Whitewashing (entertainment industry)

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As Whitewashing essentially an American US especially in the entertainment industry is occurring occupation practice refer to operations of the non-white characters are filled with white actors. It continues to this day and is also found in the entertainment industries of other countries.

Concept history

The term was coined in the theories of neocolonialism as a criticism of the racism of the American film industry. In addition to the simple exchange by whites in the cast, this also covers the practice of rewriting substances in such a way - i.e. washing them white - so that roles belonging to a different ethnic group can be cast with white actors.

history

“ Blackfacing ” on a poster from 1900.

It was not just since the early days of film that white actors have been playing people of different skin colors and have their make-up changed accordingly. These representations were often exaggerated well into the 1960s and therefore more like caricatures that reflected existing racist stereotypes . This procedure, which still occurs today, is called black or yellowfacing . Some films of this type were well received by contemporary critics and audiences, because they were grateful that "colored characters were shown in major Hollywood films at all".

Two of countless examples are Warner Oland as the Chinese detective Charlie Chan in the film series of the same name from 1931 or Mickey Rooney as the Japanese landlord in Breakfast at Tiffany's . The portrayals of Native Americans by whites in the American Western as well as in West German Winnetou films and the DEFA Indian films from the GDR are part of it.

Mariane Pearl Angelina Jolie
Mariane Pearl
Angelina Jolie

In the middle of the 20th century, black cinema had become a genre in the wake of the civil rights movement in the USA ; Blackfacing was less frequent and was increasingly criticized, but did not disappear completely: In 2008, the role of the black journalist Mariane Pearl in A Courageous Way was filled with the white actress Angelina Jolie , who wore a curly black wig and was made up with dark make-up.

A “more subtle” form of racism, whitewashing , gradually became more present. Instead of changing make-up for white actors, black roles are rewritten for white actors, cast accordingly, and the “ethnicity” - that is, the characters' cultural and social backgrounds - are made invisible. Examples are Aloha - Die Chance auf Glück from 2015, in which Emma Stone played the main Asian-Hawaiian character, and Ghost in the Shell (2017) , in which the white Scarlett Johansson took over the role of the Japanese character Motoko Kusanagi . This was also criticized as cultural appropriation .

A study by the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism showed a quota of a quarter speaking roles for non-white actors for the 100 most financially successful films of 2013, compared to a third of the population of non-whites in the USA. The casting director Linda Lowy sees a cause for the lack of representation of non-white actors in the ethnic composition of the management levels of the film industry. In Hollywood, for example, only 6.5 percent of directors were black in 2015.

Although whitewashing is not as damaging as some stereotypical portrayals from the first half of the 20th century, it is still an act of repression and prevents adequate representation of minorities in the mass media.

economic aspects

This section describes the situation in the United States . Help me describe the situation in other states.

financing

Blackfacing or whitewashing is often justified with economic constraints. Director Ridley Scott justified the fact that he had cast the most important roles in Exodus: Gods and Kings exclusively with actors from the USA, Europe and Australia by saying that he could not finance a film with this budget when he said the main actor is called "Mohammad So-und-so".

This is based on the assumption by those responsible in the entertainment industry that they cannot organize funding for productions with non-white leading roles. In 2015, according to the BBC , the mostly white producers believed that having a well-known white actor would attract more audiences and increase profits.

In 2016, film critic Ann Hornaday described this assumption as chauvinistic , “ magical thinking ”. Instead of attracting the audience, it is much more likely to repel it with the casting of ethnic roles by white actors. In addition to the increased public awareness of such questions, the expectations of a more culturally educated audience have changed and demanded “images that reflect the dynamic, multicultural world in which they live.” In addition, such an argument is one Circular conclusion : If members of minorities were not made prominent, they could not bring in any financial success.

The psychologist Jeffery Mio, co-author of Multicultural Psychology: Understanding Our Diverse Communities , assumes that those responsible in the US film industry primarily employ people who have a similar social background to themselves. That was the case in 2013 in the USA 94 percent white.

