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The Whitewash
WINNER OF THE ABIA AUDIOBOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD.
Winner of the QLA Glendower Emerging Writer Award
Shortlisted for the NSW Premier's Literary Award
A Booktopia Best Book of the Year
Multi-cast narration and enhanced audio features.
Siang Lu's searing debut is a black comedy about the whitewashing of the Asian film industry, told in the form of an oral documentary
It sounded like a good idea at the time- A Hollywood spy thriller, starring, for the first time in history, an Asian male lead. With an estimated $350 million production budget and up-and-coming Hong Kong actor JK Jr, who, let's be honest, is not the sharpest tool in the shed, but probably the hottest, Brood Empire was basically a sure thing. Until it wasn't.
So how did it all fall apart? There were smart guys involved. So smart, so woke. So woke it hurts. There was topnotch talent across the board and the financial backing of a heavyweight Chinese studio. And yet, Brood Empire is remembered now not as a historical landmark of Asian representation that smashed the bamboo ceiling in Hollywood, but rather as a fiasco of seismic proportions.
The Whitewash is the definitive oral history of the whole sordid mess. Unofficial. Unasked for. Only intermittently fact-checked, and featuring a fool's gallery of actors, producers, directors, film historians and scummy click-bait journalists, to answer the question of how it all went so horribly, horribly wrong.
Winner of the QLA Glendower Emerging Writer Award
Shortlisted for the NSW Premier's Literary Award
A Booktopia Best Book of the Year
Multi-cast narration and enhanced audio features.
Siang Lu's searing debut is a black comedy about the whitewashing of the Asian film industry, told in the form of an oral documentary
It sounded like a good idea at the time- A Hollywood spy thriller, starring, for the first time in history, an Asian male lead. With an estimated $350 million production budget and up-and-coming Hong Kong actor JK Jr, who, let's be honest, is not the sharpest tool in the shed, but probably the hottest, Brood Empire was basically a sure thing. Until it wasn't.
So how did it all fall apart? There were smart guys involved. So smart, so woke. So woke it hurts. There was topnotch talent across the board and the financial backing of a heavyweight Chinese studio. And yet, Brood Empire is remembered now not as a historical landmark of Asian representation that smashed the bamboo ceiling in Hollywood, but rather as a fiasco of seismic proportions.
The Whitewash is the definitive oral history of the whole sordid mess. Unofficial. Unasked for. Only intermittently fact-checked, and featuring a fool's gallery of actors, producers, directors, film historians and scummy click-bait journalists, to answer the question of how it all went so horribly, horribly wrong.
Audible Audio
First published August 2, 2022
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603 people want to read
About the author
Siang Lu
2 books50 followersSiang's fiction and literary reviews have appeared in Southerly and Westerly. He holds a Master of Letters from the University of Sydney. He has written for television on Malaysia's Astro network. In 2021, Siang won the Glendower Award for an Emerging Queensland Writer for The Whitewash. He is based in Brisbane, Australia, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
August 17, 2022
Siang Lu’s delightfully satire, The Whitewash, is part entertainment essay on the history of Asian cinema and the Hollywood beast, part farce about the spectacular failure of a breakthrough, big budget Asian-led extravaganza, part love letter to Asian cinema and even part (a small part) romance – and the whole package is fabulous, snarky fun.
The premise is that we’re seeing the transcripts of the interviews (and secret recordings) of all the players involved in the crafting of a Hollywood blockbuster. The film, Brood Empire, is meant to be based on a famous Chinese “Brando X” book series about which initially ripped off the James Bond franchise and then took off in a startlingly original direction. We see the promising start of casting and filming and watch as the whole thing fractures and crumbles.
Its development – and failure – are tracked through the eyes of the Hong Kong movie star, JK Jr, and his white stuntman Chase, the Chao dynasty of film makers, the producers, directors, the dodgy journalists of a click-bait online magazine Click Bae and the latter’s put-upon lawyer.
The epistolary nature of the book isn’t new, but taking the entries from verbal source material gives them vivid energy, texture and fresh life. The characters leap off the page as individuals in all their messy glory.
The tale speeds along, with vastly entertaining contradictions and brilliant use of footnotes. It’s also underpinned with both knowledge and succinct opinions on the history of Asian cinema, Hollywood appropriation and whitewashing of the martial arts genre, and film-making in general – delivered with great charm and affection as well as clear-eyed and wicked wit that deconstructs all the artifice, hope, self-delusion and joy of the industry, with a particular eye on revealing Hollywood’s persistent history of whitewashing, white saviours and overall racism.
The Whitewash references many of the “kung-fu” and other action films of my youth and up to more recent films, including Top Gun: Maverick, The Eternals and Shiang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. In fact, the invented cinema history of JK senior’s TV shows, the films made by the Chao family and previous attempts to film the Brando X books are so seamlessly interwoven with real films that I had visit IMDB to check the provenance of some films and performers to see where the lines were really drawn.
The Whitewash is a delicious satire which manages to be fond and funny as well as wickedly scathing, yet even-handed in its dismantling of the poor decisions, bad luck and general blame attached to the spectacular disaster that is the failure of its fictional film (which I very much wish, along with its fictional predecessors, existed for me to watch.)
