Our reading on the Avatar: The Last Airbender inspired me to focus my project on the impact that the “whitewashing” (of movies) has on our society. Furthermore, I was particularly intrigued by the idea that the film industry prefers white actors for reasons of increased marketability. It seems to be the case that the average American perceives whiteness as the standard for beauty (Wade 2014).
As a Colombian-American, I have been influenced by the media to attribute beauty, intelligence, and success to whiteness. As such, I assume that like many others, I have been more willing to watch a movie with white actors over a movie with actors of other races. However, to assume that this is the case would be a mistake. As a result, I want to investigate if white actors are truly more marketable. In addition, I want to investigate if there is actually a difference in quality between white actors and actors of other races. If this is not the case, then why does our society favor whiteness?
My hypothesis is that the preference for white actors stems form the continuous use of them. If whitewashing is reduced, the disparities between races will gradually decrease until non-white characters cease to be played by white actors. While it is important to see present trends in the film industry, it is essential to look at the history of whitewashing in Hollywood. It would also be interesting to compare it with the film industry in other countries—perhaps Bollywood?
I want to start by looking at the phenomenon of whitewashing. Statistical data on the presence of brown actors in the Academy awards and Emmys would be useful to see if there is a difference in popularity and success between white actors as compared to non-white actors. Next it would be important to look at previous studies done on proportions of actors used in films and awards given to actors by race. Finally it is important to explore the literature of whitewashing in Hollywood.