Saw this fancast on TikTok for a Winx Fancast / Live Action Cast, and I want you to TRY and guess who Musa, Flora, and Aisha are...
This is somehow worse than the Fate: The Winx Saga cast. Like it was bad enough, Fate whitewashed Musa, and tried to whitewash Flora (but later changed her to "Terra", to avoid backlash), but at least it had the decency to cast a dark-skinned black woman as Aisha.
This person, however... I don't even know where to start... Did they even watch the show...?
I remember Winx Club being praised for being one of the few early magical girl shows (in the early 2000s) to have a diverse cast - having an East Asian girl (Musa) and a mixed brown-skinned Latina girl (Flora), and later on, introducing a dark-skinned black girl (Aisha/Layla), so that little girls of color can see themselves in these characters and go, "Wow! I can be a fairy too, and kick ass in sparkly heels!"
Look. I get that this is a fancast, it's for fun, so they can fancast whomever they so please. But suggesting white women (or 3/4 white women) for roles of marginalized groups (especially during this political climate) adds to the continued erasure of people of color (especially those of a darker skin tone) and a growing stigma against them.
It's not hard to find an East Asian, a brown-skinned Latina, or a dark-skinned black woman for the Winx of Color. They are supposed to represent communities that are constantly frowned upon for existing. If you're not going to put in the effort to find WOC to fancast, please don't bother fancasting Winx Club, because...
Diversity is important.
REPRESENTATION MATTERS! (Whether you like it or not...)
(adding the person's actual cast, because I really wanted you guys to guess who they suggested was "playing" each Winx member)
(trigger warning: mentions of violence, rac*sm, pol*ce br*tality, etc)
Have you guys ever wondered why some of the shows that celebrate diversity and inclusion and/or depict messages of racism, prejudice, discrimination, oppression, police brutality, along with other sensitive topics - "woke" themes, if you may, have some of the most BIGOTED fandoms...
One Piece and Monster High are two shows that explore some of these topics (I'm sure there are more, but these are the top two that come to mind at the moment I'm writing this) and I've seen nothing about hatred and every type of hate formed from these fandoms (luffy and frankie would HATE yall btw).
(You could argue that Avatar: The Last Airbender celebrates the diversity of Asian and Indigenous cultures, and also touches on some of these topics, and the hate they gave Elizabeth Yu and Thalia Tran was absolutely insane... but that's for a next post.)
So you know, it turned out to my surprise that when I saw the most racist/colorist comments on the recent trailer of One Piece's S2.
(These are just comments I've cited from TT, X, and from Charithra's literal IG)
And ofc, they blame black people because these people see a dark-skinned person and IMMEDIATELY think that person is black (why can't we be left alone... 😐)
I'm so glad that some of Charithra's castmates actually came out and defended her from these nasty comments; she needs all the support she can get right now.
But I think a serious conversation to have is the constant erasure of proper MENA representation in Hollywood. For as long as Hollywood has existed, any sort of MENA character has typically been portrayed by a South Asian, Latino/Hispanic, and at times, even European actor (usually the former).
(These are just some examples I've seen across several media)
Jasmine (Persian) in “Aladdin" was played by South Asian and British actress Naomi Scott.
Sayid Jarrah (Iraqi) in “Lost,” played by South Asian actor Naveen Andrews.
Ahmad Ibn Fadlan in 'The 13th Warrior', played by Spanish actor Antonio Banderas.
Abed Nadir (Palestinian) in 'Community', played by a South Indian and Polish actor, Danny Pudi.
Mr. Aziz (Arab) in 'Spider-Man 2', played by an Indian-American actor, Aasif Hakim
And here are some other examples (some of them, I've already mentioned, but yh):
(and several Middle Easterners express their (rightful) disappointment in not seeing themselves represented by a SWANA/MENA actor)
Now these are VALID criticisms, SWANA/MENA representation doesn't come by as often, but the fact that people aren't really making it a conversation about "MENA characters being played by non-MENA actors" and more of "Vivi is being played by a bLaCk actress, why isnt she white", to the point that "fans" are calling Charithra the hard r.
I've even seen this criticism.
(whatever the fuck that is supposed to mean...)
(we won't even START on this one...)
