Didn't she also get the brownface treatment when she played Marianne Pearl (widow of the journalist killed in Pakistan)?
Tracy On Jun 28, 2010, at 9:25 PM, "Mr. Worf" <[email protected]> wrote: > I read a couple of days ago that Angelina Jolie got the part of Cleopatra in > the next movie. Continuing the long line of white (in her case whiteish) > actors playing parts that should have gone to someone middle eastern or light > skinned black. > > > On Mon, Jun 28, 2010 at 6:08 PM, Justin Mohareb <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > Personally, I don't know what they'd want more: More roles, or just dignified > ones. Getting a callback for Terrorist #3, only to lose out to a French guy > must be getting awful repetitive. > > Justin > > On Mon, Jun 28, 2010 at 8:05 PM, brent wodehouse > <[email protected]> wrote: > > http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20100628_Muslims__Asians_and_others_protest_casting_of_white_actors_in_ethnic_parts.html > > Posted on Mon, Jun. 28, 2010 > > Muslims, Asians and others protest casting of white actors in ethnic parts > > By CHRIS LEE > Philadelphia Daily News > > Los Angeles Times > > SINCE ITS RELEASE, the video-game franchise "Prince of Persia" has become > notable for the acrobatic grace of its dagger-wielding, balloon > pants-wearing hero as well as for what the games didn't do: affront gamers > of Middle-Eastern and Muslim descent with stereotypical depictions of > people from the region as terrorists or religious zealots. > > Independent filmmaker and blogger Jehanzeb Dar, to name one such player, > remembers his favorable first reaction to the swashbuckling action game, > which is set amid the sands and ancient cities of Persia (as ancient Iran > is known) and follows a hero with a magic sword caught between forces of > good and evil. "You could see clearly the protagonist had distinct > Middle-Eastern features and darker skin," said Dar, 26, who pens the blog, > Muslim Reverie, from Langhorne. "People could develop some respect for > that culture instead of seeing it vilified." > > So when Disney Studios announced plans for a live-action adaptation of > "Prince," Dar held out hope it would be a "serious story that would dispel > a lot of stereotypes and misconceptions." Then came the bad news regarding > "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time." None of its principal cast members > are of Iranian, Middle-Eastern or Muslim descent. And playing Dastan, the > hero and titular heir to the Persian throne in the $200 million tent-pole > film, is none other than Swedish-Jewish-American prince Jake Gyllenhaal. > > "My first reaction was, 'Really?!' " said Dar. "It's insulting that people > of color - especially Middle Easterners or South Asians - are not allowed > to portray ourselves in these roles. That's a big problem a lot of people > in the community are having with this film." > > Of course, Hollywood has a rich history with this kind of thing. Think: > John Wayne playing Genghis Khan in "The Conqueror," Peter Sellers' > bumbling Indian character in "The Party" or even more notoriously, Mickey > Rooney's bucktoothed Mr. Yunioshi character from "Breakfast at Tiffany's," > the grandfather of all "yellowface" stereotypes. > > Although these portrayals took place decades ago, their legacy lives on. > Even now, in the age of Barack Obama - when the newly crowned Miss USA > 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 > Supreme Court - the movie industry can still seem woefully behind the > times when it comes to matters of race. > > Consider the latest evidence. This summer, two of the season's > biggest-budgeted films have sparked controversy by installing white actors > in decidedly "ethnic" parts. And some early fan reactions have varied from > indignation to righteous fury to organized revolt over a perceived > "whitewashing" of multi-culti characters, a practice that is known as > "racebending." > > Besides Gyllenhaal and British actress Gemma Arterton's portrayal of > Iranian characters in the swords-and-sandals action epic "Prince of > Persia," Paramount has come under attack for its live-action adaptation of > the Nickelodeon animated series "Avatar: The Last Airbender." Directed by > "Sixth Sense" auteur M. Night Shyamalan, "The Last Airbender" (as the > movie is called to distinguish it from a certain James Cameron-directed > 3-D blockbuster) has enraged some of the show's aficionados by casting > white actors in three of four principle roles - characters that fans of > the original insist are Asian and Native American. > > And with just days until the movie's Friday release - after an > 18-month-long letter-writing campaign to the film's producers and a > correspondence with Paramount President Adam Goodman to underscore the > importance of casting Asian actors in designated Asian roles - members of > the Media Action Network for Asian Americans and an organization called > www.racebending.com are urging fans to boycott "Airbender." > > The movie's detractors have spoken against the film at six college > campuses, including MIT , New York University and University of > California, Los Angeles, also setting up booths at events such as San > Francisco's WonderCon pop-culture expo to publicize their discontent. At > last count, the group's Facebook group had 7,125 supporters and attracted > petitioners against the movie's casting in 55 countries. The stated goal: > to prevent "Airbender" from blooming into a lucrative three-part franchise > via negative word of mouth. > > "It's unfortunate that it's come to this," said Racebending.com spokesman > Michael Le. "They've constructed a film that is contrary not only to what > fans expected to see but is also contrary to what America expects to see > in a film released in 2010 featuring Asian culture and Asian and > Native-American characters as heroes. > > "We want to raise awareness of the discriminatory practices of Hollywood," > Le continued. "We want to tell people this is important. It really > matters." > > Guy Aoki, head and co-founder of MANAA - a crusading organization that has > skirmished with TV networks and movie studios for a decade for more > positive representations of Asian Americans - put a finer