Actress Constance Wu calls out racist whitewashing for Matt Damon’s ‘Great Wall’

[MrScorpio]

If you’re a fan of “Fresh Off the Boat”—the hit ABC show that, despite the fact that we are living in the year 2016, is unique and groundbreaking because it happens to center on an Asian-American family—you may know Constance Wu as the mom character, Jessica Huang. What you should also know is that Wu is very much not feeling Hollywood’s white savior nonsense, erasure of people of color or indefensible racism. A couple of months ago, in an interview with Vulture, Wu basically took the entire film and television industry to task for the pathetic job it does with representation. Throughout the interview, she offers thoughts that are smart, insightful and totally on-point. Seriously, very worth a read.

More recently, Wu took to Twitter to discuss The Great Wall, a new movie that casts Matt Damon in the lead of a story that takes place during the Northern Song dynasty in China. It’s an absurd and insulting casting choice, and a stellar example of whitewashing. Wu pulled not a single punch in her takedown of the film and the thinking that allows it. It’s pure truth, and she is awesome for saying it.

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/08/actress-constance-wu-calls-out-racist-whitewashing-for-matt-damons-great-wall/

[LuvNewcastle]

1. Lol! How perfect.

Can't wait to see Owen Wilson play Othello.

[JustAnotherGen]

2. Weird

This is the one based on the Kafka short story - right? The main character in that is Chinese. Or - is the narrator being played by an Asian and Damon is like Brad Pitt in 12 Years a Slave? Window dressing but not the main event?

The IMDB doesn't give character names.

I'm going to have download some Kafka - haven't read him since I was about 11/12.

[BlueMTexpat]

3. Good for her!

For anyone who doesn't already know this, the Netflix series Marco Polo generally covers the era featuring the end of the Song dynasty. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_dynasty As with most viewers, I found the second season to be better than the first, largely because it focuses less on Polo himself and more on the Mongols, Chinese, and other peoples. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Polo_(TV_series)

There are tons of absolutely wonderful actors of Asian origin in the series. Unfortunately, some of my favorite characters, including one played by Asian-American actor Rick Yune (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Yune), need to be killed off for even a smidgen of historical accuracy.