What is whitewashing, and why is it harmful?
By Claire Gillespie
Published on June 1, 2021
TV and film producer Kevin Feige, a primary creator of the Marvel Cinematic Universe since 2007, has admitted it was wrong to cast Tilda Swinton in the 2016 movie, Doctor Strange. It’s a big deal because this particular casting decision is considered one of Hollywood’s most identifiable examples of whitewashing – the original comic book character, “The ancient one,” is an Asian male.
In its narrowest definition, whitewashing on film and TV is the elimination or replacement of people of color with white characters, according to LeiLani Nishime, professor of communication at the University of Washington […].
Doctor Strange is only one example of many. In the movie adaptation of James Sallis’s novel Drive, the female lead – a Mexican woman named Irina – is renamed Irene and portrayed by Carey Mulligan, a white, non-Hispanic actress. In the movie Lords of Dogtown, which is based on the documentary Dogtown and Z-Boys, the leader of the pioneering skateboard crew was Jeff Ho, an Asian American. But the film version focused on a cofounder of the surf shop Jeff Ho Surfboards and Zephyr Productions and the character is played by Heath Ledger, a white man.
Another type of whitewashing is when people of color are displaced in a story to put the focus on white characters, said Nishime. The 2015 movie Stonewall is based on the 1969 Stonewall riots. The narrative is centered around a cis, white gay man, but in fact, the leaders of the Stonewall Rebellion included black and Latinx trans women, such as Sylvia Rivera and Miss Major.
Whitewashing may also involve a white person pretending to be a person of color – like Johnny Depp masquerading as a Native American in The Lone Ranger – creating entire worlds where people of color simply don’t exist (The Lord of The Rings is another prime example).
In 2019, Merriam-Webster dictionary expanded its definition of whitewashing, writing, “This new sense of whitewashing refers to casting white actors as characters who are non-white or of indeterminate race […]. It can also refer to preferring white actors, directors, cinematographers, and so on, over equally qualified people of color, as in the Oscar nominations.” In a practical sense, whitewashing takes work away from actors of color, said Nishime. […]
On a personal level, whitewashing can have a huge psychological impact. “Unfortunately, it lingers on due to stereotypes, media, and familial influence,” said California-based psychiatrist Leela R. Magavi. “It can lead to debilitating anxiety as minority individuals may feel pressured to look, speak, or present a certain way.”
People of color who are protesting against whitewashing in entertainment media, news media, politics, and history need to be heard, Nishime said. “We also need to support more independent media makers,” Nishime added. “They are the ones who are making stories that center Asian Americans and other people of color.” Individual people can also make a difference by being empathetic. This creates a space for open communication, which helps people struggling with whitewashing and other forms of racism feel safe and supported.
Source: Adapted from https://www.health.com/mind-body/health-diversity-inclusion/whitewashing
O texto permite afirmar que o termo “whitewashing”, entre outras acepções, refere-se
a) aos papéis tradicionalmente assumidos por atores negros e atrizes negras no cinema, em posições subalternas às personagens brancas.
b) aos papéis tradicionalmente assumidos por atores e atrizes de origem asiática e hispânica no cinema, em posições subalternas às personagens brancas.
c) à escalação de atores brancos e atrizes brancas para papéis que representam personagens pertencentes a outros grupos étnicos (não brancos).
d) à decisão de colocar protagonistas brancos ou hispânicos nos filmes, pela dificuldade de encontrar atores negros ou atrizes negras com experiência.
e) à decisão de oferecer papéis de protagonista exclusivamente a atores negros e atrizes negras, como forma de reparação pelo apagamento da cultura negra no cinema.
