Hey everyone, my name’s Cheyenne and I’m an Asian American adoptee and expat living
in Brazil.
I post new videos about race, feminism, and pop culture every Tuesday and Friday, so if
you’re into that please subscribe and ring the bell.
Part 1: Colorism and Casting
So I made a few videos about representation recently - specifically about Black representation
in Brazil and Asian American representation in the U.S.
And I thought I’d make this video as a sort of companion video to those, as I didn’t
talk enough about colorism as I should have.
Firstly, I want to say that Camila Pitanga can identify as Black and no one should take
that away from her.
And that she should play light skinned people in TV shows and movies.
But the problem starts when she’s cast in roles that are clearly for darker skinned
Black women, and this is where colorism comes into play.
Light skinned people should be able to see themselves on screen, but they shouldn’t
be the ONLY Black representation as they so often are.
We need more darker skinned actors to be cast in Black roles to illustrate the depth and
diversity of the Black experience.
And yes, whitening in Brazil made Black, mixed, and light skinned Brazilians not want to identify
as Black and be ashamed of themselves.
So Pitanga being outspoken about her Black parents and upbringing is very significant.
But there’s a reason why she rubs some dark skinned Black Brazilians the wrong way.
And that’s because when it comes to race, there’s a fine line between real life identification
and onscreen representation.
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what your parents look like or how you identify,
what matters is how you are perceived on screen.
And if the people you’re supposed to represent don’t feel represented by you or even offended
- then maybe you’ve miscast.
And this isn’t any individual’s fault, it’s just an outcome of white supremacy
that puts those who are closer to whiteness at the top and those who are furthest from
whiteness at the bottom.
More recently Henry Zaga, a white Brazilian actor, was cast in The New Mutants as Sunspot
- a Black Brazilian character.
Director John Boone said he simply wanted a Brazilian actor who looked like he grew
up with a “silver spoon in his mouth”, and that the choice wasn’t about race.
They basically took a ‘colorblind’ approach to casting by interviewing white, Black, and
brown actors, even though a big part of Sunspot's character is dealing with the fact that he’s
wealthy and Black.
In the end, John Boone said that Henry Zaga just happened to be the best for the job.
Haven't heard that one before.
But the real question is why would you open casting to white and light skinned actors
if we know that Sunspot is Black?
It’s because you wanted an easy out to not care about Black representation on screen.
To fans this was a HUGE slap in the face.
And even in the Marvel comics today Sunspot is drawn to have lighter skin, erasing his history
as a visibly Black character.
Black erasure in Brazil is already a huge problem, and it’s only compounded by the
fact that Hollywood is so willing to play into it.
Lastly, I want to mention Mixed-ish because I am currently watching Blackish and it’s
really funny it's really poignant.
It's an awesome show, but it have a colorism problem, and I am by no means
the first to point this out.
So Blackish stars Rainbow, played by Tracee Ellis Ross, and her parents in the show are
portrayed by Anna Deavere Smith and Beau Bridges.
And Rainbow has her own spin off prequel show that shows her as a child and it’s called
Mixedish.
However, in this show Rainbow’s mom, Alicia Johnson, is played by Tika Sumpter, who is
a dark skinned Black woman.
Some people thought that this was just token diversity, some saw it as righting a wrong,
and others called it the reverse Aunt Viv.
But in all, I personally think it was a good call because Blackish had a colorism problem
that was talked about for a while, so it's nice to know that the people
who are behind Mixedish, which happen to be the same people behind Blackish
are being a little bit more
self aware this time.
And a little self awareness goes a long way.
Part 2: Colorism and Diversity
So just to reiterate, colorism isn’t one individual’s fault.
It’s just part of the larger white supremacist system, which puts light skinned people with
white features at the top, because they’re more palatable, marketable,
and more stereotypically beautiful.
It’s not lost on Black people that during this time of reclamation
and diversity, those being celebrated on large platforms
and ad campaigns happen to have lighter skin.
And this is especially damaging considering that dark skinned Black people are the ones
who bear the brunt of colorism.
