And it WILL bite us in the backside down the line. This phrase was introduced by his biographer, Humphrey Carpenter. Mar 22, 2022. We need new stories. They think that if it offends someone, it should be purged. 2008, Celeste-Marie Bernier, African American Visual Arts, page 215: If Pindell opposes the 'whitewashing' of history, then Walker's is a revisionist blackwashing. That's what she's like in the story,and that's how she behaves towards me. or, on a larger scale, what that one movie of cinderella did with an asian prince charming, a black queen, a white king, and a black cinderella. While the story is currently being crafted and many details could change, one option under consideration is for the film to be a 20th century period piece. INDEPENDENTSTUDY The Little Mermaid for example is a Danish fairytale. Paper 9455.https://openworks.wooster.edu/independentstudy/9455, African American Studies | Africana Studies | Visual Studies, intertextuality, anti-racism, structural racism, whitewashing, blackwashing, stereotype, Eurocentrism, African American Studies Commons, I interviewed, Dee, a Visual Arts Major of South-Asian descent at Dekalb School of the Arts on the topics. Pretending that white and coloured people Africana Studies Commons, Well what about. How do you feel about Have I not been clear here? And that was truly inauthentic of me. The problem arises when You Change A character. The fact mutiple asains are saying, we don't like it and one black guy is telling it's ok. Should tell you something. Like many other videos, I emphasized the double standard present in people's reactions to whitewashing versus "blackwashing" e.g. Said the main character should still be a Black Woman, No Matter what. But what I think your right that it doesnt matter when the story is fictional so long as its not trying to be historically accurate or fictional history such as Vikings. This is what the Blacktober artists know in their bones. That's normal, 'cause not everyone needs to like youe original art. (Oh, surprise!) I think she even questions her gender because the mechanical parts regulate everything, and she has no hormones. do invent new characters with attributes you desire, This is the essence of fanart, and there's a lot like you out there. Changing someone's race in a new adaptation than it was in the original is problematic, but just some fan making fanart by changing up the race? We've gone through two years of people treating Asians like trash after the virus, it's put a spotlight on how much western media loves erasing and replacing Asians from their tv, films, and games, and just how . I detest that idea. Smith, Alyssa M., "Whitewashing v. Blackwashing: Structural Racism and Anti-Racist Praxis in Hollywood Cinema" (2021). Apparently doing so violates all kinds of cultural laws that white characters simply aren't allowed to stand on. We wouldnt dare make a movie in 2021 about North American indigenous people and use non-indigenous actors in the main roles. As much as I love the characters I draw, I sigh because it feels like just another fanart. That's crazy. Amazons new series is a step in the right direction. When a white person is cast for the role of a coloured person in a movie it's How is whitewashing wrong, or racist, while blackwashing isnt (despite blackwashing being practically the same thing)? The enslavement of coloured people by white people, however, was especially racist and Europe and the US, in a way, still profit from it. As a popular element of 21st-century culture, fantasys issues with race, racism and white privilege are subjects the genre has not yet fully addressed. Alexis Reid, 15, is a reporter for VOX Media Cafe 2021. When I didn't get the reaction I wanted, I realized that my post was null and void. I think its unfair, Dee when I asked her about the movie, and Johanssons role. So what just is whitewashing and blackwashing? At the very beginning you claim that both phenomena are bad and harmful, but in your statement you justify blackwashing, you only quote statements of people who have views similar to you. The only thing I personally dislike is when people just slap a darker skin tone and maybe hair color on a pale character and call it a day. White people could always freely accept roles in front of and behind the camera and could be fully human and have all their experiences represented. Press J to jump to the feed. Furthermore, it doesnt help that even with the small amount of representation currently, most of the stories are written by our white counterparts who also decide the qualities of the characters, especially those of color. I'm a black person and, while I don't like blackwashed fanart, I don't give a shit about its existence. But I dont think blackwashing is right either. At Disney World, you'll find Jen hiding out in a doom buggy with her foolish mortals at Haunted Mansion or saving the galaxy with the Guardians on Cosmic Rewind. What was he expecting slaves did in 12 Years a slave? In a 1951 letter to a potential editor, Milton Waldman, Tolkien stated that he had intended to dedicate his work to England, but in the same letter also wrote that he wanted to leave space for other minds and hands to contribute to his mythology. and this brings more problems than solutions. Racebending allows for a character to have a deeper cultural impact and oftentimes have a more fleshed out backstory and personality. Just like how if a character was Black, or Asian, or any of those, they could have a character the same ethnicity or race. Just because the intention is good doesnt mean the method is. When it comes to representation, Black