6. Pan Is Accused Of "Whitewashing" For Casting Rooney Mara As A Native American Princess
Like Aloha before it, Joe Wright's upcoming "re-imagining" of J.M. Barrie's classic Peter Pan (in true Hollywood reboot style aggressively named "Pan") was accused of whitewashing after he cast actress Rooney Mara as the Native American Tiger Lily. After Mara's casting was announced, a petition went up in a bid to get Hollywood "to stop casting white actors to play people of colour" - a petition which a whopping 94,000 people have signed to date. Imagine you're Rooney Mara for a second; you sign on to star in a new movie and 94,000 people turn to you and say: "Do not do this. We don't want you." Of course, the petition wasn't an attack on Mara as a person, but on Warner Bros.' decision to cast her in the role of a Native America, which she clearly is not. Director Joe Wright defended his decision to cast Mara, claiming that he " how it appears from the outside perspective. But when people see the film, they get it. Here's hopin', Joe.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