Do these people not know that brown MENA/SWANA people exist? (Here are some if you didn't know).
(Imaan Hammam - Egyptian, Moroccan)
(Yara Shahidi - half Iranian)
(Anthony Keyvan - half Iranian)
(Razan Nassar - North African)
(Dior Goodjohn - half Persian)
(Karim Zeroual - Moroccan)
And these are just a FEW examples... (honestly, they should have cast a dark/brown-skinned MENA actress, I would have LOVED to see their reactions when told that the actress is MENA, she just happens to be of a darker skin tone...).
Furthermore, why do I get the feeling that even if they WERE to cast a SWANA/MENA actress for Nefertari, there would DEFINITELY be people complaining that the actress "isn't white" like...
Realistically, it makes sense for DESERT princess to have a slight tan... Toei Animation did her kinda dirty by making her pasty white (not saying that Middle Easterners with paler skin tones don't exist, ofc) to the point that people think that a girl named NEFERTARI VIVI is (racially) white even though her kingdom is CLEARLY based on MENA cultures/influences.
The conversation should have just been that she was not a SWANA/MENA actor, but these losers think they're sooo cute with their "full body haki" jokes.
Back to the topic of non-MENA actors playing MENA roles, though... the live action is CAPABLE of casting MENA actors.
Tamer Burjaq (who is Jordanian), played Higuma (you know, the thief guy who threatens young Luffy and Shanks)
Very funny how they cast a MENA actor in a villainous role... but not ones for the desert princess and her father (again, no hate to Charithra Chandran or Sendhil Ramamurthy, Charithra literally was regarded as "the diamond of the season" in Bridgerton and anyone trying to convince me that she's ugly is WACK as hell - she looks like princess!).
Even Mikaela Hoover, who is voicing Chopper, is of Iranian, Italian, and Spanish descent.
So again, ANOTHER instance of the OPLA capable of casting a MENA actor, but just where you can't see them onscreen (in this case, at least).
Arabasta (also referred to as Alabasta, because in Japan (Toei Animations, the studio that adapted the anime is located here) they dont use "r" in their language, at least that's what I've heard - please correct me on that) was mostly inspired by Ancient Egyptian architecture and culture (w/ a few South Asian inspirations here and there).
Even Oda himself said that he modeled Alabasta after Ancient Egypt.
I think he recently changed his stance, though, and said that he modeled it after both Ancient Egypt AND India. There is even official art of Nami wearing a lehenga (?) (again, correct me if I'm wrong!).
From what I've heard, fans speculate, the executive producer of OPLA, Marty Adelstein, has signed a petition to take an Emmy away from a Palestinian journalist. Read here:
More than 1,000 Jewish creatives, executives and Hollywood professionals have signed an open letter denouncing the Oscars speech from "The Z
Even here so:
So that could have been what influenced the casting choices of both Nefeteria and her dad.
I know you guys might have been wondering why I even brought up Monster High in the first place, even though the post mostly focuses on Charithra Chandran's casting (and why I just waited up until now to mention it yet again, I digress). However, MENA erasure is so... normalized to the point that Monster High has at least 5 different MENA characters (Cleo De Nile, Nefera De Nile, Gigi Grant, Whisp Grant, Seth Ptolemy) and for some reason Monster High fans think it's okay to fancast any and any actor as them even though, they have SEEN w/ their own eyes how much of an impact these characters' MENA background influence them.
Cause why am I seeing
Megan Fox as Cleo??? Alexa Demie?? KYLIE CANTRALL???? ELIZABETH GILLIES??? KYLIE JENNER???
(and dont even get me started on people thinking she's Greek like... do they even know Cleo's backstory...)
(Slight edit, but I remembered when the G3 live action cast was announced, and EVERYONE had a think piece, especially people who were (rightfully) mad that Cleo was played by Jy Prishkulnik, who was a white woman (or at least so I've heard), and that they should have cast an Egyptian actress (thats fair to want). Then they would go ahead and fancast non-MENA actresses as Cleo, like... I had to straight up argue w/ someone because they thought Camila Mendes was a good choice for Cleo, and when I pointed it out that Cleo is MENA... they started talking some shxt bout "actors dont play the same nationality as their character" and im like bro 💀 yall were the same ones complaining about the LA cast not being "accurate" to the character's ethnicites but you can fancast whomever actor you feel like ??? 💀moving on...)
