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“Race” is a social construct more than anything else. I can believe that while simultaneously believing that Hollywood has a significant problem casting Asian actors. For weeks now, there have been many, many complaints lodged against Aloha and Cameron Crowe for significant race problems. The film is set in Hawaii, one of the most racially diverse states in America, but the cast of Aloha is as diverse as a bar of Ivory soap. Bedhead covered the general complaints about the casting decisions (every major role is played by a white actor) previously.

But in the past week or so, people have been complaining specifically about Emma Stone and her character, Allison Ng. As you can probably tell from the name, Emma’s character is supposed to be mixed-race, one-quarter Asian and one-quarter Hawaiian. While it’s perfectly possible to have mixed-race ancestry and be a blonde and blue-eyed person, it also seems like Cameron Crowe quite literally white-washed a character. It would be like creating a character named Deepak Ravishankar Singh and casting Bradley Cooper (I just made myself laugh, but you know Hollywood would TOTALLY DO THAT). So, long story short, Cameron Crowe had to issue an apology/explanation.

From the very beginning of its appearance in the Sony Hack, “Aloha” has felt like a misunderstood movie. One that people felt they knew a lot about, but in fact they knew very little. It was a small movie, made by passionate actors who wanted to join me in making a film about Hawaii, and the lives of these characters who live and work in and around the island of Oahu.

Thank you so much for all the impassioned comments regarding the casting of the wonderful Emma Stone in the part of Allison Ng. I have heard your words and your disappointment, and I offer you a heart-felt apology to all who felt this was an odd or misguided casting choice. As far back as 2007, Captain Allison Ng was written to be a super-proud ¼ Hawaiian who was frustrated that, by all outward appearances, she looked nothing like one. A half-Chinese father was meant to show the surprising mix of cultures often prevalent in Hawaii. Extremely proud of her unlikely heritage, she feels personally compelled to over-explain every chance she gets. The character was based on a real-life, red-headed local who did just that.

Whether that story point felt hurtful or humorous has been, of course, the topic of much discussion. However I am so proud that in the same movie, we employed many Asian-American, Native-Hawaiian and Pacific-Islanders, both before and behind the camera… including Dennis “Bumpy” Kanahele, and his village, and many other locals who worked closely in our crew and with our script to help ensure authenticity.

We were extremely proud to present the island, the locals and the film community with many jobs for over four months. Emma Stone was chief among those who did tireless research, and if any part of her fine characterization has caused consternation and controversy, I am the one to blame.

I am grateful for the dialogue. And from the many voices, loud and small, I have learned something very inspiring. So many of us are hungry for stories with more racial diversity, more truth in representation, and I am anxious to help tell those stories in the future.

[From Cameron Crowe’s blog]

See, now I feel bad. The character was based on a real person under similar circumstances. I can understand that. It still feels awkward, but I get it. It also feels like Crowe is taking the hit for a much larger problem, as I said: that Asians and Asian-Americans are massively underrepresented in films and TV. That’s not just on Crowe.

Massive sidenote: I realized as I watched Lucy Liu play Joan Watson in Elementary how groundbreaking it is to have an Asian-American woman in that role specifically. It changes the Holmes-Watson dynamic in so many positive ways, and in other major ways, Liu’s casting is a non-issue. Meaning that the character works both as racially-blind and race-and-gender specific. I’d like to see more directors and producers figure out a way to do that.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Getty.