I used to love Tilda Swinton, but the ongoing saga of Tilda’s casting in Doctor Strange has left a bad taste in my mouth. Tilda was cast as The Ancient One, a role that was traditionally represented by a Tibetan man in the comic books. Tilda is… not an Asian man. Not even close. But instead of saying, “You know what? We might have screwed up, our bad,” Tilda and Marvel have dug in their heels and repeatedly insisted that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with whitewashing this particular character, for reasons. It happened again in Tilda’s Out Magazine profile, which is actually the most mind-numbing piece I’ve ever read from her. It’s not really her fault – she was profiled by a friend, and the conversation becomes long-winded, self-aggrandizing and insular pretty quickly. At one point, she calls Amy Schumer “that heavenly bird” and says she loves Amy’s “bones.” Because… ugh. Anyway, here’s the part about Doctor Strange and her character:

Out Mag: I am a bad reader of the Internet, which is to say I don’t read it much. I’m told there was some controversy around the fact that you were cast as The Ancient One instead of an Asian actor. My feeling is that an artist can play anyone because that’s the job—to imagine other people and creatures and do one’s best. Obviously I know you are sensitive to these situations, especially in an industry that hasn’t been the greatest in terms of who is cast, and why.

TS: There is little for me to add except to say that anyone speaking up for a greater accuracy in the representation of the diversity of the world we live in has me right beside them. As someone who has worked from the beginning as an artist within a queer aesthetic, the urgency of that voice is always going to be welcome. At the same time, the film Marvel has made—in which they created a part for which I was not bad casting, in actual fact—is a departure from the source material in more ways than one. Ironically, their casting is positively diverse in this case: The Ancient One in this film was never written as the bearded old Tibetan man portrayed in the comics. Baron Mordo, a Caucasian Transylvanian in the graphic novels, is here played by Chiwetel Ejiofor. Benedict Wong plays a newly expanded and significant role as Wong, who in the comics is a mini-minor character. I believe in Marvel’s wholehearted commitment to creating a diverse and vibrant universe, avoiding stereotype and cliché wherever possible in a determination to keep things fresh and lively. There may be some people who do not like these changes, but I am hopeful that when they see the film itself they may understand why these particular balances were struck. Meanwhile, whether they do or not, and this film aside, all strength to the lobby for a greater variety in cinema and in life. We are also still looking forward to our first gay Marvel superhero, naturally. Let’s hope that’s only a matter of time.

[From Out Magazine]

First thing: I’m only now realizing that Tilda has the same initials as Taylor Swift. Could Tom’s “I Heart TS” shirt actually be a cryptic reference to his Only Lovers Left Alive costar and friend?!? No. That didn’t happen. Although it gives me pleasure to think that Tom might have been longing for Tilda in the middle of the Tiddlebanging Summer.

As for what she says about the whitewashing… she needs to stop. This is Marvel’s issue, and Tilda’s splitting hairs over what was written in the script versus the source material. She can point at Chiwetel Ejiofor and Benedict Wong all she wants, it doesn’t change the fact that the characters of color are actually subservient to The Great White Hope played by Benedict Cumberbatch. Nor does it change the fact that the “wisest” character in the film has been whitewashed from a Tibetan man into a Celtic woman.

Photos courtesy of Out.