Interviews :: Racebending.com | Advocating for Equality in Entertainment

Interviews

One of the ongoing projects at racebending.com is interviewing experts in various academic and professional fields about Hollywood’s discriminatory casting practices and the impact these practices have on our society. We hope that their perspectives can shed some light on why we believe fighting this form of discrimination is important.

The experts we’ve interviewed include a cultural anthropologist, a law professor who specializes in entertainment law and anti-discrimination law, and developmental psychologists. They’re also teachers at prominent universities. In the future, we hope to interview more professors and also, hopefully, industry professionals. The staff of racebending.com always learns something new during the interview–the interviewees bring to the table a wealth of knowledge and experience. We hope you enjoy reading these interviews, and learn something new and fascinating, too!

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

Justine Larbalestier, Young Adult Genre Author

January 7th, 2010 by kateryne | 1 Comment

Award-winning author Justine Larbalestier talks about race in media, the The Last Airbender casting, and the racebending of her book cover, Liar. (more...)

Professor Russell K. Robinson, UCLA School of Law

October 9th, 2009 by dariane | No Comments

Russell K. Robinson is a Professor of Law at UCLA who studies media, entertainment, and anti-discrimination law. Racebending.com interviewed him about how anti-discrimination law and Hollywood casting policies intersect, and how they might apply to The Last Airbender... (more...)

Interviews from San Diego Comic-Con

October 9th, 2009 by dariane | 3 Comments

Fans and professionals attending the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con discuss the casting. Includes: Penny Arcade's Jerry Holkins, Gene Yang of American Born Chinese, and Legend of Neil's Sandeep Parikh. (more...)

Rebecca Bigler, Developmental Psychologist

September 25th, 2009 by Marissa | No Comments

Professor Rebecca Bigler has written several famous studies on how young children view race, and how attitudes and beliefs towards race and gender may be formed. Can kids tell when characters' ethnicities are changed? What messages does Hollywood casting send to children? (more...)

Michael D. Baran, Cultural Anthropologist

September 22nd, 2009 by dariane | No Comments

Michael D. Baran, Ph.D. is an expert on anthropological and psychological theories of how children learn about race. Racebending.com collected questions from readers and submitted them to Professor Baran via e-mail. Check out his responses to your questions! (more...)

Mission Statement

Through open dialogue and grassroots protest, we seek to raise awareness.

Through organized boycott and communication with Hollywood representatives, we encourage studios to create television and film that reflect the true richness of the American people.