Let's talk about authentic casting & brownface...sigh.

Uhhh....are we still having this conversation?

Can I just say that this week was truly monumental?

We rid ourselves of Trump and his ghouls (if you are reading this and support Trump, you’re gonna want to unsubscribe now. He’s gonna come up a lot and not in a good way), Lady Gaga auditioned for the Hunger Games, a star was born in poet Amanda Gorman’s stunning reading, and Joe Biden is now President of the United States.

But let’s not forget: there is now an Indian and Black woman as our Vice President. Kamala Devi Harris.

Did I cry? Absolutely. I never thought I would see an Indian woman in our highest form of government. Again, you can disagree on policy (I, for one, hope that we can move this administration to an even more progressive place BUT that’s not the conversation we’re going to have today) but this was quite stunning. And you could feel the joy in the air. Like an anvil with four years of despair, chaos, and idiocy had finally been lifted.

But then.

My joy was ever so slightly diminished when I got on Facebook (my first mistake) and saw a post about Aladdin.

Apparently, there are some theatre companies adding bronzer to their WHITE performers to make them appear more “ethnic.” It brought up a lot of feelings and thoughts. Sadly, the threads for the groups are private BUT here is another article about Aladdin and another about the industry whitewashing in general.

1. There weren’t ANY brown actors for the parts? Don’t tell me that you couldn’t find them. That’s bullshit.

2. Are we really still brownfacing people in 2021?

3. Sigh.

When I see things like this, it reinforces this idea that Black and Brown performers aren’t good or worthy enough for roles, that you didn’t take the time (as producers, casting directors, directors, etc.) to do your job and really search for talent, and HOW DO YOU NOT SEE HOW PROBLEMATIC THIS IS? Go read a history book.

While this is a persistent issue, it also brought up the topic of white actors playing roles intended for Black, Middle Eastern, North African, and Asian performers. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane.

In the beginning...

...I never saw myself on television. I remember watching cartoons like Rugrats, Rocket Power, and Hey Arnold and thinking: where am I?

I never really identified with surfers, didn’t grow up with my grandparents in a New York apartment with entirely too many cats and pigs, and didn’t really even have a Reptar in my life. (And if you don't know who Reptar is, that just means I'm old as hell).

I do remember the first time I saw an Indian person in a Hollywood movie. I was eight and I watched it on a plane. It was a little film called The Party, starring Peter Sellers. The film was about an Indian actor who goes to a huge Hollywood soirée and basically messes everything up.

At the time, I loved the film. I was eight. I was stupid. I didn’t necessary think about a white man playing an Indian guy, in brown face. Remember, I was eight. So thoughts like this didn't come up often.

But then *cues dramatic music*

Peter Sellers is not Indian. The man literally put on bronzer and seemingly walked onto set. When I found out, it felt like that moment in Master of None. Ya know, when Dev’s friend is shocked that the guy in Short Circuit 2 was actually a white guy playing an Indian.

After the initial shock, I shrugged this off and thought: Well, that was a long time ago, things are changing for the better.” Right? Well….yes AND no.

What is brownface?

According to the Wikipedia and CNN (See? We fact check here) Racial brownface is a variation of blackface in which a person imitates a person of Latin American, Middle Eastern, North African, Maritime Southeast Asian, Polynesian, Native American, and/or South Asian ethnic origin. This can be done using makeup, hair-dye, and/or by wearing traditional ethnic clothing to make a person appear as though they belong to one of these "brown" ethnic groups. It is typically defined as a racist phenomenon, whether or not the offender intended to be racist. But its origins are traced to a truly vile thing: blackface.

Negative representations of non-white people date back to the mid-19th century. White actors performing in minstrel shows would darken their skin with polish and cork to look stereotypically “black.”

The shows were intended to be funny to white audiences, but they were hurtful and demeaning to African-Americans because they reinforced white people’s notions of superiority.

