Hollywood, is White really ALL THAT? (commentary on "21)

Today marks the release of "21," based on the best-seller, "Bringing Down The House," about a group of MIT students who figured out a card-counting scheme, and cracked the blackjack tables in Vegas, taking them for millions. It has been noted that Hollywood changed the ethnicity of the central character – modeled after Chinese American Jeff Ma – to your generic White-guy hero, "Ben Campbell," played by new-comer Jim Sturgess. 

I have always proclaimed that Hollywood – the flim and TV business – is one of the most racist industries around, blatantly able to discriminate (in hiring/casting) under the guise of "artistic freedom," so this type of old-school racism shouldn’t surprise me.  Nevertheless, I am shocked by how brazen Hollywood still is about this type of racist practice, here in the 21st century, and equally saddened by some of the ignorant excuses behind it, and equally ignorant mindset of those defending it, including Ma himself.  But, Racism is ignorance. So, the educating that needs to happen definitely is far from done.  For the producers of the film, and others who may wish to be informed, let me try to shed some light. 

In examining the core issues it is important to distinguish what they are, as well as are not.  What needs to be asked of the filmmakers is not "Why did you make the central figure White?" but rather, "Why did you change the central figure to White?"  This story is based on real history, and real people.  It’s one thing if the writers are creating a character in whole, but not the case here, so the filmmakers need to be held accountable for making this specific change.  In addition to asking the filmmakers this question, they need to be asked also, not "Why did you do this?", but "Why do you keep doing this?"  Hollywood has a long history, and each film does not exist in a world unto itself, but in a time, in a genre, subject to trends, history of styles, etc. It is part of an extended tradition.  Filmmakers need to be knowledgeable and informed, socially as well as technically, about the medium they are creating in.  Filmmaking is not just about employing cutting-edge technology, but involves social implications of their choices as well.  If they choose to change the race of a character, they need to understand what that means in a context, which is our society, and not in a vacuum, which might be their imagination.

In short, Hollywood’s answer to both questions boils down to "White is better."

Historically, Hollywood has continually demonstrated in a number of ways, the belief that White is better. Back in the day, it’s understandable how this all started.  Asians were a miniscule minority, especially in a strongly European-rooted Hollywood, so maybe the talent pool was shallow.  Laws specifically prevented Asians from immigrating here, and those here from becoming citizens, so it’s not too difficult to look back and see that anti-Asian sentiments were common. But, we should hope that some change has occurred over the last 80-90 years, not just in attitude, but in practice.

Hardly so.  Racism is still rampant.  Here are a few examples.

"Yellowface" casting has been around since the earliest days, but is still happening as recently as 2007, with Brian Dennehy playing Kublai Khan in the TV mini-series, "Marco Polo." Cultural Hijacking had all the White Norris/Seagal/VanDamme types stealing the martial arts genre in the 70s and 80s, and today, the Fast and the Furious movies are exploiting the Asian American car culture, but with White leads. Identity theft switched a real-life 11 y.o. South Asian med student to a White Doogie Howser M.D., and a Dutch-Afro-Cuban-Chinese Mariane Pearl to Angelina Jolie in "A Mighty Heart" (2007).  History is re-written to allow Tom Cruise to be a Samurai, and  Anime icons Speed Racer and Astro Boy, originating from Japan, are turned White, as are entire films, with the recent trend of remaking Asian blockbusters for the "American" market.  Countless other examples exist – choices made, changes made – saying loud and clear, "White is better."  Throughout history, Hollywood has undeniably favored the White character, erasing the Asian, celebrated the White movie star, oppressing the Asian (these practices are not exclusive against Asians either; examples can be found shutting out Blacks, Latinos, American Indians and others).

This is the history that precedes "21," where for no apparent reason (Sturgess hardly has marquee name value) an Asian character is changed to White.  In understanding and admitting that a change was made, one has to acknowledge the significance of that choice. To the filmmakers I ask, given the discriminatory history above (and assuming one can understand the harm in it), one has to ask, "why continue it?"  Yes, you have the "artistic freedom" to cast whomever you wish, but why do you keep making this choice? What does such a choice say about you?   What about "White is better" do you truly believe?

I present the argument this way because I don’t think this is the belief of the filmmakers.  I trust that people believe in equality, justice and truth. That there is ignorance behind these choices, and perhaps by illuminating on that ignorance, the choice next time will be different.

Even though the film is not about Jeff Ma’s Chinese American heritage, his ethnicity has tremendous significance in the larger picture, in Hollywood, in the outlook of young generations of Asian American moviegoers – how they are viewed, and how they view themselves. In the American social landscape.  In all of us.

I don’t think the producers of "21" meant it, they’re just ignorant.  So it’s up to us to continue to work to educate, inform, and make our voice heard.  Go ahead and write to Columbia Pictures, and production companies Michael De Luca Productions, Relativity Media and Trigger Street Productions (Kevin Spacey).

I would also encourage us all to support our Asian American filmmakers who are continually putting out quality films on low-budget scales. Now in theaters or coming soon (among others): Grace Lee’s "American Zombie" [americanzombiemovie.com] and Michael Kang’s "West 32nd" [www.w32nd.com]  ... oh, and me, in Eric Byler’s "Americanese" [www.americanesethemovie.com].

Thanks for reading,

—CT