Madison Beer as Nefera (she's not even an actress...)??? Janel Parrish???
SADIE SINK as Gigi Grant??? Abigail Cowen???? (what are we doing here?)
And dont even get me started on Jaden Smith as Seth Ptolemy... (that man can neither sing nor act)
To conclude (cause I feel I'm making this post a bit too long lol), the problem isn't Charithra Chandran... at ALL (I love her, and I'm glad she's in more roles, especially since her costar Simone Ashley has expressed the struggles of getting roles as a South Asian woman).
It's more of Hollywood's obsession with mixing South Asian and MENA/SWANA cultures and thinking that they can be used "interchangeably," when that's... wrong... (and orientalist asfff), and it doesn't help that the creators of the show are Zion*sts, too...
Leave Charitha Chandran alone... if you have a problem w/ the casting (aside from she's a South Asian woman portraying a MENA character), dont watch the show or go phone Oda, himself - he selected the castings and had said that Charitha has fit PERFECTLY into his vision...
(Also, P.S. DONT CRY THAT MENA CHARACTERS ARE BEING ERASED FROM THE MEDIA THEN FANCAST NON-MENA ACTORS AS SAID MENA CHARACTER, IT MAKES YOU LOOK LIKE A HYPOCRITE!)
(spoilers ahead, please scroll past if you don't want to be spoiled)
Honestly, I was expecting this to disappoint me so bad, but... It was actually quite enjoyable. What I really appreciate about this show's premise is that it fleshed out Yumeko's character a little bit more (I know the manga series isn't exactly finished and neither is the anime, but still). Yumeko not having plot armour by her side 24/7 was a bit refreshing to see, and the best part of the show is NO FANSERVICE!
IDC, IDC, it always turns me off whenever a character says something to another character, and the character (usually the girls) starts grabbing their lady parties and moaning and shit. I'm glad that this adaptation didn't really lean too much into that aspect from the anime (like these are kids, ffs).
Acting - 7 or 8/10. Considering that these are relatively new actors, they aren't... bad? A good amount of the line deliveries tend to fall a bit flat, but I'm going to let it slide. What I also appreciate about this show is that most of the cast are between 20-25, most shows tend to cast actors pushing 30 (or in their 30s) for teens (looking at you, Euphoria, Never Have I Ever, Fate: The Winx Saga, etc) and I get why most shows tends to do this (due to child labour laws) but it get so noticeable at times and it makes me uncomfortable (especially when it's a sexual scene and one of the teen characters look like they are going to take a standardized test while the other looks like they're about to have a middle age crisis). I would have to say, though, Miku (Yumeko), Clara (Kira - she tends to overact at times), and Eve (Mary - a few of her line deliveries fell flat) are some of my favorites in this cast. Some people say they look a little too old to be playing high schoolers, but I'm boiling it down to the makeup/costume department, because once you see them w/o the school uniforms / questionable makeup, they all look their age.
(a little off topic but Miku would make a PERFECT Kitty Cheshire in an EAH live action omg, and Clara, a killer Icy from Winx Club).
Plot - 8 or 9/10. I do like the little spin on the details of the original plot of the anime. One being Yumeko had always been a compulsive gambler because it runs in her family blood (and because her parents taught her it). Her trying to find the killer and basically climbing her way to the top of the leaderboard at St Dominic's. Maybe my memories are a bit hazy, but I don't remember there being houses in the original, and I actually like how they incorporate it here. I haven't had much to say about the plot, so next point ig...? lol. (okay, but I hope they include more games next season, tho)
Characters - 4/10. Most of the characters either annoy or scare me. (as stated before) Kira, Yumeko, and Mary (she grew on me) are the only ones with decent arcs / engaging dynamics. Ryan was kinda... there? They tried to do something with him (with him killing his father and shit) then...??? Nothing really happens with him after that??? Michael was low-key boring; all he did was info-dump and act as some moral compass for Yumeko (you could argue this w/ Ryan too). The other characters weren't really as memorable... they all just ✨exist✨. Mary's characters had an interesting take here. In the anime, she was smart, cunning, and calculating, and I do like how they kept that in this iteration of the show; however, they do make her start on the student council, and her whole "fall" to grace and humbling herself was interesting to watch. I hope we get a similar scene to that pig game w/ "Jun" in S2 (if it hopefully gets renewed) with her and Yumeko being girlbosses.
