Whitewashing in film
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"When I see an able-bodied actor, even one as superb Daniel Day-Lewis, playing a great figure in the struggle for disability rights, such as Christy Brown in My Left Foot, I feel the same way many black people would feel watching Day-Lewis play Malcolm X."-- “Able-Bodied Actors and Disability Drag: Why Disabled Roles Are Only for Disabled Performers” (2014) by Scott Jordan Harris [1] |
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Whitewashing is a casting practice in the film industry of the United States in which white actors are cast in historically non-white character roles. The film industry has a history of frequently casting white actors for roles involving people of color, including African Americans, Asians, Hispanics, and any other non-White, non-Hispanic culture, including Native Americans. By downplaying the roles that such figures have had in cultural events, the practice is seen as a form of censorship analogous to the whitewashing of criticism.
Activist Guy Aoki said African Americans "have long felt the full brunt of the 'whitewashing' of roles" and that Asians have experienced it as well. Native Americans have also been subjected to this, seeing their historic leaders and warriors portrayed by whites.
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