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Joey Mervis Commented [1]: revisit Hunger Games article, NYT

Asian Actors
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’s casting created major controversy as he was a white man

hired to play an Asian character. In his portrayal, he sported taped eyelids and overly large fake teeth.

He also used a broad, Vaudevillian characterization and spoke with a stereotypical and offensive

accent. The purpose of these traits was clearly for comedic effect, as Mr. Yunioshi was almost always

the butt of the joke in the film.While racially-charged humor was somewhat accepted at the time of the

movie’s release and did not immediately lead to major backlash, Rooney created what would become

one of the most iconic examples of ethnic stereotype in Hollywood.

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 Hollywood can justify the practice of

casting white actors today in roles meant to be played by actors of other ethnicities.

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
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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 actress with digitally altered features, the film essentially Commented [2]: Strong piece of evidence, but since
you open the sentience stating Harris' name it not
perpetuates all of the same cultural myths that yellowface did. Whether she had fake buck teeth or not, necessary at the end too

or taped squinty eyes, 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.

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

One argument is 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 In an interview with Gizmodo’s Meredith Woerner, Shyamalan

stated that while he originally had planned to represent the Asiatic-type world of the anime series

adaptation accurately, he considered the talent of those who auditioned over their ethnic background

(Woerner). This argument is meant to be seen as progressive, akin to the “I don’t see race” trope.

However, it really comes across as “No [insert non-white race here] actor was good enough to play this

role,” or “Most of the good actors are white.” Especially for a director like Shyamalan, born in India, this Commented [3]: Since this is following a piece of
evidence and utilizes quotes, it's somewhat confusing
response shows not only how damaging this issue is but how deeply it has permeated the core of because I originally thought you were quoting from the
interview
Hollywood. The argument is dangerous because audiences are likely to agree that Shyamalan’s

primary responsibility is to fill the film with the most talented actors to take on the story. However, this is

merely a smokescreen to disguise the underlying argument that there were not actors of Asiatic

backgrounds in the industry that were talented enough to do justice to these roles, both physically and

emotionally. This comes as a slap in the face to struggling actors who might have fit both criteria, yet

most likely never made it into the audition room.

Another argument was highlighted when Variety’s Scott Foundas interviewed director Ridley Scott

about his decision to cast American and Australian actors to play Middle Eastern biblical characters in

his 2014 film Exodus: Gods and Kings. Ridley stated that the only way for his film to be greenlight by a
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major studio with its high production budget was to cast bankable stars. He argued that the US film

market no longer has A-list stars that are not white, and it was therefore necessary to cast white actors

to ensure that the story could be told. He said that he would not be able to produce a film with a Commented [4]: Combine these two paragraphs?
Commented [5]: think you could deff combine the two,
commensurate budget if his lead actor were “Mohammad so-and-so from such-and-such” (qtd in but since you're just representing here i think it's
perfect as it is: concise and informative
Foundas). He also added that 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 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 Commented [6]: Is this necessary?
Commented [7]: I think it supports your argument, for
when he asserted that Scarlett Johansson’s casting in Ghost in the Shell could be blamed on the it shows that people are paying more attention to
whitewashing in Hollywood than ever before and
absence of A-list Asian celebrities in Hollywood today, especially those that are female (Child). While demonstrate that they want a change by not attending
films that do it excessively
not defending the trend, he argued that writers and directors essentially had their hands tied, as they

were forbidden by their studios to cast stars in films that did not already possess the power necessary

to carry million dollar motion pictures. Landis argues that it is not the fault of specific actors or director

but rather the fault of an idea that has infected Hollywood studios for decades. But where does this

infection come from?

According to a study by the University of Southern California, data shows that in the 100 highest-

grossing films of 2014, 73.1% of the characters 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 USC!!!!!). This data is used by some to bolster the accusations Commented [8]: Delete this and merge paragraph.
Save end of second paragraph for a transition
that films with white leads and white casts are the films that make box office success. However, the

inverse of that argument is that this data merely shows Hollywood’s self-fulfilling prophecy: The

relationship between the lack of diversity and a film’s gross is merely assumed by executives, who then

continue to hire less diverse casts for their films, and those films go on to gross major amounts at the
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box office, thus continuing the cycle. Furthermore, Amanda Scherker of The Huffington Posts responds

to the argument that Hollywood must use stars to fill roles minorities could play because of box office

power by asking how actors of different ethnicities can build up star-power if the roles they could be

playing are given to white actors (Scherker). Commented [9]: This is a really good source of
evidence so I'd expand on that idea more
Recent films have proven Hollywood executives wrong and shown that audiences’ changing

perspectives have actually 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 and featured a predominantly black cast. Scott Mendelson, a box office analyst for Forbes,

argued that the success was due to an already existing audience ready to receive these diverse films,

and the gravitas the film was given in its marketing efforts, as the film went on to gross over $100

million worldwide (Mendelson). 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). Commented [10]: Do not need to represent?

