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‘The Martian’ Slammed Over ‘White-Washing’ Asian-American Roles

The Martian
Courtesy of 20th Century Fox
The Media Action Network For Asian-Americans has criticized director Ridley Scott over “white-washing” Asian-American roles in “The Martian.”
The watchdog group, in a statement issued Thursday, said the ethnicities of key characters in the movie are significantly less Asian than their characters in the 2014 novel by Andy Weir.
Scott’s reps did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“This feel-good movie, which has attracted Oscar buzz, shouldn’t get any awards for casting,” said MANAA founding president Guy Aoki.
MANAA noted that Weir describes NASA’s director of Mars operations Dr. Venkat Kapoor as an Asian-Indian character who identifies religiously as being “a Hindu.” The group pointed out that in Scott’s film, his name is changed to Vincent Kapoor, and he’s played by British black actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, who says his father was “a Hindu” but that his mother was “Baptist.”
MANAA also noted that Mindy Park, described by Weir as Korean-American, is played in the movie by Mackenzie Davis, a white, blonde actress.
The group noted that both characters play crucial roles in NASA’s attempt to rescue astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) and work together on the rescue with the director of jet propulsion lab Bruce Ng (played in the film by Benedict Wong).
“Was Ridley Scott not comfortable having two sets of Asian Americans talking to each other?” said Aoki.  “So few projects are written specifically with Asian American characters in them and he’s now changed them to a white woman and black man. This was a great opportunity to give meaty roles to talented Asian American actors — and boost their careers — which would’ve enabled our community to become a greater part of the rescue team.”
MANAA pointed out that Scott had been criticized last year for casting white actors such as Christian Bale and Sigourney Weaver in the lead roles for “Exodus: Gods and Kings” and dark-skinned Middle Easterners in the secondary, servile and villainous parts.
The group cited several other instances of Hollywood movies in which actors portrayed characters who had been Asian-American in the source material, such as “21,” “The Last Airbender,” “Aloha” and the upcoming projects “Ghost in Shell,” which will star Scarlett Johansson, and “Doctor Strange,” in which Tilda Swinton will portray The Ancient One.
“This insulting practice of white-washing has got to stop,” said MANAA president Aki Aleong. “Alarmingly, it has been increasing in frequency. Today’s audiences expect multi-racial casts in entertainment, as they reflect the multi-cultural environment in which they’ve grown up.  In fact, three of the television series that are doing very well this television season star Asians actors: ‘Fresh off the Boat,’ ‘Quantico,’ and ‘Dr. Ken.'”

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  1. Adam Hellerud says:
    If you wanna see a great Sci-Fi movie with Asian actors, watch Sunshine.
  2. RobertMMcCafferty says:
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  3. CelluloidFan35mm says:
    Prepare yourselves for another probe by the Feds on Asian discrimination in Hollywood next.
    Then African-Americans, then Hispanics…
    It seems these none of these groups will ever work together to accomplish a common goal.
    It is all about themselves.
  4. OB says:
    Sorry, MANAA… your argument here is weak and desperately trying to leap off of the sentiment for the casting of Scott’s last film. For the record, I could see the point of the argument regarding EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS… Christian Bale, Joel Egerton and Ben Mendelsohn, while excellent actors, were well out of place in that setting, but I also understand the (fiscal) reason behind the decision. Would Scott have gotten the $150 million it takes to make an epic of that size today with, say, Djimon Huonsou in the lead? Highly unlikely.
    But yeah… in this instance, it just reeks of a publicity ploy. The organization needed to up their awareness factor. I’d actually never heard of MANAA until today.
    As far as the casting of THE MARTIAN goes, I’d say it was pretty good. Lots of people in the film of varied ethnicities – from Chastain to Donald Glover to Benedict Wong and the actors who played the heads of the Chinese space program.
    Publicity, That’s all.
  5. BillUSA says:
    This is what happens when you begin to kowtow to ethnic groups – everybody wants a role. Now, I’m not at all suggesting that the change in one role is the right thing to do. Personally, I don’t like such changes in any movie or for any reason. Stick to the source. If you gotta change something then your skills as a scriptwriter need improvement.
    Nick Fury is black and this Caucasian has no problem at all with it. Sure, I’d be happier if he remained white to maintain continuity or consistency with the established universe, but casting him as a black man is for our time. But that doesn’t mean it should be done for the sake of doing it. Samuel L. Jackson brings gravitas to the part I find satisfying not only as a viewer, but as a former comic-book reader in the 1960’s.
