TV
The racially charged casting decision that a Power Rangers writer apologized for years later
Aye-yi-yi-yi-yi!
In the 90’s, many of the cartoons and children’s shows had a level of inclusiveness that showed a certain level of progress that society was making at the time. Having characters of different races was something normal, something that helped the minds of the time to embrace the idea of racial integration. However, when you look at those shows from the perspective of 30 to 40 years later, things change and some flaws or details are seen from a new perspective. And this is the recent case with Tony Oliver, head writer of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
In a recent interview for Investigation Discovery series ‘Hollywood Demons‘, Tony Oliver, head writer of the first American Power Rangers series, admitted that it was a “mistake” to cast Walter Emanuel Jones as Zack Taylor (the first Black Ranger) and Thuy Trang as Trini Kwan (the first Yellow Ranger), because it was an African-American actor who played the Black Ranger and an Asian actress who played the Yellow Ranger.
An unintentional casting choice
In the documentary, Oliver comments that “none of us were thinking in stereotypes.” This detail went unnoticed until “my assistant pointed it out in a meeting one day,” Oliver said.
Originally, they were looking for qualities in the characters. Oliver said that the Black Ranger “seemed to have the swagger of the group” and the Yellow Ranger was “the peaceful one, who tends to be the conscience of the group. In fact, Oliver mentions that “Thuy was not our original Yellow Ranger,” as another actress, Audri Dubois, was cast in the role. During the episode, they even show never-before-seen behind-the-scenes footage of Jones telling the camera, “My name is Wa lter Jones, I play Zack. I’m black and I play the Black Ranger, go figure.”
The Power Rangers franchise arrived in the United States in 1993 and was massive, spawning sequels and spin-offs that continue to this day. Part of its success was that it borrowed fight sequences and monster battles from Japan’s Super Sentai series.
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