Hollywood has a very obvious whitewashing problem and there are many examples that prove this contention. Take the latest evidence of this in Marvel’s film Doctor Strange, in which Tilda Swinton portrayed the Ancient One, originally an Asian character in the comic. Or when Ben Affleck cast himself as the Latin CIA agent in Argo. The most recent example of this, however, is Matt Damon being cast in the lead role of a film that is set in ancient China.
Hollywood has a very obvious whitewashing problem and there are many examples that prove this contention. Take the latest evidence of this in Marvel’s film Doctor Strange, in which Tilda Swinton portrayed the Ancient One, originally an Asian character in the comic. Or when Ben Affleck cast himself as the Latin CIA agent in Argo. The most recent example of this, however, is Matt Damon being cast in the lead role of a film that is set in ancient China. So when Vogue’s latest photo shoot is criticized for doing exactly that, one doesn’t think that the fashion giants made a mistake, it’s just how things are done in Hollywood.
Basically, Vogue caused an uproar over a photo shoot in their March edition, ironically dedicated to celebrating ‘diversity,’ in which they chose Karlie Kloss to feature in a Japanese photo shoot, with the model dressed as a geisha. Critics were furious with the magazine’s decision to use a Caucasian model for a shoot that was about Japanese culture with many enraged critics wondering why Vogue didn’t simply hire a Japanese model instead.
Kloss has since apologized for participating in the photo shoot. “These images appropriate a culture that is not my own and I am truly sorry for participating in a shoot that was not culturally sensitive,” wrote Kloss in a statement posted on social media.
