Dear Hollywood Whitewashers: Joe Wright (Pan)

In a way, I’m glad that this film got such poor reviews.  I remember being enchanted by the early trailers – right up until I realized Rooney Mara was playing Tiger Lily.  I don’t think I would have seen it regardless of its quality, but if it had been good, I would’ve been bummed about not seeing it, since the promotional stuff looked so up my alley.  Except the whitewashing, natch.

Here’s director Joe Wright on why he picked the former The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (U.S. version) actress for his Tiger Lily:

“I met actresses from China, India, Japan, Russia, Africa and Iran. But it was Rooney who felt the most like a warrior princess. My point was to make a heroine for little girls. A character that wasn’t a victim and never a damsel in distress — she’s more capable than any of the boys, especially Hook. She’s the best and smartest warrior in the film. That felt more important to me rather than placating other concerns.”

Wright has also talked, in this interview and elsewhere, about Tiger Lily and her tribe being the indigenous people of Neverland, which translates onscreen to a lot of different races being represented within the tribe.  This is why, as he makes clear above, he didn’t set out with the intention of casting Tiger Lily with a Native American actress.  Per his vision of the tribe, Tiger Lily could have been any race.  Aaaaand… he went with the well-known white woman.  So, the leader of the film’s racially-harmonious band of natives and the only character in the group that we come into the film already knowing, is Mara’s very white Tiger Lily.  In other words, we have the important white character standing in front of the glorified backdrop of racially-diverse minor characters and extras.  Diversity in action!

Generally, Joe Wright, I get why you reinterpreted the tribe.  There’s the old Disney cartoon’s racism, of course, and really, there’s no reason that the indigenous people of a magical land should be portrayed as being the same as the indigenous people of the U.S.  Regardless of their race, the Neverland folks have a culture of their own (although you certainly still could have cast all Native American actors.)  However, that doesn’t change the fact that I think Mara’s casting was a mistake.  First, it’s never going to sit right to take a character famously depicted as being a PoC and cast a white person in the role, and Native Americans have few enough opportunities in Hollywood as it is.  Second, putting the white woman in charge lessens the impact of having your tribe being so racially diverse.  And third, even though I’m guessing that it wasn’t your conscious intention, it kind of makes it look like you came up with the whole “diverse Neverland natives” idea specifically to avoid casting a Native American actress as Tiger Lily, which undermines your conceit even further.

But I want to talk about what you had to say about the character herself.  A warrior princess.  Not a victim or a damsel in distress.  A heroine for little girls.  All awesome, and I agree.  Tiger Lily is a character who’s been poorly served ever since she was created, and a reimagined adaptation is the perfect time to let her shine.  But then, you top it off with, “That felt more important to me rather than placating other concerns,” and that’s where you lose me.  Because, why couldn’t you have done both?  Why couldn’t an actress of color (and really, diverse tribe or not, I still tend to think Tiger Lily at least ought to have stayed Native American) be all that?  Your argument falls into the trap that suggests that you could have had a great character or a character of color (and that you would have done the latter solely to “placate” others,) and that’s never been true.  I understand that you met actresses from a number of different countries, and I know you say Mara was the best that you saw.  But the thing is, there are many Native American actresses out there, most of whom are probably not used to getting any chances, and if you’d come at it with the approach, “I need to find the right Native American actress for this part,” you would have found her.  She’s out there somewhere.  It would have been harder, because you would have had to look more and in different places, but she could have played your warrior princess to perfection, and she could have been a heroine for little girls, including the ones who don’t often see people who look like themselves onscreen.