Oh hell no. The year is 20-f*cking-15. Is there any legit reason for a movie to put a performer in yellowface? No. That shit is racist. But that's what the upcoming Absolutely Fabulous movie is doing. They've got a white actor playing an Asian character -- makeup and everything. Who thought this was a good idea?
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie under fire for casting Janette Tough as Japanese fashion designer
The big-screen adaptation of Ab Fab, based on the popular British sitcom, feature Scottish comedian Janette Tough in a cameo as a fictional male Japanese fashion designer called "Huki Muki." The character's appearance and styling appear to be inspired by the look of real-life Japanese artist and writer Yayoi Kusama.
This is yellowface, straight up. White actor playing an Asian person. It's a fairly simple, racist concept.
The casting has drawn the ire of comedian/actress Margaret Cho, who professes to be an Ab Fab fan, but is definitely not down with the racist mockery happening in this movie.
She took to Twitter to put that shit on blast:
I AM FUCKING SICK OF YELLOWFACE. Have some respect. Hire Asian actors 4 Asian roles. I'm not going to name the production but I'm DISGUSTED!
— Margaret Cho (@margaretcho) December 14, 2015I'll name the production using #YELLOWFACE - I'm upset because I love them. It's AbFab - I really was looking forward to it too. That's sad.
— Margaret Cho (@margaretcho) December 14, 2015#YELLOWFACE is racism. Sorry. It's unacceptable. Not now. I was thrilled about #abfabmovie but now I just can't be. I'm very disappointed.
— Margaret Cho (@margaretcho) December 14, 2015I love AbFab but #YELLOWFACE is something I cannot watch - I just can't. It's sad when heroes are no longer heroic. Too bad. #racism
— Margaret Cho (@margaretcho) December 14, 2015It's hard enough to get into film and TV as a person of color - and when roles written for us are played by white actors - it's an outrage.
— Margaret Cho (@margaretcho) December 14, 2015We've tried to shame racism out of existence but I guess some people really don't care. They're shameless but NOT BLAMELESS.
— Margaret Cho (@margaretcho) December 14, 2015I can't pretend to be a fan -- I've never seen a single episode of Absolutely Fabulous. But I can sure as hell echo Margaret's sentiments that this kind of blatant onscreen racism is unacceptable.
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie will be released sometime in 2016. No thanks.
More here: Margaret Cho Says Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie Is Racist