Spider Man Racial Inequality

The popular upcoming movie Spider-Man: Homecoming will be the newest addition to the Spider-Man franchise and it has caused controversy due to its speculated casting choices for the iconic role of Mary Jane. An entertainment news website called “TheWrap.com” had an exclusive on the casting for the movie, in the article it was said that the Disney Channel star, Zendaya, would actually be playing the role of Mary Jane. Mary Jane has typically been depicted as a Caucasian female with red hair in the Spider-Man comic books and movies. Before this article had been published Zendaya was previously thought to have the role of a character named Michelle. Despite this news being a rumor and unconfirmed, a number of people and Spider-Man fans strong
Racial inequality has been translated into many things and it affects society in numerous aspects. An example of racial inequality is very apparent in Hollywood when it comes to who is selected for a role. This social imbalance is called whitewashing and it’s something Hollywood is commonly known for. Although this doesn’t happen to be the case with the movie Spider-Man: Homecoming, it’s possible the lack of the diversity in Hollywood as whole creates the consequence of people being critical and discontent when people of color are selected for certain roles. This instance of racial inequality is another way non-minorities continue maintaining a sense of superiority and representation in media. There are many incidences of whitewashing in Hollywood like in last year’s movie Aloha. The character, Allison Ng, is of Chinese and Hawaiian descent, yet Emma Stone who is neither this race nor ethnicity was cast for this role. Whitewashing seems to have become a norm and it’s been going on for years. It’s become so normalized that people no longer notice when the majority of a casts is Caucasian until this situation is reversed and a character that is depicted as White is played by a person of color. People seem to be more bothered by the change of a character’s physical appearance rather than the acting skills of the
We all gain an identity and are identified by society a certain way based on that identity. Individuals that have lacked interaction or were raised with prejudice against people of color have preconceived ideas that present themselves when race related issues threaten their standards for things like a character’s movie role. Likewise growing up with the mass media is another impact. With no personal experience, knowledge only comes from the media and society’s opinions on race. The critical tweets about Zendaya’s role didn’t seem to have underlying reasons or offer a lot of logical arguments as to why Zendaya shouldn’t play the role of Mary Jane. The prejudice/discrimination was quite blunt and people weren’t trying to hide it. The fact that people were very honest about their feelings of hatred makes it evident they might be use to media without people of color and prefer it that way. People’s interactions with the world are a significant depiction of how easily social media is able to guide people into certain