    So yes, I’m treading a fine line here. The Asians should perhaps make their own production of the novel or that of any others which would include changing the ethnicity of characters. Ain’t the first time it would happen.
    • squck says:
      Nobody’s kowtowing to anybody hear—they simply made a statement about it, that’s all.
    • therealeverton says:
      You’re misinformed about Nick Fury. Having Samuel L Jackson play him IS in line with continuity. The Ultimate Universe for Marvel comics has a black Nick Fury, he is drawn to resemble Samuel L Jackson and is even written to “speak” like him. In one issue of the comic there is an ultimates (The Avengers name in that universe) due to be made and they al pick who they want to play them; Fury says nobody but S. L. Jackson would do.
      The Marvel Cinematic Universe is one of the many alternate realities for Marvel. It is is own thing and has elements of both the original (616) comics and the Ultimate comics AND whatever the writers decide they may like to add. Continuity is both easily maintained as they can draw from any existing version of the characters, and not an issue because as a new Universes they can make any alterations they wish and not be out of continuity as there is NO continuity for it to follow.
  6. H Torch says:
    If the Human Torch can be black, and we’re not allowed to complain, what the heck does this matter?!
    • therealeverton says:
      There is a world of difference between taking 1 of 100 white male characters and making them non-white or female AND taking one of only 10 non-white characters and masking them white.Mathematically alone it is nowhere near a bad. But added to the maths is he fact that characters like the 2nd human Torch were created when there was a massive lack of civil rights and having too many, or too prominent black characters was a bad idea if you wanted shops to stock your comics and people to advertise in them. The police were beating kids trying to go to school; so the “imbalance” was artificial. The original Star Trek had a woman as the second in conman of the Enterprise. The episode had the captain rapped off ship for most of the time, leaving the woman in charge and giving all the orders. They had to bin that idea as the money men simply didn’t think a woman giving orders to men was a good idea.
      The two issues simply are not the same at all.
  7. Sarin says:
    Was hoping this cnut does not repeat this after gravity. Son of a rat. Did it again. Just discuyesterday ssed it last night.
  8. RobertMMcCafferty says:
    ,,,See Here Now…my best friend’s mother-in-law makes $63 /hr on the internet . She has been unemployed for five months but last month her income was $15542 just working on the internet for a few hours.➜➜➜➜➜➜► Read~This~Page
  9. filmsharks says:
    Benedict Wong plays the lead engineer at JPL and has been in other Ridley Scott films. How is that whitewashing? This is Scott’s best film in years and a diversity group has to throw the race card at him. Hogwash.
    • therealeverton says:
      Because they have not researched apparently.
      The Indian character was turned into a black one, not whitewashing, but still a change they maybe didn’t have to make: Of course arguing against casing the level of quality that is Ejiofor is tricky.
      The Korean character was apparently cast in error as the casting agency only had the name and sex of the character and assumed she was white. That’s certainly plausible.
  10. Chizz says:
    In films produced in China how many African or Indian actors are cast?
    In films produced in India, how many African or Asian actors are cast?
    In films produced in Iran, how many African, Indian, or Asian actors are cast?
    I guess it’s only worth complaining about racism and diversity if your target is white people in America.
    • therealeverton says:
      Try again, but this time compare like with like. Jackie Chan’s Hong Kong produced films often had non Oriental characters in them. What you have to look at is in culturally diverse countries, like the U>K what representation is there of what you see f you look out of the window.
      More to the point, if one of the main characters in Journey to the West is Indian and a Chinese film switches that character to Japanese, or Chinese, that might be a questionable decision. But if they’re making a film that has 100% Chinese characters, why would there be characters that weren’t Chinese there?
    • John says:
      Fully Agree. All these Asian people complaining about racism discrimination, how about those Asian people mocking and criticizing Caucasians??? Oh, it’s okay for Asians to call out White people for racism, but it’s not okay for White people to call out Asians for racism??? The last I checked Asians are the most populated race on earth – they should be the most RACIST people on earth.
      • squck says:
        Uh, you’re totally twisting the situation around to something it isn’t even about. This is about how roles for Asian-Americans get rewritten into white roles, which happens all the time. I hate it whenever the topic of race comes up, some white people always want to turn it around and act like people of color should STFU and never say anything about racism. Believe me, most of us would rather go through our lives without ever having to deal with racism, but we’re never had a choice in the matter—that’s always been a reality for us. So complaining about us pointing it out is ridiculous in itself, and a waste of breath on your part. We’re sure as hell not going to shut up talking about racism just because you don’t like it. If you don’t like it, too d*** bad. Who cares?
