Film: Racism, Double Standards, and Everyone Hates Everyone

     The film industry has a long history of some questionable practices when it comes to a race. For years, filmmakers would go out of their way not to have people of color take part in their movies; in the 20s and 30s, it was common for white actors in black face to play stereotypical black characters. And even in the decades that followed, this practice continued. One of the more offensive portrayals of a character of color would have to be in "Breakfast at Tiffany's;" where an offensive Asian man is played by white actor Mickey Rooney. In recent years, the practice of having white actors play minority characters has gone away; but what has replaced it would be replacing people of various races all together and just having the character be white. Coined "whitewashing," this practice has caused quite a bit of controversy; and even in 2016, one of the biggest movies of the year is causing a stir with effect.

     "Doctor Strange" is an upcoming superhero movie from Marvel. It revolves around the title character, who embraces his destiny to save the world. While many are excited for the film, some are less enthusiastic. In the comics the movie is based off of, there is a character named The Ancient One. This character is Doctor Strange's teacher, and has always been portrayed as Asian; but in the upcoming movie, the character is played by Tilda Swinton, a white actress. When the casting was announced, many screamed whitewashing. People argued that there was no reason for the race of the character to be changed. The backlash was so strong Marvel released a statement regarding the affair. Some will argue the whole situation is cut and dry, Marvel didn't want a main character to be a minority. But if that's true, what's with some other Marvel casting.

     Sometime in 2017, Marvel will be releasing a new Spider-Man movie; and for the first time in a long time, people are excited about that. A few months ago Marvel announced the casting for the film, and everyone lost their minds. Zendaya, a young black actress, was cast to play the traditionally white character Mary Jane. While some argued that this was a great progressive step for the industry, others argued that this was Marvel just trying to appease the PC crowd. The question remains, what's with the hypocrisy?

     What I find funny about the situation is that the defenders of each actress condemn the casting of the other. It's pretty apparent that people support the casting that goes along with their own agenda. Personally, I don't care. Zendaya is a promising, aspiring young actress and Swinton is one of the finest actresses of her generation. I'm fine with both casting choices. And I'm perfectly fine if actors of a different race are cast to play a character, so long as they will do a good job in the role. 

Sources: 
http://variety.com/2016/film/news/doctor-strange-whitewashing-tilda-swinton-marvel-1201762267/
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/spider-man-casting-controversy-revives-racial-tensions-n637111