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Joey Mervis

Professor Ginder

Advanced College Essay

24 April 2018

White Washed-Out

In the classic 1961 film ​Breakfast at Tiffany’s​, actor Mickey Rooney made history with his performance

as Mr. I.Y. Yunioshi. Rooney, a white man, was cast over other actors to play Yunioshi, an Asian

character. In his portrayal, he employed taped eyelids and overly large fake teeth. He also used a

broad, Vaudevillian characterization and spoke with a stereotypical, offensive accent. The purpose of

these traits was clearly for comedic effect, as Mr. Yunioshi was almost always the butt of the joke being

made in the film.

While racially-charged humor was somewhat accepted at the time of the movie’s release and did not

lead to major immediate backlash, Rooney created what would become one of the most iconic

examples of ethnic stereotype in Hollywood. In recent years, Rooney’s portrayal has prompted protests

of the films’ screenings across the country and even led to production company Paramount Pictures

denouncing Mr. Yunioshi as “a toxic caricature” (Yang). In 2008, over four decades after the release of

the film, Rooney publicly expressed his regret for the first time, stating that if had known people would

have taken offense, he never would have taken the role (Magagnini).

Rooney was not the first person to put on “yellow face,” a term used to describe the modifications of

one's appearances for performance to appear Asian. Boris Karloff’s subhuman portrayal of Dr. Fu

Manchu in ​The Mask of Fu Manchu ​somehow seems to have slipped past the cultural radar in 1932.

Actors as famous as Katherine Hepburn, John Wayne, and Yul Brenner had all attempted the same

feat before Rooney (Wong). However, Rooney’s performance was one of the first to have been

attempted in a comedic fashion, furthering the insult and helping launch the “Ching-Chong” stereotype
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into mainstream media. The use of the words “ching chong” to offensively reference a Chinese or

Japanese person or accent date back to nineteenth century playground taunts (Chow). However even

after ​Breakfast at Tiffany’s​, characters continued to appear in the media in a similar vein.

Half a century after Mr. Yunioshi appeared on the silver screen, the issue continues to haunt hollywood.

While these representations used to be overt and caricatured, what is now arguably more dangerous is

the acceptance of white actors playing roles meant to be played by actors of underrepresented

ethnicities, a trend known as “whitewashing.” Today the issue of whitewashing is debated across the

country, as more and more instances appear in American cinemas. Such controversies have arisen

surrounding recent films, including Scarlett Johansson’s portrayal of a character from Japanese manga

in ​Ghost in the Shell​, Jake Gyllenhaal as a Persian character in ​Prince of Persia​, and Johnny Depp as

Native American sidekick Tonto in ​The Lone Ranger​. With passionate groups on each side of the

argument, the problem presents as whether the practice of casting white actors today in roles meant to

be played by actors of other ethnicities should be accepted by both Hollywood and today’s audiences.

Those who defend the whitewashing trend use several different arguments to justify the practice. One

such argument is that that the US film market no longer has A-list stars that are not white, and the only

way for movies like ​Ghost in the Shell​ and ​Prince of Persia​ to be greenlit by major studios is to cast a

bankable — in other words, white — actor in the lead role (Foundas). While it may be

misrepresentation of the story, those who defend it argue that if they were to not cast a white actor, the

story might not be told at all. Some directors also argue creative choices, such as ​Prince of Persia

being a fantasy movie where race knows no boundaries (Lee). Others argue that whitewashing was a

misguided attempt to honor or not offend the race being portrayed, as in ​The Lone Ranger​ and ​Doctor

Strange​ (Warner). For ​Doctor Strange​, actress Tilda Swinton played The Ancient One. The role was

originally written for an Asian man, as the character is a powerful Tibetan mystic. However, the

filmmakers decided to take what they felt was an offensive racial stereotype within the source material
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and radically change it, attempting to refocus it in a more diverse way by casting a white woman

(Erbland).

Another, arguably more offensive argument, is the argument that the director or producers cast the best

person in the role, regardless of race. This was famously used as director M. Night Shyamalan’s

response to accusations of whitewashing in his film adaptation of ​The Last Airbender​ (Woerner). This

argument is meant to be seen as progressive, akin to the “I don’t see race” trope. However, what it

really comes across as is “No [insert non-white race here] actor was good enough to play this role,” or

“Most of the good actors are white.”

Another argument used to justify whitewashing is that if the rest of the films actors are diverse, a

whitewashed lead should be forgiven. For ​Ghost in the Shell​, the supporting characters showcased a

great amount of diversity on screen. The producers argued that a famous white lead like Scarlett

Johansson was needed to assuage studio fears about box office potential and receive a green light for

the film (Makarechi). With the white lead, they were then able to showcase Asian actors and tell their

stories on screen alongside her.

While whitewashing in cinema today is nowhere near as overt or as caricatured as it was while Holly

Golightly was having breakfast at Tiffany’s, these arguments have led to the underlying acceptance of

the practice, which is arguably more harmful. Whitewashing takes away roles from actors who are

already underrepresented on screen. According to a study conducted by the University of Southern

California, 73.1% of the characters in the 100 top films of 2014 were white. Only 17 of those 100

featured a lead or co-star from an underrepresented race or group, and only three additional films

featured an ensemble cast that could be classified as diverse (CITE!!!!!) White actors clearly hold the

majority of the roles in Hollywood, especially lead roles, yet they continue to hold dominance over

actors who represent minority populations.