I sometimes felt that Siang Lu had started out to write an informed essay about racism and Hollywood but his sense of the absurd guided him towards this fictionalised demonstration of his points. However it began, this book is an excellent result.
To add a final bit of metatextuality, Siang Lu has also created “the Beige Index”, a website which provides a measurement of ethnic representation in IMDB’s Top 250 films, over time. If you’re not sure the fiction proves his case, perhaps the statistics will.
https://thebeigeindex.com/film/tt0032551
The premise is that we’re seeing the transcripts of the interviews (and secret recordings) of all the players involved in the crafting of a Hollywood blockbuster. The film, Brood Empire, is meant to be based on a famous Chinese “Brando X” book series about which initially ripped off the James Bond franchise and then took off in a startlingly original direction. We see the promising start of casting and filming and watch as the whole thing fractures and crumbles.
Its development – and failure – are tracked through the eyes of the Hong Kong movie star, JK Jr, and his white stuntman Chase, the Chao dynasty of film makers, the producers, directors, the dodgy journalists of a click-bait online magazine Click Bae and the latter’s put-upon lawyer.
The epistolary nature of the book isn’t new, but taking the entries from verbal source material gives them vivid energy, texture and fresh life. The characters leap off the page as individuals in all their messy glory.
The tale speeds along, with vastly entertaining contradictions and brilliant use of footnotes. It’s also underpinned with both knowledge and succinct opinions on the history of Asian cinema, Hollywood appropriation and whitewashing of the martial arts genre, and film-making in general – delivered with great charm and affection as well as clear-eyed and wicked wit that deconstructs all the artifice, hope, self-delusion and joy of the industry, with a particular eye on revealing Hollywood’s persistent history of whitewashing, white saviours and overall racism.
The Whitewash references many of the “kung-fu” and other action films of my youth and up to more recent films, including Top Gun: Maverick, The Eternals and Shiang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. In fact, the invented cinema history of JK senior’s TV shows, the films made by the Chao family and previous attempts to film the Brando X books are so seamlessly interwoven with real films that I had visit IMDB to check the provenance of some films and performers to see where the lines were really drawn.
The Whitewash is a delicious satire which manages to be fond and funny as well as wickedly scathing, yet even-handed in its dismantling of the poor decisions, bad luck and general blame attached to the spectacular disaster that is the failure of its fictional film (which I very much wish, along with its fictional predecessors, existed for me to watch.)
I sometimes felt that Siang Lu had started out to write an informed essay about racism and Hollywood but his sense of the absurd guided him towards this fictionalised demonstration of his points. However it began, this book is an excellent result.
To add a final bit of metatextuality, Siang Lu has also created “the Beige Index”, a website which provides a measurement of ethnic representation in IMDB’s Top 250 films, over time. If you’re not sure the fiction proves his case, perhaps the statistics will.
https://thebeigeindex.com/film/tt0032551
Read
September 2, 2022Testing! Is this thing on? Testing! Yeah, name’s JK Jr, up-and-coming Hong Kong movie icon. So you wanna know about Siang Lu? OK, lemme tell you about him. Grew up in Brisbane. And he wasn’t white, so he knew a thing or two about race from the get-go. Can’t buy that kind of experience at writing school, now, can you?
Anyway, you’re probably wondering: what’s the deal with The Whitewash? Bro, what isn’t it dealing with? Written Talking Heads-style – no, mockumentary style, not those Talking Heads. This author I’ve been talking with about my film, Declan Fry, he always makes Talking Heads references, do not get me started!
It’s a behind-the-scenes look at how Brood Empire, my big Hollywood break, got whitewashed. We’re talking Scarlett Johansson in Ghost in the Shell, Emma Stone playing a woman of Hawaiian and Asian heritage named Allison Ng. You’ll hear from producers, actors, personal trainers, hangers-on – the whole cast.
And the whole caste, too, the economy Hollywood runs on, with its white actors playing Asians, and its Asians, the men at least, playing sexless Charlie Chans or Fu Manchus. I mean, things have changed, but we’ve still got a lot of the same problems, you know?
Lu’s trying to draw parallels between the past and present: the racism, the opportunism, the craven … what? Webcasting? Yeah, sure. Angela Mu, my on-again, off-again, she was into that for a while. Who can blame her? Amazon, streaming services – they fund films now. Maybe Public Enemy had a point. Hollywood is burning, just not in the way we hoped. White man migrated. Colonised new platforms. Now you can be an influencer, a regular side-hustler: TikTok, OnlyFans, Bilibili … but do you get paid?
Or are you more like Adele Lim, co-writer of Crazy Rich Asians, offered nothing compared with her older, white, male, arguably less experienced screenwriting partner to work on the film’s sequel? Are you like Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park, getting less than Hawaii Five-0’s white leads?
Look, here’s the point: representation matters. Those old-school Marxists, all class this and materiality that, are missing the main event. The real mode of production has to include the unreal: the word, the image, the representation. Gramsci got it! Edward Said understood! What we write, what we create – it’s never innocent or apolitical, even when we intend for it to be. Especially when we intend for it to be.
