Margaret Cho ‘Felt Like a House Asian’ After ‘Doctor Strange’ Whitewashing Talk With Tilda Swinton
Swinton’s casting as The Ancient One in the Marvel film sparked controversy because the character is an Asian man in the comics
Beatrice Verhoeven | December 16, 2016 @ 3:12 PM
Last Updated: December 16, 2016 @ 6:21 PM
Margaret Cho says Tilda Swinton called her about the “Doctor Strange” whitewashing controversy — but the whole conversation made her feel like “a house Asian.”
The comedian explained that Swinton reached out to Cho after the comedian made countless comments on social media about Swinton’s casting as The Ancient One in “Doctor Strange,” a casting that caused controversy because the character is an older man of Tibetan descent in the comics.
“Tilda eventually emailed me and she said that she didn’t understand why people were so mad about ‘Doctor Strange’ and she wanted to talk about it, and wanted to get my take on why all the Asian people were mad,” Cho told Lee, adding that the the encounter was “weird.”
“It was a long fight about why the part should not have gone to her. That’s what I thought: The part should not have gone to her,” Cho said. “We’d fight about it and basically it ended with her saying, ‘Well I’m producing a movie and Steven Yeun is starring.'”
Cho also said Swinton told her not to tell anybody.
“They would have the house servant who was your confidante … The servant that was close to you,” Cho said. “That’s sort of what I felt like, like I was following her with an umbrella. I had a weird feeling about the entire exchange, especially the part of ‘don’t tell anybody.”
When the film’s trailer hit the web, fans said casting Swinton was racist because the character was depicted in the comics as being Tibetan — and Swinton is a white British woman.
“There is little for me to add except to say that anyone speaking up for a greater accuracy in the representation of the diversity of the world we live in has me right beside them,” Swinton said about the issue in a cover story interview for November’s Out magazine.
“As someone who has worked from the beginning as an artist within a queer aesthetic, the urgency of that voice is always going to be welcome. At the same time, the film Marvel has made — in which they created a part for which I was not bad casting, in actual fact — is a departure from the source material in more ways than one,” Swinton added.
Soon after the trailer’s release, Marvel addressed the uproar by underlining their “strong record of diversity in its casting of films,” and preceded Swinton’s statements about the character by saying, “The Ancient One is a title that is not exclusively held by any one character, but rather a moniker passed down through time.”
In response to Cho’s comments, Swinton’s team sent TheWrap the complete email thread between the two, which you can read here.
Upon being told that Swinton shared their emails, Cho sent TheWrap a note, saying, “Asian actors should play Asian roles. I believe my emails stand on their own and should be taken for the spirit in which they were intended. I am grateful that the debate has now entered the national discussion and remain a huge fan of Tilda’s. Now I’m going to go fall asleep at a museum.”
What If Historical Movies About White People Starred Asian Actors Instead? (Photos)
Western movies about the Asian continent typically star an audience surrogate -- someone to whom the other characters can explain basic plot stuff for the sake of viewers. It's a pretty common trope in storytelling, but the way Hollywood often uses it in these types of movies is offputting for many people.
That's because the surrogate is usually a displaced generic white guy who ends up becoming the main protagonist (like Matt Damon in "The Great Wall").
To illustrate why folks find this trope baffling, we've swapped the leads in several movies about European and American history with East Asian actors, mirroring the storytelling cliche that repeatedly inserts white people into East Asian history. If this makes you feel weird, good -- that means you get it.
Art by TheWrap's Jordan Burchette.
"Gladiator," starring Chow Yun-fat Picture pretty much the same movie -- about a Roman general who's named Imperial Regent when Marcus Aurelius decides his own son isn't fit to become Emperor.
Except we'll have an extended prologue about Chow's character walking 8,000 miles to Rome from southern China and quickly winning everyone's respect with his mad-but-exotic fighting skills. But there's still some racial tension. This is more or less how all "white people in Asia" movies start.
"The Patriot," starring Ken Watanabe Like "Gladiator," this version of "The Patriot" is mostly the same, but with a new backstory for the lead plus some racial tension: Watanabe plays a Japanese sailor whose ship was caught in a storm that sent it drifting across the Pacific Ocean, eventually reaching the California coast.
He then makes his way east, collecting a wife and making some children along the way, stumbling into the French and Indian War. He helps out the British, winning their respect with his mad-but-unorthodox skill with an exotic weapon called a katana. Then, after this prologue montage, it's otherwise just the same movie as before.
"Forrest Gump," starring Stephen Chow This mid-20th century "American Dream" fairy tale takes on a whole new meaning when, instead of being about some dimwitted white boy from Alabama, it follows a Chinese tourist looking get the full American experience: playing college football, going to war in Asia, accidentally investing in Apple in the '70s, watching his mother die for lack of good healthcare options, and settling down with the cool rebel girl who's found Jesus and stopped doing drugs.
"The Alamo," starring Jackie Chan Chan plays Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier. The only change to the story would be the racial slurs white people sling in Davy's direction -- but like totally in a friendly way, like white people do.
"Thirteen Days," starring Andy Lau What if the real hero of the Cuban Missile Crisis was not the made-up white BFF of the Kennedy brothers but instead the made-up Chinese diplomat BFF of the Kennedy brothers?
They're longtime drinking buddies, and it's up to Andy Lau to make sure the Kennedys didn't accidentally initiate global thermonuclear war. This would have ramped up the tension considerably, with the Joint Chiefs steaming extra hard and whining about that interloper (by way of racial slurs).
"300," starring Lee Byung-hun Having been captured by the Persians during a border skirmish on the eastern side of the Persian Empire -- this brave warrior managed to escape west, where he hooked up with the Spartans and taught them some cool exotic fighting techniques.
These new unorthodox techniques come in handy when the Persian Empire comes calling -- thanks to this warrior from the Far East, 300 Spartans are able to hold off the invaders while the bulk of the Greek forces retreat at the legendary Battle of Thermopylae.
"Braveheart," starring Donnie Yen A wandering Chinese warrior is exiled from his home after, I don't know, being framed for crimes he didn't commit. He ends up landing in Scotland and helping the locals rebel against the oppressive rule of the English.
"Kingdom of Heaven," starring Masahiro Higashide Can this half-Japanese blacksmith, who's made his way to the Levant in the mid-12th century after discovering that Liam Neeson is his real father, help bring some kind of understanding between the Christian Crusaders and the Muslim forces of Saladin before one side wipes out the other?
"Troy," starring Michelle Yeoh I think Michelle Yeoh would make a fine Achilles, personally.
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We examine Hollywood whitewashing by putting the shoe on the other foot
Western movies about the Asian continent typically star an audience surrogate -- someone to whom the other characters can explain basic plot stuff for the sake of viewers. It's a pretty common trope in storytelling, but the way Hollywood often uses it in these types of movies is offputting for many people.