Commented [11]: I would keep this representation in
The University of California, Los Angeles recently released their “2018 Hollywood Diversity here because it coincides with the concept you
mentioned in the paragraph above about giving
Report,” conducted by the school’s Division of Social Sciences and funded in part by several major minorities larger roles so they can build their way up in
the industry. This representation shows it's completely
possible
media corporations. This report analyzed box office data from 2016 and found that “films with casts

made up of 21 to 30 percent minority actors enjoyed the highest median global box office ticket sales

and the highest median return on investment. Films with the most racially homogenous casts were the

poorest financial performers” (UCLA!!!!) Given the grosses of these films, the arguments of box office Commented [12]: https://socialsciences.ucla.edu/wp-
content/uploads/2018/02/UCLA-Hollywood-Diversity-
power to justify whitewashing are revealed to be nothing more than false rationalization for a glass Report-2018-2-27-18.pdf

ceiling to keep actors of color out of the spotlight in major films. Not only does it keep them off of the Commented [13]: CITE??
Commented [14]: Great
silver screen, it effectively keeps their stories out of the films and invalidates their representation on

screen.
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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 a film, 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 are representing on that 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). However, not having these representations to look up to can be

dangerous.

Misrepresentation on screen is not just a problem of fairness or equality; it’s a dangerous pattern

that can cause serious psychological damage. Films are meant to represent life and are often used as

a reference point for how to judge other people or oneself. However, what happens to one's own

judgement if these reference points are severely off-balance? In an interview for HuffPost, Ana-

Christina Ramón, assistant director of the UCLA’s Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American

Studies, reaffirms the idea that visual media teaches people about their place in the world. She argues

that it can both help and harm mental health. One on hand, it can be liberating to experience three-

dimensional representation, seeing films like Girls Trip and Black Panther that positively reflect

underrepresented members of society. However, it can also be restricting to see no representation, or

two-dimensional representation, such as minorities included with restricted behavior or minor

importance (qtd. in Boboltz and Yam).

The 1976 paper “Living with Television” for the Journal of Communication introduced a concept

that redefined the sociological study of representation by saying, “Representation in the fictional world
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significies social existence; absence means symbolic annihilation” (Gerber and Gross). The concept of

symbolic annihilation signifies that if a person does not see someone similar to themself represented in

media, they directly relate that to their importance in the world, leading to questioning self worth and

societal value. For underrepresented minorities, who in many are cases are being literally annihilated

through deportations and police brutality, to see this symbolic annihilation on screen as representation

of how their own value in the world can cause life-long damage. It also sends messages to the majority

of the country that this lack of representation is not only how the world truly is but how it should be. Commented [15]: These two paragraphs are arguing
the exact same thing and with very similar evidence in
In 2012, Professors Nicole Martins and Kristen Harrison of the University of Michigan conducted a each one so I'd consider combining them to make it
more concise
study to monitor the correlation between self-esteem and media exposure among elementary school-

aged children. Their motivation for the study stemmed from previous research indicating that self-

esteem is correlated with motivation, persistence, and self-worth. They concluded that representations

of characters in popular media had observable effects in decreasing self-esteem for all test subjects,

except white males. Martins and Harrison hypothesized that this conclusion resulted from the media’s

reinforcement of racial stereotypes, as African American children often saw themselves portrayed as

“buffoons” or “unruly youths” while white children saw themselves as “powerful” and “strong” (Martins

and Harrison).

