Cameron Crowe apologizes for casting Emma Stone as Asian-American in 'Aloha'

Cameron Crowe is owning up to a mega mistake. In his latest film 'Aloha', he cast Emma Stone as Allison Ng, a half-Chinese and half-Hawaiian. Now, looking at Emma, she couldn't pass as an Asian person. However, Cameron and his team thought it was just fine.

Once her character was revealed, a lot of folks called him and the movie out for the casting. After the movie flopped, Cameron took to his blog, The Uncool, to address the matter.

From the very beginning of its appearance in the Sony Hack, “Aloha” has felt like a misunderstood movie. One that people felt they knew a lot about, but in fact they knew very little. It was a small movie, made by passionate actors who wanted to join me in making a film about Hawaii, and the lives of these characters who live and work in and around the island of Oahu.

Thank you so much for all the impassioned comments regarding the casting of the wonderful Emma Stone in the part of Allison Ng. I have heard your words and your disappointment, and I offer you a heart-felt apology to all who felt this was an odd or misguided casting choice. As far back as 2007, Captain Allison Ng was written to be a super-proud ¼ Hawaiian who was frustrated that, by all outward appearances, she looked nothing like one. A half-Chinese father was meant to show the surprising mix of cultures often prevalent in Hawaii. Extremely proud of her unlikely heritage, she feels personally compelled to over-explain every chance she gets. The character was based on a real-life, red-headed local who did just that.

Whether that story point felt hurtful or humorous has been, of course, the topic of much discussion. However I am so proud that in the same movie, we employed many Asian-American, Native-Hawaiian and Pacific-Islanders, both before and behind the camera… including Dennis “Bumpy” Kanahele, and his village, and many other locals who worked closely in our crew and with our script to help ensure authenticity.

We were extremely proud to present the island, the locals and the film community with many jobs for over four months. Emma Stone was chief among those who did tireless research, and if any part of her fine characterization has caused consternation and controversy, I am the one to blame.

I am grateful for the dialogue. And from the many voices, loud and small, I have learned something very inspiring. So many of us are hungry for stories with more racial diversity, more truth in representation, and I am anxious to help tell those stories in the future.

Thanks again

I appreciate his apology, but he should've known better. To whitewash in this day and age is completely inexcusable. I'm glad folks called this out and the film flopped. It's this type of action that will change things.

Why is Rooney Mara cast as Tiger Lily in the new Peter Pan movie?

Rooney Mara is in negotiations to play Tiger Lily in Warner Bros.' Peter Pan movie... Wait, Rooney Mara?
In this day and age, such we still  cast White actors or actresses in Native American roles?

I mean, Tiger Lily is Native American, why are they casting Rooney in that role? There are plenty of Native American actresses to choose from. Plus, they tried that mess with Johnny Depp (The Lone Ranger) and it failed big time.

WB should know better than this. It's lazy and foolish to even consider such casting. Nothing against, Rooney; it's just not a role for her to play.

Um, Why is CW Whitewashing Sin Lance in ARROW?

So I just realized that the casting of Sin Lance in the second season of Arrow is not right. If you read Green Arrow or Birds of Prey, you will notice that Sin Lance is Asian.

See here, Sin is the young girl

And this is the actress who is playing her

Bex Taylor-Klaus

Now I don't mean no harm, but she doesn't have a lick of Asian in her.

In this day and age, CW should have known better. Why not keep Sin the way she was meant to be? And would they not think fans wouldn't say anything about this?

This is not a good look, CW. Please be aware of your actions with this casting.

Playwright/performer Prince Gomolvilas address the 'Whitewashing' of AKIRA

Thanks, Prince for sending me this video

WB, Don't Whitewash AKIRA!

 The anime classic 'AKIRA' is being made into a live action film. But if you know Hollywood, you know they will find a way to frak it up.

The lead characters are Kaneda and Tetsuo, clearly Japanese all up and through.

But here's the shortlist for these characters

Scandal! Well, one of my favorite sites, Racebending.com called this mess out.

Given the current lack of lead roles for actors of color in the science fiction genre, the complex characters of Akira would be a great opportunity for Asian American actors. Last year, a Racebending.com volunteer ran a count of the 241 Warner Bros movies from 2000 to 2009 and found that only 2% had an Asian first-billed lead. Aside from The Matrix trilogy starring Keanu Reeves, the majority of films with Asian leads starred Asian nationals like Jet Li and Rain.


Although Asian American actors are sometimes cast as supporting actors in films like this month’s Sucker Punch, they still struggle for representation in leading roles in Warner Bros. films. If not in a film called Akira, for characters named Kaneda and Tetsuo, when will Asian Americans get to star in a Warner Bros film?