Read on: https://amp.smh.com.au/culture/books/...
Anyway, you’re probably wondering: what’s the deal with The Whitewash? Bro, what isn’t it dealing with? Written Talking Heads-style – no, mockumentary style, not those Talking Heads. This author I’ve been talking with about my film, Declan Fry, he always makes Talking Heads references, do not get me started!
It’s a behind-the-scenes look at how Brood Empire, my big Hollywood break, got whitewashed. We’re talking Scarlett Johansson in Ghost in the Shell, Emma Stone playing a woman of Hawaiian and Asian heritage named Allison Ng. You’ll hear from producers, actors, personal trainers, hangers-on – the whole cast.
And the whole caste, too, the economy Hollywood runs on, with its white actors playing Asians, and its Asians, the men at least, playing sexless Charlie Chans or Fu Manchus. I mean, things have changed, but we’ve still got a lot of the same problems, you know?
Lu’s trying to draw parallels between the past and present: the racism, the opportunism, the craven … what? Webcasting? Yeah, sure. Angela Mu, my on-again, off-again, she was into that for a while. Who can blame her? Amazon, streaming services – they fund films now. Maybe Public Enemy had a point. Hollywood is burning, just not in the way we hoped. White man migrated. Colonised new platforms. Now you can be an influencer, a regular side-hustler: TikTok, OnlyFans, Bilibili … but do you get paid?
Or are you more like Adele Lim, co-writer of Crazy Rich Asians, offered nothing compared with her older, white, male, arguably less experienced screenwriting partner to work on the film’s sequel? Are you like Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park, getting less than Hawaii Five-0’s white leads?
Look, here’s the point: representation matters. Those old-school Marxists, all class this and materiality that, are missing the main event. The real mode of production has to include the unreal: the word, the image, the representation. Gramsci got it! Edward Said understood! What we write, what we create – it’s never innocent or apolitical, even when we intend for it to be. Especially when we intend for it to be.
Read on: https://amp.smh.com.au/culture/books/...
October 3, 2022
I was browsing one of my local bookstores and just chanced upon this book, and immediately from the cover I knew I wanted to read it. Always awesome to find books from Australian authors, especially Asian Australian authors (as an Asian Australian myself).
I have mixed feelings about this novel. The format was interesting for sure. Never quite read anything like this before (I feel like it might have worked better for me hearing it in an audiobook format instead?), so it took me a little bit to fully get into, but it was a fun ride. The comedy aspect was a little hit or miss for me? I know it was kind of supposed to be over-the-top ridiculous a little since it was satirising the Hollywood experience for Asians, but sometimes it felt a little gimmicky for me. I liked it at the start, but I felt that the premise was a little too overlong.
That being said, I actually found the parts about the history of Asian (specifically Chinese) cinema in both the Eastern and Western worlds really interesting. It actually sort of made me wish that the whole book had been focused on this because there was so much I learnt about Chinese cinema that I had no idea about. I obviously knew about whitewashing, but it's so, so prevalent...and sadly STILL happens too often in the film industry, which is pretty disheartening. Representation and diversity is so important for minorities in industries like this, so to take away even MORE opportunities that could be given to Asians is so infuriating.
I ended up googling a lot about the various films and actors mentioned in this (once I had separated them from the fictional aspects of the novel), and it's really made me want to explore more about the subject in more depth, so I definitely appreciate the book for that.
Overall, it was enjoyable read that I found really informative.
3/5
I have mixed feelings about this novel. The format was interesting for sure. Never quite read anything like this before (I feel like it might have worked better for me hearing it in an audiobook format instead?), so it took me a little bit to fully get into, but it was a fun ride. The comedy aspect was a little hit or miss for me? I know it was kind of supposed to be over-the-top ridiculous a little since it was satirising the Hollywood experience for Asians, but sometimes it felt a little gimmicky for me. I liked it at the start, but I felt that the premise was a little too overlong.
That being said, I actually found the parts about the history of Asian (specifically Chinese) cinema in both the Eastern and Western worlds really interesting. It actually sort of made me wish that the whole book had been focused on this because there was so much I learnt about Chinese cinema that I had no idea about. I obviously knew about whitewashing, but it's so, so prevalent...and sadly STILL happens too often in the film industry, which is pretty disheartening. Representation and diversity is so important for minorities in industries like this, so to take away even MORE opportunities that could be given to Asians is so infuriating.
I ended up googling a lot about the various films and actors mentioned in this (once I had separated them from the fictional aspects of the novel), and it's really made me want to explore more about the subject in more depth, so I definitely appreciate the book for that.
Overall, it was enjoyable read that I found really informative.
3/5
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 23, 2022
The best parts are the non-fiction segments which are thoroughly researched and interesting. The structure of the book made it way too difficult for me to engage with any of the characters, who were all quite superficial. Great subject, didn’t love the execution.
October 14, 2025
Although it is a satire it is an impressive history of Asian / English cinema. I look forward to seeing this adapted to screen. I felt it was more a screen play than a novel. I enjoyed listening to it.
