New Bradley Cooper Movie Aloha Accused of 'White-Washing' Hawaii

Director Cameron Crowe has been accused of ‘white-washing’ Hawaii in his new movie 'Aloha’.

An Asian-American action group has issued a withering statement regarding the rom-com from the 'Almost Famous’ director, and how it depicts a false image of the island.

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“Caucasians only make up 30 percent of the population [of Hawaii], but from watching this film, you’d think they made up 99 percent,” said Guy Aoki of the Media Action Network for Asian Americans.

“This comes in a long line of films - ‘The Descendants’,‘50 First Dates’, ‘Blue Crush’, ‘Pearl Harbour’ - that uses Hawaii for its exotic backdrop but goes out of its way to exclude the very people who live there.

“It’s an insult to the diverse culture and fabric of Hawaii.”

The film features a star-laden cast, including Bradley Cooper, Bill Murray, Emma Stone, Rachel McAdams and Alec Baldwin.

But it’s already been described as ‘troubled’, this latest problem aside.

Emails which emerged in the Sony hack saw it slated by executives at the studio making it, former production head Amy Pascal reportedly calling it 'ridiculous’ and adding 'it never, not even once, ever works’.

Audience test reactions have not been good either, while it’s said screenings of the movie for critics have been held off until the very last minute before its release next week.

Meanwhile, Aoki also honed in on the fact that, despite Crowe previously saying he wanted to include the 'rich history’ of Hawaii in the film, the roles for islanders were scant, and those that there were for 'Indian pedestrian’, 'upscale Japanese tourist’ and 'upscale restaurant guest’.

“They didn’t even have names,” he said.

“How can you educate your audience to the ‘rich history’ of Hawaii by using mostly white people and excluding the majority of the people who live there and who helped build that history.”

There has been no comment from Sony as yet on the concerns of MANAA.

Image credits: Sony