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CIU The West & The Rest Dialectic Podcast


When researching Whitewashing in the modern day film industry some questions arose to the reasons why its such a prevalent issue. One source I found spoke about a film I referenced in the podcast, The Last Airbender. "In a Los Angeles Times article about the whitewashing controversy in Prince of Persia and The Last Airbender, Camille Alick, project manager for Muslims On Screen and Television explains that financial considerations take center stage when casting for a major film, and that studios do not aim to be discriminatory (Lee). There are two flaws to this argument. The first is that studios still gravitate to white, even when actors have accumulated no star status. In the example of The Last Airbender, the credibility of the actors who were cast in the main roles was not established: of the three actors, the actor for the main character was unknown and the two others virtual unknowns (FAQ). The second aspect is that if deprived of even entry level work, minority actors have no chance to accumulate experience or notability. Dante Basco, a Filipino American who has worked as an actor since childhood, and was a voice actor for the cartoon series that The Last Airbender was based on spoke out against the casting. He described the casting process as a self-perpetuating system that leaves actors of colour out of the loop, saying that, “Stars don’t just happen out of thin air, Hollywood helps make them.” (Basco)." With Whitewashing being an unsung problem with the industry and even actors acknowledging that its a problem I believe the further distribution of facts and knowledge to the public will over time make a difference in the current system.

Citations

Basco, Dante. “The Last Airbender: To Boycott or Not?” Weblog entry. 1 July. 2010. Wordpress.com. 28 Sept. 2010.

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