Fred VanLente on "The Weapon" casting

Jul 22, 2010 11:25

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 ( Read more... )

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Comments 45

poeticalpanther July 22 2010, 18:30:38 UTC
Are there places we could write to express our opinions on this to the producers?

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jedifreac July 22 2010, 18:48:01 UTC
We had a letter writing campaign early on in 2009. They were super dismissive and basically said: write all the letters you want, we don't care. We're doing this.

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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jedifreac July 22 2010, 18:49:59 UTC
Though--believe me, if there does come a time and place to protest this film, we have all the experience of running the Airbender campaign behind us to do so.

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poeticalpanther July 22 2010, 19:03:50 UTC
Ah, fair enough. Well, let's keep hoping, anyway.

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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glockgal July 22 2010, 19:21:34 UTC
Since the advocacy angle didn't work, nor did the public letter-writing campaign--

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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jedifreac July 22 2010, 19:30:34 UTC
Consensus was that this film seems to be really struggling. Have you heard ANYTHING about it lately other than this post by Fred VanLente? As far as I can tell there are no studios or writers attached to this thing. And we already attached some negative publicity to it. In this situation, I am inclined to let sleeping dogs lie rather than give them free publicity. A studio would have to be really stupid to fund this movie. We'll see what happens after Cowboys & Aliens, another Platinum Studios property, comes out.

If they try and bring up The Weapon again with yellowface casting, then we smack it down.

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glockgal July 22 2010, 19:35:18 UTC
In this situation, I am inclined to let sleeping dogs lie rather than give them free publicity.

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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jedifreac July 22 2010, 19:42:19 UTC
I'm hoping they are smart because then everyone wins (because Racebending.com staff really wants to spend another year of our lives organizing another protest campaign against an outdated casting practice amirite?) but if they do anything too brazen...I don't think the Asian American community is as timid anymore after Airbender.

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caterfree10 July 22 2010, 19:31:30 UTC
Platinum Studios's rep flat out [admitted] they knew and anticipated that the Asian American community would be upset with this casting, but decided to go ahead with it anyway.

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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amredthelector July 22 2010, 20:06:28 UTC
"We're aware that we're alienating the fanbase, but who cares! Money!!!"

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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jedifreac July 22 2010, 20:10:02 UTC
If The Weapon does progress I'll post the full conversation, but suffice to say there was a lot of fail in it.

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amredthelector July 22 2010, 20:33:54 UTC
Part of me wants to see it, just out of morbid curiosity. But the rest of me knows that if I did, I'd probably be screaming at my computer for hours.

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imnotasquirrel July 22 2010, 20:02:47 UTC
While I am pleased to see that Fred VanLente is not happy with the casting of David Henrie as Tommy Zhou, I can't say that I agree with his reasoning. He says it is wrong because Tommy's Chinese heritage is a huge part of his character, which implies that if that weren't the case - say, if Tommy's ethnicity were simply another random fact about him, on par with his height and favorite foods - then the casting would be okay. And I say it isn't. It would be just as wrong, although perhaps not as utterly ridiculous, which is something different. (Semantics, I know ( ... )

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jedifreac July 22 2010, 20:05:38 UTC
I agree. It's such a difference. Making Peter Parker black would not have impacted the "overall opportunity for white children and consumers to enjoy and relate to the wide array of comic book characters that are white." But for people who are Asian American, characters like Jubilee and Amadeus Cho and even obscure ones like Tommy Zhou are all we've got.

It's not hypocritical to speak out against a systemic bias against actors of color.

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imnotasquirrel July 22 2010, 20:32:25 UTC
But for people who are Asian American, characters like Jubilee and Amadeus Cho and even obscure ones like Tommy Zhou are all we've got.

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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skemono July 22 2010, 23:52:26 UTC
Making Peter Parker black would not have impacted the "overall opportunity for white children and consumers to enjoy and relate to the wide array of comic book characters that are white."

Indeed, it's pretty awesome.

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neurotic_rat July 22 2010, 21:05:54 UTC
Wow, just... wow... they... ugh... *eye twitch*
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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jedifreac July 22 2010, 21:07:27 UTC
To be fair, that comment came at the very end of an hour long, heated conversation in 2009. But yeah. Good times.

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