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Vietnamerica: A Family’s Journey

Mike — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 14:00:05 +0000

I’m going to start with the bottom-line:

Vietnamerica is an utterly remarkable piece of American literature. Every panel is rich with painstaking effort. On every page, GB Tran has lovingly rendered the wounds and scars of human imperfection. It is an illustrated journey that pieces together the triumphs and tragedies of three generations, laying bare the history of Tran’s family in a manner so frank it borders on the taboo.

I met GB Tran last summer in San Diego. I was walking the halls of Comic-Con and in the cacophony of Wonder Woman costumes and fully actuating lightsaber displays, a simple poster caught my girlfriend’s eye. The title leapt out from the page: Vietnamerica. And I was immediately hooked.

On the surface, the concept of Vietnamerica is simple. Gia-Bao (GB) is a young Vietnamese American, born and raised in South Carolina. He’s largely indifferent to his family’s history until he travels to Vietnam with his parents. A passion builds in him to uncover the details of the journey his grandparents and parents took, from the colonial occupations of Vietnam to the fall of Saigon.

As a Vietnamese American, I grew up knowing very little about my family’s history. My apathy as a child was reinforced by my father’s reluctance to speak on the subject.

When I received an early copy of the book some months later, I devoured it in a single sitting. This is a graphic novel that broaches the subject of family history, in a deeply personal and shockingly visual way. The backdrop of the Japanese, French, and American occupations made the personal relationships achingly stark.

The final print version is stunningly gorgeous. Tran’s art has a vitality and flow that serves the story well. There are compositions that splash across two pages, strikingly capturing scenes of occupation, war, and the frantic scramble from Saigon.

It’s not always an easy read. The material itself is heart-wrenching. The pace of events sometimes rushes by with blinding speed, and the family tree is complex and interweaving, with separations and reunions split by decades. There’s tragedy, of course, but there are also beautiful, simple moments of life – intimate moments of friendship, love, and laughter.

If you have ever felt a connection to the immigrant experience, if you are born of a generation that benefited from the bruises and blood of the one that came before, then this memoir will resonate as literature rarely does. And if this is the first time you’ve looked deeply at the story of the Vietnamese diaspora, then know that this is the sort of grand epic that begins to make sense only when told through the words of people who lived it.

I’ve already bought a copy for my father. It’s currently available on Amazon.

Racebending.com Holiday Shopping List

Marissa — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 20:41:08 +0000

Looking for some last minute shopping ideas, or something to spend a gift card on? Look no further than this list, comprised of recommendations from Racebending.com staff and our readers from our livejournal community!

This is a list of gift recommendations that the average Racebending.com reader or supporter–or anyone interested in more diversity in media–might be interested in! It’s not the most mainstream list, but we hope you’ll discover something new and different!

Avatar: The Last Airbender Stuff

Want to introduce someone to A:TLA but don’t want to subject them to the horrors of the M. Night Shyamalan movie? There’s always the animated series!

Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Complete Book 1 Collection, The Complete Book 2 Collection, and The Complete Book 3 Collection include all of the episodes and a lot of extras, including creator commentaries and the wacky chibi shorts.

Up the ante with Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Art of the Animated Series, a coffee table book that shares the making of the series and its artistic processes, documents the show’s cultural influences, and walks readers through every episode’s best concept art.

If you’re looking for something Avatar themed and festive, artist Windy-Asylum on DeviantArt makes Avatar: The Last Airbender themed Christmas window clings. Super cute, and at $5 for five clings, they won’t break the bank, either. There are more on Windy Asylum’s DeviantArt page, including Toph and Iroh and for the most festive “shippers”, even Zutara and Kataang.

Identity, Performing Arts, and Media Representation

Fans of Uncle Iroh from A:TLA won’t want to miss The Slanted Screen, a DVD documentary that features the last interview of Mako Iwamatsu (Iroh’s voice actor), who advocated for better representation of Asian Americans in cinema. (And if you’re shopping for someone who loves the performing arts, why not score them season tickets to East West Players, the theater troupe Mako founded that regularly features performances by voice actors from Avatar: The Last Airbender!)

Another DVD documentary, Movies of Color – Black Southern Cinema chronicles the challenges and racism faced by independent African American filmmakers before World War II, and includes two complete films from the era.

To learn more about the 1990 Miss Saigon protests, that inspired the The Last Airbender protest, look no further than Helen Zia’s book, Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People, which details a ton of Asian American history and dedicates a chapter to the Miss Saigon protest. Jennifer 8. Lee’s book, The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food, connects fast food to media representation, chronicling how Chinese restaurants impacted views of Asian Americans in both past and present.

Racebending.com supporter Handyhunter from BC, Canada recommends the “utterly delightful” movie Saving Face, a Chinese American lesbian romantic comedy of manners and one of the best independent Asian American movies of the decade.

For an exercise in “colorblind” casting for the kiddy set, there’s also the 1997 production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella starring Brandy Norwood as Cinderella, Bernadette Peters as the Stepmother, and Whitney Houston as the Fairy Godmother.

Shining Star: The Anna May Wong Story, is a picture book for children by author Paula Yoo, that tells the true story of Chinese American film star Anna May Wong, whose trail-blazing career in Hollywood in the 1930s and 1940s broke new ground for future generations of Asian American actors.

The 2007 National Book Award Winner for Young People’s Literature, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie explores the self identity of Arnold Spirit, a young Spokane Indian teen who switches schools to go off the reservation. The novel is punctuated by illustrations from the main character, who is a budding cartoonist.

Can you trust an unreliable narrator? Liar, a compelling young adult novel by Justine Larbalestier, narrowly avoided a “racebended” cover; this mystery narrated by a young biracial teen received starred reviews from Kirkus and the School Library Journal.

For Comic Book and Graphic Novel Fans

In American Born Chinese, the first graphic novel to be nominated for a National Book Award, author Gene Luen Yang spins three tales about culture, identity, and fitting in. (You might remember Yang’s comic protesting The Last Airbender from earlier this year.)

Fans of artist Tak Toyoshima‘s Secret Asian Man strip should check out Secret Asian Man: The Daily Days, a collection of all of the printed versions of S.A.M., including Toyoshima’s strips on the Airbender controversy.

Looking for comics about the superhero set? Another graphic novel, Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology, introduces Asian American superheroes and draws parallels between the Asian American immigrant experience and the experiences of comics’ most famous immigrant–Clark Kent.

For fans who have been following Marvel’s Korean American hero Amadeus Cho, the kid genius’s first starring miniseries, Incredible Hercules: The New Prince of Power, is set for Trade Paperback release on December 15th.

Racebending.com staffer Catherine B. from Seattle, WA recommends Multiplex – Book One: Enjoy Your Show a print collection of the online webcomic Multiplex by Gordon McAlpin. According to Cat, Multiplex is “a genuinely funny comic strip that will appeal to fans of movies, sporting a large diverse cast that isn’t stereotypical.”

Lastly, an Asian American protagonist stars in the best comic book of the year. (Don’t take our word for it? This series swept the Harvey Award and the Eisner Award for Best New Series!) Chew is the story of Tony Chu, a cibopathic cop who gets psychic impressions from things he eats (from food to the macabre.) The first two story arcs of the series have now been collected in Chew: Volume 1 – Omnivore Edition an oversized hardcover book that includes extra concept art and sketches.

For Science Fiction and Fantasy Fans

In a genre dominated by white men, Octavia Butler, an African American woman, was the first science fiction writer to receive the MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant. Seed to Harvest is a compilation of her classic magnum opus, the Patternist series, published between 1976 and 1984. The series tells the story of Doro, an immortal with the ability to possess the bodies of others, and frames issues such as racism, sexism, eugenics, and power against a science fiction backdrop.

N.K. Jemisin’s The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, which made Amazon.com’s Top 10 Science Fiction & Fantasy books of the year, features a strong heroine of color. Booklist calls this first novel a “complex tale of politics, assassination, racism, and gods.” Consensus on the Racebending.com livejournal recommendation thread? Read it.

If short stories are more your thing, here are some great anthologies featuring authors of color: So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Science Fiction & Fantasy puts a new spin on colonialism and aliens, and Cosmos Latinos: An Anthology of Science Fiction from Latin America and Spain collects SciFi stories dating from 1862 to 2001. Likewise, Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora covers stories from 1887 to 2000.

Hyatt from Massachusetts recommends two television series, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and The Sarah Jane Adventures. Hyatt notes Deep Space Nine‘s colorblind-cast crew led by Benjamin Sisko, and “that the best episode from a Racebending.com perspective is probably Season 6′s ‘Far Beyond the Stars’.” The Sarah Jane Adventures also adds some much needed diversity to the Doctor Who universe; the show features an older woman and single mother as an action hero, and also has a non-stereotypical portrayal of an Indian family through the character of Rani Chandra, who emerges in Season 2.

For A:TLA Fans Looking for Stories Set in Non-Western Fantasy Worlds

Fans of Asian fantasy worlds can look no further than Silver Phoenix: Beyond the Kingdom of Xia, a wuxia style fantasy novel for young adults that shares many familiar elements with A:TLA, including mythical creatures, reincarnation, and journeys across lush landscapes.

For the younger set, the book Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin is a Newberry Honor book and fantasy inspired by Chinese folklore.

Mel from Colorado recommends Alaya Dawn Johnson’s novel Racing the Dark. Mel says Racing the Dark is “a South-Pacific-based teen/adult fantasy with rich worldbuilding, interesting characters, gorgeous writing, and magic with a serious price.”

Rose Fox from New York City recommends Tobias Buckell’s Crystal Rain, Ragamuffin, and Sly Mongoose novels. According to Rose, “these are loosely linked Caribbean-influenced science fiction novels that include neo-Aztecs and a kick-ass mercenary with dreds.”

Philomela from Ann Arbor, Michigan suggests Guardian Of The Spirit (Moribito), “a martial arts fantasy written by anthropologist Nahoko Uehashi featuring a middle-aged female protagonist in a richly imagined setting inspired by ancient Japan. The different tribes and their respective mythologies will appeal to fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender.”