“By distorting the features and culture of African Americans – including their looks, language, dance, deportment and character – white Americans were able to codify whiteness across class and geopolitical lines as its antithesis,” says the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

This is something that still happens in 2021. I’ve seen it myself and I keep thinking: how do we continue to let this happen? There are plenty of actors from every kind of culture who Check out his link for some history about the origins of blackfacing, if you want to learn more.

How does this affect my industry?

Before I continue, let me say this: There has been a TON of outreach from casting directors, producers, and creatives alike to authentically cast projects AND cast people of color against stereotypes.

Let’s not forget this fact because it’s important. Many of the people behind the table are working just as hard as we are.

While a lot of progress has been made in the last few years, there is still a lot to be done. Letting another Prince of Persia or Ghost in the Shell debacle happen, not only pervades the news cycle, but reflects poorly on the industry we work in. I recently discovered that the actor on Grown-ish, who’s character is Indian, isn’t even Indian himself! This is a show on television right now. Again, you couldn’t find ONE Indian actor for this part?

Now I don’t necessarily want to blame the actors. Look, this is a tough industry. Especially for POC’s and people do have to work for make a living. And yes, it’s called acting. BUT. When you are actively taking a part away from an underrepresented community, who’s ethnicity in indeed a focal point of the character, it’s a problem.

Playing a doctor, chef, or lawyer? Fine.

Playing another person’s lived in experience or ethnicity when there are PLENTY of talented people who are available and don’t receive the same opportunities? Nope.

So this got me thinking…

How many times has this happened to an Indian person? Or Middle Eastern? Or North African? So I started to research roles on screen and stage where the characters were written as South Asian, North African, or Middle Eastern and were whitewashed. I found many.

A few years ago, I stumbled upon a blog post, written by the brilliant and badass Michelle Villemaire, who “corrected yellowface” in a few films (check it out here. Seriously, it’s amazing and she’s awesome).

It was this incredible article that inspired me to do my own “brownface correcting” with my friend and photographer extraordinaire Tom Kordenbrock (instagram: tkbrock). This is what these roles might have looked like with someone of the proper ethnicity.

This was a project I did a few years ago for fun but I think it’s still relevant.

Let’s begin!

The Social Network

The Social Network was a beautiful and contemporary piece that resonated so well, that it ended up garnering a Best Picture nomination at the Academy Awards.

What it didn’t do was properly portray Divya Narendra, as an Indian-American man. Max Minghella: not Indian. Apparently, his grandmother had a tiniest bit of Parsi heritage but still…really?

Lawrence of Arabia

Even though it is considered one of the greatest films ever made, Alec Guinness, plays the Middle Eastern, Prince Faisal, in Lawrence of Arabia.

Surprise! Alec Guinness: not Persian.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a wonderful musical, adored by so many people. Honestly, it’s not my favorite! But I loved this recent revival.

In the original film, Eddie Albert, plays Ali Hakim, a Persian peddler. Eddie Albert: again not Persian.

However, to be totally fair, neither am I. But for the purposes of this exercise…work with me, please?

Star Trek Into the Darkness

Alright, Benedict Cumberbatch fans, don’t come for me. I too love him and he’s very talented. But in the original comic books, "Khan is written as an orphan from the streets of India, kidnapped into a eugenics program and built into a super-smart super-strong super-human."

The Party

The reason we are even writing this article in the first place: The Party starring Peter Sellers.

Well, there you go.

This was an insanely fun project to take on. Gathering the clothes, finding the images, and working with Tom on the vision I had in mind was incredible.

I recognize that many of these films I’ve chosen were of a different time and things were just different in Hollywood.

However, let’s change things up. Again, things have absolutely gotten better. But why is it taking so long? It’s not that difficult.

It’s still a very telling sign, that there is more work to be done for representation in the arts and we must just STOP brownfacing performers. There are actors who can play these parts. Do your job, find them, and also help them cultivate their talents.

Fin.