It’s not surprising that the production team chose Camila Pitanga as the Black woman
on this novella despite her light skin.
She got the role because she fits into this very thin and white definition of beauty.
The production was able to score “diversity points” for casting her because of her Black
parents, without actually doing the legwork of casting an actual dark skinned Black actress.
The same thing happened with Henry Zaga, who just “coincidentally” fit John Boone’s
idea of what Sunspot should look like.
But most light skinned celebrities are self aware and talk openly about colorism.
For example, Zendaya and Beyoncé have both talked openly about the racism they’ve faced,
but also how they benefit from colorism, and have helped uplift dark skinned members of
their community.
Again, a little self awareness goes a long way.
Part 3: Appropriation and Miscasting
On the other hand, some celebrities use any type of racial ambiguity they have in order
to justify appropriation and miscasting.
Johnny Depp claimed to have Native American ancestry when he was called out for playing
Tonto in The Lone Ranger.
When no, you’re white.
But actually some people said that Depp playing a Native American stereotype saved an actual
Native actor from trying to turn Tonto into something empowering,
Because in reality The Lone Ranger is steeped in racist ideology and stereotypes that shouldn’t
even have gotten a reboot.
And just a note to all celebrities: don’t justify taking up spaces that you shouldn’t
be by saying well, “My x, y, or z was Black, Asian, Native American, etc.”
If I have to Google who your parents were to understand why you were cast in a role that
clearly should have gone to someone else, then you’ve been miscast.
There are so many Native American, Asian American, and dark skinned Black actors that need and
deserve more attention in GOOD roles, and yet here you are taking someone’s spot.
And I know the system makes it almost impossible to make good choices and turn down roles etc,
but think a little bit before taking a role you might need to modify your appearance for.
Especially when it comes to yellowface.
But again, this doesn’t mean in the real world that you can’t talk about your experiences,
claim your ancestry, or even make a documentary about your upbringing,
but don’t take roles away from people who truly could add some new and different to
the table.
Part 4: Half White Asian Representation
Half Asian and half white actors get cast in fully Asian roles all the time!
Most notably this happens to Asian men who are supposed to be heartthrobs.
Henry Golding, who was the male lead in Crazy Rich Asians, is most notably half white, when
he’s supposed to be fully Asian.
The miscast of Cassie Steele in Raya the Last Dragon is not lost on me.
And thankfully they changed the voice cast, and now Kelly Marie Tran is doing the voice
of Raya.
But now Disney is praising this like a win or something they’ve always had planned,
when no, you didn’t.
In all, people just need to learn that there are boundaries to their experiences.
That just because you have x, y, or z parents doesn’t mean you should be in or weigh
in everything.
People's experiences are different and that's okay.
But again, what matters is what ends up on screen and if you are the right person for the job.
There's a reason I identify as Asian American and not Chinese American, and that's because
though I was born in China, I wasn’t brought up in a Chinese American household.
I went to Chinese school and took mandarin classes, had Chinese American friends,
but that doesn't change the fact that I was raised white.
I know that my experience as a Chinese or an Asian American adoptee
is different than my peers who are Chinese American who were raised in a Chinese American household
with Chinese parents.
I don’t try to claim that.
I know the boundaries of what I experience and what I don’t experience.
Who I represent and who I don’t represent.
And more people just need to learn the boundaries of their experiences and who they should represent
and who they shouldn’t represent on screen.
Conclusion
So in conclusion I have no problem with Pitanga wanting to claim her Blackness and want to
be seen as such.
But I do have a problem with the fact that light skinned actors get preference for Black
roles time and time again.
Colorism and featurism is real.
Even in a time of celebrating diversity and all kinds of Blackness, it seems as though light skinned
and racially ambiguous people are still getting more attention and more roles.
And we should be wary of that in order to not continue to put darker skinned people in the shadows
of their lighter skinned peers.
Alright that's it for this video. Thanks
for watching and making it to the end.
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My next video will be about
why is YouTube so white? So if
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Thank you so much to my subscribers and my patrons!
And I'll see you all in the next one, bye :)