Ridley Scott slammed for whitewashing Asian characters in The Martian.

Whitewashing is the practice of casting white actors in roles originally written for non-white characters.

Starring Matt Damon, the The Martian cast white actress Mackenzie Davis and black actor Chiwetel Ejiofor as characters identified as Asian in the book which the film is adapted from. Guy Aoki, Founding President of the Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA), said the film should be barred from receiving awards for its “racist” casting.

“So few projects are written specifically with Asian-American characters in them, and he’s [Ridley Scott] now changed them to a white woman and black man,” Aoki said in a statement posted to the organisation’s Facebook page.

Ridley Scott’s been accused of whitewashing characters in The Martian.Source:AP

“This was a great opportunity to give meaty roles to talented Asian American actors — and boost their careers.

“This feel-good movie, which has attracted Oscar buzz, shouldn’t get any awards for casting.” Aki Aleong, President of the Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA), also called for an end to the widespread practice of whitewashing.

“This insulting practice of whitewashing has got to stop,” Aleong said in the same statement.

“Alarmingly, it has been increasing in frequency.”

Recent films accused of whitewashing include Aloha (2015), in which American actress Emma Stone plays a half Hawaiian/Chinese character.

Infamously, the film adaptation of children’s TV show Avatar: The Last Airbender was slammed for casting an all-white lead cast for a film set in a world heavily influenced by Asian cultures. The only non-white characters to appear in Avatar were either in the background or in villain roles.

Whitewashing has also included the removal of non-white characters from stories altogether.

Banished, a BBC television series on the colonisation of Australia, did not feature any Indigenous characters.