people dont get too see characters that portray them, and in anime, they can find lots of toxic representations. Whitewashing Main: Everett Collection; Inset: Actor Peter Dinklage called out the supposedly "progressive" live-action remake of . Even for me, when playing a video game or watching a show, if a person that looks like me comes on screen, Im beyond excited. My main question is: Who does it hurt if little Jimbo junior draws a mongolian spiderman? so its ok to do anything that doesnt disagree with YOUR politics? Blackwashed fanart is something I've NEVER seen anyone complain about (except the usual anti-sjws), and there's still lots of people still doing that. Pretty much the reason her ghost looks like her usual body is because its the only thing she has to identify as herself. So let's turn the The results show that blackwashing is a stepping-stone to quality Black representation in the Hollywood film industry. At home, Jen enjoys writing, thrifting, hanging with family, watching movies, volunteering, crafting, and planning her next Disney trip. And it WILL bite us in the backside down the line. In any case, the idea that people of colour were not part of Britain or Northern Europe in the ancient and medieval past is false. In America (euro-centric features were seen as a beauty standard that bpoc (black poc) couldn't fit. not too coloured) it's whitewashing as well. I mean, why not let kids or whoever imagine and create their own role models, heroes, and villains with characters they connect with if they don't see it represented in mainstream media? 1978 saw the all-black take on The Wizard of Oz (The Wiz) and 29 years later in 1997, ABC TV aired a special black-led production of Disneys Cinderella starring R&B singing sensations Brandy Norwood and Whitney Houston with Whoopi Goldberg as Queen Constantina. Why should there be chillin? Asking yourself that question is great - coming from an Asian American artist if that means anything :), large amount of writing warning, sorry bout that, guess i had more to say than i thought. she was a black character and people whitewashed her and people got mad. it's the same reaction we have when we found out someone was blackwashing a character. I asked their opinions on people of color, and the representation they have in media, to which they said, There isnt nearly enough of it. Accessibility Statement. why are most of the black characters from central Africa and not northern There are hundreds of actors who are more than qualified for the role and I think its lazy. An opposing example of this, is The Ghost In the Shell, a 2017 film starring Scarlett Johansson as the main character. The Broadway smash hit Hamilton is a good example of this. Depressingly some fans have been complaining that these roles are being played by Black actors. in addition it's even harder for a minority to overturn or change the majority rule(s) by virtue of being minority. probably do mean well, but Well-meant is not automatically well-done. Blackwashing, or racebending, is the act of taking an originally white character and making them black, or a person of color. Just when I I don't think so. Fiction/tv/art is easily revised, reinterpreted and changing, if these multiple alternatives and reboots of beloved franchises can exist why not let more be created? Write a good, original character of any race, gender, age, or religion, and I will scream (and have screamed) just as loud if Hollywood tries to overwrite that character. Youre saying American movies should be expected to have white leads? not Blackwashing, or racebending, is the act of taking an originally white character and making them black, or a person of color. This criticism applies more to the, The problem Theres a great essay that breaks it all down using the movies as source and why Johansson is a fine choice. because as far as I know POC arent just black people. Another thing, black actors/writers shouldnt be made to feel guilty or embarrassed for taking on roles that deal with slavery and racism as theyre evils that need to be denounced. As adaptation theory scholar Linda Hutcheon has shown, adaptations offer the pleasure of repetition with variation. People race-bend characters because they want to see characters that look like them. Peter Jacksons film adaptations in the early 2000s established the iconography and aesthetics that many fans grew up with and consider almost sacred. Whitewashing is incomparable to racebending because whitewashing contributes to the erasure of poc experiences and presence in the media. together paints a false picture of history. I feel like some sort of tragedy must happen, like in movies like The Hate U Give, and 12 Years a Slave. I feel like some sort of tragedy must happen, like in movies like , An good example of people being upset over a previously white character, is the backlash over Halle Bailey playing Ariel in an upcoming revamp . Did n't get the reaction I wanted, I realized that my post was null and void,. Peter Jacksons film adaptations in the backside down the line as adaptation theory scholar Linda Hutcheon has shown adaptations! Everything, and that 's normal, 'cause not everyone needs to like youe original.! Up with and consider almost sacred Jimbo junior draws a mongolian spiderman my was... Not everyone needs to like youe original art n't allowed to stand on my main question is: does... And, while I do n't like blackwashed fanart, I sigh because it feels like just fanart. Give, and she has No hormones characters simply are n't allowed to stand on her ghost looks like usual! 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