      • kgbdk says:
        I don’t think you used enough question marks there, John.
  11. therealeverton says:
    They seriously need to use a different “name” when one of characters has switched to a black man. What’s wrong with race change, or colour change? Not soundbitey enough?
  12. herrumph says:
    Let me guess… the people tired of this kind of complaint also worry over China’s influence in Hollywood interfering with artistic integrity. Pretty hypocritical since Hollywood has a history of violating artistic integrity of the original source material.
  13. Jacques Strappe says:
    It is what is. Every group and every individual has just as much right to an opinion as anyone. Not being Asian and not having read the book the film is based on, I really can’t comment other than saying the 24/7 internet culture we live in makes it easier (not necessarily better or worse) for anyone or any one group to voice opinions of support or criticism. I try not to automatically dismiss these opinions as bogus or unfounded if I don’t agree or don’t have enough information.
  14. eddie willers says:
    I am getting so sick of all this constant whining.
    • k says:
      Why? Is it because it actually makes you think for once in your life? Dumbass.
    • peterwdawson says:
      Well then maybe encourage people to not whitewash?
      • Yak says:
        Peter Dawson the character is Fictional. Would you have a problem if its the other way around. Like say Morgan Freeman in Shawshank?
        Thats why ill never agree with that kind of thinking. If the character is FICTIONAL. Every actor of any race should have a shot at it. Which is why I have no problem if Idris Elba plays James Bond or that Jason Mamoa is playing Aquaman.
      • peterwdawson says:
        It’s a situational thing really. If the character is named and written to be a certain ethnicity, why skewer away from it? No good implications come from that skewering, especially in a Hollywood where several minorities basically have to campaign to get more roles. Now James Bond you can make an exception for since he was always meant to be kind of a chameleon character, ditto some other examples I’m sure (just off the top of my head Robert Neville from I Am Legend). Hell with Bond they basically established the chameleon thing as far back as Roger Moore, since his hair alone saw a deviation from the black-haired look Bond had carried up to that point.
        As for the other way around argument, there’s several problems with it. It’s assuming equality already exists, when it doesn’t, and that’s why it’s an issue at all. Also, to bring it back to the chameleon argument: if the character’s race or gender in no way play an impact on the character, and the character doesn’t have an iconic look, there’s no reason to not just leave it open. Heck in some cases recasting for a certain ethnicity makes more sense, such as the case in Shawshank where, unfortunately, there’s a lot of African-Americans in jail. Even then Freeman still acknowledges the character’s Irish roots.
      • Yak says:
        Whitewash? One of the actors they are complaining about being cast is Chiwetel Ejoifor a black man.
      • peterwdawson says:
        And the other one isn’t. Chiwetel’s casting isn’t exactly ideal when the character is supposed to be Indian but they at least somewhat acknowledged the character’s intended heritage. In his case though, true, the correct term would be Racial Miscasting.
  15. David says:
    This doesn’t just happen to Asian-Americans it also happens to Latinos (ex Ben Affleck in Argo) and other movies with other ethnicities. The truth is, in America they want to preserve their “white” image despite how multicultural it’s become. How else can you explain other countries with their obsession to look “white” (ex Japan, India, Mexico etc). If American media portrayed other ethnicities as heroic, friendly, humorous, beautiful as their “white” counterparts, then self esteem levels would increase throughout the world.
    • Chizz says:
      Ah, yes, because the self-esteem of people around the world should be the American media’s top priority.
    • Dave says:
      It has nothing to do with “preserving their white image”…’Hollywood’ doesn’t have some white supremacist agenda….They don’t give a fuck what race their actors are from a racism standpoint…what they care about is money….and it all comes down to the statistics. If the statistics show that they make more money with white actors in lead roles, that’s what they go with….The same goes for the lack of black actors in lead roles in hollywood films (though this is changing)……The numbers don’t lie….those movies make less money. It’s the same reason they keep making sequels, remakes, and franchise movies. As long as the money keeps coming in for Transformers, they’ll keep shitting them out. Money influences most big decisions in Hollywood. It is a business, after all.
  16. IT 2 IT says:
    SO- – –SO TIRED.