November 21, 2023
4.5 stars
November 5, 2022
This book is a combination of Asians in Hollywood Filma / HK cinema history and fiction told in a documentary transcript style of writing. I was expecting it to be completely fiction and while I learnt a lot about the history of Asians in Hollywood, the parts I loved the best were through the main character and his on and off GF. I struggle when historical facts are thrown at me.
Overall, I like the concept of book, and it would be hilarious as a film.
Overall, I like the concept of book, and it would be hilarious as a film.
February 27, 2025
Definitely recommend this as an audiobook. The voice performances were on point and it’s very funny.
July 24, 2024
Audiobook gold. And reeeeaaally funny. And I learned things?! I'll be recommending this a lot.
October 21, 2022
A wonderful mash-up of satire, cinema & TV history, novel. Not what I was expecting. While the basic plot of the replacement of the Asian lead with a white lead is there, it is hidden below quite in-depth discussion of Asians in Hollywood & USA cinema & TV (many of which I found to be factual by looking on IMDB). Funny in parts, biting in parts, tediously slow in parts, always irascible & irreverent. Appropriately piss-taking of social media.
December 17, 2022
A solid novel formatted like a series of interviews regarding a fictional instance of whitewashing for a triple A Hollywood action film.
However, for me, it suffers a little bit by mixing genuine history with fictional history making it a little frustrating to read on first glance to parse out the things that did happen with the things that were written for the book.
Very funny writing though, it would make a great movie itself.
However, for me, it suffers a little bit by mixing genuine history with fictional history making it a little frustrating to read on first glance to parse out the things that did happen with the things that were written for the book.
Very funny writing though, it would make a great movie itself.
October 26, 2022
It would be laughable to rate a book with a similar premise to my debut novel only two stars, but this book was just not right for me. Now I see why my book isn’t quite for everyone either. I appreciate Siang Lu’s efforts to centre a debut novel around an oral history about Hollywood, something I’ve been interested in setting a book like myself. But reading this book made me learn that oral histories in fiction does not work. I’m left trying to uncover which films or actors are true and which aren’t, and remembering which person is which (already a difficulty for me when reading actual oral histories), so Lu adding the occupation after each character was helpful. Despite that, I still found the dialogue between the characters frustrating and cringe. He was trying to be funny, but it just came off as weakly written. And having to read the small text at the moment was a nuisance. Overall, I only got to 150 pages because the plot was going nowhere, I wanted to know when the so-called disgraced movie would come into question, but just more anecdotes about JK Jr’s workout regime. Like I bet he’s a buff man being in show biz but it was getting to the point where there was too much filler. If something is a fictional oral history, there has to be some element of truth to it. Thus, I would have enjoyed this book as an oral history had it been based off a real incident and written in a fan fiction kind of way. But if you liked this book, I’m sure you’ll also like my debut novel, Not Like in the Movies!
December 19, 2023
It's not often I'm floored by a novel but, holy shit, I am dumbstruck by the brilliance of this one!
Narrated by a cast of colourful characters, THE WHITEWASH pieces together the ill-fated production of the first Hollywood spy thriller, starring a hot-AF, if a little dim, Asian male lead, JK Jnr. Each character has their own distinct voice and whacky worldview which results in laugh out loud moments throughout. From personal trainer Yolo Zhang who identifies as a "celebrity sculptor" to LeBron Chew, online gossip rag Click Bae's unscrupulous Editor-in-Chief, to my personal favourite, the unabashedly thirsty Click Bae journalist, Hetty Lin. And yeah, nah, don't get me started on that paparazzi c*nt, Damo.
A couple of dozen perfectly drawn characters stitching together a rollicking narrative would have been enough for anyone — more than enough! But, no. Not for Siang Lu! He had to go and build it all atop a PhD-level foundation exploring Asian representation and racism in Hollywood that will legit make you smarter or, at least, less dumb about whitewashing!
I happened upon Siang's Instagram account, with its #sillybookstagram antics, and fell instantly in love with his wry humour. I've come to understand that he is funnier, smarter and, probably, better than the rest of us and I am here for it.
It's hard to comp this book but I'd say it has all the salacious magnetism of a Taylor Jenkins Reid novel with the train-crash satire of 2021 comedy film, Don't Look Up and a big ol' super interesting thesis thrown in!
Narrated by a cast of colourful characters, THE WHITEWASH pieces together the ill-fated production of the first Hollywood spy thriller, starring a hot-AF, if a little dim, Asian male lead, JK Jnr. Each character has their own distinct voice and whacky worldview which results in laugh out loud moments throughout. From personal trainer Yolo Zhang who identifies as a "celebrity sculptor" to LeBron Chew, online gossip rag Click Bae's unscrupulous Editor-in-Chief, to my personal favourite, the unabashedly thirsty Click Bae journalist, Hetty Lin. And yeah, nah, don't get me started on that paparazzi c*nt, Damo.
A couple of dozen perfectly drawn characters stitching together a rollicking narrative would have been enough for anyone — more than enough! But, no. Not for Siang Lu! He had to go and build it all atop a PhD-level foundation exploring Asian representation and racism in Hollywood that will legit make you smarter or, at least, less dumb about whitewashing!
