A Hong Kong tv collection is being criticized for having a Canadian-born Hong Kong actress darken her pores and skin to play a Filipina home employee.
In an episode that aired final week, Calgary-born Franchesca Wong wore brownface make-up to painting Louisa on Barrack O’Karma 1968, a supernatural drama on the Hong Kong broadcaster TVB.
In response to the South China Morning Put up, Louisa works for a pair who suspect her of utilizing voodoo, calling her “spooky.” Wong additionally imitates a Filipino accent for the position.
The portrayal, which was each panned and praised by Hong Kong media, has impressed dialogue of discrimination in opposition to migrant home staff. Critics have known as Louisa a “caricature,” and famous using darkish make-up and hiring a non-Filipina performer are disrespectful to Hong Kong’s migrant employee inhabitants.
Most home staff in Hong Kong are from the Philippines, Indonesia
There are about 340,000 overseas home staff in Hong Kong, in keeping with Reuters. The New York Instances places the determine at 370,000, including that these staff make up 10 per cent of Hong Kong’s complete working inhabitants. Most are from the Philippines and Indonesia.
A 2017 report from the Middle for Strategic and Worldwide Research mentioned that the home employee inhabitants in Hong Kong experiences exploitation, inhumane therapy and abuse by the hands of their employers.
On Tuesday night, Wong shared a written apology on Instagram for her depiction of Louisa. An earlier video of her making use of skin-darkening make-up, joking that she was “sun-tanning,” was broadly shared on social media.
“I genuinely apologize to all who’ve been negatively affected in any method by the seventh chapter of ‘Jei Jei’ of the Barrack O’Karma 1968 drama collection, and my position in it,” she wrote.
“I genuinely haven’t any intention to disrespect or racially discriminate any ethnic group, please forgive me for getting it improper.”
In a press release to CNN, broadcaster TVB mentioned that Wong’s portrayal was a hit, and praised her for utilizing “skilled performing strategies” to play Louisa.
“We want to emphasize that it was by no means our intention to point out disrespect or to discriminate any nationality in any of our programmes,” they wrote. The broadcaster has pulled the episode for adjustments.
‘Downright ignorant, insensitive and completely disgusting’
Consul Normal Raly Tejada, the Philippine envoy to Hong Kong, mentioned within the South China Morning Put up that the present is “downright ignorant, insensitive and completely disgusting,” including that TVB’s assertion was a non-apology.
The usage of brownface and blackface is taken into account a racist and dehumanizing act, with historic origins in minstrelsy and vaudeville. White performers would usually put on darkish make-up to mimic Black or brown folks, utilizing exaggerated gestures and accents for comedic impact.
WATCH | Canadian-Chinese language actress applies brownface, makes use of Filipino accent in video:
The observe flattens racial identification into the color of 1’s pores and skin and different bodily options, decreasing whole communities into one-note stereotypes.
Wong’s portrayal of a Filipina employee on Barrack O’Karma 1968 demonstrates how non-white, light-skinned folks can make use of the observe to depict and even denigrate darker-skinned folks.
Typically, the time period is used to explain white or light-skinned actors who play one other race, no matter whether or not they use make-up or not. Within the movie Aloha, Emma Stone performs a personality who is alleged to be 1 / 4 Chinese language and 1 / 4 Hawaiian.
Different high-profile examples embrace Johnny Depp, who performed the Native American character Tonto in The Lone Ranger, and Robert Downey Jr., who wore blackface in Tropic Thunder.
