ArtView September 2015 | Page 28

I recently happened to see a Marlon Brando film, Sayonara, made in 1957. The appearance of one of the Japanese characters caught my attention. He seemed to be vaguely familiar... somehow... but I just could not place him. There was something familiar, yet very strange about his appearance... and then it struck me - it was Ricardo Montalban! I thought it was one of the most bizarre pieces of casting I had ever seen: a Japanese character named Nakamura being played by the Hispanic Montalban. But then I recalled that Brando himself had played a Japanese character in Teahouse of the August Moon. In fact, Hollywood has a long history of "whitewashing" minority roles. A few notable examples - John Wayne playing Genghis Khan, Burt Lancaster playing an Apache warrior, and Charlton Heston playing a Mexican in Touch of Evil. In older Hollywood films, this was routine practice. It went hand in hand with the stereotypes and denigration of racial minorities that were also common. One of the most notorious examples was the character of I.Y. Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany's as played by Mickey Rooney. His buffoonish portrayal has been described as "one of the most offensive performances in the history of American movies". That kind of blatant ethnic stereotyping is not as common as it once was. Yet the issue of minority roles being played by white actors remains a contentious one. Even with films made in recent years. Alicia Nash in A Beautiful Mind (2001) was actually of Latin heritage, but is played by Jennifer Connelly in the film. In A Mighty Heart (2007) Mariane Pearl, who is of mixed race, is played by Angelina Jolie, who uses make-up to darken her skin. Jake Gyllenhaal starred as the Prince of Persia (2010). One of the most outstanding cases in recent times was the casting of Emma Stone as an AsianAmerican character in Cameron Crowe's film Aloha, released in 2015. The criticism that this drew led Crowe to offer an apology for the decision. It also led Emma Stone to explore the issue more deeply. In a later interview she said, “I’ve learned on a macro level about the insane history of whitewashing in Hollywood and how prevalent the problem truly is. It’s ignited a conversation that’s very important.” Ricardo Montalban in Sayonara (1957) Charlton Heston as Miguel Vargas in A Touch of Evil (1958) Burt Lancaster as Massai in Apache (1954)