For Gamers, Video and RPG

Yeloson from Oakland, CA recommends Mirror’s Edge, a video game about free-running/parkour for PC, PS3, and XBox 360 that has “an awesome Asian female protagonist who is not hyper-sexualized or stereotyped.”

For Roleplaying Game players, Yeloson also recommends Mist Robed Gate by game designer Shreyas Sempat. Set in a wuxia fantasy world similar to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (and yes, Avatar: The Last Airbender). In addition to system rules, the rulebook also includes a filmography of wuxia movies, recipes for snacks to serve during the game, and even a chapter about tea!

Ken from Los Angeles recommends, Misspent Youth “an indie roleplaying game designed to the ‘youth versus society’ mechanism seen in a lot of TV shows.” In the character creation section of the rulebook, players are reminded “to pay attention to gender and ethnicity in their games” to avoid creating a “pasty sausage party.” The Game Master is advised on how to diversify the group’s character (including guidance on how to write a character sheet for a transgender character.) After all, “having an entire rebel movement look like a ’50s country club kind of gets in the way of expressing themes of revolt and rebellion…” Misspent Youth is largely inspired by Racebending.com fan-favorite franchises like Avatar: The Last Airbender, Runaways, Star Wars and The Hunger Games.

For more gift suggestions (for others, or for yourself!) check out the thread on our livejournal community!

Racebending.com at the CAPE Soiree

Mike — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 20:35:16 +0000

Last week, Racebending.com was invited to attend the CAPE 2010 Holiday Soirée. The Coalition for Asian Pacifics in Entertainment was founded in 1991 and is the largest Asian American professional entertainment industry organization in Hollywood. CAPE is dedicated to advancing diversity and cross-cultural awareness by educating and promoting Asian Pacific Americans for key artistic and leadership roles in the entertainment industry.

At this year’s soirée, we were lucky enough to be able to cover the red carpet event. We spoke with many performers, including Heroes actor James Kyson Lee, Community actor Ken Jeong, Philip Wang and Wesley Chan of Wong Fu Productions, and Guild actors Sandeep Parikh and Amy Okuda.

Check out our interviews below! We asked actors, actresses, and directors about the future of APAs in media and the dream roles they want to pursue. And for fun, we checked out what they thought of the Racebending movement (if anything!).

Future of APAs in Media and Entertainment

Dream Roles and Projects

Have you heard of Racebending?

featuring:

Leonardo Nam – The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

James Kyson Lee – Heroes

Tim Kang – The Mentalist

Steve Tao – CAPE President

Randall Park – Dragon of Love

Ken Jeong – Community, The Hangover

Archie Kao – CSI

Jae Suh – Purity

Sandeep Parikh – Legend of Neil

Philip Wang & Wesley Chan – Wong Fu Productions

Lina So – Scream Queens

Amy Okuda – The Guild

Camille Mana – One on One

Justin Chon – The Twilight Saga

Sean Michael Afable – Akeelah and the Bee

Katee Shean – So You Think You Can Dance

Kristina Wong – Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Bai Ling – Lost

We were able to speak with many other amazing actors, actresses, and directors, including Adrian Zaw, Aaron Takahashi, Francois Chau, and Koji Steven Sakai. Unfortunately, technical difficulties prevented us from including everyone’s footage in the final cut.

We’re very grateful to CAPE Press Director Ken Choy for extending the invitation for us to cover the event.

Depictions of Gender and Ethnicity in The Last Airbender

Marissa — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 09:02:40 +0000

M. Night Shyamalan has repeatedly said that his movie, The Last Airbender (2010) is “the most culturally diverse tent-pole [movie] in history” and that “everyone is represented.” But did the movie live up to his claims? This seven-part article explores the depictions of underrepresented groups in The Last Airbender.

“Except for a few lines from some victimized Asian villagers, every minority character with a speaking role is a bad guy, and every white character with a speaking role is good!” – Guy Aoki, founding President of Media Action Network for Asian Americans

“Every character of color in the film who takes an action against the Fire Nation invasion needs inspiration from a white character before he can take the action.” - Ken A., Racebending.com volunteer.

“Shyamalan affirmed he’d made a conscious effort to include all races and ethnicities in the movie. We believe him. We simply think it was rather important for him to have tried a little harder with the main characters.” – Magda Knight at Best for Film

“The biggest crime, for me at least, is how completely disempowered the female characters Katara and Yue are. Instead of the strong, caring motherly-type of personality we see in the series, Katara is this whiny little girl almost always on the verge of tears in the film. We don’t get to see her fight her way through gender discrimination to train in waterbending in the Northern Water tribe. We don’t get to see Yue conflicted about her true love for Sokka even though she’s a princess engaged to another young man.” - Racebending.com staff member Dariane N.

“The people of the noble, peaceful water nation are lily-white hippies. The people of the dirty earth nation are exotically grubby Chinese peasants. The people of the villainous, imperialistic, world-ruining fire nation are dark-skinned Indian jerks. The people of the air nation are extinct, so whatever. It’s so transparent you can see all the way to China.” - Film critic Lindy West, The Stranger

“Caucasian actors in the movie tend to get lines; non-Caucasian actors tend to be used as background.” - Film critic Stephen Whitty, The New Jersey Star Ledger

Next Page: Depiction of Circumpolar Indigenous and Inuit People

Chaske Spencer, Actor (Twilight)

Gabriel — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 05:46:55 +0000

Actor and activist Chaske Spencer was born of the Lakota Sioux tribe, and raised on Indian Reservations in Montana and Idaho. He broke into the off-Broadway theater scene playing the title role in Dracula and is best known for playing werewolf alpha Sam Uley in the Twilight saga.

Racebending.com contributor Gabriel Canada interviewed Chaske Spencer over the phone on August 17th, 2010.

NOTE: The opinions espoused by the interviewees represent their viewpoints alone, and do not necessarily represent the views held by the staff of racebending.com

It is a long journey from the Northern Cheyenne and Nez Perce reservations of Chaske Spencer’s childhood to red carpet premieres filled with screaming fans in Hollywood and across the globe–a journey through the games of Hollywood, and one that saw Chaske in jail and confronting addiction on a path where he saw death looming in front of him. One constant for Chaske on his journey has been his traditional beliefs, which helped him find his center through the harrowing time he spent in jail in New York, and the fame he garnered as Sam Uley on the set of Twilight.

Chaske took some time to discuss his journey with Racebending.com, including the whirlwind of being a part of Twilight, his experience as a Native American actor, and what his current projects are.

CHASKE SPENCER: I just finished a movie called Shouting Secrets. I’m pretty proud of that one. We did it in Globe, Arizona and I really liked the story. I found out that the script is also written by Steven Judd, who’s a Native American screenwriter and very talented.

It was first written for a Dutch family, and they were trying to get it financed, and for some reason they switched over to a Native American family. I did not know that when I first read it, so it doesn’t really read as a Native American movie. It is like a family movie and the people just happen to be Native American–it was a different twist on things. It was totally a movie written for a Dutch family and you know it just interested me, I really like the character I play.

Chaske Spencer in Shouting Secrets

I finished that project and I’m gearing up to do Breaking Dawn in November. I think we’re shooting through March. After that I’m gearing up doing Winter in the Blood, the James Welch novel, with Andrew and Alex Smith, the guys who did The Slaughter Rule.

RACEBENDING.COM: Sounds like a lot on your plate this year.

CHASKE SPENCER: Yeah, (laughter) yeah and then my production company gets started on The Block after that. I guess I do four movies back to back, to back, to back.

RACEBENDING.COM: Can you tell us more about your production company and it’s new project The Block?

CHASKE SPENCER: The Block is about a writer who has a block, and the only way he can cure the circumstances he’s in is by killing people. He finds that the more people he kills, the more he has to write about, and it becomes an addiction. It’s very dark and it’s not like any character I’ve ever played. I really like the script. Ted Kurdyla, one of my production partners brought the script to me. He had done Tigerland, Phone Booth, Once Upon A Time in America so he’ s a pretty heavy hitter. We had a few meetings, ate dinner and lunch together, and I guess he was really feeling me out and fortunately we hit it off and he brought me the part.

The thing that I’m really excited about for it is that it’s my first production for my production company, Urban Dream. So a first for Josselyne [Herman], Ted, and me working together.

RACEBENDING.COM: Do you feel your projects, especially the success of the Twilight franchise, are opening eyes in Hollywood? Or at least convincing them to make more contemporary roles available for Native actors?

CHASKE SPENCER: Well, yes, and no.

Hollywood has a very short memory. I still have to struggle. I’m still getting roles geared towards Native Americans, but they’re not great scripts so I have to navigate and find out what I really want to do. I have to see if the character is right, and the story is right, because I want to keep challenging myself as an artist.

I have to be picky and it’s hard to find good roles and good scripts. I think that’s why there’s a lot of crap being made out there in Hollywood but I think there are great stories and movies out there in the independent film world and I think that’s the way to go.

Plus, Twilight is so huge–I don’t know where I could go or a bigger movie I could be in. I like the fact that I can somewhat control my career and not always be a product of Hollywood, because it is a game as well as a business there.

Also, I want to make stories and movies not just for Natives. I don’t want this to be just “a Native American production company”– it’s not about that; it’s about finding talent and stories that appeal to me and hopefully help other artists as well.

“Hollywood has a very short memory. I still have to struggle. I’m still getting roles geared towards Native Americans, but they’re not great scripts so I have to navigate and find out what I really want to do.”

RACEBENDING.COM: You have worked with some very influential directors, people like Chris Eyre and Steven Spielberg. Did you take away anything from working with them and do you see yourself working behind the camera now with your own production company?

CHASKE SPENCER: Yeah, I do. I do see myself doing that at some point. I really pay attention when I’m on set with the directors. I just watch how they maneuver and how they take the shots and how they direct actors, as well.

