Everybody acknowledges that Hollywood has a whitewashing problem - casting caucasians in place of characters of other ethnicities. Accordingly the term "yellowface" was coined to cover TV/Movie actors playing roles written for, or based on people of Asian or native American origin.



This has been the practice in Hollywood for ages. Forget the fact that most such characters were of dubious character or downright villainous in most instances, you had a white person playing them. Taped eyelids and outrageous accents were the norm rather than the exception.



Actress Michelle Villemaire of asian american origin decided to do something about this outdated and downright practice. She embarked on a new DIY project on her blog http://www.homemademimi.com/. She dressed herself up in costumes and photographed as iconic characters.



With  no shortage of instances, the characters picked for the “makeover” range from classic Katharine Hepburn in 1944 to Emma Stone in 2015. The trend shows no signs of abating with Scarlett Johansson cast as the lead in the American adaptation of the Japanese film Ghost in the Shell.


And the result of her efforts is downright eye-opening to say the least. Her voice joins others in Hollywood who are speaking out about Hollywood's whitewashing problem.