    BLLLEH
  17. Jen says:
    Check your writing please,Variety — you have two different names for the president of MANAA. Without question, Asian Americans are under-represented in Hollywood. Simply stating this very obvious fact regarding this movie is not “white bashing”.
    • Yak says:
      Im Asian my self and i rolled my eyes at this. Chiwetel Ejiofor is well known and is one of the best actors we have today. Thats why he won the role. I think Asian Actors need to step up if they want more roles in movies. In a age where its so easy to make movies and get people to see them. Why dont we have more Asian Actors taking chances. Like making some very good independent films, giving a great acting performance and getting some respect. The only person i see do that was Justin Lin. But i have yet to see an Asian Actor deliver a great performance in a Independent film. Are they even trying? Chiwetel became a mainstream actor by being one of the best stage actors in the UK. He didnt beg a Hollywood Exec to cast him. If Asian Actors want mainstream roles they need to grab the bull by the horns and force these white execs to notice them.
      • kgbdk says:
        If you were able to understand what I wrote, I stated that since black artists were in charge of projects like 12 Years a Slave and Straight Outta Compton, as producers, writers and directors, they gave young black actors an opportunity to prove themselves. They made the most of their opportunities, which I commend them for. But the actors had nothing to do with creating those projects. If Straight Outta Compton didn’t exist, nobody would know who Corey Hawkins and Jason Mitchell are. They would probably have to work as character actors for years without getting a shot at any lead roles.
        The issue here is that you asked “Why don’t we have more Asian actors taking chances?” It’s not about the actors. This is an issue with Asian-American filmmakers ie. writers, directors, producers, etc. They need to improve the quality and depth of the films being made so that when the parts have depth and an Asian perspective that is sorely lacking in Hollywood and the film industry today.
      • kgbdk says:
        Your sentiment is misplaced. You are implying that Asian-American actors are simply not trying hard or that they are not talented enough. This is an age where it is easier to make movies but it is definitely not easy to get people to see them, and it is even harder to make money with the glut of films in distribution. What you should really be rooting for is Asian writers and directors to reach the studio level where they are in charge of casting decisions, story development and rewrites. As I was saying, when you have filmmakers like Justin Lin consistently giving opportunities to actors like Sung Kang, Leonardo Nam, John Cho, etc, look at how successful John Cho has become since Better Luck Tomorrow. He’s playing Sulu on Star Trek, had a short-lived sitcom Selfie, was the title character in Harold and Kumar, and has a bright future ahead of him. Sung Kang co-starred with Sylvester Stallone in Bullet in the Head. Ken Watanabe, Jackie Chan and Jet Li were already huge stars in their home countries before they became successful in Hollywood.
        Back in the 90’s, Lucy Liu and Margaret Cho had reached some level of success. Joan Chen, Michelle Yeoh, etc. Nowadays, you have Maggie Q. But very few of those actresses have gotten to play characters with any kind of cultural depth because the material and writers were only interested in making them sexual companions for their male leads. Tang Wei in Blackhat was basically just a plaything for Chris Hemsworth, as was Gong Li for Colin Farrell in Miami Vice. God forbid that Asian actresses have an Asian male romantic interest.
        There is a new generation of filmmakers that are interested in presenting Asian characters are real nuanced people. Not merely throwing Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Thai all together into one group. Understanding the vast differences and casting those parts accurately. Not just Asian in appearance, but with the same struggles that we experience in real life. Try watching Advantageous directed by Jennifer Phang, which won an award at Sundance this year. Asian leads in an intelligently written cautionary tale. I’m also working on a noir thriller with a predominantly Vietnamese cast. It’s frustrating for me to see my talented actors get scraps offered to them when their white counterparts are taking all the lead roles. What I’m telling you is that Asian actors can’t create great performances if they can’t even audition for those parts.
      • Yak says:
        Kgdk Straight Outta Compton was produced by Ice Cube and Dr Dre. So you saying they were given oppurtunities doesnt apply. Since they werent given oppurtunities at all. They made their own oppurtunities. Which is what Asians here in North America needs to start doing. Like what ive been saying the whole time. But you instead call me ignorant for saying it.
        Take Tyler Perry for example. He produces all his films himself. He wasnt kneeling at the doorsteps of White Hollywood Execs and begging them to produce his films.
        Asians want oppurtunities in the film industry. They need to start making their own like African Americans did.
        The battle is just beginning? Sorry but this battle should have started in the 1910s. I bet people dont even know that the biggest star in Hollywood in that time was Asian.
