Fans Protest Casting White Actress in Native American Role in Peter Pan Remake
Peter Pan fans are in an uproar over the casting of a white actress, Rooney Mara, as a Native American character, Tiger Lily, in the franchise remake called Pan. Nearly 5,000 people have signed a Care2 petition to have Mara replaced, reports Daily Variety.
"This casting choice is particularly shameful for a children’s movie," the petition reads. "Telling children their role models must all be white is unacceptable."
Plenty of similar criticisms have risen in the recent past. Zoe Saldana came under fire last year for playing jazz legend Nina Simone in the upcoming biopic Nina. Before that, Disney was criticized for choosing Johnny Depp to play the Native American Tonto in The Lone Ranger.
In other cases, the racial insensitivity has come from a few bigoted fans themselves. Michael B. Jordan was recently the subject of outrage over his casting as blonde-haired, blue-eyed Johnny Storm in the upcoming reboot of Fantasic Four. Two years ago, newcomers Amandla Stenberg and Dayo Okeniyi had to face racist tweets from so-called fans protesting their roles in The Hunger Games, despite the fact that the roles were written as non-white.
Pan is set to release July 17, 2015, and also stars Hugh Jackman and Garrett Hedlund. Warner Bros., the studio behind the film, has not yet responded to request for statement.
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(Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)