Today, writer Fred VanLente shared his response to the casting of The Weapon:
As those of you who read THE WEAPON know-- and all of you can, in its entirety, for free, at
http://www.drunkduck.com/The_Weapon/ (PLUG! PLUG!)--that Tommy Zhou's Chinese heritage is a huge part of his
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That was before the big backlash against Airbender. I think before Airbender, there was still some sense that it would be "easy" to get away with "whitewashing" a cast, like with 21. But with Airbender, the director was actually repeatedly asked to justify his decisions, and nearly every review mentioned--some even made jabs--at the casting.
I'm hoping that after Airbender, Hollywood moneybags will be less willing to finance a project with yellowface, and that this project will not be able to take off.
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I'm SO. FUCKING. SICK. of constantly seeing only people who look like me given leads. Leaving aside any social justice issues for a minute, it's BORING AS HELL. I want to hear stories about people's lives who don't match the predominant whiteness of North American culture. :/
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I'm wondering if a media blast might allow Platinum Studios to be shamed into realizing that their 'We don't care what you think; we're whitewashing this movie' attitude is a consciously racist decision. Many media outlets are now aware of our org, thanks for TLA - can we start encouraging the press (particularly entertainment media) to contact and question Platinum Studios?
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If they try and bring up The Weapon again with yellowface casting, then we smack it down.
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Good point. Particularly with Cowboys & Aliens coming out - if the media talked to them, I'm sure they'd just pull a 'why are these mean cruel regular folk oppressing our innocent 'lil corporate money-maker?'
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WHAT THE FUCK?! They KNEW that people would be pissed and did this shit anyway?! THE FUCKING HELL?! ARE THEY STUPID?! I. I JUST. I. LAKJSFGDJSHFHLASDHBVEWYEFR*IVBEVWYTI:OEWFBVREYT*W(OREJWHFRVJXEFRNBEVRTCRDEYKUSFGRVFDKERULIGTKBJVHEIOTGLBRIUSAJBFHRKTLE>KHRGKEVJYFKLGRETIELDERFGBLRIGRBEVDYEKUWLIGKTERBESFULIRGNRVKDSLICOEFRIUGBVNFCMSANBCVULBIGSBADVFRGIUTRJBSGFFDSBFIERWLIG-*I think y'all get the point*
If they don't give a damn, may the boycott commence! >O
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Yeah, it's just kind of disgusting. You'd think they'd at least be smart enough not to SAY it and make themselves look like giant douchenozzles.
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It's not hypocritical to speak out against a systemic bias against actors of color.
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Exactly! And also, to look at it from an actor's perspective (as opposed to the viewer's) - if a Caucasian guy doesn't get the role of Peter Parker because he lost out to a POC, so what? The Caucasian will have plenty of other opportunities; the vast majority of casting calls are for white men. You can't say the same for Asian men. You take away a role like Tommy Zhou, and you take away one of the few opportunities for Asian guys in Hollywood.
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Indeed, it's pretty awesome.
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I can't find words to properly describe how I feel, except expressing profanity to Platinum Studio's rep and the producers for that very shallow response. And they really are still going to produce this despite people's concerns?
I want to say that I would rather support the comic writer/artist's work by buying it, but seeing it on Platinum Studio's site makes me very leery of the fact that that means I'm donating my money in (possibly) financing this movie.
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