      • Yak says:
        Kgdk how am i being ignorant? Because i want Asian Actors to step up and not rely on these White Hollywood Execs to throw us a bone every now and then. That they need to make their own films and act in them and give the best performances they can in them. Well if that makes me ignorant then Asians are doomed.
      • Yak says:
        Brad i didnt say they arent any talented Korean or Indian actors out there. Your putting words into my mouth. I clearly said i dont see many asian actors breaking out in independent films that much. Which is where white execs in hollywood dont have much say over. If there are talented asian actors why arent they taking advantage of Independent films now that the age of on-demand and internet streaming is taking over the film industry. And when im talking about asian actors im talking about here in America or Canada.
        Yes im fully aware of talented people overseas like Venkat Kapoor and Bae Doona. I think Ken Watanbe is one of the best actors working today. Again i didnt say they arent talented asian actors out there. But the problem with international actors is they have commitments in their own countries. So its not like they can be cast in every role.
        Brad your comment about Steve Jobs being played by Forest Whitaker makes no sense. Steve Jobs is a real person so of course someone of color cant play him. That has zero in common with what happened in The Martian since every character in the film is FICTIONAL. Hence people of any race can play them. Which is why i have no problem if Idris Elba played James Bond or Morgan Freeman played Red in Shawshank. So if a fictional character that is originally written as a White Man instead gets cast as Asian instead. Will you complain about that too? See thats where double standards comes in.
        I brought up Justin Lin because hes a perfect example of someone who started in the Indies made a name for himself there and is know one of the most in-demand film directors in Hollywood. Which i feel is the blueprint that Asian Actors need to follo if we hope to have more Asian Actors being cast here in North America. Something that Im not seeing.
      • kgbdk says:
        This is a pretty ignorant point of view. Knowing many Asian American actors personally, I can tell you it’s not a lack of talent but a lack of lead roles that hold them back from recognition. The only Asian actors who have lead roles in any studio films these days are John Cho and Sung Kang. And one of the main reasons why they do is because of the success of Justin Lin’s films like Fast and the Furious. Lin basically handed off F&F to another Asian director, James Wan. You think Sung Kang would’ve hooked up with Gal Gadot aka Wonder Woman if Justin Lin wasn’t directing? Until Asians are writing roles for Asian actors, we won’t see nuanced characters where their ethnicity means anything. Black actors like Chiwetel and Lupita N’yongo had Steve McQueen and John Ridley write the lead roles in 12 Years a Slave. F. Gary Gray directed one of the potential Oscar films, Straight Outta Compton, giving young black actors some of the best roles of the year to play. You are completely delusional if you think that Asian actors have the same kind of opportunities and roles to play. I actually have a lot of respect for black filmmakers and actors. They’ve had to fight tooth and nail for decades to earn respect and quality non-stereotypical roles. The fight for Asian American artists is just beginning.
      • Brad says:
        uhh… are trying to say there are no Indian or South Korean actors out there trying? u realize how ignorant that sounds right? There are tons of Asian actors, talented, fluent in English, and trying super hard to get cast. You don’t think when Asian roles open up every one is trying to get it because there are just so few. And when they give it to someone who is under-qualified, and yes i’m saying under-qualified because they’re the wrong ethnicity. Just like wont see Forest Whitaker cast as Steve Jobs just because hes a brilliant actor, why are they casting different races for Asian roles? just on top of my head they could of used Irrfan Khan as Venkat Kapoor, hes won a lot of awards and hes been in Life of Pi, Jurassic World, Spiderman, and billions of other Bollywood movies. For Mindy Park they could of used Bae Doona.. she also has tons of awards and was in Cloud Atlas, the Host, Jupiter Ascending and an array of Korean movies. 2 Great actors that could of played those parts well but they gave it someone of dominate race because its more comfortable to see on screen. Its cool, maybe next year someone can dig Mickey Rooney out of his grave when they’re looking for an Japanese actor or something.
        Also Justin Lin is a director not an actor.
      • wiles11 says:
        Interesting point of view. I found myself siding with the protesters on this one until I read Yak’s comment and thought about all the performances I’ve seen by Asian-Americans and Asian-Canadians in independent movies from the past several years and I have to agree, there hasn’t really been any performances where I’d say the actors were truly pushing outside their comfort zones, even when the screenplays provided them with meaty characters and situations. This isn’t to say that any Asian-American actors are bad, though. Quite the opposite, they’re uniformly quite good for the most part — perhaps a bit TOO uniform — but it’s hard to remember any that gave Oscar-calibre performances or otherwise bared their souls on camera. The gravitas seems missing in relation to actors from other cultures. Don’t know why that is. Worse, Asians and whites just seem to fit interchangeably in a lot of roles, but it does few favours for the Asians it seems.
