear my air-conditioning thing
in the background, but it's 100 degrees in Los Angeles right now and if I turn it
off I will literally melt. So it's staying on.
Anyway, you've probably heard by now that Hollywood has a whitewashing problem when
it comes to casting movies and TV shows, but what exactly is whitewashing?
Well, if the internet has taught me anything, it's that you can just google the definition
of any word, and the first thing that pops up is always 100% correct.
So let's see, I'm just gonna look up the definition of whitewashing real quick…
That doesn't sound right.
I don't think people are mad at white actors for painting.
Okay that seems more like it: Casting white actors in roles that were written as people of color.
And I should add that it sucks and is a huge problem.
People of color do not get a lot of representation in Hollywood.
Think of your favorite Marvel superhero from the current batch of blockbuster movies.
It's probably a white dude.
It might even be a white woman.
Don't worry, we'll come back to her.
There are very few superheroes of color, which sucks for all the people of color out there
who want to see themselves represented on the big screen.
The media we see can have a huge influence on us, and seeing people who look like us
in a wide array of different genres and stories can be immensely validating and encouraging.
It tells people that they can be anything or do anything -- they're not limited to
what they see around them or the stereotypes people have invented for them.
And while there are some roles for people of color in Hollywood, they're few and far
between -- and they're often stereotypical.
White people get to play every main character ever but Indian people only get to play taxi
drivers or convenience store clerks.
It plays into the awful public perception that white is the default and everything outside
of that is abnormal.
It teaches people that white people have a diverse array of experiences but people of
color are only one thing -- and that's beyond messed up.
We shouldn't downplay the importance of the media we consume.
People of color deserve to see themselves represented.
But that's another argument, that's an argument for representation in general.
The problem with whitewashing is that it takes one of the few roles that people of color
actually have, and it hands it to a white person.
It looks at the current problem, which is that there aren't enough roles for actors
of color, and it takes away one of those roles -- which is the opposite of what we should be doing.
We should want to advance as a society and move beyond a TV and film industry that is
overwhelmingly white.
There are so many roles for white actors in Hollywood -- it wouldn't hurt to pass the
mic and give some of those roles to people of color so that they can have their stories told.
No matter how colorblind you want to claim to be, race has an impact on the way we experience the world.
If we're only telling the stories of white people, we're not getting the full picture
of human experiences -- in fact we're just getting a tiny fraction of it.
And whitewashing perpetuates that.
It continues to erase people of color from our media.
If you claim that you're just hiring the "best actor" when you hire a white person
to play a role that should go to a person of color, you're essentially saying that
there's not a single actor of color who was good enough for that role -- and that
just seems insulting.
There are tons of amazingly talented actors of color out there -- and we'll talk more
about that later as well.
The point is, whitewashing not only takes away jobs from actors of color who barely
have any opportunities in the first place, it also erases the tiny bit of representation
that many people of color have on screen.
Like, if you're white, you don't know what it's like to not be represented everywhere.
Well, maybe to some degree, because of other intersecting identities like sexual orientation
or gender or disability -- but you get my point.
As white people, we see people who look like us everywhere.
We don't know what it's like to grow up without countless movies and TV shows filled
with people who look like us.
So I don't think you can just tell people of color that it's not a big deal or that
they don't need that representation.
You don't know what it's like, none of us do.
And it would be better for all of us to see a bit more diversity in our media.
If you only ever see Muslims depicted as terrorists on TV, that might be your impression of all Muslims.
But if you grow up watching diverse, complex, well-written stories about a variety of Muslims
from different walks of life -- you might have a different perception of Muslims in general.
Seeing people as more than their stereotypes could only help to make us a better society.
Now, you may have heard about whitewashing in the news recently because Ed Skrein stepped
down from his role as Ben Daimio in the upcoming Hellboy reboot.
I didn't know anything about Hellboy before this happened, but it was originally a comic
book series, and the character that Ed Skrein was going to play is Japanese-American in the comic.
And Ed Skrein is as white as they come.
So, he stepped down.
To my knowledge, this is the first time a white actor has stepped away from a big, mainstream
role like this because they didn't want to contribute to Hollywood's whitewashing.
Thankfully we won't have to endure another Aloha, Ghost in the Shell, Death Note, or Iron Fist.
Speaking of which, is Iron Fist cancelled yet?
Can they at least kill him off so he's not in the Defenders?
How is Netflix gonna run with that shit but cancel Sense8 that just makes no sense--
Okay, anyway, sorry, I got a little sidetracked.
My point was, Ed Skrein made the right move.
He saw the backlash, he looked into it, he thought about it, he didn't get defensive,
and he did the right thing.
I wish more actors would do that, and in fact, I wish more allies in general would be more
willing to look at themselves and what they're doing wrong rather than getting defensive
when they're called out for something.
That being said, it's also possible this was, to some degree, a business decision.
Fans have turned on movies and actors that have contributed to whitewashing, and it's
possible he knew this would leave a scar on his career, so he thought it would be best to step down.
I can't pretend to know what his intention was or how he actually came to that decision,
but regardless, I think this goes to show that talking about whitewashing and calling
it out actually does have a real world effect.
It puts pressure on white actors not to accept roles written for people of color.
It puts pressure on movie studios not to cast those actors in the first.
Hopefully this is a tipping point where Hollywood realizes that whitewashing isn't a good
business decision, so they stop doing it.
It sucks that they'll only stop doing it because it's a bad business decision, rather
than because it's the right thing to do, but it's still change.
All of that being said, seeing everyone bend over backwards to praise Ed Skrein has seemed
a little weird to me.
Like, yes, he did the right thing, 100%, and I applaud him for that.
But I've seen so many people saying that they want to work with him and help him and boost him now.
And I understand why that is -- they want to show other white actors that turning down
those kinds of roles is a good career move -- but it still just feels icky.
Like the solution to whitewashing in Hollywood is not to fight over which white actor who
turned down a whitewashed role you want to work with.
The solution is to work with more people of color.
Ed Skrein did the right thing, but it wasn't a brave, groundbreaking, earth-shattering
win for social justice.
It was really the bare minimum we should be expecting from white actors.
So instead of falling head over heels for a white actor doing what all white actors
should be doing, maybe turn your attention to the amazing actors and actresses of color
who are already here and doing amazing work.
I asked on Twitter for some actors and actresses of color who you all think are underrated
and deserve some more visibility.
I asked in particular for folks who are Asian or Asian-American because those seem to be
the roles that get whitewashed the most.
And these are some of the people ya'll recommended.
I realize that's a lot of names, so I'll list them in the description and link to their
social medias or their IMDB or whatever links I can find for them.
Please go support these people and the shows and the movies that they're in.
Hollywood really does listen to what is good for business, so we have to show up and support
the actors and actresses who we want to see succeed.
And conversely, don't support movies or TV shows that whitewash roles meant for people of color.
Now, I just want to say one last time that this is not an attack on Ed Skrein.
He did the right thing and I support him.
I just don't think that makes him a hero.
This video is, however, at least kind of side-eyeing all of the actors who accepted roles as characters
who were people of color.
I'm looking at you, Emma Stone, Tilda Swinton, Finn Jones, Scarlett Johansson, Matt Damon,
Nat Wolff, Tom Cruise, Jake Gyllenhaal, and so many others.
But anyway, I hope that all made sense.
If you have any other questions about whitewashing, feel free to leave them in the comments, and
thank you so much for watching this video.
I'll see you next time.
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