Insight: “The Little Mermaid”, Apu, and Scarlett Johansson Is 100% Right

PC Culture simply can’t make up its mind now, can it?

This last week has been rife with the controversy surrounding castings and who should play what based on whatever. In this past week alone controversy has been rife with people complaining about a live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid casting black actress Halle Bailey in the lead role and of course another baseless accusation that the character of “Apu” is racist, this time coming from Aziz Ansari, stand-up comedian now on parole from #MeToo jail who just dropped a Netflix special where, after clearly learning nothing from his sexual misconduct allegations, tried his damnedest to make sure he tried to look “woke” with his take on the subject.

AS IF Magazine is in the news weekend with a new interview featuring Scarlett Johansson (Marve’s Avengers) wherein it the actress talks about the growing PC war on casting in films and quite frankly, she’s right. In the article she says,

“You know, as an actor, I should be allowed to play any person, or any tree, or any animal because that is my job and the requirements of my job.” …”I feel like it’s a trend in my business and it needs to happen for various social reasons, yet there are times it does get uncomfortable when it affects the art because I feel art should be free of restrictions,” …”I think society would be more connected if we just allowed others to have their own feelings and not expect everyone to feel the way we do.” 

And she’s right. If a white guy wants to voice “Apu”, it’s not racism. If Halle Bailey (who is a phenomenal actor in her own right) wants to be the lead role in The Little Mermaid, let her do it! Scarlett Johansson shouldn’t have to ask anyone besides her agent and her closest confidants as to which role she should take in her next endeavor. And let’s be clear. The live-action adaptation of Ghost in the Shell didn’t suck because Scarlett Johansson was in the lead role. The movie sucked because you can’t make a live-action adaptation of one of the greatest anime of all time. The producers of live-action adaptations of Akira, Attack on Titan, and whatever else is in the works are going to learn this the hard way that some things are better left animated. Ghost in the Shell had the full backing of its Japanese producers who thought of Scarlett Johansson was a dream casting that, because of PC culture, turned into a nightmare.

In his latest stand-up comedy special known as Right Now for Netflix, Aziz Ansari remarked on Apu Nahasapeemapetilon by noting, “I am aware of it. I saw it 30 years ago. It’s a white guy doing an Indian voice. I appreciate the support, but things don’t just become racist when white people figure it out.” This, of course, stems from the controversy surrounding the truTV documentary The Problem with Apu directed by Hari Kondabolu which actually featured Aziz as one of the subjects that Hari interviewed. Since the film released, producers of The Simpsons, Adi Shankar, and social justice warriors alike all had come out of the woodwork to make their thoughts known.

I do find the irony that when Aziz Ansari claims The Simpsons is doing a blanket interpretation of South Asian immigrants as being racist only to turn around and then use a similar common blanket theme the  “white people must think this way” type of attitude that seems to be a popular way of folks pretending not to be racist but actually are.  Aziz also claims that Indian people only had a voice four years ago which is absurd as I don’t remember a time when the US government put a gag order on anybody from any specific area of the world that I’m aware of. Rather, legions of fans from South Asian region have also touted Apu as being a great representation of their initial American ways of life. In any event, Aziz used a lame way to try to divert attention away from the fact that he was accused last year of sexual misconduct and he should probably be more concerned with the fact that if he weren’t famous there’s a high likelihood that he’s serving some sort of jail time by now after this stunt.

As a white person, I honestly don’t care about jokes towards white people. But I do agree with Scarlett Johansson’s take that anyone should play any role despite sexual orientation, ethnicity, or racial profile. If a gay actor wants to play a straight role, go for it. If a black actor wants to voice the lead role featuring a white character, doesn’t bother me. Getting work should go to the best resume, the best person for the position, and with no ill will or malintent.

This, of course, comes the same week in which President Donald Trump held a social media summit on Capitol Hill featuring conservative voices who feel they have been silenced in the recent run of social networks cracking down on accounts that they deem racist. On the other hand, Trump is the first to complain when SNL or the press goes after him, popularly coining the phrase “fake news media”. If Trump is serious about “Freedom of Speech/Expression”, than he needs to be cool with it in whatever form it comes in. His opponents, should do the same.