Colorism Is The Norm In Asian Movies Now And Forever

Black actors or black portrayal in movies were not be embraced in the past and many believed will be carried for centuries more in Asian countries, such as China and South Korea. Films like, "The Little Mermaid" and "Black Panther" has proven this recently.

Why? Because countries like China is still one of the most racially homogeneous nations in the world. It’s dominated by one ethnic group, the Han Chinese, which accounts for 92 percent of the population. Together with the fact that the country is highly nationalistic, natives of China haven’t always made it the best at embracing faces that don’t look like theirs.

An academic study found that, since 2012, when the Chinese government began allowing more foreign films into the country, Hollywood has cast more light-skinned actors in starring roles. The study concluded that U.S. film studios were casting to fulfill the aesthetic preferences of Chinese moviegoers. The study called this phenomenon a "light-skin shift." In other words, colorism is a universal issue.

This is actually true. Go out into the streets. Talk to any of the regular Chinese that you meet and ask them what movie character they prefer, a white Cinderella or a Black Ariel. A Caucassian Captain America or an African Black Panther. The answer is clear and it will linger for generations to come. No amount of Hollywood propaganda can change that.

"The Little Mermaid" performed very poorly in China because moviegoers couldn’t get past Halle Bailey portraying Ariel, who has been depicted as white since 1989. Even though Ariel is a fictional character who lives under the sea, they couldn’t get past Bailey’s brown skin because there are no reason on why they should.

In terms of racism, perceptions feed into a larger debate on multiculturalism in Asian markets. In Korea, all surveys, dating back decades ago, and until now showed the nationality-based preferences for white skin color define access, acceptance, and integration.

It’s an issue of classism. Unlike the racist beliefs that are a direct result of slavery, colorism in Asia comes from the idea that lower-wage workers had to work in the fields and had darker skin as a result. Lighter-skinned people were able to stay out of the sun. So, having white skin is not only about being Western.

In Asia, there is a deeply rooted cultural perception that associates dark skin with poverty, whereas white skin reflects a more comfortable life and, therefore, a higher socioeconomic status. When Asian markets saw Halle Bailey on screen, all they saw was poverty and a lower social class.

In 2018, "Black Panther’s unremarkable performance in China confirmed studios’ concerns about whether Chinese audiences would embrace a film with an all-Black cast. In the Chinese marketing of the film, the Blackness of Black Panther was tempered. Instead of featuring the whole cast, as the U.S. poster did, the official Chinese movie poster showed Chadwick Boseman alone, with his face completely covered by his Black Panther suit.

That is how everyone is in Asia and nobody can tell them otherwise. Not Hollywood and not even the United Nations. Learn to accept the fact. Colorism in Asia is here to stay while colorism, racism, or classism will always be the the main attraction for hundreds of years.