The authors of the 2015 Hollywood Diversity Report from the University of California, Los Angeles conclude that “diversified voices and perspectives” increase the chances of success [of writers and producers]. In the 2017 edition, they point out that in the USA, ethnic minorities combined spend more purchasing power on media consumption than the white majority society.

marketing

In a 2011 study in the United States, media scholar Andrew Weaver looked at how ethnic casts in films affect the interest of white audiences. It turned out that only love comedies were less interested if they were predominantly occupied by black actors. This was true regardless of the attitudes that the study participants had towards ethnic groups.

Weaver assumes that participants did not explicitly consider skin color when making their decisions. Rather, they didn't feel they were being addressed as a target group. According to Weaver, this is also due to the fact that films featuring ethnic minorities are also only marketed specifically for minorities.

staff

The Hollywood Diversity Report 2018 lists the minority shares in the Hollywood film industry for 2016. With a population share of the minorities of 40 percent, their share was

  • 13.9 percent for leading roles
  • 12.6 percent for directors
  • 8.1 percent for (script) authors.

It is said that there are not enough known non-white actors. This claim was refuted at the latest with the Hollywood Diversity Report 2015 , from which it emerges that films with ethnically diverse (main) roles do better at the box office as well as in terms of profit.

literature

References

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Katja Bruns: whitewashing (2). In: Lexicon of film terms . University of Kiel , June 12, 2016, accessed on November 3, 2019 .
  2. ↑ in the sense of ethnic
  3. ↑ a b c d e Amanda Scherker: Whitewashing Was One of Hollywood's Worst Habits. So Why Is It Still Happening? The Huffington Post , July 10, 2014, accessed November 3, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Winnetou: Return of the Hollywood Indian? Deutsche Welle , December 26, 2016, accessed on November 3, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Arienne Thompson: When it comes to diversity, Hollywood's lost in the 'Woods'. USA Today , January 9, 2015, accessed November 10, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Frankie Victoria: Last Week Tonight Asks How is Hollywood Whitewashing Still a Thing? Kollaboration.org, February 24, 2016, archived from the original on March 2, 2016 ; accessed on November 3, 2019 .
  7. ↑ “ I can't mount a film of this budget, where I have to rely on tax rebates in Spain, and say that my lead actor is Mohammad so-and-so from such-and-such,” Scott says. “I'm just not going to get it financed. So the question doesn't even come up. ” Scott Foundas: 'Exodus: Gods and Kings' Director Ridley Scott on Creating His Vision of Moses. Variety , November 25, 2014, accessed November 3, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Katherine Aumer, Devin Blas, Kelsea Huston, Christine Mabuti, Ning Hsu: Assessing Racial Preferences in Movies: The Impact of Mere-Exposure and Social Identity Theory . In: Scientific Research (Ed.): Psychology . tape 8 , no. July 9 , 2017, ISSN  2152-7199 , doi : 10.4236 / psych.2017.89085 (English, scirp.org [accessed November 3, 2019]).
  9. ↑ a b Tom Brook: When white actors play other races. BBC, October 6, 2015, accessed October 14, 2015 .
  10. ↑ Ann Hornaday: 'Whiskey Tango Foxtrot' and Hollywood's enduring problem with whitewashing. The Washington Post , 2016, accessed November 9, 2019 .
  11. ↑ a b Keith Chow: Why Won't Hollywood Cast Asian Actors? The New York Times , April 22, 2016, accessed November 5, 2019 .
  12. ↑ a b Darnell Hunt, Ana-Christina Ramón: 2015 Hollywood Diversity Report. (PDF (p. 54)) Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA , 2015, accessed on November 3, 2019 .
  13. ↑ Darnell Hunt, Ana-Christina Ramón, Michael Tran, Amberia Sargent, Vanessa Día: 2017 Hollywood Diversity Report. (PDF (p. 74)) Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies at UCLA , 2017, accessed on November 3, 2019 (English).
  14. ↑ IU study looks at why Hollywood blockbusters often lack minority characters. In: IU News Room. Indiana University , May 21, 2011, accessed August 27, 2015 .
  15. ↑ Hollywood Diversity Report 2018 , UCLA 2018 (PDF), accessed November 4, 2019.
  16. ↑ a b Brent Lang: Hollywood's White Summer: Where's the Diversity? TheWrap, May 26, 2010, accessed November 9, 2019 .