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Whitewashing also creates and continues offensive stereotypes, like Rooney’s character in Breakfast at

Tiffany’s, as actors attempt to imitate another race or studios attempt to change an actors’ look to

appear as if they are from another racial background. In Aisha Harris’ article for Slate, she reports that

Paramount was accused of running special effects tests to see how they could make lead Scarlett

Johansson appear to be Asian in ​Ghost in the Shell. ​Harris argues that “the film makes its artistic

liberties feel cheap and even more infuriating—like a 21st-century, ‘post-racial​’ ​incarnation of

yellowface” (Harris)​. ​Even by casting a white actresses with digitally altered features, the film

essentially perpetuates all of the same cultural myths that yellowface did. Whether she had fake buck

teeth or not, or taped squinty eyes or not, her altered appearance followed suit in a long pattern of

offensive portrayals of Asians in movies, giving audiences no reason to doubt the stereotypes they had

seen previously.

One of the most powerful tropes perpetuated by Hollywood to justify whitewashing is that non-white

actors do not have anywhere near the box office power that white actors do. They argue that audiences

en masse will not come to the theatres if films are starring actros who are black, Asian, or other

underrepresented races. In 2014, director Ridley Scott made headlines when he cast American and

Australian actors to play Middle Eastern biblical characters in his film ​Exodus: Gods and Kings​. His

response to the controversy was that he would not be able to produce a film with a commensurate

budget if his lead actor were “Mohammad so-and-so from such-and-such” (qtd in Foundas). He also

added the question of casting the races accurately never came up in the production process, because

he knew the film would not be approved by the studio. The repercussions of Scott’s decision to

whitewash characters in the film are compounded by his response, as he not only dismisses even the

possibility of accurately casting the film but also employs Middle Eastern stereotypes while doing so.

The negative press that surrounded what some called a tone deaf decision combined with the movie’s
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critical reviews went on to affect the film’s box office performance, earning only $68 million over its

$200 million budget (Subers).

Screenwriter Max Landis also made headlines when he asserted that Scarlett Johansson’s casting in

Ghost in the Shell ​could be blamed on the absence of A-list Asian celebrities in Hollywood today,

especially those that are female (Child). While not defending the trend, he argued that studios

essentially had their hands tied, as they were unable to cast stars in films that did not already possess

the power necessary to carry million dollar motion pictures. However, in her article for The Huffington

Post, Amanda Scherker poses the question of how actors of different ethnicities can build up

star-power and career credibility if the roles they could be playing are given to white actors (Scherker).

Indiana University telecommunications professor Andrew J. Weaver sought to understand the true

implications of minority casts in films with his 2011 study. Through various test groups, he used fake

film synopses and casts to test whether a minority cast decreased white audiences’ interest in a certain

film. Weaver found that when neutralizing other factors, these minority casts did negatively affect white

subjects’ interest in that film. However, when analyzing the results, he claimed “the only time that you

see minority casts are for films that are marketed very specifically toward minority audiences… ​It's

more about a perception that if there are minority cast members in it, then whites don't see themselves

as part of the intended audience​” (qtd in “IU study looks at why Hollywood…”). Weaver argues that the

differences were due to a conditioned, subconscious bias, perpetuated by previous Hollywood casting

and marketing trends. This creates a self-fulfilling prophecy, as Hollywood executives justify their

decisions to hire white casts with audience trends that were created by their previous whitewashing.

Despite this trend, recent films have shown that audiences’ changing perspectives have created a

hunger for diverse, representative films in America. One of the first to signal a change in the tide was

the 2017 smash hit ​Girls Trip​. The film starred four black actresses, featured a predominantly black

cast. Scott Mendelson, a box office analyst for ​Forbes​, argued that the success was due to an already
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existing audience ready to receive these diverse films, and the gravitas the film was given in its

marketing efforts. He said, “When you give a starving demographic a prime filet mignon, or comparable

vegetarian option, and treat it like an A-level event as opposed to counterprogramming, that

demographic will damn sure show up at least once at a theater near you” (Mendelson). Those

audiences showed up, and showed up again all over the world, as the film went on to gross over $100

million worldwide. Hollywood executives seemed shocked, while audiences comparatively less-so.

