Zoramon089
Banned
I'm not gonna lie...I had a hard time telling who was who in Infernal Affairs...
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Is Hollywood 'whitewashing' Asian roles?
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sans_pants
avec_pénis
he makes shitty movies that reinforce negative stereotypes
The problem is that Asian-American actors aren't given a chance to take on leading roles and often end up playing stereotypes.
See: Ken Jeong. He's in everything but his role is usually nothing more than 'crazy Asian comic relief guy'.
This is the kind of logic used to justify repressing minorities.
People aren't getting used to seeing asians cast in those roles, ergo, we won't cast asians in those roles.
At some point, you gotta step the fuck up and stop letting the subconcious racism in society dictate your product.
jordan0386
Member
He doesnt.
He has one character, Madea, who is comedic in nature. Everybody runs with that and says all his work sucks. If you dont like the TBS shows, cool. But his films outside of Madea have been fine.
I disagree. He is hated because all his movie sucks and he is not funny.
Because this is the internet. Where you need to be angry about everything always.
Devolution
Member
Why couldn't he be Asian?
jordan0386
Member
Why did I get married and The Family that Preys suck? Did you see either movie?
No, you wouldn't have the biopic of Grace Kelly led by an Indian actress, for example. These were real people, in a real situation, that were really Asian American.
Yeah, I've watched probably more Tyler Perry media than the people who complain about him do and I agree, there's nothing really alarming about his characters.
Zoramon089
Banned
. . .
I dunno, would it be a big deal if they made a movie about Muhammed Ali and cast Tom Hanks as Ali? I mean his race wasn't a important part about why he was a legendary boxer...
Devolution
Member
Could be, depends on what angle they're going for. I find this kind of logic dubious though. Why must it be that if they can get away with changing the race of a character or person they will change it to white? Bankable buck? At some point you have to be disgusted at this constant prejudice.
sans_pants
avec_pénis
Hollywood will always sacrifice the truth to make a more entertaining movie
shanshan310
Member
*gasp* but how will you understand what they're talking about?!
Avatar: The Last Airbender is an American IP made by Americans, heavily influenced by Asian culture, using the Chinese language all over the show including the freaking logo, and the characters, while not real, are based on specific cultures...the water tribe is supposed to be like Inuits.
Anyways, it doesn't really matter if they're played by caucasians (which all the heroes happened to be, while all the villains happened to be brown skinned). The problem was in the actual production of the movie, like the casting call, they specifically asked for the leads to all be white and all the extras to be Asian and "ethnic".
That's a symptom of a big racism problem in Hollywood.
Lv99 Slacker
Member
Duh.
Considering the guy that did it is Asian...I would think that's sort of important. The movie is supposed to portray a true story. Yet, it changes a pretty big factor of that story.
I really don't know how casting the relatively unknown at the time, Jim Sturgess, instead of an Asian American made the movie more entertaining, but eh.
What are you implying, exactly?
MidnightScott
Banned
Yeah and it really annoys me too. :/
jordan0386
Member
Which ones have you watched though? Not counting Madea films.
i don't know about you but i hate him because tyler perry presents a tyler perry film starring tyler perry written by tyler perry produced by tyler perry and introducing tyler perry
Something I've been curious about in relation to this. I remember when Sony was casting for The Amazing Spider-Man, a lot of people were clamoring for Donald Glover to be cast as Peter Parker. When Marvel Studios was looking for Steve Rogers, some were bringing up Will Smith's name, among other black actors. Would such a drastic shift toward the opposite way be any better?
Probably all of them, my mother eats his stuff up.The Family that Preys was decent, but for the most part his films aren't that good.
Devolution
Member
Well I don't consider changing the races of some comic characters necessarily a bad thing, especially since most of them are white because of when they originated.
Tyler Perry essentially said screw you to Hollywood and started doing his own thing. He began appealing to a market that Hollywood periodically appeals to. Perhaps the Asian-American filmmaking community should do something similar. Seriously, why wait for Hollywood to change their ways?
sans_pants
avec_pénis
im implying the truth of the situation doesn't matter at all as far as movies go. and that white actors bring in bigger audiences
Hollywood whitewashes, but Dragon Ball Evolution isn't an example. You make yourself look like a joke by mentioning that film if you realize the people in it, and behind it.
Exactly. In Dragon Ball Toriyama never, ever notes races. He calls cities "West City", and while there's Asian cultures this is the Dragon Ball earth:
Just busting your balls.... that movie was indeed whitewashed
No it wasn't. This was the cast of the film:
Master Roshi - Asian
Yamcha - Asian
Chi-Chi - Asian
Mai - Asian
Goku - White
Bulma - White
Piccolo - White
So incredibly whitewashed that two alien characters were played by white people.
Akira Toriyama is a man who writes poop jokes, and was influenced by martial arts, and science fiction films. Don't look too deep in it.
Master Roshi - Asian
Yamcha - Asian
Chi-Chi - Asian
Mai - Asian
Goku - White
Bulma - White
Piccolo - White
So incredibly whitewashed that two alien characters were played by white people.
Akira Toriyama is a man who writes poop jokes, and was influenced by martial arts, and science fiction films. Don't look too deep in it.
sans_pants
avec_pénis
im just saying the truth doesn't matter
what you're describing is a film about a specific individual and yes, Muhammad Ali's race and religion are an important part his story so casting a white person would make no sense.
