Annihilation, The Beguiled, Prince of Persia… Three film titles that have one thing in common: whitewashing. This concept has been popping up everywhere, but what exactly does it mean? In the context of film it could be defined as the practice of letting a white actor play the role of a person of colour. One of many examples is how James Cooke recently chose Ianthe Tavernier – a Caucasian woman – to take on the role of princess Jasmine in his Aladdin play. It’s important to note that whitewashing is nothing new or unique, but in fact very recurrent[1].
Although at first sight this practice might seem innocent, it is in fact problematic. When looking deeper into it, we notice that it’s inherently linked to a Eurocentric perspective. The latter is described by Edward Saïd in his book Orientalism[2] as a worldview that sets western society as the norm and considers everything different from it as deviant. Saïd argues that Eurocentric practices contain subtle forms of intrinsic racism, by mainly promoting a worldview that discriminates everything that deviates from the western norm. In Hollywood films this is done through the use of whitewashing. People of colour are in a sense annihilated from the screen and thus also from our worldview.
Another Eurocentric practice is stereotyping. Occasionally when ethnic minorities are included in films or plays, it is done in very stereotypical ways. So e.g. Arab people will be portrayed as terrorists or Afro-American people as gangsters. This leads to a reduction in people of colour to a ‘type’ that consists of merely one generalizing characteristic, whereas the white actors play roles that include character development and complex personalities.
These discriminatory practices also have a negative influence on matters of representation. From a sociological perspective it has been proven that films and media are crucial sources of information during socialization. They help us create a worldview and this is where those Eurocentric practices become problematic. They create a distorted and one sided view on the world, that is a superior Eurocentric view that lacks to include diversity as something valuable.
Some speculate that the use of whitewashing and
stereotyping will not quickly disappear, as these Eurocentric practices are
deeply rooted in the racist structures of Hollywood. However, counteractions
have shown the opposite is true. Films with diverse casts like Black Panther and
governments applying diversity charters show that change is possible.
[1] https://thefilmstage.com/features/the-return-of-hollywood-eurocentrism-or-something-worse/
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