Paragraph about how representation is important, determines cultural subconscious of how

we think of race. In Anna Holmes’ essay “White Until Proven Black: Imagining Race in Hunger Games,”

the New York Times writer !>?!?!?!? Show Hunger Games dillemma, Shows how humanity of minotiries

can be thwarted and etc. Then innocent quote, example of how media has made us associate

whiteness with innocence. Posed the quetion that if people were able to skip over author’s details about

how characters’ appearance or race, what does it say about the stories we tell ourselves? SAYS these

people are not being represented in a way that promotes ?!?!?!?! (Holmes). Commented [16]: To be completed

While representation is at the surface of the whitewashing epidemic faced today, the it also

reveals underlying tensions regarding the complicated reality of race in Hollywood. As the Los Angeles

Times’ Chris Lee points out, “Even now, in the age of Obama — when the newly installed Miss USA Commented [17]: Not go into this issue?
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Rima Fakih is Lebanese American, Will Smith is the biggest movie star in the world and Sonia

Sotomayor became the first Latina to sit on the U.S.Supreme Court — movie industry decision-makers

can still seem woefully behind the times when it comes to matters of race” (Lee). 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 Commented [18]: There is a ton of evidence in the
paragraph with very little analysis and this piece is
population but were only hired for 26% of the roles in major films. This problem can only be attributed to probably the most rich so you might want to spend
some time with just this one, or keep only one of the
other ones and analyze them both, right now it's just a
those who are controlling the narratives in Hollywood: the executives. According to a study conducted lot of evidence stacked on one another

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

In a 2015 study on diversity within Hollywood, Temple University sociologist Maryann Erigha

argued that, “Without question, racial and gender diversity behind‐ the‐ scenes impacts the on‐ screen

cultural product, while creative visions on‐ screen are significantly inhibited in the absence of diversity

in behind‐ the‐ scenes positions” (Erigha). She argues that the white control of cinema narratives

damages those narratives by not accurately representing the broader audiences in front of or behind

the camera. She cites a 2011 study by USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism

that found that employment of racial or ethnic minorities behind the scene positively impacted their

quality of on-screen images, whereas an absence of these minorities corresponded with fewer

empowered characters (Smith and Choueiti). Commented [19]: more????

Commented [20]: yes
While there is evidence of a shift in progress towards these forms of representation like these, 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

franchise 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 and

actors 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
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screens today. Calls for Hollywood to take their own steps towards inclusion have also been spurred. Commented [21]: This is really interesting and could
easily be its own paragraph if you added in a bit more
One specific call was introduced in 2014 by USC’s Stacy L. Smith when she introduced the idea of an reflection

“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). While inclusion riders would serve as a positive stepping stone, and actors like Skrein

could make major strides by focusing on being part of the solution and not the problem, more effort will

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

moviemaking experiences.

However, one representation of that racism still remains etched into the cultural subconscious of

cinema: Mr. Yunioshi. Despite featuring what is arguably a more offensive portrayal of ethnic Commented [22]: I like how you bring the essay back
to the beginning, very strong
stereotypes than any major character today, the release of the film was not initially met with public

backlash. 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). His apology, if it could be called that, was not met with a positive public

perception, as many considered it to be too little too late, especially considering his prior history of

defending the portrayal. However, it is representative of a larger shift in the morale of Hollywood, as

influencers begin to realize the damage they have done in movies gone by.

The modern understanding that the portrayal of Mr. Yunioshi was offensive shows that the public

perception of whitewashing’s potential for damage is evolving. However, even after Rooney’s statement

and Paramount Pictures’ subsequent public condemnation of the character, Breakfast at Tiffany’s sits

on a pedestal of cinema magic and is still regarded by many as a cultural icon. Given the long history of

tension regarding whitewashing and the volatile state of representation in Hollywood today, we cannot

afford to overlook it anymore. If we overlook Mr. Yunioshi, as blatant and offensive as the portrayal is,

we will never look down and realize the mess that was made in its aftermath. We have learned through

scientific research that this mess is damaging because stories matter. Representation on our screens

matter. As we as a society continue to understand and accept this, hopefully the media that we produce
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will reflect it. Hopefully, with the help of progress and education, we will 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?” Commented [23]: STORIES MATTER
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Works Cited

Benyamin, Chaya. “Is Hollywood Too White?” Theperspective.com/, 22 Aug. 2017,

www.theperspective.com/debates/entertainment/hollywood-too-white/.

Dwyer, Colin. “What's An Inclusion Rider? Here's The Story Behind Frances McDormand's

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

2018/03/05/590867132/whats-an-inclusion-rider-here-s-the-story-behind-frances-mcdo

Rmand-s-closing-wor.

Foundas, Scott. “'Exodus: Gods and Kings' Director Ridley Scott on Creating His Vision of

Moses.” Variety, 30 Nov. 2014, variety.com/2014/film/news/ridley-scott-exodus-gods-

and-kings-christian-bale-1201363668/.

