Between the current #OscarsSoWhite issue which will be firmly in the conversation this weekend at the Oscars, and the release of "Gods Of Egypt" on Friday, which Lionsgate and director Alex Proyas have already apologized for when it comes to its lack of diverse casting, the issue of representation remains at the forefront of Hollywood. In fact, a recent study confirmed the galling numbers when it comes to diversity in Hollywood, while John Oliver recently reminded everyone on "Last Week Tonight" that the industry has a long way to go, particularly when it comes the practice of whitewashing casts.
Last fall, among the many complaints leveled at Joe Wright‘s flop "Pan," was the casting of Rooney Mara as Tiger Lily, a key "native" character in the film. And in a recent chat with Deadline, she shared her shame at being associated with the diversity problem in Hollywood, while also explaining the approach to Tiger Lily in the film, and taking the dubious position that casting roles based on their ethnicity could curb creativity.
"I think that there are two sides to it. Yes, I do think it curbs art and creativity, and I also think that if you’re going to go by that, you have to be able to… it has to go both ways. It can’t just be that you don’t want a white girl to play a certain part. It has to be both sides. And I do think it can curb art and creativity. That being said, is there whitewashing in Hollywood? Absolutely, and I feel really bad and embarrassed to be a part of that," she said.
READ MORE: Consider This: Is #OscarsSoWhite A Symptom Of Movies Losing (Even More) Ground To TV?
"In J.M. Barrie’s book, the natives were not Native American. That was something later attributed and there’s probably racism behind even that attribution," Mara continued. "In the book, they’re called the Pickaninny tribe, which is wrought with racism. But it was never my intention to play a Native American girl. That was never an option to me. It was Joe [Wright’s] pure desire to make the natives a conglomeration of many different cultures and indigenous people. To make them people of the world. He wanted them to be natives of planet Earth. I thought that was a really beautiful intention of his. That being said, I understand the anger about whitewashing. I completely do, and I agree with it."
From what I recall, the "natives" in "Pan" were multi-racial, though Mara did stand out, and having a white actress carry the signifiers of other indigenous cultures is certainly problematic. At any rate, Mara’s thoughts leave a lot to unpack, and we’ll leave it to you to continue the conversation in the comments section.
You took the check. You did the movie. If it is no good, it is no good but don\’t knuckle under to a all the Pandering "Whitewashing BS" sweeping over everyone\’s latent Guilt complex.
Let all the "Re-booters" & "Sequel Hacks" remake every movie under the sun over and over and over, with every wonderfully diverse cast they want. I\’ve seen most of the Good Ones & most of the "Classics". Don\’t need to watch them again & again.
Garbage will sink & quality will float to the surface regardless of the Political Correctness of it. Audiences will vote with their $ & no amount of "Color Correction" will rescue Garbage.
I think Jonathan just hit the nail.
"Hollywood doesn\’t "whitewash" movies because they enjoy it. They "whitewash" movies because most of America likes to watch white actors. If you demand Hollywood make casts accurate according to race, they\’ll simply avoid making movies that have major Indian or Asian characters (unless they think a movie can be profitable anyway). There are no easy solutions to this problem. Hollywood simply reflects American society."
Rooney Mara had the opportunity to turn down the role, the same way Joseph Feinnes had the opportunity to turn down the role of Michael Jackson. She can be as reflective as she wants, what matters is how she helps address "white washing" of roles in Hollywood moving forward. I don\’t buy that "America likes to watch white actors". I think Hollywood elite tells us that\’s what we will like because we\’re given few other options. Most movie goers aren\’t white. A 2013 study by MPAA reported that Far more women and racial minorities see movies than there are women and racial minorities in movies. With that in mind, to say that "Hollywood simply reflects American Society" is admit that white patriarchal society is the norm, even worse, Acceptable. The world and its storytelling cannot always be told through this whitewashed point of view. Hollywood needs to get on board with that and from Producer all the way down to Casting Director needs to get over the mental hurdle that only White Men or Women can play leads.
"He wanted them to be natives of planet Earth." Yes, but somehow all the lead characters were white. It seems like Joe Wright did not do a thorough job of representing planet Earth apart as window dressing in the background.
