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Asian-GAF: We're all the same, like Stormtroopers |OT| |AT|

Z

zeemumu

Member
My aunt wanted to see something scary on my Gear VR, so I set it up for her and picked a random app. She's really bad at handling scary stuff though, so when it started she was just looking around frantically and the rest of my family was wondering what was up, and I said "I think I may have put her in The Blair Witch Project." It was hilarious.

Gully State said:
I just read the OP... good lord.. the plot isn't even remotely close to Hua Mulan.. also the new Bruce lee biopic told from the POV of a white guy makes me really angry..
Click to expand...

Didn't read it but their live action remakes have been good so far so maybe it won't be that bad.

Oh...oh no, that sounds bad.
 
R

Rice-Eater

Member
Gully State said:
also the new Bruce lee biopic told from the POV of a white guy makes me really angry..
Click to expand...

Same here, if this legend can't even get the main spotlight in his own biopic then what hope is there for the rest of us? Who knows if they'll even include his wife. They might actually be scared of making the mostly white audience feel uncomfortable if they had Bruce and his wife kiss on screen. I'll probably get around to watching it someday but they're not getting my money.

zeemumu said:
My aunt wanted to see something scary on my Gear VR, so I set it up for her and picked a random app. She's really bad at handling scary stuff though, so when it started she was just looking around frantically and the rest of my family was wondering what was up, and I said "I think I may have put her in The Blair Witch Project." It was hilarious.
Click to expand...

I'm on the fence about getting PSVR. But if I do one of the things I look most forward to is strapping that headset around my friends and family. Especially my mom, dad, and my little 4 year old nephew. I know Sony says that kids 12 and under shouldn't put it on but I really want to see how he reacts to something that he's still too young to comprehend. At least just one time lol.
 
B

BLOODED_hands

Member
Rice-Eater said:
I've talked to a lot of family, friends, and cousins about the election. Whether they care or not, they're all behind Hilary(same with me). She may not be perfect, but we're more terrified of Trump actually being our president.
Click to expand...

Yeah, all my friends and family members are voting for Hillary and are more on the democratic side than the republican side.

I've not tried VR yet. I'm more on the AR side of things :p
 
S

suzu

Member
I think even the more conservative members of my family/friends are going Clinton, because Trump is just so clearly an idiot and awful person. The debates definitely confirmed it.
 
C

Cybit

FGC Waterboy
That mulan blogpost was such bullshit - lol. A year and a half old spec script that has been changed and had gotten new writers as stated in the press release. AAM and the original writer both knew better and deliberately obscured what a spec script was and the details to try to start outrage. <sigh>
 
Z

Zaraki_Kenpachi

Member
That Japanese conductor thread went exactly as I thought it would... Good to be back...

yogloo said:
Everyone got pissed when I say I want Ken Watanabe and Lucy Liu in Mulan. Lol.
Click to expand...

Lucy Liu isn't that good of an actress. I think most of it is frustration that there's like literally 2-3 asian actors that seem viable for a movie and no one else so most people don't want the same people, even if they're good like Ken.
 
S

Septimus Prime

Member
Cybit said:
That mulan blogpost was such bullshit - lol. A year and a half old spec script that has been changed and had gotten new writers as stated in the press release. AAM and the original writer both knew better and deliberately obscured what a spec script was and the details to try to start outrage. <sigh>
Click to expand...
I can't say I agree with you this time. Yeah, it's a spec script that's being rewritten, but I wouldn't put it past them to still push it out with the white male lead.

As Zoe put it in that thread, it's concerning that it was written that way at all, and as another poster (sphagnum? Or something like that) joked, after Disney cryptically responded that the love interest would be Asian, "Well duh, Mulan will be the love interest for the white guy." And this doesn't even touch upon the question of why Mulan needs a love interest at all.

I feel like the white savior trope--even if it isn't new, per se--is the new hot thing for movies right now, after all the criticism over whitewashing may have finally hit Hollywood's tone deaf ears. And even though it's Disney, and they generally have a better track record in terms of ethnic casting, I still don't find it far-fetched that that progressive attitude won't extend to Asians. They are already glossing over Asian-Americans, and even in Agents of SHIELD Chloe Bennet is half white, and even she felt she had to use a whiter-sounding last name to get work at all.

