Original Power Rangers writers are opening up about a mistake they now regret 

The original creators of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers are looking back on past decisions that they now regret. Specifically, they are talking about their choices in casting the Black and Yellow Rangers. Former head writer Tony Oliver has spoken out on this decision, labeling them a "mistake" in a recent documentary called Dark Side of the Power Rangers.

This discovery comes years after the show originally aired in 1993 and became a pop culture phenomenon. The decision to cast Walter Emanuel Jones as the Black Ranger and Thuy Trang as the Yellow Ranger eventually sparked backlash, as many saw it as reinforcing racial stereotypes.

What seemed like normal casting at the time later became a key example of how representation in media can unintentionally cause harm, leading to ongoing discussions about diversity and sensitivity in children's television.

Oliver pointed out that "none of us are thinking stereotypes" but it took a pointing-out of the problem by an assistant before he was aware of the problem.

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The casting choices for Power Rangers

Walter Emanuel Jones being cast as the Black Ranger and Thuy Trang as the Yellow Ranger later drew criticism and became controversial moments in the show's history, as many viewers pointed out the racial implications of those casting choices.

Jones portrayed Zack Taylor, who Oliver described as having "the swagger of the group," and Trang portrayed Trini Kwan, who was "the peaceful one, who tends to be the conscience of the group".

Interestingly, Trang was not originally the Yellow Ranger; she took Audri Dubois's place following a dispute over pay. The choice to cast actors in parts that aligned with their racial identities was commonly slammed for being racially cruel. In a behind-the-scenes cut, Jones sarcastically jokes about the casting, stating,

"My name's Walter Jones, I play Zack. I'm Black, and I play the Black Ranger — go figure".

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Reflections and reactions

Tony Oliver admitted to the casting choices feeding the racist stereotypes at the time, saying,

"None of us are thinking stereotypes," and thus the show went on without going into these problems.

It wasn't until one of the assistants noticed the issue that Oliver caught on.

He now admits it as "such a mistake".

Even the cast members realized the undertones of their roles and sometimes joked about them, as shown in the behind-the-scenes videos. The documentary Dark Side of the Power Rangers features these observations, offering a complex examination of the show's history.

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Impact and legacy

The legacy of these casting choices on Power Rangers is profound. Although Mighty Morphin Power Rangers is still popular, the racial insensitivity of its initial casting choices has not stood the test of time.

The trend of replacing actors for each color Ranger in subsequent seasons served to lessen some of these problems, but the initial casting is an interesting aspect of the show's history. Nowadays, Tony Oliver's recognition of such errors indicates a change in awareness and sensitivity in media production.

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In short, the original creators of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers have admitted to regretting the racially insensitive decision to cast a black actor as the Black Ranger and an Asian actor as the Yellow Ranger. Tony Oliver referred to these as a "mistake," suggesting that they did not at first appear as stereotypes.