In contrast, even though 40% of movie tickets are purchased by people of color, 90% of the films released by Warner Bros between 2000 and 2009 featured a white lead.


Because one out of every 10 modern-day Manhattanites are Asian American (Lower Manhattan is 41% Asian,) it would make just as much sense–if not more sense, given the names “Kaneda” and “Tetsuo”–for the leads to be Asian American as it would for the leads to be white. Tetsuo and Kaneda should be cast with Asian American leads.

This is really bad planning on WB's part. AKIRA is a known classic and respect should be paid. To possibly cast any of these "IT' boys means they are depending on the look and not the story. Newsflash! AKIRA is a CLASSIC for over 20 years. We don't need an A&F face to make us watch this movie!

So please sign their petition on their website and keep AKIRA real.

The Interesting Case behind the The Last Airbender Casting

Over a year ago, I talked about The Last Airbender whitewash scandal.

Quick reminder, Airbender is a multicultural cartoon with Asian & Inuit lead characters that is now a feature film. However, the folks who were being considered for the roles were white.Well, this started a geek storm against the movie, M. Night Shyamalan and the producer, Frank Marshall.

So after a devoted group of fans investigated, protested, started a website and later exposed the casting sheet (notice the WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR part)...

Frank Marshall responded:

Marshall further writes that he “agree[s] that this casting notice was poorly worded and offensive. However, it was not written nor distributed by the production, or the studio, but by a local extra casting entity that did not consult with either. "Ultimately, we all take responsibility for not doing a more thorough job monitoring these frequently used third-party agents and Paramount has since been in regular dialogue with Asian American advocacy groups including the Japanese American Citizens League and the Media Action Network for Asian Americans to ensure that such a mistake does not happen in the future.”

It should not have happened at all. M. Night shoud have caught this and Frank should've said something as well.

But anywho, there's more to this story here

NAACP calls Whitewash 2008

In 1999, NAACP called out the networks for a virtual whiteout. Meaning that there were a lack of diversity of TV. Now nearly a decade later, we are right back where we started.

NAACP has noticed the sequel of 1999's diversity-lite incident. The numbers of minority actors/actresses and writers has decreased.

The Huffington Post reports that the number of minority actors in prime-time shows has remained flat or even dipped in recent years, decreasing from 333 in the 2002-03 season to 307 in 2006-07, according to the report. The number of minority writers working during the 2006-07 season was 173, a drop from the 206 employed during the previous season.

NAACP are not happy about this and plan to take action. They will be creating a task force with network executives and other civil rights groups to look into these situations. They may also take some political action as well as protesting, boycotting and class-action suits against the networks.

They mentioned CW as a prime example. I'm very happy they noted that damn network because since the CW was created, they have completely wiped out their minority programming.

I have written about their careless with Girlfriends, one their longest running and celebrated shows. Without any consideration to the fans, they canceled the show without a proper ending. Then they added new shows based on white, rich teens as if there was a high demand (yes, I'm bitter about CW). The funny part is Girlfriends' ratings were higher than Gossip Girl or 90210.

If NAACP take any action, they should start with CW. Make an example of them, since they are a new network, they could take more risk and cater to the true younger audience. They said they are trying to reach the 18-34 female demographic. Well, that demographic is also Latina, Black and Asian. So start reaching out to them too, Tyra's stuff ain't cutting it.

Okay, sorry for my rant, but I think it's time to reflect the viewers. Minorities are growing everyday. TV networks should think about that and take advantage the growth. PBS, Disney and Nickelodeon are very diverse in their programming. I can't understand why the other networks can't do the same.

They Did it to Jubilee, Now They're doing this to Avatar

I have seen Avatar The Last Airbender with my niece and thought it was a cute cartoon of multiracial content. If you don't know about this cartoon, here's a quick run-down:

The show is set in an Asian-influenced world of martial arts and elemental manipulation; the series follows the adventures of the main protagonist Aang and his friends, who must save the world by defeating the Fire Lord and ending the destructive war with the Fire Nation. In the series' terminology, each episode is referred to as a "chapter", and each season as a "book".

The cartoon is enriched with Asian and Inuit cultures and when I found out that it will be a live action movie by M. Night Shyamalan, I thought it could good for the kids to see a diverse cast and cultures.

However i09 has dropped a bomb about the casting which frightens me. All the main characters are WHITE! What in the Florence Jean Castleberry is this? Did M. Night Shyamalan watched the frakking cartoon? I guess not.

This ain't cute, folks. I remember this foolishness when they whitewashed Jubilee (she's chinese) in the Generation X movie.

Shyamalan, should be aware of this. He's a person of color, how could he let this happen? Well, the fans of the show are NOT happy about it and plan to take it to the streets.
I can't see how this just pass through without somebody saying something at the studio. I guess money talks and keep mouths shut too.