And then you have Birth of the Dragon. You would think that, of all people, Bruce the motherfucking Lee would have enough fame to warrant a biopic where he is the main character of his own movie, set in the exotic lands of San Francisco, instead of some made-up white guy. But no.
 
Zoe

Zoe

Member
Septimus Prime said:
As Zoe put it in that thread, it's concerning that it was written that way at all, and as another poster (sphagnum? Or something like that) joked, after Disney cryptically responded that the love interest would be Asian, "Well duh, Mulan will be the love interest for the white guy." And this doesn't even touch upon the question of why Mulan needs a love interest at all.
Click to expand...

There hasn't even been a response from Disney, just "a source". The writers themselves haven't bothered to reply either.
 
S

StMeph

Member
Cybit said:
That mulan blogpost was such bullshit - lol. A year and a half old spec script that has been changed and had gotten new writers as stated in the press release. AAM and the original writer both knew better and deliberately obscured what a spec script was and the details to try to start outrage. <sigh>
Click to expand...

I'll give 10:1 odds it still turns out similarly.

What was the last movie Hollywood made using a culturally foreign story with corresponding ethnic actors? Plus they would still be speaking heavily accented English because native language + subtitles is completely offputting to the average American moviegoer.

Despite the outcry there's basically a 0% chance it's meaningfully changed because it's just not what Hollywood does, especially for major studios.
 
L

Llyranor

Member
If they do bring in a relatable white savior love interest, I hope it's Michael Angarano. His star power will really help bring in the audiences.
 
S

suzu

Member
Cybit said:
That mulan blogpost was such bullshit - lol. A year and a half old spec script that has been changed and had gotten new writers as stated in the press release. AAM and the original writer both knew better and deliberately obscured what a spec script was and the details to try to start outrage. <sigh>
Click to expand...

I don't think Disney is dumb enough to put a mighty whitey in a movie like Mulan (especially in this current climate).

But to be honest I don't really have a problem with people lighting a fire under Hollywood's ass either.
 
L

Lone_Prodigy

Member
Agents of SHIELD does have Ming-Na Wen.

Their big "twist" last season where they would
kill off a cast member turned out to be the white guy, so there's that.
 
Z

zeemumu

Member
Lone_Prodigy said:
Agents of SHIELD does have Ming-Na Wen.

Their big "twist" last season where they would
kill off a cast member turned out to be the white guy, so there's that.
Click to expand...

Jamie Chung is Mulan in Once Upon a Time. She got caught up in a love triangle that ended when the other two people in the triangle married each other instead.
 
C

Cybit

FGC Waterboy
Septimus Prime said:
I can't say I agree with you this time. Yeah, it's a spec script that's being rewritten, but I wouldn't put it past them to still push it out with the white male lead.

As Zoe put it in that thread, it's concerning that it was written that way at all, and as another poster (sphagnum? Or something like that) joked, after Disney cryptically responded that the love interest would be Asian, "Well duh, Mulan will be the love interest for the white guy." And this doesn't even touch upon the question of why Mulan needs a love interest at all.

I feel like the white savior trope--even if it isn't new, per se--is the new hot thing for movies right now, after all the criticism over whitewashing may have finally hit Hollywood's tone deaf ears. And even though it's Disney, and they generally have a better track record in terms of ethnic casting, I still don't find it far-fetched that that progressive attitude won't extend to Asians. They are already glossing over Asian-Americans, and even in Agents of SHIELD Chloe Bennet is half white, and even she felt she had to use a whiter-sounding last name to get work at all.

And then you have Birth of the Dragon. You would think that, of all people, Bruce the motherfucking Lee would have enough fame to warrant a biopic where he is the main character of his own movie, set in the exotic lands of San Francisco, instead of some made-up white guy. But no.
Click to expand...

The response to Vulture was that all primary roles are Chinese, so unless the love interest isn't a primary role (and thus can't be the white savior role); he's Chinese.

Zoe said:
There hasn't even been a response from Disney, just "a source". The writers themselves haven't bothered to reply either.
Click to expand...

I feel like it is disingenuous to immediately trust a blog source / reddit source, and then turn around and be skeptical of actual journalistic entities.

StMeph said:
I'll give 10:1 odds it still turns out similarly.

What was the last movie Hollywood made using a culturally foreign story with corresponding ethnic actors? Plus they would still be speaking heavily accented English because native language + subtitles is completely offputting to the average American moviegoer.