Some directors aren’t “actor directors.” They don’t know how to talk to actors. Which, I understand. I think it’s up to the actor to come in ready for their job, and that’s what they hired you to do, to bring something to the table.

It’s really easy to work with directors who were actors because they know how to talk to you and what they want from you. So being an actor, if I ever go into directing, I think I’d bring a lot to the table. It’s something I really want to do. It would have to be the right story– something that really appeals to me–maybe an actor’s or writer’s voice needing to be heard.

RACEBENDING.COM: In previous interviews you’ve talked about the fact that statistically, you shouldn’t be “here.” Can you elaborate for those unfamiliar with life on a reservations what those statistics are, and what you meant by that?

CHASKE SPENCER: Coming from a reservation, the chances of people getting out and becoming successful are pretty rare. The people who do, it’s almost like jumping off a waterfall: you just jump and see if you land, and we will see if you’re okay, but at least you made the jump.

When I talk about giving back to the community, I think it’s a responsibility for myself to do that. I’ve experienced a lot, living on reservation. There is poverty and abuse–physical, domestic and sexual. A lot of people don’t know that.

It’s not just to raise an awareness, but also I can’t do it alone–some actor getting on a stage as a PSA. The people in the family structure, in their own homes, have to take up for themselves, take responsibility. I could just be a broken record playing over and over again.

I had people like that come to my school when I was growing up, and it did have an influence on me, but it’s really up to the people themselves to do something about it. There is only so much someone can do to raise awareness, but if I can inspire someone to do that–to maybe make a change in their life–then I think I’ve done my job. But it’s not easy.

Being in the spotlight as a Native American actor, you’re already being put on a pedestal as being a role model, which I don’t think anyone really ever wants. You’re thrust on there anyway, so you might as well make do with it what you can. But I’m not a perfect angel.

I think there is a responsibility to raise awareness or help my community out in the best way I know how. It’s not just about Native Americans, either. I experienced poverty on both sides.

I used to live in a place called Kooskia, Idaho which is on the Nez Perce reservation, but is mainly a white community. I had friends who didn’t have the help from the government with dental or commodities. I experienced very loving, giving people, who were white, who were poorer than Indians–people who didn’t even have shoes or help with medical and dental insurance from the government.

RACEBENDING.COM: What role do you have, to bring media representation to issues of poverty? Do you think there is a hesitancy to talk about issues of poverty in general, as well as with Native peoples?

CHASKE SPENCER: To shift the power to the people, that it’s up to them. We can only do so much. So many systems focus on being a band aid and hoping it goes away, but you really need a shift.

It’s about looking yourself in the mirror and saying did you do the right thing today. It is a big path to ask, but it’s all about baby steps. If you start out with those, you can get to your destination your goal and help people.

It isn’t easy–if it was, everyone would be doing it–but I’m glad I have the media spotlight to do this. I couldn’t look at myself if I had these two number one box office movies, and I was riding around in limos and all that. If I didn’t do anything to give back, I would just be a douchebag!

Chaske Spencer, Julia Jones, Qorianka Kilcher, Alex Meraz, Gil Birmingham, Quddus, Daryll Redleaf, Justin Chon and other actors filmed a PSA to support Shift the Power to the People

RACEBENDING.COM: Is part of that philosophy coming from your parents, who were educators?

CHASKE SPENCER:Yeah. My mother and father were teachers. They’ve gone off reservation, but came back to teach at tribal schools. My dad was a superintendent and a dean of students at a college. My mom was a principal and vice principal and now teaches at an alternative school for kids who need alternative means for learning.

It all started with my parents having a good home life, as much as is possible. Again, I’m no perfect angel–it wasn’t like Beaver Cleaver–but it was enough to get me to where I needed to go.

RACEBENDING.COM: I’m curious, did your parents, being educators, talk about Indian Boarding Schools? Was that something that drove them to say, maybe make a positive change to address some of those issues, to do good in the community?

CHASKE SPENCER: I remember hearing stories from my mother and father about their parents and grandparents when they were taken of the reservation, taken to the boarding schools, and pretty much taught to be ashamed of who they were as Native Americans. You can feel that impact today.

I think that’s why there is so much alcohol and drug abuse on reservations, because the self-esteem of those people–they were robbed of the self-esteem for who they are. Our people were a beautiful people, and they still are.

The impact of that has affected generations. You had abuse, sexual abuse, at these boarding schools, plus, they were forced to cut their own hair–to be ashamed of who they were. If they spoke their own tongue, their mouths were washed out with soap. You can feel that effect today.

Girls at an Indian Boarding School. Source:University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign -An Indian Boarding School Photo Gallery

“They were robbed of the self-esteem for who they are. Our people were a beautiful people, and they still are.”

It’s very sad but it’s an awareness; I think our people do know, but some are ashamed to talk about it. If you start talking about it, you realize that’s a key point in our history, where we turned, where something happened. I believe it’s coming back with the Sundances, the Sweat Lodges and Native American spirituality coming back. We were just granted our rights here in the 1970s.

RACEBENDING.COM: Do you think that media representation plays a role in this, because there is a lack of positive portrayals in the media? So many overtly racist practices were allowed to continue well after segregation and other practices had stopped.

CHASKE SPENCER: Yeah. I went to all white school where I dealt with racism. There was a point–when I was a kid–where I said I wanted to be like Luke Skywalker, with blond hair and blue eyes. My mom right there told me to never be ashamed of who I am.

It was just conditioning. You see it everywhere in Hollywood–you know, in the media in general–it’s conditioning, conditioning everywhere you look. It took somewhere into my teens for me to really understand who I was and to start being proud of who I was.

“There was a point–when I was a kid–where I said I wanted to be like Luke Skywalker, with blond hair and blue eyes. My mom right there told me to never be ashamed of who I am.”

I can’t imagine what its like for people who grew up in the time of the boarding schools where there was a lot of racism towards people of color and minorities in general. I’m fortunate to have friends of all races and orientations. I live in New York City, so the people I hang with come from all different walks of life. I’m able to maneuver that way and have lots of different types of friends.

The big picture is acceptance, but I think we’re a long way from that. If you make an awareness of that, and acknowledge it, then maybe that’s a first step.

“As a Native American actor and role model, it can be tough because there have not been positive role models out there.”

As a Native American actor and role model, it can be tough because there have not been positive role models out there. There have been some, but it’s Hollywood, and there is propaganda and bull that goes on sometimes, and it can be difficult maneuvering through that type of life here.

Chaske Spencer in Into the West (2005)

RACEBENDING.COM: What role have your traditional beliefs played in your life and in relation to your own personal struggles?

CHASKE SPENCER: It’s helped me stay very grounded. It keeps me in reality, because I know the films I make, it’s all very lucky. Not a lot of people get to do what they love for a living and I’m a very lucky person to get to do what I’m doing.

My traditional beliefs are what I do to stay centered, to stay grounded in my tradition. I’m glad that I’m at a place now in my life where I can acknowledge that, and know I rely on that a lot today. Especially, with all the success and everything because it lets me realize what’s important in life. It’s just a movie and a fad that will go away at some point.

I’ve been making movies for twelve years now and I’ve had ups and downs in my career. There are ups and downs, mountains and valleys. It’s up right now, but it’ll be down again ,and then it’ll get up again–that’s just show business.

RACEBENDING.COM: Much of your fan base are teenagers, and one of the issues you’ve talked about in the past is the dramatic increase in teenage suicides. Is this an area you hope to have an impact in for Native American youth and for youth in general?

CHASKE SPENCER: I hope so. It’s gotten worse. When I was a kid it wasn’t that bad, or at least I was sheltered from it. But lately the suicide rate is so high.

I understand being on reservation–especially the ones I grew up, on Fort Peck and Northern Cheyenne–there is nothing to do, there nothing going on for the youth. There are lot of drugs–a lot of crystal meth, a lot of peer pressure–all that stuff. I just don’t think in high school, kids understand.

I remember being a kid, you think: That’s it. That’s life, the end all be all. But sometimes, on a reservation, that is all. I think it’s up to the teachers, the parents, the real educators to give them another outlook on life, to say: “This is not the end. You can get off the reservation. You can go and do something with your life. When you die, that’s it. There is no coming back. And you forget about the people who love you and care for you.”

“This is not the end. You can get off the reservation. You can go and do something with your life. When you die, that’s it. There is no coming back. And you forget about the people who love you and care for you.”

RACEBENDING.COM: What is it that helped bring you out of your own personal struggles with addiction and what would you say to those who are struggling with those issues now?

CHASKE SPENCER: What helped me? There were several things that helped me sober up.

When I came to New York, I always had a mentality of “work hard; play hard.” My work never really suffered from my drug and alcohol usage, but it could have. I always walked that fine line, where I could go either way.

As I got deeper into addiction, I started noticing that work was suffering. Relationships were falling apart and I found myself more and more alone. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I hated waking up needing something in my system just to get up and face the day.

Everyone has there own journey in how they sober up but for me it was: I could keep going down this road, but I could see that death was going to happen. I understood what they meant when they talk about death, institutions, and jail and I’d already been to jail. I could just see death looming somewhere around there because of the poor decisions I was making under the influence.

It wasn’t like a big dramatic thing. Just one night, something clicked. I’d had enough. I was done, and I couldn’t do this anymore–and I can’t quit on my own. I’ve gotten so deep into it, and trying to stop on my own is useless…so I asked for help and I received help.

The thing is, when I go back to my home reservation…I don’t think I could have sobered up on reservation. I can see where it’s hard for someone to stay sober on reservation, especially the ones I grew up on. If I had to go back and live there, I don’t know if I would be able to stay sober in those situations, its just too big and there is nothing there to help people with drug addictions. There are facilities and stuff there but the moral support you need from family and friends is not there because everyone is doing it.