21 is different because it's a story 'inspired' by the events of those MIT students. Maybe that's a bullshit answer to some but their race has no impact on the story so I personally don't care what they do with it.
Shouta
Member
Of course Hollywood is whitewashing asian roles. It's been going on for a long time.
Anyway, Japanese draw their characters in the way they perceive themselves. It just happens to be fairly neutral looking so it can be misconstrued as white or whatever else.
Honestly, most folks see Japanese folks and think a certain type of look, usually something with smaller eyes. Most folks are familiar with Ken Watanabe or Hiroyuki Sanada who looks somewhat like everyone's image of a Japanese person is.
However, there are Japanese folks like Hiroshi Abe or Ken Hirai. Not quite the same as Watanabe or Sanada.
Then of course there's Toshinobu Kubota.
Anyway, Japanese draw their characters in the way they perceive themselves. It just happens to be fairly neutral looking so it can be misconstrued as white or whatever else.
Honestly, most folks see Japanese folks and think a certain type of look, usually something with smaller eyes. Most folks are familiar with Ken Watanabe or Hiroyuki Sanada who looks somewhat like everyone's image of a Japanese person is.
However, there are Japanese folks like Hiroshi Abe or Ken Hirai. Not quite the same as Watanabe or Sanada.
Then of course there's Toshinobu Kubota.
rollingstart
Banned
It's definitely a problem, sure. Still, I like Jeff Ma's quote, "I would have been a lot more insulted if they had chosen someone who was Japanese or Korean, just to have an Asian playing me." Because that's more shameful than a business decision. Simply calling for an "Asian" actor is a bit uninformed, or lazily practicing political correctness; as if a blanket asian actor is close enough. It's like the fan casting for Prince of Persia. "Get one of the dark skinned actors from Lost or Heroes!"
Also, regarding the anime thing. Caucasian characters are often drawn differently than the regular (Japanese) characters. Sometimes in weirdly overt ways.
Also, regarding the anime thing. Caucasian characters are often drawn differently than the regular (Japanese) characters. Sometimes in weirdly overt ways.
There'd only be two I would have a problem with. I think Superman's image is so iconic that changing it just wouldn't work. Nothing prejudicial or anything like that, but it's so ingrained in our society. The other would be Captain America. This one would be the one time where changing his race would completely screw up the origin story considering how black soldiers were treated at that time. There's no way one would ever be selected for a project of such importance in the 1940s.
I know there was a minor backlash when Jeffrey Wright was cast as Felix Leiter in the last two Bond films, despite the fact Wright is an extremely capable actor. As long as the race fits in with the setting and makeup of the story, I have no problem what race the actors are. But something like 21 completely changing the main character is ridiculous. It's not like the film was destined to do that well anyway. Hell, it could have been the launching pad for a young Asian actor.
Actually, outside of Johnny Depp, possibly Will Smith and post-renaissance Tom Cruise, there are no real bankable stars in Hollywood anymore. It's all about whether the property well sell.
They do. There are multiple Asian American film festivals all over the country every year. Tyler Perry had Lionsgate and Oprah on his side, there hasn't really been a heavy hitter to promote Asian American work just yet.
This is what I found most interesting about the controversy surrounding that film.
IAmtheFMan
Member
Um... Maggie Q? Suzie Q's are the snack cakes. Edit: Nevermind, you fixed it.
Being Korean-American, I really don't have a problem with adaptations (i.e. Akira)from an Asian standpoint. From a creative standpoint, it's the same thing I feel when I hear that Hollywood wants to remake "Oldboy" with Will Smith, or they want to recreate "JSA" using the Mexican-American border as a reference. Clearly, these adaptations/remakes will probably miss the mark, but I feel the same way when I hear that Hollywood wants to remake say "Death at a Funeral," or "Taxi." I think it's pointless but this stems more from being a film buff then anything.
The example that really does make me somewhat angry from an ethnic standpoint was 21. This was a true story where the vast majority of the team WAS Asian-American, and Hollywood blatantly white-washed it, while having the only Asian-American leads be relegated to schtick players. Considering that the fact that they were Asian played somewhat of a role in the whole ruse, the fact that they dropped it showed Hollywood's perception of "unmarketability" of Asians.
Donald Glover mentioned this in Marc Maron's podcast and he made some really strong arguments on why Spiderman would work if he was black. Of course the studios weren't serious about casting him as spiderman but the funny thing was that Donald actually got death threats at the for even suggesting that there be a black spiderman.
I'm a big comic geek, and I wouldn't have a problem with a black person, whether he be Donald Glover or someone else, playing the character. By his character, Parker is a guy that everyone could relate to. Being black wouldn't change anything. He'd still be a kid from New York that got incredible powers. Sure, there's wanting to stick as close to the character as possible. But if you're going to cast Garret Hedlund, the most bland and uncharismatic white dude this side of Channing Tatum, in Akira, why not Donald Glover as Spider-Man?
Zoe
Member
IIRC, sometimes their scam included acting as foreign Asian high rollers.
jordan0386
Member
A young black guy playing Spider man would work. Any teenage looking actor would work honestly.
Good post and good video. The 'eyes' comparison in the video was pretty silly though, since they compared pictures of Western men SQUINTING INTO THE SUN to photoshoot pictures of Japanese women who may well have had some form of eye surgery.
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