Despite the outcry there's basically a 0% chance it's meaningfully changed because it's just not what Hollywood does, especially for major studios.
Click to expand...

I'll take those odds.

Hollywood will start doing now that they realized this year that their movies were making more money in China then in the US. :p (see: the Warcraft effect, aka the Fast and the Furious effect, aka the US gets Marvel movies last effect)

I guess ultimately I'd rather say something about a show or movie that is actually doing something wrong, rather than go after a movie that is a) doing things right and b) has a history of already being an amazing representation of what we want. Getting outraged about this plays into the narrative of "they just want something to be mad about, even if it is imagined". I mean, the takeaway from this could easily be from a corporate perspective "well we did the right thing and got criticized for it anyway, next time lets pick a movie that can't possibly have these issues, like Snow White 4: The Whitening" AKA the best Homer Line ever.

EDIT: Plus, the second part about how it can't be a Chinese actor or actress because China didn't like the animated movie and it would be pandering to China is..all sorts of super fucked up xenophobic / nationalistic bullcrap - you can't complain about white washing and then say "but they can't be actually ethnically Chinese because that would just be pandering".
 
Zoe

Zoe

Member
Cybit said:
So random people on the internet reading a year and a half old spec script get no skepticism, but legitimate journalist sources are to be looked at skeptically?
Click to expand...
Two actors, one of whom is a respected veteran, are random people? And AAM gets press credentials too.
 
C

Cybit

FGC Waterboy
Zoe said:
Two actors, one of whom is a respected veteran, are random people? And AAM gets press credentials too.
Click to expand...

At the time it blew up - they hadn't gotten to that level of confirmation. It was just AAM vouching for them while reaping the benefits of the pageviews. Also - Vanity Fair confirmed it as well: http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/10/mulan-white-male-lead-disney

But lets get into that two actors part. Two actors (one of which is anonymous) who read a spec script over a year and a half earlier, and more importantly, know exactly what spec scripts are, post it to AAM a year and a half after the fact (conveniently, right when they're casting, as opposed to when the spec script is being initially rewritten). AAM, who also knows what spec scripts are, doesn't even bother to poke around and see if the script changed in any way, goes ahead and drops it, and they all conveniently leave out what spec scripts are in their entire explanation.

They then add this

But what I find equally troubling is the fact that Disney plans to cast a 16-17 year old established Chinese actress as Mulan, and will not be casting an Asian American.

Let's set aside the clear pedophilic implications that arise when you cast a teenage girl alongside a 30-something romantic interest. That one is self-explanatory. I want to address the missed opportunity of tapping into the Asian-American actor populace who grew up watching the animated Mulan, eyes glittering to see themselves finally featured on-screen. The fact that Mulan resonated so strongly with American audiences with its all-Asian character lineup and Asian American voice actors is a testament to what this live-action film could accomplish if it would simply trust the successful 1998 form. Even though this spec script references the original "Ballad of Mulan," its cultural landscape becomes a mere backdrop to its tired Blockbuster-style romantic and fantastical storyline -- as such, Mulan's resonance as an Asian-American retelling is lost.

Let's be real. Casting a Chinese actress as Mulan is a ploy to appeal to a Chinese market, which honestly will not be as enthusiastic as our American audience to see our retelling of a tale they know best. The animated film made $120 million in the U.S. and Canada combined, and completely flopped in Chinese markets because her character was so different from what the Chinese recognized. If this live-action film tries to cater to both the Chinese and American markets without understanding the cultural implications of its creative choices, this film will fall short of both. If the film splits focus from Mulan to a white male lead and is more interested in targeting a Chinese market with its casting, it will estrange its immensely devoted American audience.
Click to expand...

Then has the fucking audacity to say that Asian-Americans really own Mulan, and because Chinese viewers didn't show up to watch the animated Mulan, that teenage Chinese women don't deserve to have someone like them play a character from their own culture's history. Only Asian-Americans do.

Cynically, I think the actor / actress in question is trying to get internet outrage to try to get Disney to hire Asian Americans actors and actresses only for Mulan, a small pool which he happens to be a part of. Because I don't like the idea that the dude is that much of a xenophobic douchenozzle, that he could scream "asians are represented terribly in hollywood!" and then turn around and go "well, this is only supposed to help Asian-Americans, not Asians from Asia".

