I complain quite a lot about Hollywood’s penchant for White washing films. But then they go ahead and do something completely fucked that makes me kinda scratch my head. You may notice Rick Yune up there on the box art for the direct-to-dvd film Alone in the Dark 2 sent to me by AZM Ally Jason Chu. Those of you who had the misfortune of seeing the first film will recall that Christian Slater starred as Edward Carnby in the first one. Now being very clever you, like me, might assume that Rick Yune is playing a different character in the sequel. After all, he is not Christian Slater. Doesn’t look like Christian Slater, doesn’t sound like Christian Slater, probably doesn’t command as big a pay check as Christian Slater. There is nothing Christian Slater about Rick Yune so by transitive property, there is nothing Edward Carnby about Rick Yune.
I see what you did there with your brain meats. If a=b and c≠b, then a≠c, right? Wrong. This is Hollywood in which a and c equal whatever the fuck they want them to equal. Rick Yune stars as Edward Carnby, the same character portrayed by Christian Slater. It’s Yellow Washing! I mean, really. What the fuck, can’t you find a random White dude that kinda looks like Christian Slater?
Now granted, in the grand scheme of things, direct-to-dvd films hardly rank equal importance to big budget features. But I can no longer, in good conscious, claim that Hollywood is always out to intentionally screw minorities. While it’s true that there are more readily apparent examples of White washing major motion pictures, this seemingly random case of Yellow washing makes me think that Hollywood is just plain dumb. I still think there’s an unspoken preference for White actors in Hollywood. Just a brief glance at the shit that’s in theaters right now can serve as evidence of that. But that might stem from sheer idiocy rather than a deep seeded underlying racism.
Then again, there’s the case of Extraordinary Measures. Harrison Ford plays Dr. Robert Stonehill. Turns out the movie is based on a real life case with a real life doctor who is Asian, Dr. Yuan-Tsong. Is this a case of straight White washing or is it something else entirely? Casting Harrison Ford is certainly the draw for this film. Without his star power, would anyone give a shit about this movie? For my money, Brendan Fraser alone just doesn’t cut it. Could this film have stood on plot alone? Could they have cast an Asian as Dr. Yuan-Tsong and still have had a decent box office opening? Is this a movie about the actors or a movie about the plot? Haven’t seen it so I can’t really make a judgment, but I think this story is compelling enough that casting no-name or lesser known actors could have worked. Of course, then it would have probably been in indy theaters where no one would see the thing.
There is another possibility. Perhaps Hollywood is both.
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