Graham, Renée. “Why Are Hollywood Saviors Always White? - The Boston Globe.”

BostonGlobe.com, 19 Feb. 2017, www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials

/2017/02/19/why-are-hollywood-saviors-always-white/SnuyciEtMsoYlaCH4mRDRN/story.html.

Harris, Aisha. “The Ghost in the Shell Remake's Twist Ending Makes the Whitewashing Even

Worse.” Slate Magazine, 31 Mar. 2017, www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2017/03/31/

Ghost_in_the_shell_s_twist_makes_the_whitewashing_worse.html.

“IU study looks at why Hollywood blockbusters often lack minority characters.” IU News

Room, newsinfo.iu.edu/news-archive/18567.html.

Lee, Chris. “Hollywood Whitewash? 'Airbender' and 'Prince of Persia' Anger Fans with Ethnic

Casting.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 25 Aug. 2010,

herocomplex.latimes.com/uncategorized/racebending/.

Magagnini, Stephen. “Mickey Rooney Upset at Racism Allegations.” DeseretNews.com,

Deseret News, 7 Sept. 2008, www.deseretnews.com/article/700256494/Mickey-

Rooney-upset-at-racism-allegations.html.

Makarechi, Kia. “Hollywood's 'Race Problem' Is Worse Than You Think.” The Huffington Post,
 Mervis 11

TheHuffingtonPost.com, 7 Dec. 2017, www.huffingtonpost.com/kia-makarechi/

Hollywood-race-problem-oscars_b_4026559.html.

Mendelson, Scott. “Box Office: 'Girls Trip' Crossed $100M By Being An Event Movie For Adult

Women.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 18 Aug. 2017,

www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2017/08/18/box-office-girls-trip-crossed-100m-by-being-an

-event-movie-for-adult-women/#5c5761697d57.

"representation, n.1." OED Online, Oxford University Press, March 2018,

www.oed.com/view/Entry/162997.

Scherker, Amanda. “This Shameful Hollywood Habit Is So Common, You May Not Have

Noticed It.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 7 Dec. 2017,

www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/10/hollywood-whitewashing_n_5515919.html.

Smith, Stacy L. and Marc Choueiti. Gender in Cinematic Content? A Look at Females On Screen and

Behind‐ the‐ Camera in Top Grossing 2008 Films. Los Angeles, CA: Annenberg School for

Communication and Journalism.

Sun, Rebecca. “'Hellboy' Whitewashing Backlash May Signal Tipping Point for Hollywood

Casting.” The Hollywood Reporter, Billboard-Hollywood Reporter Media Group, 6

Sept. 2017, www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/hellboy-whitewashing-backlash-may-

signal-tipping-point-hollywood-casting-1035604.

Warner, Kara. “Johnny Depp Explains Bumpy Ride Of 'Lone Ranger'.” MTV News, MTV, 13

Oct. 2011, www.mtv.com/news/1672432/johnny-depp-the-lone-ranger/-.

Wilkinson, Alissa. “Black Panther Just Keeps Smashing Box Office Records.” Vox, Vox, 20 Apr. 2018,

www.vox.com/culture/2018/4/20/17261614/black-panther-

box-office-records-gross-iron-man-thor-captain-america-avengers.

Woerner, Meredith. “Shyamalan Addresses Airbender's Race Controversy And Answers Your

Questions.” io9, io9.Gizmodo.com, 30 Mar. 2010, io9.gizmodo.com/5504967/

shyamalan-addresses-airbenders-race-controversy-and-answers-your-questions.
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Wong, Kevin. “The Very Long, Very Messed-Up History of White Actors Playing Asian Characters.”

Complex, Complex, 16 Nov. 2016,

www.complex.com/pop-culture/2016/11/asian-roles-played-by-non-asian-actors/.

Yang, Jeff. “The Mickey Rooney Role Nobody Wants to Talk Much About.” The Wall Street

Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 8 Apr. 2014, blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2014/04/08/

the-mickey-rooney-role-nobody-wants-to-talk-about/.

https://annenberg.usc.edu/sites/default/files/MDSCI_Inequality_in-700_Popular.pdf

Holmes, Anna. “White Until Proven Black: Imagining Race in Hunger Games.” The New Yorker,
The New Yorker, 19 June 2017, www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/white-until-proven-black-
imagining-race-in-hunger-games.

GERBNER AND GROSS!

Boboltz and Yam

(Martins and Harrison)