A petition has been created demanding Sony not erase Jill Valentine’s Asian-American identity.
As first reported by One Angry Gamer, the petition created by Suzy A wants to ensure that Sony casts the right actor to play Jill Valentine in a new adaptation of the Resident Evil video game series.
The petition on Change.org comes off the heels of a rumor from The Illuminerdi that indicates Sony Pictures are looking to cast Ant-Man and The Wasp’s Hannah John-Kamen, who played Ghost, as Jill Valentine in Screen Gems’ reboot of Resident Evil.
The Illuminerdi’s Braxter Timberlake writes, “Fan-favorite character Jill Valentine will be adapted for the film, and an official offer has been made to Killjoys’ Hannah John-Kamen.”
Their report goes on to describe Valentine’s character as a “small town girl that enjoys hunting with the guys. She is gorgeous yet tough, and she knows how to have a good time.”
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They also note that if John-Kamen does not lock down the role, the studio is focusing their casting on “an African-American actor with mixed heritage for the role.”
The petition begins, “In 2020 Sony, Screen Gems, and Netflix have been reported to be working on a new adaptation of Resident Evil. Though the details are scarce, one official piece of information has been verified: that they are looking to cast Jill Valentine as an African American woman.”
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It continues, “The desire for inclusion is a big subject right now in Hollywood and should be addressed, but there’s just one issue: Jill Valentine is already a minority! Canonically she is a French-Japanese American character, created by Shinji Mikami and Isao Ohishi over twenty years ago!”
It then states, “Not only was she introduced as a strong, non-objectified female that the player could choose to play on equal footing with her male counterpart, she also represented the ethnicity of the Capcom employees who brought her to life.”
The petition continues, “Jill Valentine deserves to be represented in real life by an actress who can bring her Asian and French heritage to life. Asian Americans are not only underrepresented in film, but they’ve also had to deal with being outright replaced unless the public made their feelings known.”
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Suzy A adds, “People were upset to see Asians played by non-Asians in movies like Aloha and Ghost in the shell, and nearly saw it happen in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Hellboy, but the latter two films listened to the fans–and the studios making this new Resident Evil series can too!”
The petition ends, “Please honor Jill Valentine’s lineage and cast an actress who can bring her to life accurately!”
The petition has currently been signed by 106 people at the time of this writing.
What do you make of this petition? Do you plan on signing it?