‘Power Rangers’ Writer Says ‘It Was a Mistake’ to Cast Black and Asian Actors as Black Ranger and Yellow Ranger: ‘None of Us’ Were ‘Thinking Stereotypes’

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• SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  They “weren’t thinking stereotypes” but in the original cast the only woman in the group was the pink ranger as if that wasn’t also a stereotype…

  K, sure, gotcha.

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  • djsoren19@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    This is what people mean when they call out implicit bias. I can believe that nobody in the writer’s room explicitly said “Oh we should make the girl pink because girls like pink,” but I can also believe someone made the girl pink because it “felt right” and nobody ever argued against it, and same with the black and yellow rangers. Having a diverse writer’s room is a great way to prevent these implicit biases from getting passed on, but I’d honestly be surprised if Mighty Morphin Power Rangers had more than like, one white dude working on the entire story.

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    • Sciaphobia@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

      An example that could have come right out of a psychology textbook. Well done.

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    • klemptor@startrek.website ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

      This works more for the yellow ranger. The pink ranger is clearly female in the original Japanese version - she has breasts and her uniform has a skirt. But the original Japanese yellow ranger was male: no breasts, no skirt. The US execs probably wanted 2 female rangers, but they chose yellow over red, blue, or black as the most likely “girl” color.

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    • driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

      Is {current_year} and the fascists dogs kid show still have the only female dog in pink.

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  • Railcar8095@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    the only woman in the group

    The Asian yellow ranger would like a word with you.

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    • SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

      You know, you’re right. I had this weird false memory of there originally only being three of them. I just checked Wikipedia, and she was for sure in the first episode.

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    • FilthyHookerSpit@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

      Yellow ranger was a dude in the original footage

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  • rickyrigatoni@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    They tormented the one gay cast member into quitting, too. Can’t forget that part.

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    • DoubleSpace@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

      Yep, the old blue ranger, David Yost.

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  • buddascrayon@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    Gatchaman and Voltron checking in with their single female representation. It was…not uncommon in Japanese team shows to have a pink member of a team that was also the only girl.

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• LovableSidekick@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  Make the Red ranger Ivan Strovoski and the Green ranger Patrick O’Riley and have them be drunk all the time.

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  • edgemaster72@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    And the White Power Ranger should be [insert all your favorite conservative American stereotypes here]

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    • LovableSidekick@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

      Just throw in Hank Hill in a t-shirt.

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    • kryptonianCodeMonkey@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

      White power… ranger. Hmmmmmm

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  • But_my_mom_says_im_cool@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    I used to think the red Ranger looked kinda native and thought that was why

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    • DoubleSpace@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

      This says you are partially correct.

      “St. John is of Native American, German, Irish, Japanese and Spanish descent.”

      powerrangers.fandom.com/wiki/Austin_St._John

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  • themoonisacheese@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    Team fortress 2 lobby

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• Omgboom@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  Also the white ranger was white

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  • peregrin5@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    Yet they didn’t make the blue ranger Andorian. Hmmm. 🤔

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    • valkyre09@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

      Bloody pink skins taking our jobs again.

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  • Kolanaki@pawb.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    Pink ranger was a girl.

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  • sp3tr4l@lemmy.zip ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    He was also green.

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• Sibshops@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  This is going to be an unpopular opinion, but if there’s no stereotype being reinforced beyond a color match, it’s not automatically problematic.

  I feel like if a criticism can be levied here it can also be levied to Black Panther or Barbie.

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  • tiramichu@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    “Yellow” isn’t just a colour match though, there are very significant historical stereotypes and prejudice with the associan between ‘yellow’ and ‘Asian’

    en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_Peril

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    • Sibshops@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

      Oh I completely agree that there are harmful historical associations, like the “Yellow Peril” stereotype, and that we need to be aware of it. I’m just saying that not every color/race pairing is promoting those stereotypes.

      I’m wondering if using those pairings in a positive way can subvert the old associations, like how Black Panther reclaims blackness as power, or how Barbie’s pink means something more empowering.

      In Power Rangers, all the characters were portrayed as heroes, respected equally by the team. So while the color choices might not have been intentional, the show, for the most part, didn’t show the characters in a negative or stereotypical way. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be aware of broader sterotypes. It just may mean the it wasn’t necessarily harmful in this case.

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• WhatSay@slrpnk.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  The 90s were epic, and the 90s were cringe.

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• SeaJ@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  So put off the original five Power Rangers, three somehow just randomly fit their color stereotype? I don’t buy that.

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• ech@lemm.ee ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  Classic key & peele: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOyE_l80D4Y

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• CidVicious@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  The fact that they used a woman to play the yellow ranger while using a man for the Super Sentai footage wasn’t great either.

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• Kolanaki@pawb.social ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  What were they thinking when they made the White Power Ranger?

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  • WhatSay@slrpnk.net ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

    They forgot to give him a pointed hat

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• MithranArkanere@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  It has always been a problem.

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• Fingolfinz@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  They could just apologize but instead they feed us shit

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• werefreeatlast@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago

  Totally not AI:

  The actress who played the original Yellow Ranger, Thuy Trang, tragically died in a car accident in 2001 at the age of 27, while traveling between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

  Tragic Circumstances:
  Thuy Trang, who played Trini Kwan (the original Yellow Ranger) in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, died in a car accident on September 3, 2001. 
  

  The Accident: She was traveling between San Francisco and Los Angeles with her friend Angela Rockwood when their vehicle swerved off the road and hit a rock face. Age at Death: Thuy Trang was 27 years old when she passed away. Other Details: According to RangerWiki, she was to be a bridesmaid to former actress/model Angela Rockwood. Power Rangers Reunion: The Power Rangers anniversary special, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always, confirmed what happened to Trini, the original Yellow Ranger. Tribute: The Netflix special honors both Thuy Trang and Jason David Frank, who died by suicide in 2022, with a song by Amy Jo Johnson.

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