A
"And this is what we call "whitesplaining.""
Whitesplaining = white people saying literally anything.
@Jonathan I think a better way to explain the reason white stories continue to get the greenlight is because its a proven way to get audiences in the seats, yet it\’s the ONLY way that has been tested, more and more we see leads w/ black actors killing the box office, this is an issue that alot of actors have been talking about this awards season and last awards season, not only in regards to race but also to films w/ women at the center… the people that make the decision to green light a movie based on it\’s speculated return need to see that movies w/ other races at the center make money just as well as the ones w/ white leads… I\’m native american and I don\’t think it\’s outright racism, we need to stop tacking words that hold so much emotion to these issues because all there will be is discussion and no solution as we\’ve seen for decades now, we need to, as empowered ethnic people, use our intellect to solve these issues.
You took the check. You did the movie. If it is no good, it is no good but don’t knuckle under to a all the Pandering "Whitewashing BS" sweeping over everyone’s latent Guilt complex.
Let all the "Re-booters" & "Sequel Hacks" remake every movie under the sun over and over and over, with every wonderfully diverse cast they want. I’ve seen most of the Good Ones & most of the "Classics". Don’t need to watch them again & again.
Garbage will sink & quality will float to the surface regardless of the Political Correctness of it. Audiences will vote with their $ & no amount of "Color Correction" will rescue Garbage.
This just in Rooney, you weren\’t a PART of it, you WERE IT.
These people are so full of crap!! @Jonathan if you think for 1 minute that Hollywood doesn\’t enjoy the "whitewash" they created then your just another hypocrite trying to make excuses for this sick blatant behavior. White actors were forced upon society because that\’s what these Hollywood honchos wanted people to see, they controlled it then and they\’re are controlling it now. Hollywood is reflecting white society, "NOT" American society! #stopwithbullcrapexcuses #noneisbuyingit!
Can we not have anymore articles that describe an issue as "problematic"? Is this tumblr? Can we talk like adults, please?
The original Disney -version with native american stereotypes was considered racist. The modern version without native american stereotypes is also racist. Makes sense.
Pan tanked as hard as Ridley Scott\’s Moses movie, and I disagree with @JONATHAN, using black actors could these days save a movie, it might have saved Moses, it would have been discussed, no doubt caused a little controversy and developed a cool cache which would have chimed with wider audiences. I hear what you\’re saying but feel you\’re preaching from a really old hymn book, this is an art form fueled on originality and the new after all. And @THUN it\’s not the racist card, it\’s the inclusion card, it\’s about art reflecting that landscape you see around you here.
How can anyone blame her for whitewashing a character that isn\’t even real. People need to stop playing the racist card and hating on whites people. I\’m from Philippines and I\’ve seen equality here more than I\’ve seen in my country. And if anyone is to be blamed, it\’s the producers and not the actors.
And this is what we call "whitesplaining." She did just sign on to play Mary Magdalene, sooo…
Here\’s the thing: Hollywood doesn\’t "whitewash" movies because they enjoy it. They "whitewash" movies because most of America likes to watch white actors. If you demand that Hollywood make casts accurate according to race, they\’ll simply avoid making movies that have major Indian or Asian characters (unless they think a movie can be profitable anyway). There are no easy solutions to this problem. Hollywood simply reflects American society.
People are genuinely upset that hollywood whitewashed (many indigenous cultures according to Mara) Neverland, huh? Because it\’s a real place, and all other aspects of that history remained intact, such as the pirates singing Nirvana, and stealing children from orphanages just to throw them off cliffs. Good thing we still have the accurate disney cartoon version.
The day that we blame the actors, and not the filmmaker in question, kicks the can down the road. Find me the actor who refused a role for those reasons and actually made a difference because of it. Actors are everywhere, filmmakers are fewer, and industry heads are as few as they come. Fight the real enemy, don\’t blame an actor.
It\’s all disingenuous. She still took the paycheck. And I\’m sure if some top tier filmmaker came along in two years with a great project and offered her a huge paycheck to play a princess from East Asia she\’d still take the job.
When these actors turn down these roles as opposed to justifying why they took the roles will be an amazing day.