15 Times Hollywood Was Guilty Of Whitewashing In The 21st Century
![15 Times Hollywood Was Guilty Of Whitewashing In The 21st Century](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/7/5/820275_320x180.jpg)
White people continue to obtain lead roles as well as collaborate with top filmmakers, they have always been the 'greatest,' and the culture will be rigged in their favor.
The thing is, Hollywood bending over backwards to have white people play other races, instead of you know--just casting an actor of that race or culture--is a tale as old time.
When you hear that John Wayne played Mongolian Chief Genghis Khan in 1956 or Yul Brynner played the King of Siam in 1951, you think to yourself, "Yeah, but it was the 1950s, and that's just how it was back then." The problem is far from over. Don't believe us? We were shocked too, but despite all the popular outrage the problem continues today.
Do we have even have to bring up Ghost in the Shell? Come on man!
Scope these 15 wild and egregious incidents of whitewashing that have occurred between 2005 and 2017.
![EXODUS: GODS & KINGS GRACKED.COM Ridley Scott did not take the 2014 opportunity to right the wrongs of 1956's The Ten Commandments. After the backlash for slathering fake tan on Christian Bale (Moses), Joel Edgerton (Ramesses II), Scott said, A film led by 'Mohammad so-and-so' wouldn't get funding, highlighting the depressing reality for non-white actors.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/8/5/820285.jpg)
Source: Screenrant
![GHOST IN BE THE SHELL CRACKED.COM Scarlett Johansson came under fire for taking on the lead role in 2017's Ghost in the Shell. Masamune Shirow's Manga series has an entirely Japanese cast, including Johansson's character, Major Motoko Kusanagi, and a petition circulated to recast the role.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/8/8/820288.jpg)
Source: Cheatsheet
![BATMAN BEGINS BE CRACKED.COM In Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins (2005) Liam Neeson plays Ra's al Ghul. Created as an Arab character by writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Neal Adams in 1971's Batman #232, his name is Arabic for head of the demon.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/8/1/820281.jpg)
Source: batman.fandom
![ALOHA BE CRACKED.COM Aloha from Emma Stone? Cameron Crowe faced a ton of controversy in 2015 for casting Emma Stone as Allison Ng, whose father is half-Chinese and half-Native Hawaiian. Although Crowe stated that her heritage wasn't immediately apparent, he now realizes the importance of representation.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/8/2/820282.jpg)
Source: theguardian
![PRINCE OF BE PERSIA CRACKED.COM In 2010, Disney cast Jake Gyllenhaal as the Prince of Persia, and it didn't initially cause much controversy. Now seen as one of the decade's worst examples of whitewashing, Gyllenhaal has since stated, I learned a lot from that, and am now more thoughtful about the roles I pick.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/9/0/820290.jpg)
Source: indiewire
![EDGE OF TOMORROW CRACKED.COM Tom can get away with this, right? Remember The Last Samurai? 2014's Edge of Tomorrow is based on Hiroshi Sakurazaka's 2004 novel All You Need is Kill. Tom Cruise's character was changed from Japanese soldier, Keiji Kiriya to Major William Bill Cage.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/8/3/820283.jpg)
Source: indiewire
![THE LONE BE RANGER CRACKED.COM Beloved Indigenous actor, Jay Silverheels popularized Tonto in TV's The Lone Ranger from 1949-1957. So they got it right in the 40s, but the 2013 Disney movie cast Johnny Depp (who claimed to be part Cherokee) as Tonto, in what Native Americans everywhere saw as brazen whitewashing.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/8/6/820286.jpg)
Source: zimbio
![30 DAYS OF NIGHT CRACKED.COM David Slade's 2007 30 Days of Night adaptation cast Josh Hartnett as Alaskan sheriff Eben Olemaun, who is of Inuit descent in the 2002 comic books. The character's last name was changed to Oleson to accommodate Hartnett's casting.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/7/9/820279.jpg)
Source: zimbio
![DRAGONBALL: BE EVOLUTION CRACKED.COM Anime as a whole has acquainted hordes of Western audiences with Japanese culture, and Goku of Dragon Ball Z is one of the most popular. In 2009's Dragonball: Evolution, 20th Century Fox upset fans worldwide by casting white, Canadian actor Justin Chatwin.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/8/7/820287.jpg)
Source: zimbio
![DOCTOR STRANGE BE CRACKED.COM In Doctor Strange comics, The Ancient One hails from the fictional Himalayan kingdom of Kamar-Taj in Tibet. Director Scott Derrickson says he cast Swinton to distance the character from stereotypical, racist roots, but fans wondered why not just cast an Asian actor and do the character justice?](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/8/4/820284.jpg)
Source: indiewire
![STUCK B CRACKED.COM The 2007 film Stuck is based on the true story of Chante Jawan Mallar, an African American woman who hit a homeless man and left him for dead (stuck in her windshield). The film changed Mallard's name to Brandi Boski and cast Mena Suvari.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/9/2/820292.jpg)
Source: indiewire
![PAN B CRACKED.COM With songs like What Makes The Red Man Red, Disney's Peter Pan did more than enough to offend Native Americans in 1953. Warner Bros kept that offensive tradition going by casting Rooney Mara as Native American character Tiger Lily in 2015's Pan.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/8/9/820289.jpg)
Source: projectcasting
![THE LAST AIRBENDER CRACKED.COM In 2010, fans were outraged when M. Night Shyamalan cast Noah Ringer as Aang (an air nomad, modeled after Tibetan Buddhist culture), and Nicola Peltz as Katara (of the water tribe, modeled after Inuit peoples), even though the Nickelodeon series garnered acclaim for representing eastern asian art, culture and mythology.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/8/0/820280.jpg)
Source: offscreen
![WARM BODIES B CRACKED.COM Writer/Director Jonathan Levine cast then Analeigh Tipton (now Lio Tipton) as Nora in the 2013 zombie-romance Warm Bodies, even though author Isaac Marion wrote her as half-Ethiopian in the 2010 novel that the film is based on.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/9/1/820291.jpg)
Source: complex
![21 BE CRACKED.COM The 2008 film 21 is adapted from the best-selling book Bringing Down the House, a true story of the MIT Blackjack Team. The real-life members were mostly Asian-American, but Kevin Spacey's character, Mickey Rosa is based on John Chang and Jim Sturgess' Ben Campbell portrays Jeff Ma.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/2/7/8/820278.jpg)
Source: historyvshollywood