I happened upon Siang's Instagram account, with its #sillybookstagram antics, and fell instantly in love with his wry humour. I've come to understand that he is funnier, smarter and, probably, better than the rest of us and I am here for it.
It's hard to comp this book but I'd say it has all the salacious magnetism of a Taylor Jenkins Reid novel with the train-crash satire of 2021 comedy film, Don't Look Up and a big ol' super interesting thesis thrown in!
August 31, 2024
It sounded like a good idea at the time- A Hollywood spy thriller, starring, for the first time in history, an Asian male lead. With an estimated $350 million production budget and up-and-coming Hong Kong actor JK Jr, who, let's be honest, is not the sharpest tool in the shed, but probably the hottest, Brood Empire was basically a sure thing. Until it wasn't.
This book was nothing like anything I’d read before. After loving Ghost Cities, I just had to check out this book, especially when I realised this was where Baby Bao made his first appearance!
As someone who’s more into plot-driven stories, I never thought I’d love a very character-driven, relatively-thin-on-plot, told-in-interview-snippets book like this. But I did. This book pretty much covered my entire childhood’s experience of watching Asian action movies by popular Hongkong actors in the 80s and 90s. I felt seen! Also, who would’ve thought I’d need a historical lesson of whitewashing events through the decades.
I listened to the audiobook which won the ABIA 2023 Audiobook of the Year award, and deservedly so as it was a fantastic production. The (mostly Asian) casts were top notch and the attention to details (including the creation of yee-haw theme song specifically for the audiobook) was top quality - a very good reflection on Siang Lu’s meticulousness, I’d say.
If you’re into fresh, unique, bizarre storytelling, I’d implore you to read this (or anything by Siang Lu).
See my bookstagram review.
This book was nothing like anything I’d read before. After loving Ghost Cities, I just had to check out this book, especially when I realised this was where Baby Bao made his first appearance!
As someone who’s more into plot-driven stories, I never thought I’d love a very character-driven, relatively-thin-on-plot, told-in-interview-snippets book like this. But I did. This book pretty much covered my entire childhood’s experience of watching Asian action movies by popular Hongkong actors in the 80s and 90s. I felt seen! Also, who would’ve thought I’d need a historical lesson of whitewashing events through the decades.
I listened to the audiobook which won the ABIA 2023 Audiobook of the Year award, and deservedly so as it was a fantastic production. The (mostly Asian) casts were top notch and the attention to details (including the creation of yee-haw theme song specifically for the audiobook) was top quality - a very good reflection on Siang Lu’s meticulousness, I’d say.
If you’re into fresh, unique, bizarre storytelling, I’d implore you to read this (or anything by Siang Lu).
See my bookstagram review.
Read
September 8, 2022Are you a closet movie buff with a great sense of humour? If so, then Siang Lu’s satirical debut The Whitewash may well be the perfect antidote to your next glum mood.
I’ll admit, it took me a moment to get my head around all the different character names in this blackest of black comedies. Once I did though, the sly cleverness of the creator of the dark farce playing out before me shone through.
The scary truth is, the characters within Siang Lu’s creative literary narrative (presented in docu-style reality show format) are more often than not referencing genuine movie industry history. When the spotlight is directed its way, the movie industry machine across all nationalities basically skewers itself! There are footnotes aplenty (part of the comedic relief) plus an eight-page chapter-by-chapter film appendix.
Sure there is some profanity and lots of non-PG themes, but like any good satire The Whitewash also contains hard-hitting social commentary about identity, the meaning of success and the dark side of capitalism between the farce. Continue reading: https://www.bookloverbookreviews.com/...
I’ll admit, it took me a moment to get my head around all the different character names in this blackest of black comedies. Once I did though, the sly cleverness of the creator of the dark farce playing out before me shone through.
The scary truth is, the characters within Siang Lu’s creative literary narrative (presented in docu-style reality show format) are more often than not referencing genuine movie industry history. When the spotlight is directed its way, the movie industry machine across all nationalities basically skewers itself! There are footnotes aplenty (part of the comedic relief) plus an eight-page chapter-by-chapter film appendix.
Sure there is some profanity and lots of non-PG themes, but like any good satire The Whitewash also contains hard-hitting social commentary about identity, the meaning of success and the dark side of capitalism between the farce. Continue reading: https://www.bookloverbookreviews.com/...
February 13, 2023
I loved this! It was so much fun, it was funny, it was biting, it was clever. Very enjoyable, well written, and satirical. Told via interviews, secret recordings and rememberings, the novel both confirms and subverts tropes to create a rollicking tale of Hong Kong action stars, power hungry personal trainers, morally grey content creators and ethically challenged assistants, all drawn together by the pull of the silver screen. The highs and lows of the Asian film industry are discussed, interspersed with real life examples which blur lines between fact and fiction, making your question your own feelings that you have watched that film, haven't you??!! It reminded me of the TJR books about Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones - that same feeling of absolutely being swept away by these characters and their stories, at times forgetting that they are fictional characters! I mean, it's so well written, you can absolutely believe that you're reading an unofficial oral history of real life! This book deserves just as much love as those TJR books because it's just as well done, and probably even funnier. It doesn't take itself seriously except when it does, and it's on fire. Definitely recommended. And extra points for randomly mentioning Toowoomba in the same breath as Last Vegas and other exotic locales!
