The Cringiest Examples of Whitewashing in Movies
Genghis Khan in The Conqueror
John Wayne as Genghis Khan. Seriously, John “The Duke” Wayne as the infamous Mongol warlord, Genghis “8% of the population is related to me genetically” Khan. Are you kidding me? What I don’t get about a lot of these old whitewashing cases is that it wasn’t even done so a talented actor could play the part. John Wayne was a hack and I don’t care how many red hat-wearing, old white guys I piss off by saying that. He was a terrible actor, racist, and all-around overrated human being, making this one of the absolutely cringiest examples of whitewashing I found in my search.
Mr. Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany’s
I suffer from something called secondhand shame (aka vicarious embarrassment). Basically, when I see someone doing something incredibly embarrassing or shameful, I quite literally feel as humiliated as they should. One of the worst examples of whitewashing of all time has to be the unforgivably racist performance by Mickey Rooney as the annoying neighbor Mr. Yunioshi. People might claim that “things were different back then,” but what they should really be saying is that ”things were terrible back then” if this kind of garbage was acceptable. Rooney very nearly ruins a classic film with his nauseating caricature of Japanese-Americans.
Prince Faisal in Lawrence of Arabia
Sorry Star Wars fans, but even Obi Wan himself (Alec Guiness) wore brownface. The British actor was cast in the role of an Arab prince named Faisal in the epic Laurence of Arabia. I guess at this point in the list, I should probably mention that as cringy as whitewashing can be, that doesn’t make the movies it occurs in awful. Laurence of Arabia is still very much a masterpiece, and while I don’t approve of the brownface in it, I still believe it is a film worth watching. It’s just a matter of taking a moment to admit that this one aspect of it is wrong and shouldn’t be condoned. What’s done is done and should never be done again.
Cleopatra in Cleopatra
The very least I can say about Audry Hepburn as Cleopatra is that at least they didn’t try to make her look Egyptian (which is still pretty bad). They slapped some make-up on her to give the character exotic vibes, but the filmmakers had the taste not to try to “disguise” her (I don’t condone the braids though, because they just look dumb on her). Still, Cleopatra is very much a character that is meant to be from Egypt. The only reasoning I can come up with on this one is that the producers were trying to embrace the idea that the queen was supposed to be one of the most beautiful women of all time, so they went with one of the more talented examples of mainstream beauty standards in those days. Still not a cool move though.
Othello in Othello (1965)
Let’s say this one more time for the cheap seats in the back, “BLACK FACE IS NEVER ACCEPTABLE! EVER!” Yet, in 1965 Sir Laurence Olivier decided to slap on some make-up to play Shakespeare’s Moor warrior. Yes, I know that back in The Bard’s day there were only white male actors allowed on the stage, so it’s technically “true to the period.” Here’s the thing, I’m not mad at a white guy like Shakespeare including representation in his writing, but I’m furious that in 1965 no one thought to cast a black man in a black role. Talented or not, Othello is a blemish on Olivier’s otherwise incredible career.