Protest the whitewashing in “The Weapon”
October 20th, 2009 | Published in Community, Upcoming Events | 5 Comments
Well, Hollywood does it again, this time by casting Italian American Disney channel darling David Henrie to play–get this–an Asian American character named Tommy Zhou. Platinum Studios is making a film adaption of their comic book series The Weapon.
The filmmakers are emphasizing Henrie’s martial arts experience while de-emphasizing the fact that the character he plays is Asian American. This is again another example of Hollywood sending the message that white actors are more qualified to portray Asian characters than Asian American actors are.
The Weapon is written by comic book author Fred Van Lente, who is well known for helping popularize another Asian American comic book hero, Marvel’s Amadeus Cho. Amadeus, Jubilee, and Tommy Zhou are some of the very few Asian American comic book heroes in existence.
And the story of the The Weapon takes it a step further–at it’s heart it’s about an Asian American kid trying to reconcile his Chinese and American heritage. Throughout the story Tommy struggles with being American, yet Asian. At the end of the story Tommy recognizes that both the Asian and American parts of himself deserve respect, coming to the realization that he “must embrace the good in both parts.”
This is not an indictment against the acting skills of Mr. Henrie. Our concern is not that they have given Mr. Henrie a leading role, but that he has been chosen represent an Asian American while real-life Asian Americans are still systematically denied leading roles in films. Since the Asian American identity of Tommy Zhou is unambiguous, undeniable, and intrinsically part of his story this is one of the worst cases of whitewashed casting in recent memory.
Racebending.com wrote a letter to Platinum Studios Executive Producer Randy Greenberg on September 21st, but we have not received a response. The Media Action Network for Asian Americans has also sent a letter through certified mail and is waiting for a response. We are now calling upon members of the racebending.com community and general public to email, call, and write to Platinum Studios. Letters can be sent to the following emails and addresses. Racebending.com’s sample letter can be viewed below (feel free to borrow from it in your own letter.)
Randy.Greenberg@platinumstudios.com
info@platinumstudios.com
investors@platinumstudios.com
- Platinum Studios, Inc.
11400 West Olympic Blvd, 14th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90064
(310) 807-8100
September 21st, 2009
Dear Mr. Greenberg;
We are a coalition of fans dedicated to monitoring culturally insensitive casting in Hollywood. I am writing to protest the culturally insensitive casting of your film adaptation, “The Weapon.” It is our hope that Platinum Studios reconsiders the casting of David Henrie to portray Tommy Zhou.
We would gladly publicize and support a film that both accurately depicts the character of Tommy Zhou and brings new minority talent to the forefront. If your studio is interested in making a film with Mr. Henrie, Platinum Studios can still do so—without using discriminatory casting practices that will draw public scrutiny. Cast him in a role that does not require him to participate in the modern-day equivalent of “yellowface.”
But if the intent is to create a live-action film adaptation of The Weapon, we are respectfully asking that your studio please have the decency to cast an Asian American actor to portray Tommy Zhou’s story. We are prepared to protest the casting of this film alongside other advocacy groups if your studio decides to move forward with this casting decision, though we hope you will reconsider.
One of Platinum Studios’s core value is social responsibility, yet your film has taken an Asian American lead character and cast him as white. Denying actors of color the role of a lead character of color in this film—even going so far as to downplay the significance and change the ethnicity of a clearly Asian American character—is not socially responsible. You are sending the message that a white actors are more entitled and qualified to portray an Asian American hero, than Asian American actors are.
Employing this kind of discriminatory casting will negatively impact your studio’s reputation, when The Weapon should be a film that popularizes Platinum Studios and brings new fans to your properties. Casting an Asian American to depict Tommy Zhou is more conducive to The Weapon’s long-term economic prospects and legacy, as films with culturally insensitive casting are falling out of public favor. The casting of actor David Henrie to play Asian American character Tommy Zhou is discriminatory against Asian American actors, and offensive to viewers of all ethnicities.
I look forward to continuing a dialogue with you on this matter and am confident that we can find common ground, especially given Platinum Studios’s dedication to social responsibility.
Sincerely,
Marissa Lee
Coordinator
mlee@racebending.com
www.racebending.com
It goes without saying, be polite, but assertive and firm in your convictions.
Good luck everyone! Feel free to share your letter in the comments.
I quietly walked out when “Forbidden Kingdom” featured two of east Asia’s most prominent movie actors only to be overshadowed by Hollywood’s desire to give a white boy his Asian-ness through love of Kung Fu. I sat quietly when “21″ hit theaters because they’d at least gave it the honor of changing the title. I stood up a little when they decided to change the ethnic roles of “The Last Airbender.” But I’m tired of seeing this trend of downplaying Asian actors, in particular, roles for Male Asian-Americans!
It seems that, since Mortal Kombat, there has been no half-decent role for a male Asian American actor!
The history of male Asian American actors is addressed very eloquently in Jeff Adachi’s documentary film, The Slanted Screen. I definitely recommend it. There are some clips on Youtube you can check out. The official website lists some ways you can watch it in its entirety.
If (or when) you do have the chance to see it, I’d like to hear your thoughts.
Hi Dariane, I’m an Asian American, and I saw it on PBS (I missed the first half of the documentary). I recorded it to show to my sister (she wasn’t surprised) and some of my friends. I showed it to my friend Dave who is white and he was very disturbed by the documentary, he’s a moderate liberal. He was depressed when he saw it. We both agree there has been a history of discrimination towards Asian Americans in Hollywood. I am dumbfounded that there is still a lack of positive Asian American images in the U.S. all because Hollywood doesn’t think asian actors will bring in any money. I remember watching the movie Dante’s Peak and seeing Tzi Ma as a volcanologist and I just thought this was so cool because he didn’t do any martial arts or speak with an asian accent. I agree with Mr. Ma that he was seen as an American, and it was interesting that he said his character wasn’t even written in the script, he just tried out to read a line. In the show “The O.C.” (I never watched a single episode) I didn’t realize there was a story-line that was supposed to introduce some new characters with an ethnic background but the show-run changed it to all white actors which I find really lame. Not to keep rambling, even though I agree with the documentary, I just think the White Americans will have to decide since they make up the majority and maybe things will change.
And isn’t it funny that in reality, there are Asians everywhere in the OC?
Aside from that, we definitely need more people of races other than Asian to make a statement, because people never listen when Asians are speaking out for Asians, unfortunately.
I just found out about your site, after reading on another blog about the movie The Last Airbender. I agree with the poster who stated “we need more people of races other than Asian to make a statement.” With solidarity we all become stronger, so that the powers that be who make these bigoted decisions have to listen. Just recently internet bloggers got Bloomsbury to listen, when two books with white models on the cover (LIAR and Magic Under Glass) were finally replaced with covers reflecting the main protags of color. As a black artist and writer, I have two paranormal webcomics featuring diverse protags, including those of Chinese and Japanese descent. I feel strongly that authors and creators of projects featuring characters of color should not be so quick to sign on the dotted line when a studio approaches.
Hold them to task, and get it in writing that the cast will reflect the original vision. That’s one of the ways to stop this, as it just gets harder once the rights are signed away.