Tim Burton receives backlash for racist casting in Netflix series “Wednesday”
Netflix series Wednesday by Tim Burton,64, is doing as well as expected with over 341.2 million hours streamed worldwide. Even with the success there comes backlash for a few reasons.
First, lead actress Jenna Ortega revealed it was her first day with COVID-19 while filming the famous school dance scene.
“It’s crazy because it was my first day with COVID so it was awful to film,” Jenna told NME.
Critics are appalled that she was forced to work despite being sick.
Another issue at hand which has both critics and fans giving backlash to Tim Burton and Netflix is their claim the casting and undertones of the new series are racist.
To be honest, while watching this series myself I initially noticed the one and main Black actress, Joy Sunday, they had happened to be the protagonist. When they introduced the next Black actor it was Iman Marson who was also a bully.
Critics not only noticed this but are taking issue with Joy playing the mean girl at Nevermore Academy and the way Iman Marson is portrayed and being the son of a corrupt mayor. The same mayor who also owns Pilgrim World — an eyebrow-raising choice considering the museum celebrates pilgrims and colonizers.
As the series continues, both main actors are put in a better light, more likable, however, it was extremely noticeable in the beginning and put a bad taste in some peoples mouths.
Burton is not new to criticism over his casting choices in regards to actors of color in his projects as it has happened in previous years. Back in 2016, while promoting Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children star Samuel L. Jackson speculated he was the first black lead of a Burton film.
The director responded to Jackson’s comments in a Bustle interview. “Nowadays, people are talking about it more,” he said regarding film diversity. But “things either call for things, or they don’t.”
“I remember back when I was a child watching ‘The Brady Bunch’ and they started to get all politically correct. Like, OK, let’s have an Asian child and a black. I used to get more offended by that than just… I grew up watching blaxploitation movies, right? And I said, ‘that’s great.’ I didn’t go like, ‘OK, there should be more white people in these movies,’” Burton added.
While Burton’s choices are questionable, his work continues to succeed outside noise.