Lego Ninjago and Race: An Analysis for the Upcoming Live Action
I know thereâs been a lot of discourse in the ninjago community since a live action movie has been announced, and thereâs sure to be even more after the cast list is released. Many fans are afraid the cast will be all white, while others donât care what race the ninja will be. Non-fans looking in from the outside might say, âWhy does it matter? Theyâre legos, theyâre yellow.â Iâve seen this argument more recently, especially revolving Arin in the soft reboot Dragons Rising.
The point of this longer post is to explain how race still exists in Ninjago despite the plastic, yellow nature of the characters, and why making the cast entirely or mostly white would be a disservice to the fans and the source material as a whole. So letâs ninja-go into this topic.
Part 1: Hair and Black-Coding
When people claim that legos donât have race, they often claim itâs because they are yellow. However, they forget that legos still have humanoid characteristics, and one of the easiest ways to tell when a lego character is black-coded is to look at their hairpiece.
Here are some examples of hairpieces clearly meant to resemble black hair textures/hairstyles:
When characters have textured hair (i.e. Arin and Euphrasia from Ninjago) or locs/braids (i.e. Mateo and Zoey from Dreamzzz), itâs hard to argue theyâre meant to be interpreted as anything other than black. And if thatâs not obvious enough, thereâs also:
Part 1b: Voice Actors and Black-Coding
People of color voice acting non-human characters doesnât determine race, but it does add to character coding. This can be seen in characters from other shows, such as Darwin from The Amazing World of Gumball. Even though Darwin is a 2D animated goldfish, he has been voiced exclusively by black voice actors. Because of his voice (and other mannerisms/narrative elements), Darwin is generally accepted to be black-coded.
Being voiced by a person of color does not automatically make a character black-coded, but it can certainly add credence to characters who already have black characteristics, such as Arin and Euphrasia.
Another reason itâs hard for ninjago fans to interpret certain characters as white is because of their names. While many have stereotypical âAmerican white boy namesâ (i.e. Jay, Cole, and Zane), other characters have names that are certainly not strictly American. Examples include Wu (a Chinese surname), Misako (a Japanese name), Chen (a Chinese surname), Okino (a Japanese surname) and Sora (Japanese given name). Ninjago may be set in a fictional world of animated, plastic people, but itâs still based on real-world names, and considering how a lot of the charactersâ names come from East Asia, there is merit to declare that characters like Misako and Sora are meant to be interpreted as East Asian.
Part 3: Cultural Influences
Now, to the most obvious reason why it would be absurd to put an all-white cast on screen: the cultural influences. I am not Asian myself, but other ninjago fans have expressed frustration about the cultural melting pot that is Ninjago. It takes influence from both Eastern and Western cultures for its setting, worldbuilding, lore, and fantastical elements. Ninjago puts ninja, samurai, Kabuki, and Oni from Japanese history and culture, Djinn from Arabic regions, the yin/yang concept from Chinese philosophy, and dragons from various cultures into one narrative. Thereâs even a character named Ronin (which means a âwandering samuraiâ).
Additionally, the ninjago language seems to be inspired by Tategaki, an East Asian style of writing.
What this means is that Ninjago is brimming with real-life cultural influences. They rarely come from the same places and are not always faithful or accurate. In fact, they can sometimes seem borderline disrespectful and stereotypical in the earlier seasons- particularly with the portrayal of Chen and pilot Wu. However, it doesnât take a genius to spot the East Asian cultural influences on ninjago. This is clear in the character designs, attire, and especially in the settings:
Part 4: What does this mean?
In summary, Ninjago is a fictional setting that takes inspiration from East Asian cultures, and has coded certain characters as certain races through more indirect means such as naming and designs. Even though none of the ninjago characters have 100% canon races, there is still evidence that some are meant to be interpreted as black or Asian. Therefore, making all the ninjago characters white would be a disservice to the fans AND the source material because it takes away subtle but essential parts of the characters and world.
Additionally: Representation matters. It could mean a lot for fans new and old to see the ninja becoming humanized and seeing themselves on screen. Not only would an all-white cast be unfaithful to the source material, but it would be disheartening to fans hoping for racial representation, especially in an age where âwokenessâ is considered a touchy subject in some areas.
Part 5: Other Thoughts/Clarifications
The beautiful thing about Ninjago is that the Lego nature of the characters allows them to be interpreted in so many ways. The characters donât have canon skin tones, eye color, body types, ages, heights, etc., so they can be whatever fans want. Whatever the fans interpret them to be or even what they feel like, they can be. And I think thatâs beautiful.
TLDR: I donât want the movie casting to limit the fanâs creativity or headcanons. Even if the cast isnât entirely white, I hope people continue to make creations with their own interpretations of the characters.
Also: I urge fans to not harass the actors if they are white. I feel like the ninjago fandom is above that but I feel inclined to make this statement in advance regardless.
Finally: Iâm leaving this post wide-open to discussion and discourse. I did surface-level research for the ninjago cultural influences, so if anyone wants to add on to or correct anything, feel free to do so. All I ask is that the conversations remain civil.