        Odd that the Asian groups bring up whitewashing in casting more than any other group, but it’s true that it probably happens because not enough of them have stepped up their game.
  18. Same thing with Aloha. Meh, Hollywood doesn’t want/care about Asian American dollars at the theaters~
    • squck says:
      It’s not that Asian-American actors haven’t stepped up their game—-they simply don’t get the full range of opportunities to show what they can really do actingwise as much as their white counterparts do,plain and simple. The same thing is true for black actors/actresses and other actors of color.
  19. Terence Saunders says:
    But it’s perfectly fine to change white characters to minorities and no one says a word. See ‘I Am Legend’ for a good example.
    • therealeverton says:
      Is there seriously anyone still ignorant enough NOT to know the difference between change the dominant sex / race / religion to a lesser represented one is NOT comparable to changing 1 of a small number of roles for the lesser represented to the dominant one?
      Changing a white male character to a non white AND/OR female one is not even remotely close to switching it to the other way around.
      Simple example. Kirk – 1, Bones – 2, Spock – 3, Chekhov – 4 Scotty- 5, Sulu – 6, Uhura – 7. Spock is an alien, but he’s a white alien.
      So out of 7 characters (and remember Star Trek fought tooth and nailto get even that “few” non white / female “leads” in the show in the 1960s!) there are 6 men, 2 non-white characters.
      So whilst changing Scotty would eliminate a massive part of his character (and yes there have been plenty of non-white people in Scotland for generations so a Sikh, or Pakistani, or Afro-Caribbean Scotty is plausible) you can see that changing one of the white men to a black woman, or an Oriental woman doesn’t do that much. But making Uhura a man, and a white man, leaves you with NO black people AND NO women.
      That’s a microcosm of the whole situation an that is one of the prime reasons why it is nowhere NEAR the same changing from white and white male to something else,compared to changing a “minority” to white
      That’s not even addressing the years of racial discrimination and oppression that led to even “progressive / inclusive” companies / producers like Gene Roddenberry and Marvel comics from having “too many” strong female ad black characters (for starters). Your pilot getting turned down, advertisers leaving you and vendors not selling comics / books with black people on the cover was a real concern.
    • Catherine says:
      Wow, congrats. You’re able to name one example of that happening and proceed to dismiss the epidemic of white-washing in hollywood. This is the ‘I have one black friend so I’m not racist’ dismissal of white-washing. You found it!
  20. Edu says:
    I mean, I’m all for diversity both in and out of film, but this is getting ridiculous.
  21. Jane says:
    An Indian actor was invited to play the role of Kapoor but was unavailable. Andy Weir has talked about how Mindy Park was interpreted by the casting directors as being white (there were no indicators in the script). There is no issue.
    • Catherine says:
      What kind of dismissive thinking… Park is a KOREAN last name. That alone should’ve clued in these dumbfucks. Of course, you can’t expect anything less from the same director that whitewashed ancient egypt.
      • therealeverton says:
        Park isn’t a Korean name. How can you not know that?
      • wiles11 says:
        Are you nuts? Park is NOT just a Korean name, especially spelled in English that way. It’s like Lee, for gawd’s sake. White people have ALSO had BOTH of these names for centuries, completely independently of the Koreans (AND the Chinese in the case of Lee/Li/Rhee). Get. Over. Yourself.
  22. Holly says:
    Ugh. And anybody really cares, why?
    Besides, Hollywood is always pushing race with their movies. Just because Selma only got 2 Oscar nomininations (and a win), doesn’t mean that diversity is dead. Also, bashing white people is going to help anything. It’ll make matters worse.
    • CelluloidFan35mm says:
      You have a point there. I’m not going to blame or put down an entire race because of a few bad apples ruining it for everyone and bashing white people is racist too.
    • peterwdawson says:
      Because it’s been insanely symptomatic, plus we’re looking at a movie with a huge ensemble. You’ve already got a bunch of talented, bankable actors in the film, and a bankable director, doing a movie based on a popular novel. They could have taken at least a bit of a ‘risk’ here and featured a couple of Asian actors, maybe help them build up a reputation by being in this movie so they can become bankable themselves and the old problem of there not being enough bankable Asian actors becomes less true.

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