The lack of diversity in Hollywood isn’t exactly news to many — but the creators of an upcoming film about the 13th century Sufi poet Rumi clearly aren’t getting it.
David Franzoni, an American screenwriter who worked on the film Gladiator, and producer Stephen Joel Brown told the Guardian that they hoped their upcoming film about Rumi would challenge the stereotypical portrayals of Muslims in Hollywood.
But for the two lead characters — Rumi, and his spiritual adviser, Shams of Tabriz — they said they were hoping to get Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert Downey, Jr., respectively. “This is the level of casting that we’re talking about,” said Brown, apparently seeing no irony in believing that whitewashing a film will help dismantle stereotypes. Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, commonly known as Rumi or Molana in Persian, was a Persian Sufi poet who has long been popular in the Middle East and Central and South Asia — but in recent years has become one of the best-selling poets in the United States as well. Born in 1207 in the ancient city of Balkh, in today’s Afghanistan, Rumi also passed through Baghdad, Mecca, Damascus, and Karaman, before passing away in Konya, in modern-day Turkey.
As many on social media rightly pointed out, one thing about Rumi’s life, then, is clear: He wasn’t white.
White people ruin Ramadan 2016 by announcing their 'Rumi' movie.#RumiWasntWhite pic.twitter.com/1XnxWa8x7O
— Aamer Rahman (@aamer_rahman) June 6, 2016
"i ain't white tho" – rumi proverb
— kiran (@banditqueen_) June 7, 2016
https://twitter.com/MazMHussain/status/740360634727071745
Leonardo Di Caprio as Rumi and Robert Downey Jr as Shams – because there aren't any brown actors, right? https://t.co/O7kI6mGOWO
— Bina Shah (@BinaShah) June 7, 2016
While Hollywood has long taken an interest in other parts of the world, it hasn’t done enough to make sure that the people from those regions get a chance to tell the story. Lead roles have been whitewashed in many movies about the Middle East, including Gods of Egypt starring Gerard Butler, Prince of Persia starring Jake Gyllenhaal, and Exodus: Gods and Kings starring Christian Bale. The full list of movies that have been similarly cast with white actors — despite the characters clearly being of other backgrounds — is far too long, but recent examples include Aloha, Ghost in the Shell, and Doctor Strange, among many, many more.
As ThinkProgress has previously reported, there is a serious lack of opportunity for non-white actors in Hollywood. When it comes to Muslim and Middle Eastern actors specifically, they’re often typecast into roles such as “Terrorist #4” — making it that much worse when a lead role they can actually play is given to a white actor instead.
These are the men who have the funding and support to make a major Hollywood film about Rumi. And they think DiCaprio is the *best* choice.
— Imran Siddiquee (@imransiddiquee) June 7, 2016
They should give the role of Rumi to Shahab Husseini. pic.twitter.com/axjqKVifde
— Sidewalk Lyrics (@pedestrian) June 8, 2016
Hollywood Guide to Challenging Muslim Stereotypes, Step 1: Cast white actors as your Middle Eastern main characters. https://t.co/emSG1yzd3E
— Nima Shirazi (@WideAsleepNima) June 6, 2016
In an in-depth GQ interview with some of the most famous Middle Eastern actors — like Maz Jobrani, Ahmed Ahmed, and Sayed Badreya — Jon Ronson found that pretending to hijack planes and kill infidels were usually the only roles available. As Ronson noted, the lack of opportunity is so warped that many of the actors actually have tips for how to stand out at terrorist auditions.
“If I’m going in for the role of a nice father, I’ll talk to everybody,” Badreya told GQ. “But if you’re going for a terrorist role, don’t fucking smile at all those white people sitting there. Treat them like shit. The minute you say hello, you break character.”
“But it’s smart at the end of the audition to break it,” clarified Hrach Titizian, an actor who appeared on Homeland. “‘Oh, thanks, guys.’ So they know it’s okay to have you on set for a couple of weeks.”
The United States has seen a surge in racial hatred and Islamophobia — coinciding with both the election season and recent extremist attacks in Paris and Brussels — and right-wing candidates in the United States and Europe alike have continued to make broad, hate-filled generalizations about Muslims. In such an environment, Hollywood would be wise to help Middle Eastern and Muslim actors tell their own stories when they can. Thoughtful portrayals of and by Middle Eastern and Muslim actors would certainly be a better way of fighting stereotypes than the current status quo.