September 12, 2022
Rambunctious and subversive, THE WHITEWASH is a very imaginative — and very funny! — chronicle of the Asian identity within our Hollywood film industry.
Styled in the form of a documentary transcript, there’s a lot of larger-than-life characters in this one; from self-absorbed actors and smug producers to shifty online journalists and assorted film crew, even a sad ex-girlfriend here and there. Loosely, it’s a fictional account of the making of Brood Empire, a grand Hollywood spy thriller starring, for the first time in history, an Asian male lead. It’s set to be explosive. Genre-defining. But instead, it’s really the start of Brood Empire’s epic demise.
Interspersed through this main storyline is a factual account of Asian representation in film and TV. And it’s a tumultuous journey. The way in which the Asian character has been historically stereotyped as firstly the villain, then the self-deprecating, subservient or sexless side character. The continual whitewashing of the Asian identity. The cultural appropriation of eastern martial arts by white actors like Jean Claude van Damme. Behind the scenes examples of pay discrimination with prominent script writers and actors. China’s growing influence on cultural censorship. Wow, there was a lot I wasn’t aware of. I’m by no means a film buff, but I found all of it entirely fascinating.
THE WHITEWASH may sound overtly critical, but it’s far from it. Instead, it plays on just how farcical this form of institutionalised racism really is. What’s clever about this book is that it uses these real-world examples, conflates them in the fictional Brood Empire production storyline, resulting in an absurd, tongue-in-cheek, satirical parody. It’s full of playful wit, banter, ego clashes, just all-round clever humour that’s insightful and also gave me a bad case of the chuckles. I just could not stop myself laughing in some places!
This was a very unique take on blending fiction with history — and I very much enjoyed the ride!
💌 UQP
Find more of my reviews on Instagram: @tackling.my.tbr
Styled in the form of a documentary transcript, there’s a lot of larger-than-life characters in this one; from self-absorbed actors and smug producers to shifty online journalists and assorted film crew, even a sad ex-girlfriend here and there. Loosely, it’s a fictional account of the making of Brood Empire, a grand Hollywood spy thriller starring, for the first time in history, an Asian male lead. It’s set to be explosive. Genre-defining. But instead, it’s really the start of Brood Empire’s epic demise.
Interspersed through this main storyline is a factual account of Asian representation in film and TV. And it’s a tumultuous journey. The way in which the Asian character has been historically stereotyped as firstly the villain, then the self-deprecating, subservient or sexless side character. The continual whitewashing of the Asian identity. The cultural appropriation of eastern martial arts by white actors like Jean Claude van Damme. Behind the scenes examples of pay discrimination with prominent script writers and actors. China’s growing influence on cultural censorship. Wow, there was a lot I wasn’t aware of. I’m by no means a film buff, but I found all of it entirely fascinating.
THE WHITEWASH may sound overtly critical, but it’s far from it. Instead, it plays on just how farcical this form of institutionalised racism really is. What’s clever about this book is that it uses these real-world examples, conflates them in the fictional Brood Empire production storyline, resulting in an absurd, tongue-in-cheek, satirical parody. It’s full of playful wit, banter, ego clashes, just all-round clever humour that’s insightful and also gave me a bad case of the chuckles. I just could not stop myself laughing in some places!
This was a very unique take on blending fiction with history — and I very much enjoyed the ride!
💌 UQP
Find more of my reviews on Instagram: @tackling.my.tbr
August 9, 2023
I would recommend this book, it was a fun, lighthearted read. I loved the twists and turns this book had. When you think things couldn't go more wrong with Brood Empire's production, they do...
The way it's written is quite unique, it reads like a conversation, snapping back between speakers while you, the reader, are almost like an interviewer. However, it did take a while to get into just because I didn't know if the writing style was temporary to introduce the story or if it would be a fixture throughout the story (it was the latter).
The characters are superficial but it made sense for the book. It helped with the satire and social commentary this book was making. It also worked from a story perspective, the characters had to be dumb so Brood Empire could be the utter fiasco it was in the book. JK being a himbo didn't stop me from rooting for him. I wanted him and Angela to have a happy ending, I wanted JK to be re-cast in Brood Empire after he was unceremoniously dropped.
I also liked the well-researched history of Asians in Hollywood scattered throughout the book. I learnt a few new things!
The way it's written is quite unique, it reads like a conversation, snapping back between speakers while you, the reader, are almost like an interviewer. However, it did take a while to get into just because I didn't know if the writing style was temporary to introduce the story or if it would be a fixture throughout the story (it was the latter).
The characters are superficial but it made sense for the book. It helped with the satire and social commentary this book was making. It also worked from a story perspective, the characters had to be dumb so Brood Empire could be the utter fiasco it was in the book. JK being a himbo didn't stop me from rooting for him. I wanted him and Angela to have a happy ending, I wanted JK to be re-cast in Brood Empire after he was unceremoniously dropped.
I also liked the well-researched history of Asians in Hollywood scattered throughout the book. I learnt a few new things!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 12, 2025
⭐️⭐️✨
Two and a half stars rounded down to three.
