It Does Matter if you’re Colored or White!

The infamous promotional line targeted at a native American, ’87 years old and he still needs his security blanket’, from Elvis Presley’s contentious movie, Stay Away, Joe (1986), created a furor in the entire Hollywood industry. These otherwise light-hearted remarks on an old Native American man persecuted the king of pop as well as the mastermind behind the movie, Peter Tewksbury, as racists. What seemed to be a mere translation of the classic novel, Stay Away, Joe by Dan Cushman, turned out to become a blatant attempt to disgrace the colored ethnicity and mock at their incapability of performing lead roles onscreen. Not only Presley, but numerous American actors who have portrayed the roles of indigenous Americans in reel world have faced the flak of the minor community for launching racist attacks on them and disgracing their obscure talent. Hollywood is a globally renowned industry, known for producing world-class and niche entertainment. Surprisingly, it is still indicted for being prejudiced towards the majority white actors and accused of promoting race-bending, wherein the colored men, nevertheless their caliber are given a passé when it comes to casting the lead with prominent roles.

Hollywood has been a witness to this racist furor since forever, however, here is lowdown of the ten most popular white actors whose roles as native Americans have left the minor community fuming!

1. Burt Lancaster, Apache (1954)

Lancaster’s gallant blue eyes, robust body and the typical tough-guy looks failed to sway away his female fans in this movie, where he dared to defy all the norms and portray the role of an Apache soldier. The world witnessed this first-of-its kind movie, wherein a white actor exemplified the role of a warrior who rose to the fame of a hero, following his escape from captivity, surrender of Geronima and his return to his home. His role saddened the native Americans who expected someone from their own community to enact this challenging role.

2. Elvis Presley, Stay Away, Joe (1968)

The world which got attuned to tapping its feet with Presley’s heart-pounding number ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, had a hard time gulping down the news of the ace performer’s baseless attempts to belittle his minority contemporaries in the industry, with this role. He was floored by the critiques who criticized him of enacting a role which was a far cry from his real image. His portrayal as the Native American put him to media’s scrutiny and accusations for displaying poor acting skills in the movie. Worse was the tag line of the movie, which attempted to mock at the customary ensembles of a Native man.

3. Laurence Olivier, Othello (1965)

Laurence who had once won the critical acclamation for dramatizing romance with his enchanting role of Romeo, in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, on stage shows, invited the global storm for playing the role of Moor in the movie, Othello. His made-up black face, aggression and a put-up accent typical of the black minorities to personate Moor, failed to impress the minority audience, instead left them outrageous. His execution of the archetypal Negro in the movie was perceived as a caricature to the typical features of a black man. Nevertheless the criticism, the movie did manage to sweep the heart of the critics and was honored with several Academy award nominations.

4. Mickey Rooney, Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)

This renowned American actor, stage performer and host to many television shows, witnessed an unprecedented pause in his career graph with his so-called ‘outrageous’ role of Mr. Yunioshi in the movie. This light-hearted, romantic drama turned out to be an epitome of grave racism for the minorities, right after its release on the silver screen. His role was termed, ‘graceless’ and ‘prejudiced’ by his Japanese contemporaries. His role was regarded as trivial and a wasteful attempt to exploit the talent of the actor. His donned yellowed face and fake teeth urged the audience to laugh at his stereotypical sensitivities.

5. Natalie Wood, West Side Story ( 1961)

This classic adaptation of the Broadway Musical presentation, West Side Story, in 1961 should have met with a better fate than garnering the storm for casting Natalie Wood as the leading heroine. Though the movie projects an engaging story about two rival gangs, the story aspect was easily given a miss when the world saw a white woman playing the role of a colored woman. Every aspect of Natalie, right from her make-up to her costumes to her made-up smile was criticized as attempts to create a caricature of a Peurto Rican origin. What further infuriated the audience was the casting of Peurto Rican actresses to play subordinate roles to Natalie in the movie.

6. Jake Gyllenhaal, Prince of Persia (2010)

This shirtless, macho and chocolate-boyish prince of Persia could have let many hearts skip a beat, had the actor been acknowledged for his riveting acting skills in the movie, than his put-on looks. The story and the screenplay hardly managed to impress the audience, who was rather laughing at the actor for his unrealistic and doctored looks. His dark features and loose strands barely managed to stand any comparison with the typical looks of a man belonging to the Middle Eastern descent. The film was ruthlessly disregarded as an attempt to mock at the Persians as well as disgrace the failed attempts of the American director, Mike Newell.

7. Angelina Jolie, A Mighty Heart (2007)

Though it may sound unbelievable, this actress known for her svelte personality and luscious lips, welcomed flak with her role of Mariane Pearl, a Cuban woman in search of her husband, in this film. A blockbuster movie, with an intriguing script and a fantastic team of talented actors, failed to create its aura because of its so-called racism streaks. Jolie was made the butt of jokes with her typical tanned look and curly strands, as an attempt to look closer to a typical Cuban woman. Her make-believe role hardly seemed convincing to the Cuban audience, who protested for casting an authentic actress with Cuban affinity to add an element of reality in the movie.

8. Ben Affleck, Argo (2012)

This popular actor who won his ticket to fame with the Hollywood classic, Pearl Harbor, hogged the headlines again with the movie Agro, for all the wrong reasons. Nowhere the actor was dedicated with the slightest of lines in his appraisal, rather, the entertainment news buzzed with his artificial looks and amateur acting in portraying a Latino.  So, who cares if the movie is an engaging science fiction or whether Ben has played the role of his career, the bottom line is, ‘How dare Ben plan the role of a colored man?’

9. James D’Arcy, Cloud Atlas (2012)

This British actor, with his remarkable role of Father Francis in the horror flick Exorcist, got the world enraged with his role of a Korean archivist in search of Sonmi 451, in the movie Cloud Atlas. Instead for its remarkable script, the movie was more talked-about for its actor’s not-so-fine acting skills. His attempts to look more Asian with the typical slant eyes and yellow skin were met with drastic results and criticism from the Korean community.

10. Johnny Depp, The Lone Ranger, 2013

Contrary to his eccentric role in the movie, Pirates of the Caribbean, Johnny’s put-on as the American native warrior, Tonto, failed to seep-in life to this heroic reel character. Though the movie is replete with adventurous sequences, tongue-n-cheek humor and some of the most rib-tickling action sequences, it simply failed as a movie with the native citizens, as they expected a real actor with authentic background to portray the role.

A white actor portraying the role of any other ethnicity is still treated as a matter of humiliation and disservice to the audience belonging ethnic cultural backgrounds. This perception, however, needs a reality check now with an array of colored actors, like Jackie Chan making big in the Hollywood industry. Instead of paying heed to the color and ethnicity, an actor’s skills and caliber ought to be given importance.