Whitewashing in Hollywood

This was an interesting/funny article by Aasif Mandvi (many of you have probably seen him on the Daily Show) who was "channeling" the persona of an important studio executive to give the Hollywood point of view on the issue. http://media.salon.com/2012/05/whitewash_rectangle-460x307.jpg

If you watched "Reel Injuns" then you heard a little about this; white actors being painted brown to resemble a Native American...as opposed to just hiring a Native American to play the part. It isn't just Native Americans though. This has been happening in Hollywood forever...white people playing the roles of Asians, Native Americans, Mexicans, Arabs, etc. This made me think of that movie with Robert Downy Jr. where he plays an actor who is playing the role of a black man; an instance where Hollywood is actually mocking the ridiculousness of this tradition of casting white men for the roles of other ethnicities/races. 

The article is interesting because the author...channeling the studio executive...explains a few reasons why Hollywood NEEDS to do this; much of which revolves around the needs of the white audience. For example, "there's nothing that white people like more than seeing other white people in movies and on television," or in the Mickey Rooney/Breakfast at Tiffany's example, "It's so much funnier than finding a real Chinese actor just talking like himself. Then you'd have to get a screenwriter to actually write genuinely funny lines for that character. You get so much more comedy bang with buckteeth and a funny accent." This quote also points out another problem; Hollywood perpetuating stereotypes of other ethnicities by making fun of them...when in reality it's not even someone from the actual ethnic group...it's a white guy! That's not to say that white people stereotypes and jokes aren't made (ditsy blondes, hillbillies, super conservatives like Jack on 30 Rock, and super liberals too...so much more!). The difference here is Hollywood doesn't have a black guy dressed up as a white guy (oh well there was that one movie with the Wayans brothers dressed up as white girls...) ...it's white people making fun of themselves as opposed to someone from one ethnic group (such as the dominant White) making fun of another ethnic group. 

There's some other interesting and funny points the author makes, and a slideshow of some white actors playing the part of other ethnicities. It's interesting that the ones they show are from older movies. I was sitting here trying to think of movies from more recent times and if this is still being done or if it was more of something from the past...and honestly I'm drawing a blank just because it's been a while since I've seen any movies! If you guys can think of any it would be interesting to hear about them.