This book explores the concept of whitewashing through the story of a snowplow driver in a remote Canadian town. The protagonist, Bruce, accidentally kills a pedestrian while driving drunk and attempts to cover it up, leading to a downward spiral. The book also delves into the idea of "two Chinas," one real and one mythical, inspired by a visit to an abandoned theme park and references in John Milton's Paradise Lost.
I found this book disappointing. I listened to the audio version, and perhaps I would have liked it more if I had read the physical book rather than listened. I did get a bit confused with the book jumping from perspective to perspective with constant short snippets from each person. It seemed a bit all over the place for me. I did like the overall message and I do always like it when a book can teach me about a different culture, perspective, lifestyle etc. This book definitely did do that. But the rest of it I just struggled to get through it. It didn’t hold my interest and I found myself bored.
Two and a half stars rounded down to three.
This book explores the concept of whitewashing through the story of a snowplow driver in a remote Canadian town. The protagonist, Bruce, accidentally kills a pedestrian while driving drunk and attempts to cover it up, leading to a downward spiral. The book also delves into the idea of "two Chinas," one real and one mythical, inspired by a visit to an abandoned theme park and references in John Milton's Paradise Lost.
I found this book disappointing. I listened to the audio version, and perhaps I would have liked it more if I had read the physical book rather than listened. I did get a bit confused with the book jumping from perspective to perspective with constant short snippets from each person. It seemed a bit all over the place for me. I did like the overall message and I do always like it when a book can teach me about a different culture, perspective, lifestyle etc. This book definitely did do that. But the rest of it I just struggled to get through it. It didn’t hold my interest and I found myself bored.
April 21, 2023
Siang Lu has created a highly entertaining and thought provoking satirical mock-umentary style story in The Whitewash. Lu's book is written as an oral history following the development, and later downfall, of what was supposed to be the first Hollywood spy thriller to have an Asian male lead.
The Whitewash forces its audience to reflect critically on the film industry and its history of whitewashing. I particularly enjoyed the (factual) historical context and education provided about the evolving depiction of Asian culture in film throughout history, intertwined with the fictional storyline and characters connected to the Brood Empire saga. This is done so flawlessly that for a hot minute I was sucked into thinking Yee Haw was a real TV show!
I listened to this book as a Audiobook and I would 100% recommend this medium. I was so engaged and connected with the myriad characters Lu has woven into this fully rounded narrative.
The Whitewash forces its audience to reflect critically on the film industry and its history of whitewashing. I particularly enjoyed the (factual) historical context and education provided about the evolving depiction of Asian culture in film throughout history, intertwined with the fictional storyline and characters connected to the Brood Empire saga. This is done so flawlessly that for a hot minute I was sucked into thinking Yee Haw was a real TV show!
I listened to this book as a Audiobook and I would 100% recommend this medium. I was so engaged and connected with the myriad characters Lu has woven into this fully rounded narrative.
August 8, 2025
Siang Lu’s Whitewash is ambitious, brimming with ideas and stylistic flourishes. The documentary-style format, shifting points of view, sly commentary on celebrity culture, and the sprawling timeline of the Chinese and Hong Kong film industry’s whitewashing… goodness, it’s a lot to take in.
There’s no denying Lu’s originality. The satire is razor-edged, the wit often laugh-out-loud clever, and his voice feels like a fresh addition to Australian storytelling. But about a third of the way through, the novelty of the format began to wear thin. The constant gear-shifting—between characters, commentary, and timelines—kept me at a distance, and the story’s momentum faltered under its own cleverness.
With its sharp observations and skewering humour, Whitewash might have landed even harder as a taut, quick-witted novella. As it stands, I can appreciate the craft without being fully drawn in. And, borrowing the words of my favourite character, Damo: yeah, nah. Not my jam.
There’s no denying Lu’s originality. The satire is razor-edged, the wit often laugh-out-loud clever, and his voice feels like a fresh addition to Australian storytelling. But about a third of the way through, the novelty of the format began to wear thin. The constant gear-shifting—between characters, commentary, and timelines—kept me at a distance, and the story’s momentum faltered under its own cleverness.
With its sharp observations and skewering humour, Whitewash might have landed even harder as a taut, quick-witted novella. As it stands, I can appreciate the craft without being fully drawn in. And, borrowing the words of my favourite character, Damo: yeah, nah. Not my jam.
May 14, 2023
such a fun and informative read! and loved the style of the writing as well, as an oral documentation.
there were def some humorous moments but the real pull for me was honestly the history of it all, or rather the implementation of this story into the history of asians in hollywood.
can this be considered historical fiction?
the best parts were definitely the Click Bae team. i loved JK Jr but the romance between him and angela didn’t pop for me - considering that they’re listed as the “main characters”
the true heart of the story is the themes of race and representation for asians in the industry; how they’re perceived, what representation can really mean and how it affects the community as a whole. even the fact that this story goes into present COVID days? wow! a lot of research went into this book and i have to applaud siang lu for that.
there were def some humorous moments but the real pull for me was honestly the history of it all, or rather the implementation of this story into the history of asians in hollywood.
can this be considered historical fiction?
the best parts were definitely the Click Bae team. i loved JK Jr but the romance between him and angela didn’t pop for me - considering that they’re listed as the “main characters”
the true heart of the story is the themes of race and representation for asians in the industry; how they’re perceived, what representation can really mean and how it affects the community as a whole. even the fact that this story goes into present COVID days? wow! a lot of research went into this book and i have to applaud siang lu for that.
