racebending

Alternative forms

• race-bending

Etymology

From race +‎ bending, following the pattern of genderbending.

Noun

racebending (uncountable)

1. (informal, often pejorative) The act of playing the role of, or casting someone in the role of, a character of different race or ethnicity.
   • 2013, Lee Jian Yun, "Asian Americans on the Rise: How YouTube Changed the Game", The Monash Gazette (Monash Ununiversity), Issue #2 2013, page 71:

     Hilarity ensues as the director tries to justify his decision with famous racebending examples from Hollywood (The faux slit-eyes in Cloud Atlas, anyone?).

   • 2014, Zhana Johnnson, "Bend It Like Jordan", The Xavierite (Saint Xavier University), Volume 83, Number 17, 26 February 2014, page 9:

     Not only did the producers cast actors in their late twenties but also had the audacity to assign Michael B. Jordan (Fruitside Station, That Awkward Moment) to the role of the Human Torch/Johnny Storm.

     What has happened here is a wonderful example of racebending.

   • 2015, Kristen J. Warner, "ABC's Scandal and Black Women's Fandom", in Cupcakes, Pinterest, and Ladyporn: Feminized Popular Culture in the Early Twenty-First Century (ed. Elana Levine), University of Illinois (2015), →ISBN, page 39:

     As an example of racebending on a different level from that of fandom but which still utilizes a similar approach, in 2005, Denzel Washington portrayed Julius Caesar in a revival of Shakespeare's play.

   • For more examples of usage of this term, see Citations:racebending.

Verb

racebending

1. present participle of racebend

See also

• blackface, redface, yellowface

Anagrams

• Grecian bend