The fact that you don't think this is a problem is exactly the problem
Pinch punch, first of the month. A new month, but the same shit.
It has been a week since Netflix released their newest movie, Deathnote.
Now, for those of you unfamiliar, this is not an original Netflix story, based on a widely popular and very well known anime series of the same name. So Netflix wants to make their own version - what's the problem?
The problem is this: whitewashing.
I know, I know. You're tired of hearing about this in happening and you're tired of having the same conversations - so the fastest way to get me to shut up about it is to FIX the problem!
In this entire 2 hour long film, there is a total of ONE Asian character, played by actor Masi Oka, Yes, he is Japanese, but no, the actors, producers, and directors do NOT get to pat themselves on the back for this. You need to do better. This does not even qualify as the bare minimum.
This is an ANIME series, the Japanese term for hand-drawn or human animation. Created by a Japanese man. A Japanese story. That takes place in Japan. With Japanese characters. And yet in this movie, there are NO Japanese actors?
The director claims that this is a 'loose adaptation' of the famed anime series. But when you take the key plot points (a notebook that kills people), Japanese culture (shinimagi is the Japanese god of death), and even character names (Light, Ryuk, L, Misa, Kira), is this still a 'loose interpretation'?
What is whitewashing?
Whitewashing is the casting of a white actor in the role originally cast/created as another race or ethnicity. But you know what is MORE upsetting than this? The fact that DeathNote's director tried to DEFEND this blatant disrespect by saying it doesn't count as whitewashing because he isn't "just taking a character and trying to say a white kid is a Japanese kid. It is a whole new thing," Wingard told Vulture at the Death Note premiere. "The whole idea of whitewashing is putting white people in roles that were meant to be a different race. But this wasn't specifically a racially bound story, because it was set in America." So he's not whitewashing a single character, but doing it to the entire COUNTRY, the whole story. Great.
And then he goes on to have to AUDACITY to say that he found it OFFENSIVE to HIM that he was being called out on whitewashing the film because "one of the three leads is black". The presence of one race does not makeup for the lack of presence of another.
I have gone through this film with a fine-tooth comb. There is a total of 9 asian characters. Because apparently there are only 9 Asians in all of Seattle. And of those 9, only 1 has a speaking role (with a total speaking time of less than 2 minutes). And 2 of the girls are in barely-there-bras and g-strings, being arrested outside a Tokyo club. This is not representation. And if scantily clad women is what representation is, I don't want it.
REPRESENTATION MATTERS?
When was the first time you watched a tv show or movie and saw someone who looked like you? I was never able to find that in Western media. I turned to support my HK shows to find people like me. This was the PERFECT opportunity for representation and a missed opportunity.
WHAT CAN WE DO?
DO NOT SUPPORT THINGS THAT DO NOT SUPPORT YOU. Honestly, you're not missing out by not watching this abomination of a film. But do not support the arts who snub actors, take away opportunities, and those who disregard representation of an entire ethnicity. Do NOT watch this movie. If you want to enjoy the story, enjoy the anime series - also available on Netflix. There are also JAPANESE movies, loyal to the source material and with representative casting. Enjoy the print editions. There are many ways that you can still enjoy the story without supporting a broken and cultural appropriating system.
I can not say it enough times: REPRESENTATION MATTERS. Let's continue the conversation and break the viscous cycle and have actors own up to their own choices of taking these roles away from an already under-represented minority.