Dialogue - 3/10. Omg, who wrote the script, like...💀. "Mother C*ntress", "Slay queen", "Mother is mothering", "My father is going to kill me if I die at this party" (this has to be the worst offender of all, it's so nonsensical). What is Hollywood's obsession with using modern slang in shows? If its goal is to be relatable, it is failing miserably omg. I haven't really much to say about this, it's just...???
Yeah.
There is something else I wanna address before I give my final rating, though. Upon reading some of the reviews of the show (both on TikTok and Google). There are certain critics out there saying that it would have been better if they had cast "Korean" actors for this show, even though all (if not all, then most) of the characters and the whole show are based in Japan. So I'm here thinking to myself, "why on Earth would these people want Korean actors DESPITE the whole show's premise being in Japan?"
I remember seeing one critic saying something like, "They could have done it like a K-Drama" because they love those types of shows, and I'm like... ??? J-Dramas exist, plus if they wanted a more faithful adaptation, they could have watched the Japanese version that came out back in 2018.
Here's some of the critics I've read:
Soooo, they have mentioned that it is a Japanese TV Show, then goes on to talk about Korean characters...?
Does this person even know what this word means...?
Idk. People are weird, man.
Now that we've got that ick out of the way. Here's my final thoughts/rating.
Overall Rating - 7/10. I feel like what would make this show work is to fix the CW-esque script (and to flesh out some of the characters more). Y'all remember that one PPG's live-action show that got cancelled by the CW? Unironically, I would've watched it. Both that failed live action and this re-imagination (?) of Kakegurui are what you call those "so bad they're good, now give me 10 seasons of it" TV shows. The campiness just keeps me on my toes.
Would I recommend this to you or anyone interested?
Yes (because I want a Season 2)
Okay, but on a serious note,
It's good (or good enough if you just want some dumb teenage campiness to rot your brain off). I feel like what most people (even I myself) did was go into the show with the wrong expectation (for it to be an exact copy of the anime/manga w/ western Asian actors (even though I still think, this could have been the perfect breakout roles for them especially since Asian representation is so limited)). Once you don't go into the show w/ that expectation, you will find yourself enjoying the show much better.
But if you want a more faithful adaptation, the 2018 Japanese version is also available on Netflix. Go watch it.
Okay, so as you all may know, the live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender has made its announcement of Season 2 coming soon, so you know there's a lot of excitement and thrill among the fanbase. I was scrolling through my for you page (on TikTok) and came across the video with the announcement, and I was enjoying the actors expressing their happiness, wrapping up the 2nd season, and prepping for the production of the 3rd one.
I was hoping that my feelings would be mutual amongst the fans, but to my surprise, it was DRENCHED with backhanded or snarky comments about Elizabeth Yu's appearance.
(This is how Elizabeth Yu looks now, my apologies, I can't find a better picture).
Some of the criteria stated, as I quote, "She now looks suited to play Azula", "Oh, thank God they recast her" (even though it's literally the same actress), "Oh Azula, I wasn't familiar with your game", and "Seems like the bully paid off . Look at her now" (yes, this is an actual quote).
Mind you... All she did was lose a little weight, and now EVERYONE loves her.
Elizabeth Yu was never "fat/chubby" as those losers claimed that she was.
She has a normal body that most people her age would have had (she was about 18/19 at the time of filming). They are over here talking about how she would be able to perform stunts (due to her weight) and whatnot (mind you... those would have been performed by stunt doubles anyways, regardless of the actor/actress' weight, so...???).
Not to mention, back then, people were suggesting that Ashley Liao (given her role as Clemensia Dovecote) and, even now, with her recent fame, Miku Martineau (Yumeko in Netflix's "Bet"), should have been the one to play Azula instead of Elizabeth.
(Ashley Liao)
(Miku Martineau)
So I'm here sitting and thinking to myself... y'all would have HATED if Miku or Ashley was given this role, saying some dumb shit like, "They should have been casted as Ty Lee", "Their features are too soft", or just whatever BS, they can pull of out their asses.