Alex Meraz, Kiowa Gordon, and Chaske Spencer in Twilight: New Moon

RACEBENDING.COM: Once again thank you for your time. It sounds like having that family foundation is very important to you and I appreciate you sharing your personal experiences with us today. I’m curious, does any of this come out in your acting? Even in Twilight or other roles, is there anything that relates back to these personal experiences?

CHASKE SPENCER: No, not in Twilight! (laughter)

RACEBENDING.COM: That’s more of a battle of “Shirt, versus no shirt?” than “Good versus Evil,” isn’t it?

CHASKE SPENCER: (laughter) Yeah, the only thing I’m going through with pain right now is physical. It’s training for Breaking Dawn. In fact I just started going back to the gym. I’m going to the gym tomorrow and I know I’m going to be so sore tomorrow!

The movie I really liked the most, of all the films I’ve done, is probably Skins. I really liked that movie, and I liked the actors who are in it, and I like the story because I think it captures life on a reservation really well. I think it’s something people who lived on a reservation can really relate to.

Chaske Spencer in Skins

I’m also not in it all that much–which I like–but I get really caught up with Graham Greene and Eric Schwieg, who are really powerful actors. I really tip my hat to those two actors, because working with them and being around them, being a young man learning to act, and in seeing the final product, I could see the intensity in how they work their craft.

Racebending.com would like to thank Mr. Chaske Spencer and Gabriel Canada for this interview!

Fall 2010 TV Season Preview

Marissa — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 22:46:34 +0000

The Fall TV Season always brings in new shows, and this fall, shows that feature actors of color are featuring them in innovative ways. There’s an Afro-Cuban president, and a Latino Supreme Court Justice. Two spy shows both feature actors of color as the titular leads!

From Left to Right: Terrence Howard is District Attorney Jonah Dekker on Law & Order: Los Angeles, Maggie Q. is Nikita, Daniel Dae Kim is Hawaii Five-0‘s Chin Ho Kelly, Gugu Mbatha-Raw is Mrs. Samantha Undercovers Bloom, and Jimmy Smits is Outlaw Cyrus Garza

Despite these advances, Ray Bradford, the national director for equal employment opportunities at the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) describes the Fall 2010 television season as “really troubling.” “What I’m seeing is, with a few exceptions, not only shows that are predominately Caucasian with a smattering of minorities, primarily black or Asian in some roles; I’m seeing primarily Caucasian shows period,” Bradford said. “So while for each quarter you may have a handful of African Americans or Asians or Latinos, the bulk of the work in these shows is white.”

Some shows stick to formula, using actors of color in key roles, but still orbiting the white, male, featured lead. But we hope that the shows that are willing to take risks will do really well this fall and encourage more network television studios to offer equal opportunities to actors of color.

Here, Racebending.com takes a look at some of Fall 2010′s diverse network television offerings. Thankfully, these are not the only shows this fall that will feature people of color in key roles!

Nikita

The CW (Thur. 9/8c)

“When her fiancé was murdered, Nikita escaped the Division. Now, after three years in hiding, Nikita is seeking retribution and making it clear to her former bosses that she will stop at nothing to expose and destroy their covert operation.”

It’s also not often that women–particularly women of color–get to star as the lead in an action series. Maggie Q.’s casting is The CW’s highest-profile minority casting in the network’s history, and highest-profile series role for an Asian American actress (Q. is of Vietnamese, Polish, and Irish descent) on a broadcast drama series, ever. [source].

When asked about the significance of her casting at Comic Con 2010, Maggie Q. said: “I am not the typical choice for this, and am glad to be able to represent a group of people who are underrepresented.” [source].

What We Don’t Want to See: In a genre that tends to sexualize and objectify women–in an industry that particularly sexualizes and objectifies Asian women– it would be easy for Hollywood to, well, go there and reinforce the “Dragon Lady” stereotype. Series creator Craig Silverstein said he wanted to write the lead as “beautiful and exotic” and it looks like critics are already thinking that “exotic” is a great word to use when describing Maggie Q. (Here’s to hoping the use of the word “exotic” won’t bleed over into the show’s racy advertising.)

We also really hope the show doesn’t go the way of other recent shows with women leads in action roles, like Dollhouse and Sarah Connor Chronicles. Maybe this one will be an Alias instead of a Bionic Woman.

What We’d Love to See: There’s a lot of women in the lead cast, including the very talented Melinda Clarke, so it would be great to see the show regularly pass the Bechedel test! (Bechedel test: Two women in a scene, having a conversation, talking about something other than a man.)

Aside from Maggie Q., the supporting cast is a bit monochrome, but we hope the show will feature the secret Division of the CIA as a globe-spanning organization with a diverse set of operatives. Given that 60% of the world population is Asian, an Asian spy-assassin can probably go places and blend in where Sydney Bristow from Alias could not!

Law & Order: Los Angeles

NBC (Wed. 10/9c)

“In the criminal justice system the people are represented by two separate legally important groups…This is Los Angeles. These are its stories. Welcome to the Wild West.”

By setting Law & Order in one of the most diverse cities in the world, the producers of the show have a great opportunity to showcase several actors and communities of color. Los Angeles has a population that is 48% Latino, 28% White, 14% Asian American/Pacific Islander, 9% African American, and 1% Native American.

In the initial casting breakdown, the lead role of Rex Winters was open to Caucasian, African-American, and Hispanic actors (but not Asian, Middle Eastern or Native American actors?). The role has ultimately been cast with Skeet Ulrich, who will headline the show with Corey Stoll (playing his partner, TJ, a role only open to Caucasian males).

Ulrich and Stoll’s characters will report to Lieutenant Arleen Gonzales, played by actress Wanda De Jesus. We’re thrilled to see that the Commanding Officer of the LAPD Robbery Homocide Division will be a Latina. The workforce of the Los Angeles Police Department is comprised of 42% Latino, 37% white, 12% black and 7% Asian. [source]. The LAPD also hired America’s first female police officer, Alice Stebbins Wells, in 1910.

The show’s courtroom scenes will feature African American movie star Terrence Howard as Deputy District Attorney Jonah Dekker. Other courtroom scenes will feature African American actress Regina Hall as Prosecutor Evelyn Price, and veteran British actor Alfred Molina as District Attorney Peter Morales, a Latino character.

What We Don’t Want to See: While it’s true that Los Angeles has a ton of cultural enclaves (Thai Town, Koreatown, the Russian District, barrios, West Hollywood, etc.) we don’t want the presence of actors of color on the show to be limited to stories set in those locales. And please, please don’t do a “Chinatown” episode!

What We’d Love to See: We were disappointed to see that the character of Korean American Captain Park was scrapped and that no Asian Americans will be in the leading cast – particularly since 13.4% of Angelenos are Asian American and Asian Americans make up 7% of the real-life LAPD’s workforce. We hope that as the show grows, Asian Americans will feature in the supporting cast–not just as the “techie” or as a mafia bad guy–and join the main cast ASAP. Given Los Angeles has one of the largest Persian communities in the country, we also hope the show will feature Perisan American characters.

The Event

NBC (Mon. 9/8c)

“The Event is an emotional, high-octane conspiracy thriller that follows Sean Walker (Jason Ritter), an everyman who investigates the mysterious disappearance of his would-be fiancée Leila, and unwittingly begins to expose the biggest cover-up in U.S. history.

With a vast ensemble cast and a non-linear plot, The Event generated a lot of buzz at San Diego Comic Con 2010. The early plot line seems to focus around the United States government’s illegal detaining of a mysterious group of people in Alaska.

Major players include an Afro-Cuban American President, Elias Martinez (Blair Underwood) and his wife Christina (played by Latina actress Lisa Vidal), as well as an Asian American CIA agent, Simon Lee (Ian Anthony Dale.) Latino actor Clifton Collins Jr. also stars as “Thomas.”

What We Don’t Want to See: We definitely don’t want to see this show pull a “Heroes” where women and characters of color are treated as stereotyped bit-players who are expendable to the primary plot revolving around white and/or male characters. A lot of shows have a diverse cast while making it obvious who the “essential” and “important” players are; we think The Event can defy this trend.

What We’d Love to See: There isn’t enough smart sci-fi out there! And science fiction has always been an interesting way to approach representation in the media, from Star Trek, which showed 1960s America a diverse cast and TV’s first interracial kiss, to LOST, which kicked off a new trend of diverse casting. We hope The Event can leverage its diverse cast to create some really interesting storylines, and bring prominence to a new set of actors of color the same way LOST did for Daniel Dae Kim et. al.

Undercovers

NBC (Wed 8/7c)

“Outwardly, Steven Bloom (Boris Kodjoe) and his wife, Samantha (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), are a typical married couple who own and operate a small catering company in Los Angeles. Secretly, the duo were two of the best spies the CIA had ever known, until they fell in love on the job five years ago and retired. When a fellow spy and good friend goes missing while on the trail of a Russian arms dealer, the Blooms are reinstated to locate and rescue him…”

This J.J. Abrams spy thriller-meets-romantic comedy is generating a lot of attention for featuring two African American CIA agents as the lead characters. Biracial actors Kodjoe and Mbatha-Raw were discovered in a colorblind casting process. Kodjoe is from Germany and Mbatha-Raw is from the United Kingdom.

At a press conference, Kodjoe said about his role as one of Undercovers‘ two black leads: “I think it’s important to recognize the fact that it’s not the norm, although it should be the norm because that’s the way the world looks like. The world is diverse and we come in all shapes, sizes and shades. Let’s inspire people to regard it as normal so more and more people don’t consider it taking a chance, but just being creative.” [source]

What We Don’t Want to See: As a globe-trotting spy drama, we hope that the supporting cast is also diverse. It will be interesting to see what challenges and advantages an African American spy would have compared to a Caucasian American spy, so while it shouldn’t be a central foci, we hope that their ethnicity isn’t completely glossed over.

