Are Asians not allowed in Superhero Movies?

Tonguez

Tonguez

A suffusion of yellow
Okay so the title may be a bit more provocative than it needed to be but I've just learnt that Tilda Swinton has been cast as the Ancient One (aka the High Lama, the Mystic) the Tibetan Scorcerer who teaches Doctor Strange everything he knows.

I'm okay with the gender swap there, but I am concerned that - following in the footsteps of the Ben Kingsleys Mandarin and the live action depictions of Ras Al-Ghul by Liam Neeson and the Australian guy on Arrow - there seems to be a bit of whitewashing going on amongst Superhero Movies that removes important Asian roles.I don't think its deliberate of course, its probably more a systemic issue of casting agents who focus on the white actors they know. But its not as if there aren't a good few Asian actors available in Hollywood.

So what do you all think? are my concerns justifiable or am I looking for issues where none exist?What can be done to get more Asian actors into movie roles and can you think of any Asian actors that could have filled the role of the Ancient One as well as Tilda Swinton?
 

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Morrus

Morrus

Well, that was fun
Staff member
There have certainly been high profile changes from white to black actors, so I don't think it's an issue of whitewashing. But yeah, Asians seem under-represented right now. There's Agent May in AoS, and Ken Watanabe was alongside Liam Neeson (that was kind of a deliberate thing to make you think he was Ra's, though). I'm not at all familiar with Dr Strange or the character Tilda Swinton is playing, but it sounds like its switched from male Asian to female Caucasian - so a net zero in terms of deliberate inclusiveness. There's also Karen Fukuhara in the upcoming Suicide Squad flick (playing Katana).

And them of course, we have Israeli casting for Wonder Woman, which is interesting.
 

J

Janx

Hero
you would think hollywood would be self aware of the problem to know that you never change a role to a male or to a white person because they have had a poor track record of diversity.
 

Ryujin

Ryujin

Legend
Tonguez said:
Okay so the title may be a bit more provocative than it needed to be but I've just learnt that Tilda Swinton has been cast as the Ancient One (aka the High Lama, the Mystic) the Tibetan Scorcerer who teaches Doctor Strange everything he knows.

I'm okay with the gender swap there, but I am concerned that - following in the footsteps of the Ben Kingsleys Mandarin and the live action depictions of Ras Al-Ghul by Liam Neeson and the Australian guy on Arrow - there seems to be a bit of whitewashing going on amongst Superhero Movies that removes important Asian roles.I don't think its deliberate of course, its probably more a systemic issue of casting agents who focus on the white actors they know. But its not as if there aren't a good few Asian actors available in Hollywood.

So what do you all think? are my concerns justifiable or am I looking for issues where none exist?What can be done to get more Asian actors into movie roles and can you think of any Asian actors that could have filled the role of the Ancient One as well as Tilda Swinton?
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Unfortunately white-washing is a reality in Hollywood. The issue is that producers and backers want to see a guaranteed return for their investment and that means big name stars. I can only think of a handful of Asian stars who would be somewhat recognizable to a North American audience (Jackie Chan, Chow Yun Fat, Ming Na Wen, Ken Watanabe, Devon Aoki, half of Kristin Kreuk...). Maybe we'll get lucky with the proposed "Iron Fist" movie?

On the flipside, there were an awful lot of villians who were Asian.

Morrus said:
And them of course, we have Israeli casting for Wonder Woman, which is interesting.
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I'm not a really big fan of that casting. To me, at least, Wonder Woman is more.... substantial (?) than a supermodel. Tall, beautiful and, above all, a physically imposing person. I'm very much a fan of the casting choice made by Rainfall Films in their Wonder Woman fan film short because they went for an actress with a regal look, rather than one who was just pretty. Marry that with someone who is obviously physically developed, and I'd be for it.

[video=youtube;XATiV3gmy-Q]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XATiV3gmy-Q[/video]
 
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RangerWickett

RangerWickett

Legend
It will change at the rate that people vote with their wallets. If Hollywood sees a movie with a diverse cast making more money than one with white leads, they'll care. But most big movies are heavily focus-grouped. Currently most big name stars are white, so they cast them to try to make money. It's a self-feeding cycle, and rare are the non-whites who even get a chance to be a leading man.

Will Smith has managed it. And he's in Suicide Squad.

The Fast & The Furious franchise has a half-black lead, a half-Samoan guy who's got a prominent role, and a supporting cast of black, Asian, Latin, and Israeli characters. They actually lost the one all-white guy they had, Paul Walker.
 

Dannyalcatraz

Dannyalcatraz

Schmoderator
Staff member
Supporter
Hollywood has looooong history of Caucasians cast as Asians that continues to the day...regardless of genre. It's one thing they really haven't figured out is just as bothersome as all the other forms of whitewashing.
 
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Ryujin

Ryujin

Legend
Dannyalcatraz said:
Hollywood has looooong history of Caucasians cast as Asians that continues to the day...regardless of genre. It's one thing they really haven't figured out is just as bothersome as all the other forms of whitewashing.
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Sidney Toller as Charlie Chan, David Carradine beating out Bruce Lee for the part of Kwai Chang Caine in "Kung Fu".....
 


M

MechaPilot

Explorer
Dannyalcatraz said:
John Wayne as Genghis Khan.

*microphone drop*
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I don't know if that one is real or not. Assuming that it is, it likely happened at a time when rampant racism in Hollywood was either the norm or at least generally accepted. I would even dare to say that it qualifies as being less egregious during that time because of the general racial sentiments of that time. In the more modern era of equal rights, such behavior is definitely more generally offensive than it would have been back then.
 

Crothian

Crothian

First Post
Isn't the character type of the old Asian who is just there to teach the white guy mystical Asian secrets a racist concept to begin with? So, is it better to leave a racist concept like that or get rid of it by replacing it with a white person? As to the comment of Hollywood being self aware of this problem of course they aren't because to them it's not a problem.
 

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