EDIT: The entire "Chinese people don't deserve Mulan" bit is the part that makes me so mad about this, tbh.
 
Zoe

Zoe

Member
The second actor is the Asian girl from Ant Man. She talked about it back in January. Not talking at all about the anonymous contributor.
 
C

Cybit

FGC Waterboy
Zoe said:
The second actor is the Asian girl from Ant Man. She talked about it back in January. Not talking at all about the anonymous contributor.
Click to expand...

Ah kk.

Still, the anonymous blogger dropping it when he did (year and a half later, long after script has been revised, but right before casting), how he did it (deliberately leaving out what a spec script was and implying Disney had OK'd 100% of the script and hadn't changed it, and never bother to using said sources to say, see if anything had changed in the last 18 months), and then putting the entire anti-Chinese actors / actresses BS in there?

That all that outrage, yet no one saw it fit to bring up the hypocrisy in his comments about proper representation and then throwing Chinese representation (and culture) under the bus? I hate that part about it, and I really hate trying to tie the very real issue of Asian representation in Hollywood (both in terms of opportunities and display of culture) to the unholy combination of Nationalism / Xenophobia + True Fandom.

:-/
 
S

suzu

Member
Mulan doesn't have the same popularity of Star Wars, but it'd be cool if Disney took a chance and boosted some unknown actors' careers (NA/EU, doesn't have to be specifically Americans). Instead of going with established actors from Asia.

That said, I don't agree with that dude's reasons.
 
Y

yogloo

Member
Zaraki_Kenpachi said:
That Japanese conductor thread went exactly as I thought it would... Good to be back...



Lucy Liu isn't that good of an actress. I think most of it is frustration that there's like literally 2-3 asian actors that seem viable for a movie and no one else so most people don't want the same people, even if they're good like Ken.
Click to expand...
Hence the joke. Lucy Liu is too old to be Mulan. And people took me seriously when I said there's no better businessman/warlord than Ken Watanabe.
 
B

BLOODED_hands

Member
How about we butcher it and make Mulan a modern day story that stars Rob Schneider? Rob Schneider is..... Deuce Bigalow: Mushu Gigolo! Coming 2018.
 
G

Gully State

Member
A live action Mulan sounds like a project suited for Wong War Kai...

Speaking of Asian representation, source material be damned... I still really think that marvel dropped the ball not specifically rewriting Iron Fist as an Asian American. There's a compelling origin story about the nature of cultural identity that's ripe for exploration..
 
C

Cybit

FGC Waterboy
Gully State said:
A live action Mulan sounds like a project suited for Wong War Kai...

Speaking of Asian representation, source material be damned... I still really think that marvel dropped the ball not specifically rewriting Iron Fist as an Asian American. There's a compelling origin story about the nature of cultural identity that's ripe for exploration..
Click to expand...

I'll admit I would have enjoyed that. They at least auditioned Asian and Caucasian actors for the main spot at least. :/
 
Y

YesNOnoNOYes

Member
i hope disney wont fuck it up >:O

and so... where are y'all really, really from? no, i mean, your great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, grandkitties.

*waggles eyebrows*
 
N

nukedeggs

Member
YesNOnoNOYes said:
i hope disney wont fuck it up >:O

and so... where are y'all really, really from? no, i mean, your great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, grandkitties.

*waggles eyebrows*
Click to expand...
Sigh I bet Disney will fuck it up. At least, from the Marvel stuff I've seen, I don't have much faith.
 
A

ahdurian

Member
speaking of Asians in media roles
did anyone watch Kim's Convenience? Or is that something you Americans aren't aware of?

If not, it's a TV show that just aired in Canada yesterday. It's about a Korean family of four who own a convenience store in Toronto, Canada. It's based on the play by Ins Choi. They aired the first two episodes yesterday (pilot was supposed to be last week but fuck yeah Blue Jays).
it's a really funny show so far
 
Y

YesNOnoNOYes

Member
StMeph said:
Doctor Strange is Disney Marvel, so it's not like Disney has a pristine record, especially with regard to live action, which is always different from animation.
Click to expand...

yeah ... that whole thing about the ancient one's tibetan roots being played down in dr strange for china dollah still stings baaaaaaaaaaaaaad with me

nukedeggs said:
Sigh I bet Disney will fuck it up. At least, from the Marvel stuff I've seen, I don't have much faith.
Click to expand...

:< nukey's not wrong. but im trying to be an optimist!
 
S

Septimus Prime

Member
Where did they fuck up in Daredevil S2? Sorry, I don't know my Marvel that well.

And holy shit at that affirmative action thread. How are you going to call our Trump supporters as racist when you're sitting there spouting out all sorts of crazy shit about Asian Americans?
 
T

Tripon

Member
Septimus Prime said:
Where did they fuck up in Daredevil S2? Sorry, I don't know my Marvel that well.

And holy shit at that affirmative action thread. How are you going to call our Trump supporters as racist when you're sitting there spouting out all sorts of crazy shit about Asian Americans?
Click to expand...
I am rolling my eyes constantly at that thread.
 
L

Lone_Prodigy

Member
ahdurian said:
speaking of Asians in media roles
did anyone watch Kim's Convenience? Or is that something you Americans aren't aware of?

If not, it's a TV show that just aired in Canada yesterday. It's about a Korean family of four who own a convenience store in Toronto, Canada. It's based on the play by Ins Choi. They aired the first two episodes yesterday (pilot was supposed to be last week but fuck yeah Blue Jays).
it's a really funny show so far
Click to expand...

I've been meaning to watch this. Sounds promising.
 
Z

Zaraki_Kenpachi

Member
Septimus Prime said:
Where did they fuck up in Daredevil S2? Sorry, I don't know my Marvel that well.

And holy shit at that affirmative action thread. How are you going to call our Trump supporters as racist when you're sitting there spouting out all sorts of crazy shit about Asian Americans?
Click to expand...
Are you seriously going to stand here and actual like Asians (young and old!) in California aren't supremely racist? Comeonson.jpg

I know it's been going on for forever but it still blows my mind that if you made the same exact thread and replaced asian with black and the same comments, how many people would be banned? Still not as awkward as when mods join in on the rhetoric.
 
N

norm9

Member
I got a nice three month ban the last time there was a thread about Asians and I commented about the shitty responses.
 
S

Septimus Prime

Member
backslashbunny said:
But they haven't banned us from complaining yet in AsianGAF so..

It's basically like, go protest somewhere, but not anywhere where it can inconvenience us. Wonder where I've heard that before lol.

My last ban was partially because I complained that the racism against Asian trickles down, and was told no. I guess institutionalized racism is not a real thing, guys.
Click to expand...
You don't have time to post up there. You post, you're banned.

You're dangerous.
 
D

Dongs Macabre

aka Daedalos42
ahdurian said:
speaking of Asians in media roles
did anyone watch Kim's Convenience? Or is that something you Americans aren't aware of?

If not, it's a TV show that just aired in Canada yesterday. It's about a Korean family of four who own a convenience store in Toronto, Canada. It's based on the play by Ins Choi. They aired the first two episodes yesterday (pilot was supposed to be last week but fuck yeah Blue Jays).
it's a really funny show so far
Click to expand...

I have it DVRed but haven't watched it yet due to exams. Probably gonna watch tomorrow.
 
N

nukedeggs

Member
Septimus Prime said:
Where did they fuck up in Daredevil S2? Sorry, I don't know my Marvel that well.

And holy shit at that affirmative action thread. How are you going to call our Trump supporters as racist when you're sitting there spouting out all sorts of crazy shit about Asian Americans?
Click to expand...
I only watched Season 1, but I heard that Season 2 continues the trend of dehumanizing Asian characters/portraying them as all the same. This guy wrote an article about it: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articl...c-universe-keeps-failing-asian-americans.html

Anyways there's an Affirmative Action thread? Lol that's gonna be ugly

Edit: I looked at the AA thread and it is more anti Asian than I expected. Like I knew about the anti Asian sentiment here but I didn't think it was like. THAT pronounced.

Edit2: that thread is really disgusting

Edit3: day ruined
 
G

Gully State

Member
AA is just stupid bandaid for our shitty and uneven primary education. The real issue is that we need to start putting more resources into underperforming districts or overhaul our system like Canada did long ago.

The one dude that claims to work on the admissions committee of a college bagging on asian apps is depressing ..
 
A

ActStriker

Member
Sorry for the hard pivot, but my first Vegas food pic of the weekend:
RGqqPUD.jpg
Click to expand...
 
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