What We’d Love to See: This show looks like so much fun! We hope that its success will encourage other productions to consider casting actors of color in lead roles…

Outsourced

NBC (Thur. 9:30/8:30c)

“Mid America Novelties sells products like whoopee cushions, foam fingers, and wallets made of bacon. Yes, this is the stuff upon which the American way of life is built, but try explaining that to someone who lives on the other side of the world. Well, that’s exactly what Todd Dempsy must do when he’s sent to run the company’s call center in India. Talk about culture shock, and not just for Todd’s employees. While Todd has to teach them how to make the up-sell to the Deluxe Twin Beer Helmet, he’s going to have to adapt as well…”

What happens when a naive, young, white American man is sent to India to corral a quirky band of call center workers? Outsourced takes the workplace comedy genre and transplants it to a foreign-at-least-to-Americans setting.

For actors of South Asian descent, the setting means jobs and visibility–this ensemble cast has more Indian characters than any other American sitcom. The comedy, based on the movie, is shot in Los Angeles and cast with British, Canadian, and American actors of South Asian descent.

But could a comedy about culture clash and the controversial practice of outsourcing jobs to India end up being culturally insensitive or offensive? To forestall accusations of cultural insensitivity, NBC has screened the show for Asian American organizations and taken feedback.

“It is certainly not coming from a mean-spirited place. A third of the writing staff is Indian,” executive producer Ken Kwapis said. “I think there is a way to treat cultural confusion without being offensive.” [source]

What We Don’t Want to See: Hopefully, the show won’t make fun of other cultures or make Americans look like uncultured buffoons or people who go to other countries to learn “deep lessons.” Will the show go “always the bridesmaid, never the bride” where Todd, a white character, is always the center of attention and the characters of color are interchangeable backgrounders? We hope not, and we hope that characters of color will also be depicted as “representative” of Americans abroad, in addition to white characters.

(NBC marketers, which one of you came up with the tagline “Outsourced: where the Midwest meets the exotic East”? Because…yeah. Real smooth, buddy.)

What We’d Love to See: India is a really, really diverse country and we hope the show will be an opportunity to showcase that! Even though Todd will be teaching his employees about America, there is a lot for him (and the audience by proxy) to learn, too.

The trailer seems to set up a romance between Todd and Tonya (Jessica Gower), blonde Australian living in India. But rather than go down that conventional road (“Westerner visits exotic land, find loves with the other Westerner who happens to be around and relates to him”) we would be way more interested in seeing an Indian guy portrayed as a romantic lead. Can you think of any in Western media?

We’d also like to see some characters who are Indian American on the show. It’s not inconceivable, especially in this economy, that an American born-and-raised South Asian American guy (or girl) would end up in India, completely lost.

Outlaw

NBC (Fri. 10/9c)

“Few jobs are guaranteed for a lifetime, and a Supreme Court appointment is one you just don’t quit. Unless you’re Cyrus Garza. A playboy and a gambler, Justice Garza always adhered to a strict interpretation of the law, until he realized the system he always believed in was flawed. Now, he’s quit the bench and returned to being an attorney. Determined to represent “the little guy,” he’s using his inside knowledge of the justice system to take on today’s biggest legal cases…”

Outlaw starts Jimmy Smits as Cyrus Garza, a former Supreme Court Justice who steps down from the bench to change the system as an attorney. Smits played the proto-Obama Presidential candidate Matt Santos on The West Wing; this time he’ll be playing a conservative activist judge. David Ramsey, Ellen Woglom, Carly Pope and Jesse Bradford play supporting roles.

Executive producer David Kissinger said he was inspired by Latina Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor: “People were writing about her life and the dues she had to pay to get to that point, so it struck me that someone who worked that hard and achieved that incredible position, what would it take for that person to give it all up and what would they give it all up for?” [source]

When asked about the dearth of Latino Emmy nominations, Smits recently said: “We have many more Latinos that are in prominent positions on shows all across the dial than ever before. I’m happy that just about on every other show there’s a Latino somewhere present and we’re not all the cooks anymore.” [source]

What We Don’t Want to See: So…the premise of this show seems a little hokey. But it will be interesting to see the premise play out. In the show’s universe, is Garza’s ethnicity as significant as Sotomayor’s?

What We’d Love to See: Edward James Olmos as Cyrus’s liberal dad! And interesting court cases with diverse clientèle!

Detroit 1-8-7

ABC (Tues. 10/9c)

“What does it take to be a detective on America’s streets? Get an in-depth look at some of Detroit’s finest and watch the crisis and revelation, heartbreak and heroism of the cops assigned to an inner city homicide unit.’

ABC’s Detroit 1-8-7 boasts a strikingly diverse cast and will be filmed in Detroit, Michigan, but it’s also trailed by some controversy. At least one Detroit City Councilman has asked the show to change its title–1-8-7 is a police radio code for “homicide” in California–given how the title reinforces the negative stereotype of Detroit as “Murder City.” And the show’s “documentary” premise had to be dialed down after a little girl, 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones, was shot in the head after Detroit police threw a grenade into her home–all while cameras were rolling for a reality show. [source]

Unlike many other police shows, Detroit 1-8-7 will actually be filmed in the city it is set in, and Detroit native T.C.Real, a local hip-hop celebrity, is rumored to be playing a supporting role. Detroit has an 80% African American population; the cast includes three African American characters, newbie Detective Damon Washington (Jon Michael Hill), veteran cop Sergeant Jesse Longford (James McDaniel),and homicide chief Lieutenant Maureen Mason (Aisha Hinds.)

Rounding out the characters of color, Natalie Martinez plays Detective Ariana Sanchez, a former vice cop, and South Asian Canadian actor Shaun Majumder plays Detective Aman Mahajan, who disappointed his immigrant parents by becoming a cop instead of an engineer.

What We Don’t Want to See: Honestly, we were shocked to see that ABC would make a show set in Detroit–of all places–and still have a white main character. While there are certainly people of color in the ensemble cast, Michael Imperioli has top billing playing Detective Louis Fitch, “the smartest guy in the room.” It’s a little disappointing, since there are already so many procedurals with a white, male actor in top billing. This would have been a great opportunity to have an African American actor headline a police show. Dreading a show that looks like the promo picture, with lots of diverse secondary characters, but a focus on the white male lead as the central character.

What We’d Love to See: We hope that all characters on this show get equal amounts character development and that it truly becomes an ensemble show! We hope the show has a diverse writing staff that can handle issues of race, discrimination, and policing in a nuanced and sensitive way. (More than just having Longford say stuff like, “I been here so long, when I started, half the suspects were white.”)

Off The Map

ABC (TBA)

Welcome to “la ciudad de las estrellas” (the city of stars), a tiny town in the South American jungle which has one understaffed, understocked medical clinic. In this ensemble drama, five doctors who have lost their way will go to the ends of the earth to try to remember the reasons why they wanted to become doctors in the first place.

This show is produced by Shonda Rhimes (Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice), one of only non-white, non-male show runners. It stars Martin Henderson as Dr. Ben Keaton, formerly Chief of Surgery at UCLA, who moved to the South American jungle to found a clinic with Dr. Otis Cole (Jason George). A trio of newbie doctors–Dr. Lily Brenner (Caroline Dhavernas), Mina Minard and Manny Diaz, join them.

26% of doctors in California are Asian or Pacific Islander, yet doctors of Asian descent are rarely depicted with that frequency on American television shows, and when they are featured, they are members of the supporting cast and not the lead. We were disappointed to learn that an opportunity to buck this trend was lost when Meena Mital, the name of a South Asian character in the original script, was changed to Mina Minard and cast with actress Mamie Gummer (Meryl Streep’s daughter). The actor originally cast to play Manny, Enrique Murciano, has also left the show. [source]

The original ensemble of five doctors would have been comprised of two white doctors (Henderson and Dhavernas in the lead roles), an African American doctor, a Latino doctor, and an Indian American doctor. With the Indian American doctor cast and rewritten to be white, and the actor playing the Latino doctor off the show, the ragtag gang of doctors without borders looks a lot less colorful.

What We Don’t Want to See: Benevolent white American doctors hoofing it in the jungle, tending to the ignorant, but noble, native savages, while discovering more about themselves in an exotic jungle land at the “ends of the earth.”

What We’d Love to See: More doctors and nurses played by actors of color on the show, and hopefully the re-casting of the Manny Diaz character with another Latino actor to replace Enrique Murciano. It would be important to see the protagonists grapple with the concept of being first-worlders imposing on the native community, and their preconceived notions of international field work. Ideally, the doctors will help empower the community instead of simply treating it.

Hawaii Five-0

CBS (Mon. 10/9)

“Hawaii Five-0 is a contemporary take on the classic series about a new elite federalized task force whose mission is to wipe out the crime that washes up on the Islands’ sun-drenched beaches. Detective Steve McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin), a decorated Naval officer-turned-cop, returns to Oahu to investigate his father’s murder and stays after Hawaii’s Governor persuades him to head up a new team. Joining McGarrett is Detective Danny “Danno” Williams (Scott Caan), a newly relocated ex-New Jersey cop, and Chin Ho Kelly (Daniel Dae Kim), an ex-Honolulu Police Detective. Chin’s cousin, Kono (Grace Park), is a beautiful and fearless native, fresh out of the academy and eager to establish herself among the department’s elite.”

The original series exposed Americans to a dramatized version of life on the 50th state, and was a huge boon to the State’s tourism economy. [source] The series, which ran from1968 to 1980, was very progressive for its time in that it employed many actors of color, including Kam Fong as Chinese Hawaiian Detective Chin Ho Kelly, and Zulu, a Native Hawaiian actor, as Kono Kalakaua. Of course, the show was heavily focused on its main lead, Steve Steve McGarrett (Jack Lord) – even though at the time only 2 out of 5 people in Hawaii were white. A previous attempt to resurrect the show acknowledged the diversity of Hawaii (47.5% Asian Pacific American, compared to a 27.1% white American population) by casting Gary Busey and Russell Wong as a younger Five-O team, but the pilot did not test well and the show was never aired.

