Hong Kong movie theatres are preparing for the opening of Star Wars: Episode VII -The Force Awakens on Thursday. The ubiquitous presences of the film’s posters are seemingly unavoidable throughout the city.
But the marketing campaign in mainland China seems to be sporting a slight variation of the poster when it comes to some major characters in the upcoming film, including Finn, who is portrayed by Nigerian-born actor John Boyega.
Boyega has been shrunk to minuscule scale in the Chinese version of the poster, while Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and robot character BB8 all appear to be larger. China state media, however, says any claims of racism are unfounded.
With online ticket sales breaking records, Episode VII is already set to become one of the highest grossing films of all time, with or without the unexplained change of Boyega’s presence in the poster.
So does the ad represent the indirect views of the Chinese towards black people?
“The Chinese are quite racist towards blacks,” says Kenyan-born Grace Paul, 24, a former student of South China Technology University who lived in mainland China for six years. “Sometimes people would ask me if my skin is going to rub off.”
“They’re racist,” agrees Michael Tokunbo, a Nigerian-born entrepreneur who lived in China for three years. “Sometimes people would not want to do business with me.”
It’s also worth mentioning that other non-white actors were omitted from the Chinese poster. Guatemalan-American actor Oscar Isaac’s Poe Dameron and Mexican-Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o’s Maz Kanata were missing entirely, as was Chewbacca the Wookiee.
“Since the poster is merely a promotion method and an individual case, it would be unfair to criticise Chinese audiences for discriminating against the black actor,” said Chen Qiuping of the Beijing Film Association, according to the state publication the Global Times.
Whether the poster represents the view of Chinese citizens, or the marketing campaign influences feelings of racial divide in the mainland, the idea of getting China to even engage in conversation on the issue seems light years away.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens in Hong Kong on Dec. 17 and mainland China on Jan. 9, 2016.
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