Hong Kong TV show ignites 'brownface' row with Filipina role

HONG KONG • A Hong Kong television show has ignited anger over a Filipina character played by a local actress who darkened her skin, in the latest incident of "brownface" in Asia.

Broadcaster TVB cast Canadian-Hong Kong actress Franchesca Wong to play a Filipina domestic worker for its series Barrack O'Karma 1968, which, despite its name, is a suspense thriller series and not about American politics.

Wong appears in the show with visibly darker skin and a clip posted by a colleague on Instagram showed her applying make-up to her legs.

"I am transforming into another person," she said in the video, affecting a Filipino accent.

"I am suntanning right now," she added.

Hong Kong media reviews this week of Wong's portrayal were largely favourable and skipped discussion of race. But the decision to darken her skin - and the casting choice itself - sparked criticism, particularly among the city's Filipino population.

"I don't think it's appropriate she had to darken her skin for the role," said Sabrina Man, a Chinese-Filipino former actress working in Hong Kong as a model. "It wouldn't have been difficult to look for someone with Filipino heritage to play the role."

Ms Eni Lestari, a domestic worker and chairman of the International Migrants Alliance, described the TV show's choices as "an insult" to domestic workers who already face discrimination.

In a statement on Wednesday, TVB said Wong "successfully portrayed" her character "through her professional performing techniques and sophisticated handling of role-playing".

While it did not directly address the choice to darken her skin, it said: "It was never our intention to show disrespect or to discriminate against any nationality in any of our programmes." It added: "We would like to express our concern to anyone who might be affected in this matter."

"Brownface" or "blackface" are terms referring to the practice of darkening an actor's skin to portray a person of a different race. The practice has become taboo in North America and much of Europe, where there has been a concerted push for more diverse casting and representation in the entertainment industry.

But brownface controversies continue to crop up in Asia, including in television shows and advertisements.

Last year, a Malaysian pop star apologised for using a darkened woman in a music video that promoted a skin-whitening product. Singapore's state-owned broadcaster apologised in 2019 for an advertisement featuring an actor of Chinese origin with his skin darkened.

And a long-running TV series in the Philippines received criticism for darkening three light-skinned actors who were playing characters from the indigenous Aeta communities.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE