Now you see it, now you don't

This was originally posted on April 17, 2011.

The other day my friend Sarah and I talked about how the Hollywood adaptation of Akira was being whitewashed: we were having problems with the fact Caucasian actors were being cast for parts that are supposed to be played by Asian actors. A couple days later The Advocate ran an article on how George Takei was taking on WB for whitewashing (Takei’s tweet was what got my friend upset). Her husband thinks a large part of it might be that the studio execs are lazy and think that trying to fill such a film with an all, or mostly, Asian cast filled with high profile stars would be too hard. So they take the easy way and recast the movie. He also thinks that the real stupidity of it is that they're taking a story that's well known and loved by a large group of people and that (if done well) would be well received by critics, and then taking actions that likely ensure  the movie under performs.

I understand their need to want to get big names, so the movie is almost guaranteed to be a financial hit with the investors. But, really, with plenty of great and talented Asian actors out there, Robert Pattinson and Justin Timberlake is reason enough for me to skip the Akira remake.

You might wonder why it bothers me so much. Well, let’s put it this way: how do you feel whenever you read about a possible queer lady in a particular movie - only to find out her part is pretty insignificant (ten seconds of screen time and about three lines), diminished (a brief shot of her sitting next to a lady) or entirely changed (into another straight character). The odds of a straight actress cast in a role of a gay lady is also very likely, and in the event an out actress is cast to play a queer lady the media is sure to report that over and over, like it should matter. I’m sure many of you have read interviews with Heather Peace (aka DS Sam Murray in Lip Service) in which the fact she is a lesbian is often the main topic.

I think in this day and age both Asians and queer ladies are underrepresented in movies and on TV. Whenever there are parts in movies or television shows, chances are they’re stereotypes. It’s frustrating, isn’t it? Do you think any (even if it’s bad) visibility is better than no visibility at all, or do you demand quality writing?