However, nothing would prepare Hollywood for the record-shattering debut of ​Black Panther​, which has

earned $1.324 billion worldwide and become the third highest-grossing movie in the US to date. When

analyzing the performance of the film, Vox’s Alissa Wilkinson argued that the film was successful

because it “shatters stereotypes about race and gender in tentpole blockbusters, explores important

ideas about black culture and Afrofuturism, and is a genuinely fun, well-made movie to boot”

(Wilkinson). ​\T\

Representation is defined as “the action of standing for, or in the place of, a person, group, or thing,

and related senses” (​"representation, n.1.") In terms of films, representation is not as simple as putting

a black or Asian or Middle Eastern face on a screen. Representation is about the people who those

actors would be representing on screen, and the people who then do not get to be represented when a

white person on screen is in their place. This is seen with the phenomenon that is ​Black Panther​, as the

movie does not simply feature black actors on screen. The movie features a whole community of real

black people, who feel underrepresented and undervalued, being represented on that screen by black

actors. This makes whitewashing not just a financial issue but a moral one and an important cultural

context. Several images of young black children watching ​Black Panther​ went viral, as people on social

media rejoiced at the opportunity for these children, especially girls, to see themselves represented on

screen as strong and powerful, something they might not get to see anywhere else (McGonigal). ​|||
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At the surface of the problem faced today is representation. However, the existence of this problem

signals an underlying racism in Hollywood. For The Perspective’s Chaya Benyamin, ​“When

considering the distribution of work in Hollywood amongst ethnic minorities, one might be quick to

conclude that American entertainment is one of the country’s last vestiges of institutionalized racism”

(Benyamin). Benyamin continues by noting that in 2017, ethnic minorities made up 40% of the

population but were only hired for 26% of the roles in major films (USC!). This problem can only be

attributed to those who are controlling the narratives in Hollywood: the executives. According to a study

conducted by USC, 94% of all film studio heads within the United States are white and 100% are male.

It is no wonder that such whitewashing has invaded the action in front of the camera when it has clearly

trickled in from behind it.

These white executives control the narratives, and thus skew the ways that minorities are represented

in media. According to Amanda Scherker, this has led to roles that were meant to be played by a

minority but do not specifically mandate it to be altered to the default race: white (Scherker). This is

seen in films like ​21​, based on real events, where the real-life Asian protagonist was altered to be a

white character. Even when minorities are represented accurately on screen, it is often only done

because the movie requires it. In a study of all black Oscar winners for Best Actor, the only actor to win

for playing a role that did not necessarily have to be black was Denzel Washington for 2001’s ​Training

Day​. All other roles that were honored, the few that made it, were characters based on historical figures

or plots that explicitly involved the character’s black identity (Makarechi).

Another issue that arises in the racial skewing of minority representation in movies is the white savior

complex. Often in films where minorities are featured prominently, their successes are undercut or

facilitated by another white character. In ​Hidden Figures​, a film based on real events, the writers

invented a fictional white character to act as the boss of the three black female protagonists. In the film,

he single-handedly presents opportunities for the women and even takes a hit at segregation within his
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office (Graham). As Boston Globe columnist Renée Graham points out, “Hollywood does itself no

favors by bleaching African-American stories with white saviors. It plays directly into this nation’s

reticent relationship with its own racism, and its persistent need to soft-pedal it. Stories about black

strength and perseverance against bigotry are dulled to assuage white guilt” (Graham).

While there is evidence of a shift in progress, even more needs to be done to alter what audiences and

Hollywood deem acceptable in terms of whitewashing on screen. In 2017, actor Ed Skrein chose to

depart the planned reboot if the ​Hellboy f​ ranchise after outcry on social media over the white actor

being chosen to play a traditionally Japanese-American character (Sun). This debate is one of many

that shows that many audiences are no longer willing to support a movie it deems guilty of

whitewashing. However, audiences need to take a more definitive stance to symbolize that there is no

place for whitewashing on our movie screens today. Calls for Hollywood to take their own steps

towards inclusion have also been spurred. One specific call was introduced in 2014 by USC’s Stacy L.

Smith when she introduced the idea of an “inclusion rider.” These riders would be negotiated by actors

or creatives into their contracts, most likely those of A-list status, that ask or demand to have a certain

level of diversity within a film’s cast and crew (Dwyer). Despite these positive strides, more effort and

time will be necessary to undo the century of racism that has been so intertwined with the moviegoing

and moviemaking experiences

While Hollywood has a long road ahead of it when it comes to representation and diversity, it is

important to remember where that road began, even as we inch further from it. One stop on that road

​ ith Mr. Yunioshi. However, given the long history of

had audiences fondly eating ​Breakfast at Tiffany’s w

tension regarding whitewashing and the volatile state of representation in Hollywood today, public

sentiment towards Mickey Rooney’s portrayal of Mr. Yunioshi needs to change. At its surface, Rooney

took a role from an Asian actor. However, even more damaging were the cultural stereotypes he

perpetuated. A white man took narrative power away from an Asian man and transformed the narrative
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into harmful, damaging stereotypes that simply feed into the ignorance that creates this subconscious

racism. Despite this, many still look back at the film and regard it a cultural icon, often overlooking the

dangerous portrayal. However, we cannot afford to overlook it anymore. If we overlook Mr. Yunioshi, as

blatant and offensive as it is, we will never look down and realize the mess that was made in its

aftermath. Some audiences do look back at the performance and spurn its implications. Those

audiences, and hopefully the rest of the population with the help of progress and education, will be the

same ones to look back years from now at the whitewashing in movies like ​Ghost in the Shell​ and

Prince of Persia​ and say, “What were we thinking?”

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Works Cited

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Closing Words.” ​NPR​, NPR, 5 Mar. 2018, www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/

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