Recently, the second part of the Hong Kong TVB high-scoring suspense fantasy unit drama "Golden Night Building" was broadcast, and the audience responded warmly. However, after the unit story "Sister" was broadcast, foreign media paid attention to and criticized the actor Huang Wanhua for "blackening her skin to play the Filipino maid" in the play, which made the controversy about the racial discrimination of the play quickly ferment.
On the 13th, TVB issued a statement in response, stressing that there is no intention of disrespecting or discriminating against any nationality. On the 17th, TVB general manager Zeng Zhiwei also clarified that the actor's appearance is the need of the plot, and there is no racial discrimination.
On the 20th, Huang Wanhua made her first voice after the fermentation of the incident, apologized to all those affected by the incident in English through social media Ins, and said that she hoped that everyone would understand that her job was to do her best to play the role well, and it was not intentionally disrespectful or racially discriminatory. In the comment area, many Hong Kong netizens also "supported" her, saying that some people attacked without looking at it, which was really a "random complaint".
Actor Huang Wanhua's "black skin to play filipino foreign maid" caused controversy
In September 2019, TVB's drama "Golden Night Building" was broadcast, and the long-lost Hong Kong-style urban weird talk style surprised the audience. After three years, "Golden Night Building 2" was broadcast on TVB Emerald Channel on April 4 this year, and was launched on TVB's streaming platform myTV SUPER.
"Golden Night Mansion 2" continues the style of the first suspenseful fantasy unit drama, but the story content is no longer connected to the upper part, but the previous male and female protagonists stage suspenseful love in parallel time and space. According to Hong Kong's "Sing Tao Daily" reported on the 17th, "Golden Night Mansion 2" starring Li Shiwei, Chen Shancong, Wu Yongwei, Zhao Xiluo, Zhang Yanbo and others immediately became a hot topic of discussion among drama fans after it was broadcast, coupled with the casting and story foreshadowing, which attracted a large number of drama fans to enter the "brain-burning" mode, captured various clues to guess the plot development, and once again set off a boom in the national estimation of the plot.
Unexpectedly, after the broadcast of the unit story "Sister" on the 12th, "Golden Night Building 2" triggered a controversy about racial discrimination. The unit story "Sister" has 2 episodes, telling the emotional relationship between the Filipino maid Louisa, played by actress Huang Wanhua, and her employers Huang Zixiong and Fan Yimin. In Hong Kong, more people tend to call it "sister" than "Filipino maid".
According to Hong Kong media reports, in order to play a good role, Huang Wanhua deliberately used cosmetics to blacken her face, hands and feet during filming, and imitated the English and Filipino performances with Filipino accents. Given that her style, tone and accent are like "sisters", Huang Wanhua's performance has been greatly praised by many people, and her fans have increased greatly.
Huang Wanhua blackened her body
However, Huang Wanhua's appearance has been noticed and criticized by foreign media. On the 13th, Jerome Taylor, director of agencies for Agence France-Presse's Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan bureau, forwarded a tweet questioning the way the show handled the issue of ethnic minorities in Hong Kong, and the topic quickly fermented.
On the same day, TVB issued an urgent statement in response to the matter. TVB first pointed out that the seventh episode of "Golden Night Building 2", which aired on April 12, tells the plot between domestic helpers and employers, and is a creative-based series. In the play, actress Huang Wanhua plays the domestic helper Louisa, who successfully portrays this role with professional and superb acting skills. Subsequently, TVB stressed that it "has no intention of expressing disrespect or discrimination against any nationality in any program and apologizes to anyone who may be affected by this matter." ”
However, the controversy has not stopped. On the 14th, Raly Tejada, consul general of the Philippines in Hong Kong, was interviewed by Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, criticizing TVB for playing a foreign maid by painting "brown face", which reinforces negative stereotypes, and bombards the show as "extremely ignorant, insensitive, and disgusting".
In addition, according to the BBC Chinese 15, actor Wen Cuimei from the Philippines and Chinese family also criticized that painting her face and body brown involves racial discrimination, because this behavior was originally used to ridicule people of color. She also said hong Kong's filipino community is large, they are one of the largest minorities in hong kong, and TVB could have hired legitimate Filipinos to play the role.
On the 17th, TVB general manager Zeng Zhiwei was also asked about the controversy of "Golden Night Building 2" when attending the event. Zeng Zhiwei believes that everything is a misunderstanding and says that there is no racial discrimination. According to Hong Kong media reports, Zeng Zhiwei clarified that Huang Wanhua's role has a plot of "turning from black to white" in the play, emphasizing that everything is needed by the plot. "You can't find a Filipino and then whiten her, so you can only find an artist to blacken first and then turn back to white."
As the plot progresses, the Filipino maid Louisa becomes more and more like her employer's deceased daughter Lulu, changing her skin color and "becoming" Lulu
Zeng Zhiwei also gave an example, just like making a movie to shoot aliens, the crew can't find aliens to shoot, only actors can play aliens, "Then we find someone to play aliens and discriminate?" So this is the plot need. ”
On the 20th, Huang Wanhua responded in an article on Ins, saying that after listening to outside voices, talking with relevant institutions and self-reflection for several days, she sincerely apologized to all those affected by this matter. She wanted everyone to understand that her job was to do her best to play the role well, and that there was no deliberate disrespect or racial discrimination, and she asked for their understanding.
Huang Wanhua said that this incident was a very challenging experience for her, which made her understand that the original actor's performance would cause so much repercussions and voices, and she apologized for the offense and harm caused by her lack of sensitivity, and would try harder to use her performance to benefit the society in the future.
In response to her release, many Hong Kong netizens left messages to support and encourage Huang Wanhua: "I really don't feel anything, you perform with your heart, continue to cheer", "Actors have to play different roles, this is the professionalism that actors should be, I support you".
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