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With Doctor Strange(2016) almost ready to hit the theaters, the controversy spun around casting of Tilda Swinton is still rife. The actress cast in the role of the Ancient One, a Tibetan male character, came as a surprise for the masses owing to her Scottish descent.

With the first trailer out, the respone has been in general positive but with a slight crunch. Befuddled with the casting of Tilda Swinton which comes as a contrast to the major Asian influence in the story. Addressing the controversy, Tilda said,“Well, it’s not actually an Asian character — that’s what I need to tell you about it. I wasn’t asked to play an Asian character, you can be very well assured of that.”

But is the transition just a subtle hint at “whitewashing” Asian characters? This row is not new. For the second time in a row, the Oscars nominations were predominantly whites with only 28.3 per cent of all major roles essayed bybethnic minorities. Majority of the most iconic TV shows like Friends(1994), How I Met your Mother(2005), Two and a Half Men(2003) have only white people as the central cast which is a testimony to the “inclusion crisis” in Hollywood.

Marvel also argues that the Ancient One is not just a single character but an umbrella term for the Master used for generations and, therefore, not primarily tied a Tibetan character. Hence, for the latest reboot of Doctor Strange the character is reimagined as Celtic, hence, the choice of a Western actor for its portrayal.

Another reason behind Tilda’s casting that has surfced is the avoidance of casting a Chinese actor for a Tibetan character which might have proved a hindrance to the film’s release and acceptance in China. The main screenwriter, C. Robert Cargill, indicated towards the film’s producers deliberate decision of making the transition. “He (The Ancient One) originates from Tibet, so if you acknowledge that Tibet is a place and that he’s Tibetan, you risk alienating one billion people,” as said by Mr Cargill pointing towards the second largest box-office of the world.

But flouting any political insights Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige stated, “We make all of our decisions on all of our films, and certainly on Doctor Strange, for creative reasons and not political reasons. That’s just always been the case. I’ve always believed that it is the films themselves that will cross all borders and really get people to identify with these heroes, and that always comes down to creative and not political reasons.”

Moreover, the gender transition of The Ancient One is another major modification in the story. Was the transition making one of the prime actors female an attempt of balancing the cast?However, according to Feigethe idea of gender swapping the role is an effort to avoid the racist caricature of the comics, “The casting of The Ancient One was a major topic of conversation in the development and the creative process of the story. We didn’t want to play into any of the stereotypes found in the comic books, some of which go back as far as 50 years or more. We felt the idea of gender swapping the role of The Ancient One was exciting. It opened up possibilities, it was a fresh way into this old and very typical story line. Why not make the wisest bestower of knowledge in the universe to our heroes in the particular film a woman instead of a man? We made changes to some of the other key character in the comic for similar reasons. Specifically, casting Chiwetel Ejiofor as Mordo and there’s a character named Wong, who is a very big part of comics, and we cast this amazing Asian actor [Benedict Wong] and modernized that role and his talents people will begin to see as materials on the film begin to come out.”

Corroborating with the statement released by the director, Scott Derrickson, “listening and learning” the same view might apply to all the swappings in the upcoming movies like Ghost in the Shell, their live-action adaptation of a Japanese manga cartoon, featuring Scarlett Johansson in the lead and other movies like Gods of Egypt and Pan are also going the same way.

Be it “whitewashing”, political turmoil or gender issues, these instances of preferrential casting of Western actors as Asian characters hints towards a supression of Asian and other ethnic actors. So, with the release of the movie it will be evident how successful was the shift and whether the audience is ready for other similar instances in the future or not.