Columbia PicturesAloha's casting has caused serious backlash, thanks to Cameron Crowe hiring Emma Stone to play Asian character Allison Ng.
Because of the outrage from native Hawaiians that has ensued since the movie's release, Crowe has penned an essay on his personal website that addresses his casting decision and the comments about the movie from Amy Pascal's leaked Sony emails.
"Thank you so much for all the impassioned comments regarding the casting of the wonderful Emma Stone in the part of Allison Ng. I have heard your words and your disappointment, and I offer you a heart-felt apology to all who felt this was an odd or misguided casting choice," he writes.
He also explains that Stone's character was based on a real-life Hawaiian woman who always felt compelled to "over-explain" her heritage every chance she got as she didn't feel native with her red-headed hair despite being one-quarter Hawaiian. "A half-Chinese father was meant to show the surprising mix of cultures often prevalent in Hawaii," he adds.
Crowe notes that that he and his crew are "extremely proud" to present Oahu, its people and the film community with "many jobs" over the four months they worked there. But despite "tireless research" conducted by Stone and others, Crowe writes that he is "the one to blame" for any controversy and upset his casting decision might have caused.
The Jerry Maguire director also writes that he feels his latest project has been "misunderstood" since making an appearance in Pascal's emails. The misunderstanding perpetuated ruthless reviews from critics, which forced Crowe and Sony to release the first eight minutes of the film so viewers can decide for themselves whether or not Aloha, which also stars Bradley Cooper, Alec Baldwin and Rachel McAdams, was actually good.
Rotten Tomatoes approval climbed to 18 percent from 11 percent, so there's that. But still some call Aloha "unquestionably Cameron Crowe's worst film." And to think this is coming from the guy behind Almost Famous and Say Anything!
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