Yellowface: Asian Whitewashing and Racism in Hollywood

The historical racism toward and under-representation of ethnic minorities in Hollywood films due to white people being at the top of the pecking order is discussed, this issue especially as it relates to East Asians. The most egregious practice within this issue is what is called yellowface, where white actors portray East Asian characters, it justified by those white people in power deeming white actors to be more mainstream and believing they more acceptable to the most white conservative factions of the country. This yellowfacing was not only done by minor actors in B-movies, but big name stars in big/"important" movies such as Paul Muni and Luise Rainer in The Good Earth (1937), Katharine Hepburn in Dragon Seed (1944), Marlon Brando in The Teahouse of the August Moon (1956), and arguably most infamously Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961). Their portrayals full of East Asian caricatures arguably to make them appear more East Asian to proverbial white middle America instead make them more offensive. White actors taking such roles also acted as obstacles for what few East Asian actors with names in the first half of the twentieth century, such as Sessue Hayakawa and Anna May Wong, to access starring roles. The roles of the Hays Code in the 1930s and WWII in the early 1940s in exacerbating the problem are also discussed. The softening of the racism is then presented, starting in the post-WWII era in America becoming friendly with its war enemies, and growing stronger in the 1960s with the civil rights movement. The few groundbreaking Hollywood movies addressing the East Asian experience positively and/or realistically are talked about. And the continued under-representation of East Asians and the more covert yellowfacing in today's Hollywood movies concludes the discussion.