Column:
If we can relate to you, you can relate to us
Published Sept. 22, 2009
I'm pretty good at suspending belief. I spend my time reading novels set in 12th century Wales and Octavia Butler stories. I know it's geeky, but in most cases I can suspend belief. Most. There are some things I can't, no — won't believe.
There is this thing, that by its propensity of occurrence since, say, the silent film era, counts less as a trend and more as a motif. It is the replacement of characters of color in books, scripts, mythology, videogames and cartoons with white actors. They did it in that largely ignored movie about those people who cheated a casino that was not in the "Ocean" franchise. (I can't remember the name, can you?) It was a novel by an Asian author written about Asian characters, which transmuted into a movie by a white director about two white main characters with some Asian sidekicks.
Even worse, they are now doing it with "Avatar" and "Prince of Persia." I would think the title "Prince of Persia" would dictate they get someone of Persian descent. They could even fuck it up Hollywood-style and put some other Middle Eastern descended person, Arabian, Indian or North African. My expectations are so low that even the subtle expectations of "they all look alike" casting are better than Jake Gyllenhaal and a primarily white main cast.
As for "Avatar," I've never watched the show, and I understand it is a fictional world that is populated by Asian people, not Jesse McCartney and that guy from "Twilight." His response to criticisms about the white characters was an expression about him getting a tan and shaving the sides of his head. No joke, I gagged.
Even amazing authors are not immune to this when negotiating book to film deals. A favorite author of mine, Neil Gaiman, has said when he was attempted to broker a deal about turning his book, "Anansi Boys," into a film, the potential film company wanted to make the main characters white. Make the main characters white! This is a book based on the West African deity re-imagined in a modern concept with his two sons. Gaiman refused the deal based on these requirements and thus saved himself a corner of my hard little heart for centuries to come.
Yet before I digress into my tick box of offense people of color have suffered at the hands of Hollywood, I will give you my theory why. Why? Because privilege blinds white people to the idea they are not infinitely relatable. I relate to my white friends about as much as they relate to me, that is to say, sometimes. (Racism? No. Schoolwork? Yes!)
Yet audiences of color are supposed to be able to relate to the stories put forth by white actors as universal, identify with the protagonist who lives in some big urban metro devoid of even background people of colors and so forth.
So for Hollywood I would like to say: Give white people a chance, they can relate to us. We POC of the world do lots of things white people do: wash our hair, eat, cry, make mistakes and laugh. Just about everything, except live on the other side of the fence in our racist society, but oops, I digress.
If you can't, Hollywood, can you leave specifically-POC parts alone? I mean I'm not asking "Twilight" to become more diverse — other than that black guy with the disappearing and reappearing accent, — it bores me anyway (yeah I said it), but the "Prince of Persia"? Come on now.