(This was on a TT video of a Miku Martineau's interview on playing Yumeko)
Like, dont get me wrong, Ashley Liao and Miku Martineau are SPLENDID actresses and I would love to see them in more roles, but... I really doubt they would approve of anyone dogging on Elizabeth just to uplift them (Ashley and Elizabeth follow each other on Instagram ffs).
I really dont give a rat's ass how you feel about Elizabeth's casting as Azula, but don't you EVER harrass her. She's just trying to make a name for herself in this vigorous industry, and Asian representation is very limited as it is. Avatar: The Last Airbender is such a good stepping stone for so many (unknown) Asian (and Indigneous) actors in this project... so to see so many people shame and bully them just trying to get their name out and then go ahead and suggest more known Asian actors (just because they're a more familiar face or they look more "accurcate" to a few pixels (some of them wouldn't even pass as 12-16 kids)) is really disheartening.
I just really hope that Elizabeth "lost" weight because she genuinely wants to and not because of the relentless bullying by the asian fetishers, the 50 y/o grandpas w/ 2 kids, and the "no posts/content" losers who can never have their face as their pfp for some reason...
It really isn't hard to just not leave a nasty comment on an actor's socials, they're people too with feelings and thoughts of their own.
Elizabeth Yu IS Azula. And if you have a problem with that, it's simple;
Do. Not. Watch. The. Show.
There are tons of fan remakes of iconic ATLA scenes on YouTube. Go watch those instead.
how cedar wood is representation for 'odd' black girls
as an african american girl growing up, i was deemed 'odd', in a southern school, where the population was mostly 99% white (and probably.. racist), because I didn't act as they expected me to. i liked anime. i like to draw. i 'spoke well'.
I felt out of place.
enter hit television show ever after high--and cedar wood!
cedar was something special to me, she represents feeling different, she's made of wood--constantly searching for the feeling, of belonging in a place where people constantly look at her strangely, and whisper behind her back. she looks at her wood engraved arms, not compliant enough with the soft plushness of real, human skin.
constantly plagued with telling the truth, so she has no choice but to say the 'right' thing, pleasing people who constantly expect everything great and grand for her--but she has to work twice as hard in everything.
she paints, an enigma, a talent that is only meant for people who are deserving of it, not someone--a puppet meant to hang by its strings--like her with the way that she looks. and the worst part of it all? she's demeaned for speaking out, the same way that cedar is ostracized for her 'rebel' thoughts, is the same way that so many small girls feel when they don't fit into a stereotypical mold.
all because she's expected to 'know' better and adhere to destiny/society.
THISS!!! (i dont know if this will be a bit unrelated, but I think it must be addressed.)
To all those fancasters out there, STOP. FANCASTING. CEDAR. AS. A. LIGHT. OR. MIXED. ACTRESS!
This post really highlights the importance of darker-skinned black girls being the "odd"/quirky/adorkable girl and how underrepresented they are in the media. Cedar is one of the few dark-skinned black girls they have (and is treated as a significant character). It isn't hard to find a dark-skinned actress to portray her; there are so many out there who would NAIL this role, fancast them, please.
Because I've seen some live action fancasts for She Ra:
Literally none of these women are pale. Netossa is black and dark skinned, why do I see Amandla Stenberg or Zendaya as fancasts?
Glimmer is a brown skinned Asian woman, fancast her accordingly. Same goes for Entrapta or Perfuma, there are many brown skinned actresses who look like them if you look for more than 3 minutes.
I know we're eventually going to get a Princess and The Frog live action movie and Disney hasn't been disappointing me lately with their casting, but if they even think of casting Zendaya or Amandla, I'll riot. Tiana has to be played by a dark skinned black woman, and I personally fancast Ryan Destiny (her voice is heavenly and she just has the general look of Tiana).
Apparently Disney is doing a live-action remake for The Princess and the Frog and I see a bunch of fancasts for Naveen that are so wrong...y'all, he's INDIAN. NAVEEN IS THE BROWNEST MOST INDIAN NAME OF ALL TIME. HIS MOTHER WAS WEARING A FUCKING SAREE. YOU DO REALIZE AFRICANS AREN'T THE ONLY PEOPLE WITH BROWN SKIN RIGHT???
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