point on the > boycotters' concerns. "If 'The Last Airbender' does really well, it sends > the message in Hollywood that discriminating against Asian Americans > works," he said. > > Although the studios behind both "Prince of Persia" and "Airbender" have > taken costly steps to not seem insensitive toward - or out of touch with - > the nonwhite constituencies represented in their respective films, no > Disney or Paramount executives would comment for this article. Nor would > the producers - "Prince of Persia's" Jerry Bruckheimer or "Airbender's" > Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall. Directors Mike Newell and Shyamalan > similarly declined. > > Camille Alick, project manager for MOST - Muslims on Screen & Television, > a resource center providing Hollywood productions with connections to > Muslim actors and accurate information on Muslim populations - had not > seen the films but remains sympathetic to the studios' decisions and > contends that her experience in the field allows her insight into such > casting choices. "The hope is to have an authentic depiction, but casting > directors have huge jobs in front of them," Alick said. "They're trying to > find the best person for the part. And when it's a big-budget movie, it's > going to come down to a business decision. If a major actor can carry a > film, that plays a big part. It's not malicious intent." > > Still, those among the anti-racebending camp believe that such > rationalization provides a convenient excuse for keeping the prevailing > system - a glass ceiling for actors of color in major movies - firmly in > place. > > "Hollywood can make anybody into a hero," Aoki said. "And yet these people > continue to use a conservative attitude. When are they ever going to put > an Asian American as a star to disprove that thinking? For Paramount to > assume people wouldn't pay to see Asians as leads is presumptuous and > insulting." > > For the uninitiated, the cartoon series "Avatar: The Last Airbender" was > aimed at children but enjoyed broad crossover to all ages during its > 2005-2008 TV run. Set in a Pan-Asian universe, identifiably Asian and > Native-American, anime-inspired characters battle one another using > martial-arts manipulation of the four elements. The series follows a > 12-year-old named Aang (played by non-Asian actor Noah Ringer in the > movie) and his band of cohorts who must save the world by toppling the > evil Fire Lord and ending war with the Fire Nation. > > But when word leaked out last year that a casting call had gone out for > the movie version requesting "Caucasians and other ethnicities," > "Airbender" fans freaked. Many of the film's detractors believed that > Shyamalan, an Indian American, had betrayed his own. > > On the "Airbender" set in Philadelphia, Shyamalan took issue with the > accusation that "Airbender" was anything less than inclusionary to > characters of color. "Ultimately, this movie, and then the three movies, > will be the most culturally diverse tent-pole movies ever released, > period," he told the Los Angeles Times last summer. > > Paramount provided a statement about "Airbender's" casting choices. "The > movie has 23 credited speaking roles - more than half of which feature > Asian and Pan-Asian actors of Korean, Japanese and Indian decent," it > reads. "The filmmaker's interpretation reflects the myriad qualities that > have made this series a global phenomenon. We believe fans of the original > and new audiences alike will respond positively once they see it." > > (In an effort to short-circuit further criticism, the studio said it will > screen a print of the film to Racebending.com boycotters once its > last-minute conversion from 2-D to 3-D is complete.) > > During "Prince of Persia's" scripting process, Disney hired BoomGen > Studios, a niche marketing firm specializing in creative content about the > Middle East, to help address issues of historical congruity and cultural > contexts. Consultants advised the filmmakers to avoid specifically > characterizing religion by setting "Prince" in a "mythological time" > before the arrival of Islam. As well, the company worked to assure members > of the Iranian-American community that the film was the antithesis of a > recent action-adventure movie believed to vilify the people of Persia. > > "We said, 'This is the anti-'300,' " said BoomGen's co-founder Reza Aslan. > > Asked point-blank by the Times of London, "Isn't Gyllenhaal a bit pale to > play a Persian?" Bruckheimer delivered this history lecture. "Persians > were very light-skinned," he said. "The Turks kind of changed everything. > But back in the sixth century, a lot of them were blond and blue-eyed." > > Aslan confirmed the veracity of Bruckheimer's historical appraisal. > "Iranians are Aryans," Aslan asserted. "If we went back in time 1,700 > years to the mythological era, all Iranians would look like Jake > Gyllenhaal." > > Gyllenhaal maintained that "Prince of Persia" is simply a slice of > Hollywood fantasy that's as light in spirit as the vintage serials. "To > me, it's not something I gave a lot of thought because all of it is such a > fantasy," he said last month at San Francisco's WonderCon. "It's based on > a video game, not something out of history. There's nothing real about > this. It's just an adventure and it's fun, and it's strange in a way to > hold one part of it and say, 'That's not real or right.' " > > Jack Shaheen, author of Reel Bad Arabs and a commentator on Hollywood's > distortions of Muslim cultures and people, refused to condemn "Prince of > Persia's" depiction of ancient Iranians until seeing the film. But he > critiqued the industry's conventional wisdom that mainstream audiences > won't shell out to see a nonwhite lead in a big-budget film. "Hollywood is > making a mistake," Shaheen said. > > "As a society, we're not seeing color like we used to. We're more > integrated than we used to be. The country is changing. But I don't think > Hollywood is at the forefront of that change." > > > > > -- > Read the Bitter Guide to the Bitter Guy. > http://thebitterguy.livejournal.com > > > > > > -- > Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! > Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/ >
