What the perfect shade for the child actress would have been LONG POST
So I've met a lot of people in the real world and seen some posts on here that seem to be wondering whether or not the casting an Asian child in the role of a computer-minded prodigy child was insensitive and/or inappropriate. I am going to explore this question right now. I believe another person on this board said that Hollywood "is not even trying to hide its overt racism" and that while they watched the trailer in a theater with a lot of Asian people, all of the Asian people were laughing. Personally, I am a little torn, so let me think "out loud" on my keyboard here:
In Their Defense:
1. An unknown child actress got a big role.
2. No law against minority performers, and they are often underused. This girl's presence is a good thing.
3.Prodigies come in all shapes and sizes. It is just as likely that an Asian prodigy will appear as any other ethnicity.
4.Stop being so sensitive you cursed hippie!!!
5.If she had been black everyone would be screaming about this being a White Messiah movie.
6. If she had been white, everyone would have been screaming that Hollywood thinks only white children are capable of being brilliant.
7. I am sure she made bank. She's not complaining, why are you?
You know, I think
Evidence Against:
1. Stereotypes exist, and are certainly used in movies.
2. Stereotypes do more harm than good.
3. Minority actors suffer from the fact that they cannot (or are less often) casted in any role. If there was a book about a "family" many people would immediately think "white family" and would have a fit if they casted a hispanic family for the movie. If you casted the role of the "main bully" with a black child, people would scream racism because you are making the bad guy black. This is particularly troublesome to me because I find the evil characters the most fun to play, don't you? Why can't I play the bad guy? WHY? So confining Asian actors to roles like these is not just unfair to them as performers (limiting their talents) but unfair to all of us (limiting our access to their talents). Hope number 3 made sense.
4. What is wrong with you, you blatantly racist swine???
Having just completed that lovely list, I have come to this conclusion: if she had been Latina, not as many people would have cared. That seems to be the perfect shade for this kind of thing. Not too dark, not too light, and there is no annoying "oh you always say Asians are smart" thing attached to them. It's settled. They should have casted a lovely Puerto Rican child. What were they thinking?
That being said, the "In Their Defense" list has more numbers than the "Evidence Against" list...so, they get a pass from me. It is ok that they casted an Asian child.