In real life, the MIT Blackjack Team was mostly composed of Asian-American males. However, in the movie 21 they was mostly casted by white actors to portray these men in the film. Ben Mezrich, author of Bringing Down the House, noted a “stereotypical” casting process on the part of Hollywood.
In other media outlets, the criticism was much more forceful. Asian Week called it a “whitewash” pointing out that if it was a African American replaced by a Caucasian, there will be more vocal protest. Best Week Ever mocked the casting by stating “I have no trouble watching Jim Sturgess and Kate Bosworth instead of some zany Asian people Asianing up the screen with their unwatchable, completely unrelatable Asianness.”
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Hollywood always changes history so it sells better. If you want to see real life story about blackjack counting check out the BBC’s Horizon episode “Making millions the easy way”. I think it’s more thrilling to watch that this Hollywood flick. You can watch the whole episode on youtube… just search for the title.
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