10 Most Awkward Instances Of Hollywood Whitewashing

5. Laurence Olivier - Othello - Othello

Laurence Olivier's attempt at Othello stemmed from his love of the source material, of course, but in retrospect the great actor's turn as the Moor of Venice is uncomfortable to watch - performance aside, the fact that Olivier spends the entire length of Stuart Burge's otherwise fantastic movie covered in black face paint is rather awkward. Then there's the performance itself, which Olivier plays in a rather campy fashion, all things considered, talking in a strange exotic accent that can't really be linked to any particular race or region. It seems fashioned out of nowhere - fantastical, even. It's not a bad performance from the British icon, exactly, and many critics of the time actually deemed it to be rather wonderful; it's just that, everything considered, it's hard to "enjoy" what's happening here due to the blatant whitewashing on show.