October 8, 2023
The Whitewash by Siang Lu is a sharp, witty, and hilariously insightful commentary on whitewashing and cultural double-standards that left me thoroughly impressed. This black comedy mash-up of a few parts of history and fiction via a mockumentary format was a refreshing listen. So glad I listened to the audiobook, as the talented cast added depth and authenticity to the characters, making the experience even more enjoyable. Hghly recommend it to anyone for a laugh-out-loud experience over house chores. I actually went back and replayed several scenes; specifically those with Baby Bao in it (too funny not to double back). Absolutely loved it!
October 24, 2022
Read this in book group, and it wasn't everyone's cup of tea. That said, it was mine! A little slow to start, specifically in getting used to documentary transcript style of prose and all the many characters being thrown at you. After a while, if you stop trying to project your own expectations of style and content, it becomes a fun little jaunt... with a (somehow never-endingly relevant) message.
Similar in style to the works of Richard Ayoade and 'e' by Matt Baeumont, and likewise savage in its wit.
Similar in style to the works of Richard Ayoade and 'e' by Matt Baeumont, and likewise savage in its wit.
October 24, 2022
Absolutely brilliant. Hands down the funniest book I've read with some of the most hystierically idiotic cast of characters I've seen. I also loved the little details, such as the footnotes adding either more context, or another joke, as well as the subtle ways each character description changes throughout the story. It also becomes a sobering look at Asian representation (or lack thereof) in cinema, but Siang Lu manages the switch between tones effortlessly. A must read for anyone interested in the history of movies or just pop culture in general. Cannot recommend highly enough.
January 20, 2023
Such a great book - and the audiobook version is spectacular! Whitewash is this satirical, mockumentary-style novel about the disaster that unfolds as an Asian film company tries to create a Hollywood movie with an Asian lead - breaking the tradition of whitewashing in Asian film. The characters are hilarious, the commentary searing and it's overall equally entertaining as educational on the issue of representation in film. Just an overall fun read - and audio is definitely that way to experience it!
August 18, 2023
It's funny, clever and original! I enjoyed it but it was also hard slog reading it on an ebook reader because the footnotes are part of the structure of the jokes. Quite misogynistic (I think to satirise the Hollywood and general misogynistic nature of overall film industry?), While at the same time presents a fictionalised (based on history) account of whitewashing of Asians in film history that it's fascinating and worth a read if you like kungfu movies and If you're a HK movie buff. Otherwise, I think it's too technical for people unfamiliar with the genre. #contemporaryasianlit
July 12, 2024
This was a fascinating book, which has taken an original approach to the storyline. It mixes fiction and fact in a documentary/mockumentary style. There are plenty of colourful characters providing their points of view on the Asian film industry and their involvement in it or in Hollywood. The narrative was engaging and hilarious. I did laugh out loud in some parts of it, which is not something I usually do when reading a book. I have it both on Kindle and Audible. The audio version is sensational with a large cast portraying the various characters.
April 24, 2025
For anyone who grew up in the 50's 60's 70's of the 20th century, that watched good old fashion politically INcorrect public television, movies with made in casting couch conditions, grew up under parental supervision of emotionally physically verbally abusive disciplinary guidelines, which in hindsight instilled skills of practical survival in a no frills unfurnished fun world we now live in,
The Whitewash is full of chortles, guffaws, hmmms, laughter, sniggers, titters, villiany and weirdness of a world only now truly seen as immoral and unprincipled, where profit comes before people.
Thank you for your collected words Siang Lu and Tim Potter, Nick Ravenswood, Siang Lu, Tom Hart,
Berlin Lu, Eva Seymour, James Huang, Jamie Hart, Jing-Xuan Chan, Keith Brockett, Marty Rhone, Yen Nguyen, Ichigon and Daniel Qin your eloquence, very much appreciated People (-:
The Whitewash is full of chortles, guffaws, hmmms, laughter, sniggers, titters, villiany and weirdness of a world only now truly seen as immoral and unprincipled, where profit comes before people.
Thank you for your collected words Siang Lu and Tim Potter, Nick Ravenswood, Siang Lu, Tom Hart,
Berlin Lu, Eva Seymour, James Huang, Jamie Hart, Jing-Xuan Chan, Keith Brockett, Marty Rhone, Yen Nguyen, Ichigon and Daniel Qin your eloquence, very much appreciated People (-:
June 25, 2023
This was absolutely hilarious! Many subtle and not so subtle digs at Hollywood whitewashing and cultural appropriation are wrapped up in the form of interviews with a range of very funny characters discussing the history of Asian representation (and lack of representation) in Hollywood as the plot unfolds around a (fictional) disastrous adaptation of a series of beloved Hong Kong action spy novels to film.
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