We Need To Talk About The Possibly Overlooked Whitewashing In 2017

Recently, we've heard a lot about Whitewashing in Hollywood. Scarlett Johansson in Ghost in the Shell, Tilda Swinton in Doctor Strange, Emma Stone in Aloha, the list goes on. However, there's one movie from 2017 that not only contained what could possibly be whitewashing, but did it twice in the same scene.

So this possible offense took place during The LEGO Ninjago Movie.

Warner Animation Group/The LEGO Company / Via i0.wp.com

During the film, a parody of "Good Morning America" is broadcast to the city of Ninjago, appropriately known as "Good Morning Ninjago". The hosts of the show are two Lego-fied versions of actual talk show hosts...

Michael Strahan and Robin Roberts

Warner Animation Group/The LEGO Company / Via pbs.twimg.com

You'll notice that they look like the standard yellow Lego person. "Well that's not a big deal!" you say. "They're just Lego people. It's not like they can change the skin tone of a Lego character just for a cameo in a movie."

Well, what if I told you they already did that in The LEGO Movie? And not for a main character, but for a brief cameo from...(y'all ready for this?)

SHAQUILLE O'NEAL.

Warner Animation Group/The LEGO Company / Via assets-auto.rbl.ms

And not only him! The LEGO Batman Movie, which was released just a few months before Ninjago, featured Billy Dee Williams as Two-Face, still looking like Billy Dee Williams.

Warner Animation Group/The LEGO Company / Via dvdizzy.com

So, why not Michael Strahan and Robin Roberts? Was there a reason? Did one of the three directors just forget about it? Is this technically considered whitewashing, or am I just overthinking it because I watched the movie around one in the morning and was half asleep so I unnecessarily fixated on this one small aspect?

(This post was not meant to belittle real instances of whitewashing or to offend. It was a joke.)