Hollywood Whitewashing: How Is This Still a Thing?

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SOURCEYes! Magazine

With the Oscars right around the corner, the #OscarsSoWhite controversy continues—sparked by the fact that for the second year in a row only white actors were nominated for Academy Awards.

Many people have come to the academy’s defense, saying that no actors of color were nominated because there aren’t enough roles for them in Hollywood. But what about all of the nonwhite characters that have been played by white people over the years?

From Marlon Brando and Audrey Hepburn, to Jake Gyllenhaal and Emma Stone, filmmakers have consistently cast white actors as nonwhite characters, depriving actors of color of the few roles written for people who look like them.

Just how often does this happen? This clip from Last Week Tonight takes us through a hilarious (and depressing) history of whitewashing in Hollywood.

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