10 Worst Examples Of Hollywood Whitewashing

The TV series of The Lone Ranger last aired way back in the 1950s, and was an odd choice for director Gore Verbinski to turn into a modern blockbuster. But this was the guy who’d turned a modest theme park ride into a massively successful franchise, so why shouldn’t this one work?

Well, the main reason was the Ranger’s sidekick Tonto, who was one hell of a Native American stereotype back in the day, an issue which was the first thing brought to mind when most people thought of the franchise.

Would Verbinski thoughtfully address the issue and portray the Comanche fairly? No, he hired Johnny Depp, who brought his usual subtlety to the role: decked out in white face paint and with a bird as a hat, Depp pranced around in an annoying variant of his Captain Jack Sparrow shenanigans (and indeed, those of most other characters he’s played).

Confronted with questions about the race issue (mostly along the lines of “what the hell were you thinking?”), Depp decided to argue that he had Native American ancestry, a fact which he couldn’t prove, and that he wanted to “right the wrongs of the past”. Well, Johnny, maybe you weren’t the best person to do that.