With two Asian Americans in the lead cast and guest stars D.L. Hughley and Masi Oka (Heroes) as the city coroner, Hawaii Five-0 might just continue the progressive legacy of its forbearer and provide actors of color with opportunities. And hopefully these opportunities will also expand to actors of color living on the islands. The Honolulu Advertiser wrote, “There’s already been grumbling about the lack of local faces among the stars of the new ‘Five-0′ (sorry, Daniel Dae Kim, you don’t count), but we’re not hung up on that. It’s not just about who gets top billing. Producers of the original show tapped a long roster of local performers and regular people, whose talents and authenticity added to the richness of nearly every episode.” TV Guide also noted that while Hawaiians are enthusiastic about the revival, “it has not been lost on them that Kim and Park–both of Korean descent–are playing characters originally portrayed by Hawaiian actors.” According to TV Guide, the producers “insist they are actively looking to populate their on-screen canvas with Hawaiian natives.”

Despite the original show’s progressive racial casting, there was very little gender equality–except for a brief stint in the first season, all of the detectives on the Five-O team were men. The revival has countered that discrepancy by rewriting one of the show’s main leads, Kono Kalakaua to be a woman, Kona Kalakaua (nicknamed “Kono”), played by Grace Park

Park has starred in two revivals of 1970s shows; in both Battlestar Galactica and Hawaii Five-0, she plays characters originally portrayed by male actors of color. “Back in the day, we used to have much more male-centric shows,” she said. “You still have male-heavy shows, but having a woman in there adds a new dimension.” [source]

What We Don’t Want to See: The show goes the same way as the old series, with an unwavering focus on McGarrett.

What We’d Love to See: We’d love to see a large, diverse, and well developed ensemble cast, and lots of featured Hawaiian actors, including in the lead cast.

Marvel Responds to Runaways Casting Concerns

Marissa — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 20:05:30 +0000

Marvel Studios has responded to Racebending.com and the Asian American community’s concerns about the casting of an Asian American actress to portray the character Nico Minoru in Runaways (2012).

A statement Racebending.com received on Thursday, August 26th read:

“Thank you for reaching out regarding your concerns over Marvel’s recent casting notice for THE RUNAWAYS. We appreciate your interest in our production and with Marvel Entertainment.

“To address your concern over casting for the role of Nico, as we do with all of our films, we intend to stay true to the legacy and story of the comic when casting these parts. Thus, our goal is to cast an Asian American actress as depicted in the comic series and the casting notice will be adjusted accordingly.

“We thank you again for your correspondence and the opportunity to clarify our process.”

Marvel Studios

On the public open casting call website for Runaways, smallfacescasting.com, the breakdown (revised on August 25th) now reads:

“Girl 1: Uniquely beautiful, nurturing but guarded
Female, Asian-American, must play 16-18
Must be at least 16 by January 2011

The submission deadline for audition tapes has also been pushed back to September 15th to allow Asian American actors time to prepare their monologues.

Nico as depicted by her designer, Adrian Alphona

The statement and change in the casting breakdown is the result of several phone calls and emails between Racebending.com staff and the Runaways production, Marvel Studios’ corporate communications, and Walt Disney Studios executives in the Multicultural Initiatives division. We had the support of the Media Action Network for Asian Americans and other Asian American advocacy groups during this process.

Marvel was respectful and responsive to our calls and emails, and did not give us the “run-around.” We felt they were very open to feedback from the Asian American community. (This is the huge contrast from the way Paramount and the production of The Last Airbender treated concerns from the Asian American community in early 2009.) We are really relieved and excited to have this clear response from Marvel.

Why the Casting Language Mattered

Racebending.com was first alerted to a discrepancy in the casting breakdown for Runaways on August 5th. The breakdown for the comic’s Japanese American character did not mention that the character is Asian, or that Asian American actresses should audition. This was in stark contrast to the casting breakdown for the comic’s African American character, where the ethnicity was clearly indicated, giving African American actors unfamiliar with the comic greater access to the role.

The casting breakdown for Alex Wilder noted that the character is African American.

In Hollywood parlance, when ethnicity is not clearly stated in a breakdown, the default assumption that the character is intended to be white. Because nondescript listings are frequently used to cast white characters, a nondescript listing does not guarantee actors of color a fair chance. Casting calls interested in seeing actors of all ethnicities are usually more emphatic (ie: “submit any ethnicity,” “submit all ethnicities,” “all ethnicities welcome.”) [source]

The Hollywood view that a nondescript breakdown defaults to a white character is so entrenched that casting director/producer Rueben Cannon estimated in an interview that 85-95% of agents would not think to submit a black client for a role that does not explicitly say “black” or “African American” in the breakdown. [source]. When Racebending.com spoke with people working in the entertainment industry about the breakdown, they also confirmed that without the keywords “Asian” or “Asian American,” actors of Asian descent would face barriers in accessing the role. Including the keywords would mitigate systemic discriminatory factors prevalent in Hollywood.

Nico by Takeshi Miyazawa (left) and Jim Cheung (right)

“While this is a comic book character, the public has always seen this heroine as an Asian American,” Floyd Mori, National Director of the Japanese American Citizens League, said. “Staying true to the story as it is known is critical in helping the American public to understand that heroines are not always white, but that all ethnicities can and do play that role in real life. This is a giant step in the right direction.”

Our Efforts

In our communications with Marvel, Racebending.com encouraged the production to change the casting breakdown to be more inclusive to Asian American actors, and stressed that the best person to portray an Asian American character would be an Asian American actor.

“I am sure that efforts Marvel and Small Faces make to ensure authenticity will pay off in a richer, more successful film,” Daniel M. Mayeda, Board Member of East West Players, said.

In addition to our work speaking with Marvel to encourage them to change the casting breakdown language, Racebending.com disseminated the existing breakdown language to over 30 Asian American theater troupes and performing arts organizations. We let them know that even though it is not stated clearly on the breakdown, the character was Asian American in the comic and that actors should audition. We also encouraged the Screen Actors Guild’s Affirmative Action and Diversity division to share the listings for the Alex and Nico characters with their actors. We will be contacting them with the updated breakdown, shortly.

While the significance of Marvel making a concerted effort to reach out to Asian actors through the wording of their casting breakdown is not something Racebending.com can replicate, we hoped that by spreading the word, we could ensure that Marvel will be able to find the best actor possible to represent this Asian American character.

“I want to thank Marvel for this quick response to the concerns of the Asian American community,” MANAA Vice President Lori Kido Lopez said. “We take this action as an indication that Marvel is dedicated to seeking out minority talent for this project, which is one of the most important steps toward diversifying our media landscape and providing more balanced representations of minorities. ”

We are thrilled that Marvel has changed the casting breakdown to align with their goal of casting an Asian American actress as Nico! They heard loud and clear that people of color want to be represented in their movies. We hope that more studios begin to understand, appreciate, and respect our desire to see more diversity in our entertainment!

Journalists and Critics Tackle the Casting Controversy in ‘The Last Airbender’

Marissa — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 21:44:29 +0000

The Last Airbender took a critical drubbing and is currently ranked 7% at RottenTomatoes.com. In part due to the awareness Racebending.com readers and other supporters were able to bring to the casting issue through our mid-June letter writing campaign, nearly every single article on or review of The Last Airbender that came out around July 1st, 2010 mentioned the casting controversy and/or even Racebending.com. Below are some of the numerous articles that mention the casting controversy.

Acknowledgement of Fan Outcry Stemming from Racebending.com

In an interview with M. Night Shyamalan, Washington Post reporter Jen Chaney commented directly on the number of emails sent to journalists by Racebending.com readers concerned about discrimination in the movie.

“I’m sure other members of the press have told you this, too – I’ve been getting a lot of e-mails from the members of the Racebending group, especially in the days leading up to the release of this film. And again, they’re expressing their concerns about the lack of Asian or Asian-American actors cast in the film.”

In part due to the public outcry over the movie, CNN explored the casting controversy in it’s article: Did the ‘Airbender’ adaptation ever have a chance?

“Some fans of the show said they boycotted the movie because the three lead actors are Caucasian. Blogs like “Angry Asian Man” and sites like Racebending.net [sic] attacked Shyamalan and the film’s parent company, Paramount, for white-washing a franchise that was overtly Asian in appearance and sensitivity.”

NPR mentions the fan outcry via Racebending.com through it’s coverage of the casting controversy on Tell Me More: National Public Radio: Tell Me More – The Whitewashing of a Nickelodeon Hit.

“At Racebending.com, a network of disappointed fans has organized a campaign to boycott the film, and call for more opportunities for Asian-American performers in Hollywood.”

Fan’s grievances were also tackled by Public Radio International and the Boston Globe, and ABC, Fox, the Los Angeles Times, and USC all covered the Hollywood protest.

Film Critics Validate Concerns About Casting

Public outcry was also reflected in film reviews of the movie itself. Many film critics reviewing the film noted that public concerns about the casting of the film were “deserved” and “valid.”

