Racism and Cultural Misunderstandings in the Film Industry: The Rama Story

We sit down and chat with Arupaka, the alpaca from Japan who became famous for his reoccuring role as Rama in the children and adults series called Rama the Llama. He tells us about his life growing up in Japan on Mother Farm and about how he got discovered and shipped to the US to star in his first film Llama in the Road*.

*Please note that in his interview, he calls it Alpaca in the road, but we later clarified with his agents that he meant to say Llama in the Road.

As the interview progressed, we asked Arupaka to talk about his role as Rama the Llama. We even asked him to do the iconic Rama voice that everyone around the world has come to love. Arupaka then tells us why he thinks Rama is not stereotypical of other llamas.

We've provided a short clip of the opening scene of the first Rama the Llama series.

We closed the interview by asking Arupaka what he thought about Hollywood in general in regards to racial and cultural misrepresentation. And we asked if he himself had experienced such phenomenon in his history of being an actor in America. Arupaka commented about a culturally and racially insensitive moment by the director of his first commercial and explained that in Hollywood, there is no room for being so picky about scenes and scripts. Arupaka played himself as the victim of Hollywood's disregard to race and culture accuracy.

We tried to get an interview set up with "Teddy" the green teddy bear to talk about his relationship with Arupaka, and what his take is on his friend's success in films as Rama the Llama.

Teddy has so far declined any interview that has anything to do with talking about or even briefly mentioning his friend's decision to play the role of a llama. However, he did send us a written statement.

"I believe that [Arupaka] is aware of the racial concerns that the public has constantly been bringing up over the years as his success as Rama the Llama bring him fame and wealth. The fact of the matter is, how many movies out there are written about llamas? not many. And how many out there are written about alpacas? None. As a green bear in the film industry, I know how difficult it is to get work here when the color of your skin is not what the producers are looking for, or if you happen to talk a certain way that doesn't match the characters. The only films I've ever been were as The Hulk's Teddy Bear, and that was as an extra and not a supporting actor.

I don't believe my friend willingly engages in racist behavior or culturally defames others for the sake of being prejudiced or ignorant. He is merely just an actor trying to make his way in Hollywood. If he could have it any other way, he'd rather star in a movie about an alpaca; but let's face it, Alpacas don't sell and whatever doesn't sell doesn't get played in the the theaters.

I respect my friend and I support his decision to keep playing the role of Rama the Llama in the upcoming movie Rama Returns" --April 26, 2011.

After our interview with Arupaka in June, his agents later announced publicly that Arupaka was aiming to seal a deal with Green Envy Music recording company for the expansion of his Rama empire--one of which he owns royalties, copyright, and trademark rights in all but his first movie.

His first album "Living in the Andes" is his purported break out of playing the role of Rama, but others are skeptical and believe this is another gimmick to get a larger audience for his movies and television shows. It is rumored, although not confirmed, that he will be using the stage name Rama instead of Arupaka, and many groups in support of culturally and racially sensitising Hollywood have already called arms to boycott and rally at major stores if the rumor turns out true.

When asked about his plan for the music business, Arupaka refused to comment, but later released a short statement to the press:

"I've decided to try my luck out in music. My good friend and mentor Teddy is behind me 100% of the way. If you want to know anymore about the album or my music career, please stop by Green Envy Music's website for more detail. The album will be coming out in February 2012." -- July 23, 2011