With the rising generation of media and technology, discrimination takes forms in stereotypes and subtle microaggressions. Due to the integration of technology and the rising consumerism of people of color, diversity has become a “must” to appeal to the millions of viewers. The diversity in media is a great opportunity for people of color to pursue their acting dreams, writers and actors coming together to be able to show their own stories that other minorities could relate to. Despite the rise of diverse media and TV shows, Asian Americans are sorely underrepresented, with only less than 2.5% of representation in media. When they do appear on screen, they are mostly the embodiments of racial stereotypes. Common stereotypes for Asian American actors to appear as are: dragon ladies, martial art masters, geeks, foreigners, or prostitutes.

We propose a petition to change the lead actors for the American remake of Death Note, an anime and manga series created by Tsugami Ohba and Takeshi Obata. The release of the two leading cast members were revealed to be white, Nat Wolff and Margaret Qualley, a misrepresentation of the original Asian characters. Even though the film will no doubt be Americanized, as well as the characters, American does not mean white. Asian Americans do exist and our goal is to have Netflix, the production company in charge, change the leading actors, replacing them with Asian actors instead. We demand back the Asian roles that have been taken by white actors. We will be aiming for at least 500 signatures, revealing and explaining the whitewashing, misrepresentation, and underrepresentation of Asian Americans in media.

After we successfully reach our goal, the petition will be sent to Netflix in hopes of replacing the lead actors. The case of Death Note’s whitewashing of characters is one example among many but we hope that this action will change the future of Americanized films and show the demands of Asian representation.