“This fiasco has deservedly generated advance criticism for hiring Caucasian actors to play leads that were portrayed as Asians in the TV show and pitting them against darker-skinned bad guys.” [New York Post]

“The Nickelodeon series, created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, is wholly and inarguably centered on Asian (and Inuit) culture. But Shyamalan, a South Indian, for whatever reason — you supply the motive — chose to cast mostly white actors. Two fellow Indians, “Slumdog Millionaire’s” Dev Patel and veteran Indian-American Aasif Mandvi, play different kinds of villains, but otherwise this fantasy world is pretty white until you get to the extras.” [Hollywood Reporter]

“After the miscalculation of making the movie as live action, there remained the challenge of casting it. Shyamalan has failed. His first inexplicable mistake was to change the races of the leading characters; on television Aang was clearly Asian, and so were Katara and Sokka, with perhaps Mongolian and Inuit genes. Here they’re all whites. This casting makes no sense.” [Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times]

“The four elemental nations represent centuries of culture, with unique garments, architecture and fighting styles to distinguish them (there also seems to be some sort of impenetrable logic about their ethnicities, with people of color filling nearly all the secondary roles).” [Variety]

“The casting is peculiar: Already the subject of some Asian-American protests, the movie has made the good-guy Water Nation folks largely (and dully) Anglo, with Mediterranean and Indian and other swarthy-type performers portraying the bad-guy Fire Folk.” [Chicago Tribune]

“Even the glassy-eyed idealism has already been compromised: the film has been widely condemned for recasting the good characters as white, with south Asians only allowed to play the villains. It features the British star Dev Patel, from Slumdog Millionaire, a bright young player who deserves better than this.” [UK Guardian]

One argument that was constantly brought up in defense of racebending allegations was that the leads were chosen for their talent — but we see little of that from Ringer, Peltz, and Rathbone. Meanwhile, in scenes featuring the Fire Nation army, it’s hard not to notice that all of the villains in the film are distinctly darker in skin tone than our heroes. [Slashfilm]

“More questions: why ethnically cleanse the Asian characters of the original series (but use Slumdog Millionaire ’s Dev Patel and The Daily Show’s Aasif Mandvi as baddies)?” [UK Telegraph]

“The producers have been widely criticized for failing to cast the Asian characters of the original with Asian actors, and the criticism is valid, notwithstanding the presence of Asians in minor roles. Like the hero, Aang, the lead characters of the brave sister and brother, Katara and Sokka, are played by young and conspicuously Caucasian American actors.” [Wall Street Journal]

“More damning is the apparently casual racism of the casting, which caused outrage among US filmgoers. Shyamalan has changed the Asian/ Mongolian/Eskimo main characters into slow-talking white Yanks – but for some reason he’s cast mostly Asians to play the horrible Firebender characters. Shyamalan was born in Pondicherry, India, and raised in Philadelphia. What was he thinking?” [UK Independent]

“Then came the news that the young lead characters would be ethnically cleansed of their all-important Asian origins, and played by [white] American actors instead. This particular move made about as much sense as having the lead roles in Cats and Dogs 2 played by sharks and hamsters.” [Australia Herald Sun]

“Shyamalan has gotten a lot of well-deserved grief for his casting choices—The Last Airbender takes place in an explicitly Asian-inspired universe, but Shyamalan went ahead and cast white actors in all the lead roles (I’m sure he has some bullshit justification involving the phrase “postracial society”). The people of the noble, peaceful water nation are lily-white hippies. The people of the dirty earth nation are exotically grubby Chinese peasants. The people of the villainous, imperialistic, world-ruining fire nation are dark-skinned Indian jerks. The people of the air nation are extinct, so whatever. It’s so transparent you can see all the way to China.” [The Stranger]

“The movie arrives chased by controversy — protests by fans that the story has been figuratively whitewashed. Although several characters like Katara and Sokka were dark-skinned in the cartoon, here they’re played by Caucasians…Race is a factor here. Caucasian actors in the movie tend to get lines; non-Caucasian actors tend to be used as background. The movie’s Fire Nation tribe has Indian and Maori stars — but they’re the swarthy villains. For a director who is himself Indian-American, it’s a pretty thoughtless approach at best.”[New Jersey Star Ledger]

“The decision to cast white actors to play Asian characters is just nuts. Even more so, considering none of them are actually any good.”[News of the World]

“Considering all of the (understandable) outrage that came from casting four Caucasians in lead roles that were Asian in the original animated series, it is almost offensive that the lead actors are blank slates from beginning to end. This is clearly not a case of Shyamalan sacrificing the racial balance of his story for the sake of casting an irreplaceable young actor (there is no Haley Joel Osment-like discovery in the mix here). Frankly, the casting has an accidental (?) racial undertone, as the good guys of the Water Nation are all white and/or British while the villainous Fire Nation people generally all portrayed by Indian or Middle Eastern actors.” [Huffington Post]

Reviews Take Notice of Casting Controversy

Even film critics who had bigger issues with the film’s other flaws paid notice to the casting controversy…

“The film has come under fire from some Asian-American groups for not using more Asian stars. Ringer is white, while the cartoon characters were Asian. Airbender’s problem, though, is not in race. It’s in the script, written by Shyamalan…” [USA Today]

“Based on a Asian-ish cartoon series called “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” the movie has been criticized for racially inappropriate casting, but that’s the least of its problems.” [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

“I’ve been getting e-mails for weeks complaining about the casting of ‘The Last Airbender,’ director M. Night Shyamalan’s live-action adaptation of the Nickelodeon cartoon ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender.’ The writers are upset that most of the actors, with the exception of British-born Indian actor Dev Patel, who plays bad guy Zuko, are white. They should be upset with the casting, but not for the reason they think.” [Washington Post]

“The movie’s casting of mostly Anglo actors to play the Asian airbending kids has stirred up controversy, but that’s the least of this short, disastrous film’s problems.” [Orlando Sentinel]

“The Last Airbender’’ has had more bad karma than almost any movie deserves…The core fan base has been up in arms over the casting of white actors to play characters that on the show are anime-Asian.” [Boston Globe]

“The dearth of racially appropriate casting in the U.S. simply means that fewer Asians were humiliated by appearing in what is surely the worst botch of a fantasy epic since Ralph Bakshi’s animated desecration of The Lord of the Rings back in 1978. The actors who didn’t get to be in The Last Airbender are like the passengers who arrived too late to catch the final flight of the Hindenburg.” [TIME Magazine]

“I think everybody who has criticized Shyamalan for casting white actors as Asian characters in this film should admit they were wrong. Clearly, Shyamalan tried to cast Asians, but he just couldn’t find any whose performances were lifeless enough.“[io9]

A big thank you to all of our supporters who took the time to write and spread the word!

The Expendables: Review and Analysis

Mike — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 19:50:57 +0000

A few weeks ago, Racebending.com was invited to a pre-screening of The Expendables. This is the upcoming action film starring Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, and Jet Li. It premieres in the US on Friday, August 13, 2010.

This post will give a quick review of the movie, as well as take a look at deeper gender and race issues in the film.

A quick review:
Basically, it’s a huge action flick with minimal plot, exploding bodies, and casually sliced up limbs. In terms of violence, it’s somewhere just shy of Sin City-level. It’s a pure testosterone flick, hearkening back to the heyday of pure guy movies in the 1980s.

Watching the movie was mindless fun, and there’s some fun action there. If you have a ton of nostalgia for 1980s action movies, it’s definitely worth checking it out on the big-screen. Otherwise, it’s probably a rental.

Oh, and if you’re a Jet Li fan? Prepare to be disappointed.

And the “racebending” angle:
Now to break down the racial and gender issues. The following includes spoilers, although there isn’t really much of a plot to discuss and that’s not the point of the movie anyway.

In many ways, The Expendables is a huge improvement over how women and people of color were characterized in 80s film. This was pretty surprising, given its lineage from those “pure guy” films. Even with the improvements, it was far from perfect.

Women in the Film
There are two women in the film. Charisma Carpenter has some screentime as a love interest for Jason Statham. She becomes involved with an abusive boyfriend. Statham has a fight scene with the abusive boyfriend and his cronies, then tells the girl that she made the wrong choice.

I honestly don’t even know why this plot thread was in the movie, since it’s completely independent of the main story. It feels like an excuse to give Jason Statham his big “badass” fight. We never get to really know Carpenter’s character, except as a victim and motivation for Statham. Men watching the film get to feel the thrill of telling off ex-girlfriends who left them and kicking the living crap out of the replacement boyfriend, who clearly deserves it.

The other woman is Sandra, played by Gisele Itié. She’s a young South American woman, quietly working to subvert the dictatorship of her father. She has far more agency than Carpenter’s character. She passionately believes in bettering her country and is willing to sacrifice her life for this cause. She’s not there as a romantic interest, but to inspire Sylvester Stallone’s character to a higher moral calling instead of simple mercenary work.

Of course, she is never strong enough to fight her own battles. She is captured and needs to be rescued.

Men of Color in the Film
Again, good and bad. Jet Li and Terry Crews (aka, the old Old Spice Guy) definitely have their “badass” moments. Their screentime is of course less than the “real” leads (Stallone and Statham). This was especially striking for Crews’ character – it’s easy to forget he’s part of the team for large sections of the film. He does have one moment where he gets to rescue the rest of the team.

Still, Crews felt very much like a “token” character. Couture also had little characterization, but at least he had an all-out fight scene to claim as his own. Crews never gets his own fight, but he does have the gun battle rescue moment, which may be a result of him not having much stunt experience.

Jet Li’s characterization is mostly positive. My main complaint is this: he never gets to win his own battle.

All the white action heroes have a major fight scene against some form of big baddie, where they emerge victorious. Jet Li has two encounters with Dolph Lundgren and, in both cases, he is rescued by Stallone’s character.

It would have been very easy to make Li’s characterization a little better. The first “rescue” from Stallone felt unnecessary and could have been mitigated if Li was shown to have equal advantage against Lundgren. The second – where Stallone actually shoots Lundgren – has this dialogue:

LUNDGREN: You shot me.
STALLONE: You were gonna kill him.

I hated this line, because it again established that Li needed rescuing. How about “You were trying to kill us“? A small tweak that’s actually more factually accurate given that Lundgren just had a big shooting car chase with Li and Stallone. And it has the benefit of putting Li on equal ground.

There’s some dialogue later where Li says “I would’ve won,” but the responses from the other characters feel really condescending.

And David Zayas (Dexter) plays a South American dictator, who almost gets to redeem himself, but fails. I’m not sure how I feel about this character – pretty much a cardboard cutout for a typical dictator villain, but with some small moments that show greater depth here and there. He’s bankrolled by a white ex-CIA agent, who is the “real” villain.

The other men of color are just foot soldiers and lackeys, to be killed off in waves of dozens at a time.

