Gwen Stefani fires back at accusations she appropriated Japanese culture



Gwen Stefani fired back at accusations that she had committed the liberal sin of cultural appropriation when she included a group of Japanese dancers in her stage act.

The pop star has faced criticism for the "Harajuko Girls," a group of dancers that were accused of using demeaning Japanese stereotypes.

In a recent interview with "Paper" magazine, Stefani refused to apologize for what she said was an act of cultural appreciation, not appropriation.

"If we didn't buy and sell and trade our cultures in, we wouldn't have so much beauty, you know?" said Stefani in the interview.

"We learn from each other, we share from each other, we grow from each other. And all these rules are just dividing us more and more," she explained. "I think that we grew up in a time where we didn't have so many rules. We didn't have to follow a narrative that was being edited for us through social media, we just had so much more freedom."

Stefani's most biting critic was comedian Margaret Cho, who compared the dancers to blackface and a racist minstrel show.

"I want to like them, and I want to think they are great, but I am not sure if I can. I mean, racial stereotypes are really cute sometimes, and I don't want to bum everyone out by pointing out the minstrel show," wrote Cho sarcastically in 2005.

"Even though to me, a Japanese schoolgirl uniform is kind of like blackface, I am just in acceptance over it, because something is better than nothing," she added.

One of the "Harajuko Girls" dancers defender Stefani from the accusations later.

"I heard about the criticism but it didn't bother me as I knew Gwen's intention," said Rino Nakasone.

"It was like an American version of how they saw Harajuku girls—I thought it was genius," she added. "A lot of musicians are using Japanese cultural elements in their videos these days; Gwen was like a trailblazer in that sense."

Stefani gained popularity as the lead singer of "No Doubt," a rock ska band from Southern California. She is the longtime girlfriend of country music star Blake Shelton, who says that Stefani was pivotal in converting him to Christianity. Their plans to wed in October 2020 were postponed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Here's more about the controversy over the Harajuku Girls:

Gwen Stefani Defends 'Harajuku Girls' Amid Cultural Appropriation Criticismwww.youtube.com

Marvel movie director tried to avoid stereotype of Asian comic book character. Now they are apologizing for 'whitewashing'



Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige said in an interview that it was wrong to cast a white woman for the role of a character that was an Asian male in the comic book source.

Feige was referring to the casting of Tilda Swinton in the role of The Ancient One in the 2016 hit movie "Dr. Strange," based on the comic book.

While the movie director explained in 2016 that they were trying to avoid negative stereotypes associated with the original character, Feige now says it was a mistake to cast a white woman in the role.

He made the comments in an interview with Men's Health published Wednesday.

"We thought we were being so smart, and so cutting edge," Feige explained.

"We're not going to do the cliché of the wizened, old, wise Asian man," he added. "But it was a wake-up call to say, 'Well, wait a minute, is there any other way to figure it out? Is there any other way to both not fall into the cliché and cast an Asian actor?' And the answer to that, of course, is yes."

Feige said the studio is using that experience to help guide Marvel's newest movie, "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings," whose title character is also based on an Asian comic book superhero.

"Dr. Strange" director Scott Derrickson told The Daily Beast in 2016 that when they tried to avoid one Asian stereotype, they bumped into another stereotype of the "Dragon Lady."

"We talked about Asian actors who could do it, as we were working on the script, every iteration of it — including the one that Tilda played — but when I envisioned that character being played by an Asian actress, it was a straight-up Dragon Lady," Derrickson said at the time.

"I know the history of cinema and the portrayal of the Dragon Lady in Anna May Wong films, and the continued stereotype throughout film history and even more in television," he explained.

"Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" opens in theaters on Sept. 3.

Here's the trailer for Marvel's latest superhero movie:

Marvel Studios' Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings | Official Teaserwww.youtube.com