Rob Colletti, who plays Wapol in Netflix’s second season of One Piece, issued a statement in response to criticism of Charithra Chandran being cast as Nefertari Vivi aka Miss Wednesday.
After Netflix released its first trailer and revealed what Chandran looks like as Miss Wednesday, numerous people objected to her casting given she does not look like how the character is depicted in the original manga nor in the anime.
One wrote, “She’s beautiful, but why did they make her skin a different color than in the anime?”
Another posted, “This ain't good why not cast an white indian when you are not casting Egyptians anyways.”
Still another wrote, “This ain't good why not cast an white indian when you are not casting Egyptians anyways.”
“That DEI is doing miracles,” posted another.
Another questioned, “Why is she Indian”
In response to these comments and others, Colletti posted a lengthy essay to his Instagram Stories. He began, “It is astonishing to me in all the wrong ways how certain small (but far too vocal) corners of the One Piece fandom can watch a rubber pirate, a reindeer doctor, and giant walking, talking fish and be totally fine… but draw the line at the simple IDEA of Nefertari Vivi being played by a woman who isn’t white.”
“Charithra was hand-selected by Oda, and he has far more knowledge and understanding of his own characters than anyone else, particularly the hateful, unimaginative creeps who actually have the audacity to get on the internet to throw hate speech towards an actor without even seeing their absolutely amazing performance on the show,” stated.
He continued, “But let’s talk facts: ‘Nefertari’ is Egyptian. Where is Egypt? The Middle East. The kingdom of Alabasta draws heavily from Middle Eastern and Southern Asian culture. And you’re complaining because the actor chosen to play the role… isn’t white?! Do you know how ridiculous you sound?! Representation matters. Casting Charithra isn’t ‘cHaNgiNg ThE cHaRaCtEr!!!’ It’s actually honoring Oda’s intended vision. And that’s a lot more important to ‘protecting One Piece’ the way you’re crying about than coddling what your *PERCEPTION* of what this character should be.”
“But for those of you incapabale of looking past your racist and hateful tendencies, Charithra delivers an ASTONISHING performance,” he went on. “One that will reverberate in the One Piece fandom forever. She isn’t just good in the show, she is EXCEPTIONAL. And even more important that that, Charithra is one of the kindest, most generous human beings I’ve ever had the honor of knowing befriending. She embodies EVERYTHING the heroes of One Piece are written to embody and we are SO LUCKY to have her helping us tell this story.”
“And that’s the real point here: The WORK she does as Vivi (which all that should matter to you anyway) not only honors Oda’s source material brilliantly, it will inspire generations of little girls who deserve to see themselves up on that screen in her. And as a result, the world will be blessed with more artists and heroes, improved moral compasses, and creators and storytellers. We should all CELEBRATE what Charithra brings to this fandom because the show is BETTER with her on it! If that alone doesn’t move you be excited, you misunderstand One Piece at its core,” he wrote. “This incredible story has always —AND WILL ALWAYS — celebrate and champion diversity. That’s not up for debate. And to be fair, most of you have been incredibly welcoming and appreciative of Charithra. We see that, we are grateful to you for that, and we encourage you to continue to stand up to racism and bigotry from the small, hateful faction of the fan base that are ruining this experience for everyone else.”
He then concluded, “But for those of you whose suspension of disbelief survives devil fruits, giant sea monsters, snails that become telephones, and all of the other marvelous, wondrous, IMAGINATIVE, magical world-building that Oda created for EVERYONE on this big, beautiful planet, yet somehow crumbles at the sight of an accurate representation of a PRETEND CHARACTER in a live action remake of A CARTOON… the problem isn’t with casting, it’s with you. That kind of behavior is ignorant, embarrassing, and you should be ashamed of yourselves. Be better. Do better.”
It’s obvious that Chandran is not an accurate representation of the character given she looks nothing like her. Additionally, his arguments are all just an amalgamation of all the pro-DEI arguments that have been made over the past decade. Finally, in the end he just resorts to name calling and labeling critics who have valid complaints as racists.
Furthermore, J.R.R. Tolkien made it abundantly clear why many adaptations fail, “The canons of narrative an in any medium cannot be wholly different ; and the failure of poor films is often precisely in exaggeration, and in the intrusion of unwarranted matter owing to not perceiving where the core of the original lies.”
What do you make of Colletti’s essay?
Then why wasn't Oda's original portrayal of her ethnic?
fuckin stupid nigs, SMH.