Hollywood Paints the Town White
In the wake of Airbender's Racebending controversy, a few moments of Hollywood's whitewashing misteps.
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By Matt Patches April 5, 2010 |
Touch of Evil
Racebending and whitewashing in Hollywood casting isn't a new concept; since the early days of cinema, white actors have acted as substitutes for every creed and color in exisistance - and in good movies too.
Take for example the classic Orson Welles noir Touch of Evil where a heavily-tanned Charlton Heston plays Mexican drug enforcement officer Miguel Vargas. There were few complaints then and, surprisingly, few complaints now. But would they have gotten away with it today?
The Teahouse of the August Moon
Mickey Rooney is the go to Caucasian-Actor-Portraying-An-Asian (for his role in Breakfast at Tiffany's), but did you know legendary actor Marlon Brando played a Japanese man?
In 1956, Brando starred as Sakini in The Teahouse of the August Moon, and according to the book The Films of Marlon Brando, spent two hours a day applying make-up to appear Japanese. After all, he was a method actor.
Kung Fu
Did Warner Brothers dick over Bruce Lee in favor of David Carradine?
That's what Bruce Lee's wife Linda Lee Caldwell writes in her book Bruce Lee: The Only Man I Knew. According to the book, Bruce Lee's idea for a Western kung fu show called The Warrior was lifted by Warner Bros. and Paramount and reinterpreted into Kung Fu.
You can watch Bruce Lee discuss the prospect of his show The Warrior (and its similarity to Kung Fu) and why his Chinese descent didn't allow it to happen in this 1971 interview for the Pierre Barton Show.