The Overall Plot
There’s nothing I can say about this plot – about evil white men manipulating a South American country and good white men coming to liberate it – that hasn’t already been said better in this article:

“When Will White Men Stop Making Movies Like Avatar” by Annalee Newitz

Tantoo Cardinal, Actress

Gabriel — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 04:13:23 +0000

Tantoo Cardinal is a Canadian Métis film and television actress. She is one of the most recognizable Native American actresses in the world, and has appeared in over 50 films, including Dances With Wolves and Smoke Signals.

Métis are Canadians of mixed Native American and European descent; Cardinal can trace her heritage back to Cree, Chipweyan, Lakota culture. In 1971, She discovered acting through her activism work; she’s been both an advocate and actress ever since.

Tantoo Cardinal, Courtesy of Indiana University.

On December 30th, 2009, Cardinal was made a Member of the Order of Canada “for her contributions to the growth and development of Aboriginal performing arts in Canada, as a screen and stage actress, and as a founding member of the Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company.”

Racebending.com contributor Gabriel Canada interviewed Tantoo Cardinal over the phone in July 2010.

NOTE: The opinions espoused by the interviewees represent their viewpoints alone, and do not necessarily represent the views held by the staff of racebending.com

RACEBENDING.COM: You’ve said in the past, that you first started acting as an extension of your involvement in the political movement’s of the 1960′s. You have said you wanted to change the way our [Native American] history was told. Can you elaborate on this for our readers?

TANTOO CARDINAL: I came through a time when our history was not handled justly in the recording of events. It was just coming to terms with how we were being portrayed, how we were being treated. This was a time when the only real avenues of expression were political. This was before any art involvement. I always felt we were being maligned, and if only people could see how we are in the community–with our songs and dance, our stories, the way people express themselves–then they could know who we are.

RACEBENDING.COM: When you were starting out as an actress, the Canadian Content Policy was also coming in at the time. It has been singled out as having a huge impact on Native actors. What was it? How did it affect you?

TANTOO CARDINAL: It created a mandate for Canadian content in cinema. It made Canadian film makers who did Canadian stories use Canadian actors and provided funding for filmmakers to make these movies. In that same germ of thought there was an issue of personal pride–that maybe we should have Native peoples playing Native roles. It was kind of a pushback since America was really taking over much of our culture in Canada.

RACEBENDING.COM: Were there any actors or actresses you admired growing up, or that informed your portrayals throughout your career?

TANTOO CARDINAL: No. Certainly not actresses. There were no Indian women I could look at on screen. I guess my inspiration would be, you know when you see stellar actors like Audrey Hepburn playing an Indian woman. I felt I might not know about acting but hey, I know about being an Indian Woman. I’m an Indian!

RACEBENDING.COM: In watching your films again before this interview, one was very striking–Black Robe–having been widely criticized for its violent depictions of Native peoples.

TANTOO CARDINAL: Well, Black Robe was based on Church records. Our side of the story was not told, it was the Church’s perspective. Hopefully, there will be an opportunity to show our perspective, in our time in history.

RACEBENDING.COM: It was also a very three dimensional film. There was a mix of humor and sexuality that isn’t often found in Hollywood depictions of First Nation peoples. What do you think it will take to get more three dimensional roles like that for First Nations actors?

TANTOO CARDINAL: If we had the cash Black Robe had, with the filmmakers that have incubated and come out in these last few years, we could make a pretty dazzling movie that would tell our story.

RACEBENDING.COM: Speaking of big-budget depictions of First Nation peoples, there have been several high-profile examples, in recent years, of Hollywood “racebending” Native Peoples– by taking native characters from source material but casting white actors in their place. Most notably, this happened in The Last Airbender. What do you think it would take for Hollywood to give that same big budget to Native American film makers and actors?

TANTOO CARDINAL: It would take the world turning upside down.

RACEBENDING.COM: Was it the same for you starting out in the industry?

TANTOO CARDINAL: Racism and sexism have not been eradicated. When I started out, I was sitting in audition halls with white girls with all this brown makeup on and cheap turquoise jewelry. Somehow I made it in, thanks to a want for authenticity. Those struggles still persist, you know.

“Racism and sexism have not been eradicated. When I started out, I was sitting in audition halls with white girls with all this brown makeup on and cheap turquoise jewelry. Somehow I made it in, thanks to a want for authenticity.”

Someone asked me in my forties about being in my forties and how I felt with roles not available to women in their forties. Well, that’s the story of my career. Starting out, you see roles aren’t available. And then, all along the way, roles aren’t available. So it’s not a new element. It’s very frustrating for me to even watch movies because of that. There are many roles I feel I could have performed.

In America, however, they still see us [Native Americans] as dead. I don’t know what it’s going to take, but there is a serious denial element in American society. They don’t want to look at their potty training days. They tried to annihilate us. They destroyed our economic base at every opportunity, so I just sit back and watch now.

There has to be a major shakeup for us to be treated as equal human beings. Our stories, our characters, our being, has to be accepted as equal humanity to those who have the purse strings. Thank goodness we have allies, thanks goodness we have human beings who believe we’re human beings now.

There has to be a major shakeup for us to be treated as equal human beings. Our stories, our characters, our being, has to be accepted as equal humanity to those who have the purse strings.”

They don’t have any confidence they can make the money back with us. They just seem uninterested. I don’t know whether it’s guilt, or people thinking it’s just yesterday, I don’t know what the elements are. You’d have to talk to people who don’t consider us interesting or valuable.

There is also a situation where an adept filmmaker isn’t trusted with the budget unless a white filmmaker is alongside. I’d say that scenario was prevalent about fifteen years ago. It’s just a persistence among our artists that’s needed. You have to make it with peanuts and pop bottle budgets.

RACEBENDING.COM: There have been more than four thousand movies, over the course of the history of film, that feature First Nation peoples. With all of that out there, and the success of so many of those films–including your own that feature First Nation people so prominently–why do you think that fear of financial viability still exists?

TANTOO CARDINAL: I think It’s racism. You know, I played a lead in an independent film in Vermont. We had the hardest time just getting it in to screen at Sundance.

RACEBENDING.COM: It really is an incredible situation considering the films you have been in. They haven’t just had an impact on Native cinema, but on cinema as a whole. Black Robe won best Canadian film of the year, Dances with Wolves was nominated for seven Oscars, Legends of the Fall won for best cinematography and you still have to fight to get into Sundance. Just a few years later your film Smoke Signals would win the Audience Prize and Film Makers prize at the same festival. It’s an incredible success for these films, but that success hasn’t translated to wins for Native Actors themselves. Why is that?

TANTOO CARDINAL: Can you imagine, if we had all been white actors? What that would have done for our careers? You talk about a glass ceiling. We have a moon high ceiling. More than just a hundred years of cinema history, it’s four centuries of history. It has more to do with the respect of society as a whole.

You talk about a glass ceiling. We have a moon high ceiling. More than just a hundred years of cinema history, it’s four centuries of history.

The trailer for Older than America

RACEBENDING.COM: It seems to be something you’ve tackled in your films as well: respect of Native culture in society. You specifically tackled the topic of Indian Boarding schools in your films Older Than Americaand The Education of Little Tree. How important is it to address these issues in film and television? Do you think that the lack of positive portrayals of Native peoples in media contributed to that practice continuing as long as it did?

TANTOO CARDINAL: It’s essential that we continue to tell our stories. It’s not enough for us to be the backdrop. We can’t be there just to tell white stories. It’s important for the whole health of us as a people.

“It’s essential that we continue to tell our stories. It’s not enough for us to be the backdrop.”

The U.S. and Canadian Constitutions were inspired by the Iroquois Confederacy. Two elements weren’t adopted: that the women chose who the leaders are, and that they can decide when the leadership isn’t doing what it’s supposed to do. Society is supposed to be governed with women and children in mind. There has to be more respect for women and children in the overall society. Even today, we have to fight to be accepted as equals.

Another tragedy of those boarding schools is trying to sever our relationship with what they call God. For years, children were being told that their ways were “of the devil.” It put a lot of fear into people and now a lot of the healing has to take place, by praying in the Indian way, getting in touch with the Creator. I think that all cultures are the same they all have this connection far back in history.

RACEBENDING.COM:You’ve brought issues of women and children to many of your films. It seems to have been a very important part of your career. You even portrayed a victim of sexual abuse in Silent Tongue. Was it something you’ve actively sought out, or are these the type of scripts that come to you?

TANTOO CARDINAL: Well, they do come to me, but it’s both. It’s something I’m very concerned–about both the environment, and violence against women. Some of it you don’t get an opportunity to see. For instance a great movie was Loyalties; I made it in Canada about 25 years ago, about domestic violence.

For me, what I like to see in my work is that it gets people thinking, or that it ignites some kind of passion one way or another. That is the only way we will ever see change happen, is people waking up and really wanting to get to the bottom of things.

I brought up the point about the Constitutions, because I feel we are an important enzyme in society. Society can’t function healthily if women and children aren’t being treated healthily.

“Society can’t function healthily if women and children aren’t being treated healthily.”

RACEBENDING.COM: You have a very diverse career. It’s a drastic shift from Where the River Flows North to Older than America or Black Robe. Whether its horror or comedy or a children’s film, how do you deal as an actor with all these different approaches to film making?

TANTOO CARDINAL:Well, the only thing I can do really is try to be as truthful as I can. As an actor you don’t have all that much power, you only have that moment and the little space your given. You have to trust creative forces.

If I keep looking to the great big picture and my contribution, it’s very depressing. My ability to influence is very limited as an actor because I don’t have those other skills–I am no director or writer. I value with my life the people who really do want to do proper portrayals. In doing proper portrayals, it’s where you get to the issues. Art is supposed to make you want to think and discuss. I have to be satisfied with doing that.

“I value with my life the people who really do want to do proper portrayals.”

RACEBENDING.COM: In closing what advice would you give to a young actor starting out today?

TANTOO CARDINAL: Trust your intuition!

Racebending.com would like to thank Ms. Tantoo Cardinal and Gabriel Canada for this interview!