Aloha, White People

I am going to pick on a movie trailer because I feel like it. I am going to pick on a movie trailer because it has something in common with so many other movie trailers. I am going to pick on a movie trailer because, like so many other movie trailers and the movies they represent, it deserves to be picked on.

Hey, “Aloha” trailer,” what’s up with all the white people? Now, I am not stupid. I am well aware of the ratio of white lead actors to nonwhite lead actors in major motion pictures today. I am not somehow deluded into thinking this sort of complete white-out is new or in any way unexpected. And, who knows, this movie might even be good. But, Jesus. That’s a lot of white people. And that’s a fuckton of white people for a movie set in Hawaii. It’s actually a lot of white people for a movie set anywhere. But, especiall for one in Hawaii. I mean, come on.

The population of Hawaii is more than 75 percent not solely white. Some 48 percent of its people are Asian or Pacific Islander. Only 24.7 percent of the state is in fact white. Yet in “Aloha,” 100 percent of the named cast is white. ONE HUNDRED PERCENT.

Let’s break it down by order of appearance.

Alec Baldwin: White guy.


Bradley Cooper: White guy.


Danny McBride: White guy.


Bill Murray: White guy.


Emma Stone: White gal.


Rachel McAdams: White gal.


John Krasinski: White guy.


But, hey, the good news is there’s a joke about the way a black guy wears a clock. Black culture is funny, yes? So, for those keeping score, of the seven principal lead roles that’s 7 white folk, zero people of color. But wait, look, is that a possibly Polynesian girl teaching a white woman how to do an indigenous Island dance? Diversity! I should probably stop complaining.



Just kidding, I’ll never stop complaining. And while I’m at it, there’s also the issue of this having only two speaking parts for women out of seven. Also those two parts for women appear to be as the love interest for a man. So, you know, there’s also that.

I guess the most irksome thing is how this film is in fact not extraordinary in its whiteness. (And, while we’re on the subject, pretty much all of Cameron Crowe’s films are big white parties aside for maybe a very small handful of roles for people of color – most notably Cuba Gooding Jr.’s football star in “Jerry Maguire.”) The thing is, I like all of these actors. I really do. And I like Cameron Crowe – “Say Anything” is one of my favorite films of all time. And I like a lot of movies and TV shows that have predominantly white casts. But there comes a point where you can’t ignore the more problematic representational elements of an industry you enjoy so much. I love the movies, and always have, but it’s apparently clear that as a person of color mainstream films simply don’t love me – or showing people like me – back at all.