‘Power Rangers’ Writer Says Racial Casting was a "Mistake" – ryan
If you grew up with the first iteration of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangersone of the elephants in the room as you got older was the casting of the black and yellow Ranger. On the Hit Fox Kids TV Series, released in Aug. 1993, Walter Emanuel Jones, who is African American, portrayed the first black ranger, and thuy trang, who was vietnamese, portrayed the first yellow ranger. It’s hard to believe that the series was unaware of the obvious racial stereotypes, but according to the show’s head writer, it was not something that crossed their minds.
The Power Rangers franchise was recently covered on the investigation Discovery Series Hollywood demons and, via Variety, Head Writer Tony Oliver addressed the Casting Stereotypes of the Original Black and Yellow Ranger. Oliver admitted that it was a “mistake” to have the casting go in that direction, but it was something that they did not think about when they cast jones as zack taylor and trinn as trini kwan.
The writer said that “none of us (were) thinking of stereotypes” when these roles were originally cast, which is why the show ran with the black character being the black ranger and the Asian Character as the Yellow Ranger. Oliver said that it was not until “my assistant pointed it out in a meeting one day” that he became aware of how the optics looked regarding the casting. The Power Rangers Head writer ultimately admitted that “it was such a mistake.”
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Walter Emanuel Jones & Thuy Trang were replaced as the Black and Yellow Rangers Midway Through Season Two
Jones and Trang, the Latter of which replaced audri dubois, who was original cast for the show’s pilot but departed due to a pay dispute, left the series in the middle of its second season along with red Ranger Austin St. John Due to their own Payment Disputes. Oddly enough, Karan Ashley, an African American, replaced Trang as a Yellow Ranger named Aisha Campbell, while Jones was replaced by Johnny Yong Bosch, an actor of Korean, Irish and German descent, as the Black Ranger Adam Park. It can be debated if this little switch was an intentional wink and a nod to the original casting of Jones and Trang by doing a bit of a Switch, but it’s something the creators haven not really commented on.
Some of the actors were at least aware of the casting stereotypes. During the episode or Hollywood demonsbehind-the-scenes Archival footage is shown of Jones where he, point-white, say to the camera, “My name’s Walter Jones, I play Zack. I’m black, and I play the black ranger, go figures.” However, Jones has responded to Oliver’s assessment of his casting, sighing that he never had an issue with it and was actually happy to be one of the first black heroes on Saturday morning TV.
Source: Variety
Mighty Morphin ‘Power Rangers
- Release date
-
August 28, 1993
Cast
If you grew up with the first iteration of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangersone of the elephants in the room as you got older was the casting of the black and yellow Ranger. On the Hit Fox Kids TV Series, released in Aug. 1993, Walter Emanuel Jones, who is African American, portrayed the first black ranger, and thuy trang, who was vietnamese, portrayed the first yellow ranger. It’s hard to believe that the series was unaware of the obvious racial stereotypes, but according to the show’s head writer, it was not something that crossed their minds.
The Power Rangers franchise was recently covered on the investigation Discovery Series Hollywood demons and, via Variety, Head Writer Tony Oliver addressed the Casting Stereotypes of the Original Black and Yellow Ranger. Oliver admitted that it was a “mistake” to have the casting go in that direction, but it was something that they did not think about when they cast jones as zack taylor and trinn as trini kwan.
The writer said that “none of us (were) thinking of stereotypes” when these roles were originally cast, which is why the show ran with the black character being the black ranger and the Asian Character as the Yellow Ranger. Oliver said that it was not until “my assistant pointed it out in a meeting one day” that he became aware of how the optics looked regarding the casting. The Power Rangers Head writer ultimately admitted that “it was such a mistake.”
Related
A New ‘Power Rangers’ Series is in the Works at Disney+
Saban/Hasbro’s iconic superheroes are about to morph into a major live-action series at Disney from the ‘Percy Jackson’ Showrunners.
Walter Emanuel Jones & Thuy Trang were replaced as the Black and Yellow Rangers Midway Through Season Two
Jones and Trang, the Latter of which replaced audri dubois, who was original cast for the show’s pilot but departed due to a pay dispute, left the series in the middle of its second season along with red Ranger Austin St. John Due to their own Payment Disputes. Oddly enough, Karan Ashley, an African American, replaced Trang as a Yellow Ranger named Aisha Campbell, while Jones was replaced by Johnny Yong Bosch, an actor of Korean, Irish and German descent, as the Black Ranger Adam Park. It can be debated if this little switch was an intentional wink and a nod to the original casting of Jones and Trang by doing a bit of a Switch, but it’s something the creators haven not really commented on.
Some of the actors were at least aware of the casting stereotypes. During the episode or Hollywood demonsbehind-the-scenes Archival footage is shown of Jones where he, point-white, say to the camera, “My name’s Walter Jones, I play Zack. I’m black, and I play the black ranger, go figures.” However, Jones has responded to Oliver’s assessment of his casting, sighing that he never had an issue with it and was actually happy to be one of the first black heroes on Saturday morning TV.
Source: Variety
Mighty Morphin ‘Power Rangers
- Release date
-
August 28, 1993