Power Rangers writer admits TV show’s racial stereotyping was ‘such a mistake’
The live-action series has been criticised over its casting.
A Power Rangers writer has expressed regret over the racially insensitive casting of TV show Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
Launched in 1993 on Fox Kids, the superhero drama was the first entry of the Power Rangers franchise before becoming a pop culture phenomenon.
The live-action series, which ran for three seasons until 1996, follows five teenagers with superhuman powers as they fight forces of evil.
In later years, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers received criticism for castingWalter Emanuel Jonas as Black Ranger, Zack Taylor, and Thuy Trang as Yellow Ranger, Trini Kwan.
Audri Dubois was initially cast as the Yellow Ranger but left the show in a pay dispute after the pilot.
On Investigation Discovery’s Hollywood Demons episode titled Dark Side of the Power Ranger, writer Tony Oliver admits, as per Entertainment Weekly, the casting was ‘such a mistake.’
Trang was cast as Yellow Ranger in the original series(Picture: Netflix) Jonas was the Black Ranger when the show first came to air in the 90s (Picture: Netflix)He said he realised the casting perpetuated harmful stereotypes after his assistant ‘pointed it out in a meeting one day’ as in the 90s, ‘none us of [were] thinking [about] stereotypes.’
Power Rangers is not the only TV show that came to life in the 90s that has since been accused of racial insensitivity.
There have been years of controversy surrounding the depiction of the convenience store worker Apu Nahasapeemapetilon in The Simpsons, which was even the centre of documentary, The Problem With Apu.
Among the complaints are that Apu was voiced in an over-the-top, stereotypical voice by a white man, actor Hank Azaria, which many found racist.
In 2020, Hank confirmed he was stepping down from the role to Slash Film, saying: ‘All we know there is I won’t be doing the voice anymore, unless there’s some way to transition it or something.’
The live-action series later had new casts playing the main roles (Picture: Everett/REX/Shutterstock)The previous year, creator Matt Groening confirmed that Apu won’t be written out of the long-running show despite the accusations of racism.
‘Yes [he will stay on the show]. We love Apu. We’re proud of Apu,’ Matt told a young fan during Disney’s D23 Expo as reported by Variety.
Executive producer Al Jean also previously defended Apu in an interview with IndieWire.
He said: ‘Some people are offended by the character and I take that very seriously.
‘Others really love the character. It’s a difficult choice. I don’t want to offend people but we also want to be funny.
‘We don’t want to be totally politically correct. That has never been us. It’s given us a lot of thought.’
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