My blog
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"21" Casting Foul
Thursday, Apr 3, 2008 1:44AM / Standard Entry / Members only
Not sure how many of you have seen the film 21 or read the book. It's about a bunch of MIT students that figured out a system to beat casinos at blackjack and raked in millions of dollars. The film currently stars, Jim Sturgess and Kate Bosworth. BUT, in the actual story, most of the team was Asian American and in fact used ethnicity and stereotypes to their advantage to pull off their scam. The casting of this famous and well publicized story clearly does not reflect reality. Some people are calling foul and the casting "racist."
Let's think about this a little...
"Racism" is certainly a knee-jerk term that does a lot to excite tension and little for people to investigate the processes that underlie the result.
But, there is an underlying belief in the industry that to be "universally appealing" lead actors must be "non-ethnic" or rather: white; which guides the economic and aesthetic choices of studio execs. Your argument that audiences go to watch people that look like them is flawed because I find it hard to believe that Spider Man 3 became a blockbuster hit with only a white demographic. The argument doesn't work the other way. But, studio execs make the very same argument and buy into that one-sided mentality.
Mezrich has criticized the casting of 21, and argued that it plays into fears of the marketability of an all-Asian cast.
http://www-tech.mit.edu/V125/N43/43vegas.html
This is certainly a result of the limited/conservative social imagination on the part of studio execs and what they believe the public is interested in watching. The fact is that because of this dynamic less minority actors are giving good roles in which to prove themselves and be exposed to the public and thus less likely to headline movies with few exceptions. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. As a filmmaker, I've certainly been told (and have heard numerous stories) that if I had made some characters white, the film would be easier to finance. Of course that is because there are few bankable minority stars because of the very dynamic described above.
Without many minority celebrities, the films are not given the marketing attention they could if Matt Damon is headlining the film. Also, minority films in the USA are ghettoized, made on lower budgets and almost exclusively targeted toward that minority. Could 21 have been a hit filled with Asian Americans? Of course, if the studio was willing to invest in new talent and put the marketing dollars behind it. The fact was that they weren't willing to take the risk and challenge the status quo and made a bland film filled with the usual gambit of pasty bright young things.
Ken Leung being casted in LOST is great because he's on screen but not justified by his ethnicity. He's Asian American but flawed and crazy. Let's have more roles like that for Asian Americans. As rare as it is, it does happen and it's inspiring when it does.
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Click! Brooklyn Museum.
Wednesday, Apr 2, 2008 2:50AM / Standard Entry / Members only
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Today's second photo
Saturday, Mar 1, 2008 1:25AM / Standard Entry / Members only
A man displays his work on the street.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/holdtheframe
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Today's photo
Saturday, Mar 1, 2008 1:21AM / Standard Entry / Members only
My cousin's baby, Sherwood. He has hands all over him! We should all be so lucky.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/holdtheframe
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down time during a photo shoot
Wednesday, Jan 23, 2008 1:40AM / Standard Entry / Members only
We had to set up a photo shoot for a photograph that was to be a prop in the film. While we had some down time, I took some crew photos.
Renee really enjoys her McDonald's.
Dan, our gaffer, and his best friend.
Vinci, our costume designer and her weapon of choice.
Kit, our director, taking one for safety.
Gordon, our AC, doesn't realize he has a panda in his 8x10 camera.
Jane, our fabulous Make Up artist. I can't say enough good things about her.
I meter with a tuna bun.
