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Is Hollywood 'whitewashing' Asian roles?
- Thread starter Dram
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thetrin
Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
It's worth complaining about when America is a country full of more than just white people. There aren't enough protagonists portrayed by people of other skin color, and that IS a problem. But who knows, maybe I'm just ignorant about the plight of young white male protagonists in media.
Fully ethnic Persians can be pretty white. Blond hair, blue eyes and all.
thetrin
Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
I was talking more bone structure and general facial features, not color, but it doesn't matter. A young white male gets chosen for almost every heroic role in America anyway. Why bother belly-aching about it?
It's not like racial equality is a serious thing or anything. It's just for giggles.
TUROK
Member
But that's a whole different argument. The argument in question is whether the U.S. whitewashes roles that were originally Asian.
Sounds like you're arguing for Affirmative Action in movie-casting.
...huh? We're talking about PoP at the moment, and Gyllenhaal in that movie is actually pretty damn close to what a Prince of Persia at that point in history would have looked like.
And even if he wasn't, a guy like Gyllenhaal still would've been chosen anyway.
Sye d'Burns
Member
I kind of see his point. Wouldn't it have been possible to find a Persian that looked similar to Gyllenhaal which in turn looked similar to what a Prince of Persia at that point in history would have looked like.
Gyllenhaal taken to the next logical step.
Maybe, but it dosen't change the fact that PoP always gets brought up in topics like this, and it does nothing to help his case.
It actually almost works against the people arguing this point. Hell, I remember in the original thread when Gyllenhaal's casting was announced, some people posed pictures of Indian actors, and said they should have been the ones casted. That made no sense at all.
shanshan310
Member
Not to mention that Hollywood films are released to an international audience.
I don't get it. Does this mean you support replacing Asian actors with white actors in Scandinavian films?
And why do you choose national boundaries as the way to draw cultural lines? Sometimes there's a lot of variation within countries and sometimes there's a lot of similarities between countries.
PastorOfMuppets
Banned
Usual excuses seen in here as expected.
The Harold and Kumar series are literally the only movies in which the two main characters are not white, aren't racial caricatures and star in a movie where the main topic is not about race. It's kind of sad that a stoner comedy is a groundbreaking film for it's portrayal of Asian and South Asians as normal everyday Americans who have some depth to their personalities. God forbid a movie ever show an Asian man speaking English or an Indian-American doing something other than driving a cab and speaking to the passengers in an accent.
And on how American movies reflect American audiences....
Let me just point out that most Hollywood films are set in New York or LA - these towns are about a billion times more diverse than how they are portrayed in Hollywood films.
The Harold and Kumar series are literally the only movies in which the two main characters are not white, aren't racial caricatures and star in a movie where the main topic is not about race. It's kind of sad that a stoner comedy is a groundbreaking film for it's portrayal of Asian and South Asians as normal everyday Americans who have some depth to their personalities. God forbid a movie ever show an Asian man speaking English or an Indian-American doing something other than driving a cab and speaking to the passengers in an accent.
And on how American movies reflect American audiences....
Let me just point out that most Hollywood films are set in New York or LA - these towns are about a billion times more diverse than how they are portrayed in Hollywood films.
jamesinclair
Banned
There was a car ad recently about the "real" detroit. 95% of the people walking around this real detroit were white.
Detroit is 82.7% Black.
Movies set in DC are another obvious example.
50.7% of the city is black. The movies make you think DC is actually New Hampshire.
TUROK
Member
The most fucked up thing about your post is how you have the gall to complain about this while using the term "white people". It's funny because Hugh Jackman, Shia LaBeouf, Ryan Gosling, Tom Cruise, and Liam Neeson are all from radically different backgrounds with radically different geographical regions, yet they all get lumped up as being white.
I'm sure people will get on my ass for talking about "the plight of the white man", but it's pretty tiring watching people pull the "blame whitey" card.
Eh, DC is an interesting case. Walking around most parts of DC that you would see in a movie, you'd have no idea it was 50% black.
Rice-Eater
Member
As a Asian American, this is one subject that has pissed me off for a long time. It feels like of all the races of people in the entertainment industry, Asians have the the absolute worse. And Asian males are even worse off than our female counterparts. I was so happy to hear that a Asian group actually got a #1 hit on the Billboard hot 100. Then I watched the music video and was like "what do these guys look like, they're practically hiding from the camera". But it became pretty clear to me, people may like there song but they don't really want to see the group itself.
Honestly it doesn't bother me when they remake a film and change the characters race. What does bother me is when the character is still Asian and cast a white person for that role or when they change history like they did in the case of 21. Hearing about Keanu Reeve's next movie didn't help either. They just couldn't do it could they. An all Japanese cast, but a white lead was required or the film would probably be scrapped. Oh I'm sure they will promote Reeve's extremely limited Asian bloodline at some point during the promotion for this film.
Honestly it doesn't bother me when they remake a film and change the characters race. What does bother me is when the character is still Asian and cast a white person for that role or when they change history like they did in the case of 21. Hearing about Keanu Reeve's next movie didn't help either. They just couldn't do it could they. An all Japanese cast, but a white lead was required or the film would probably be scrapped. Oh I'm sure they will promote Reeve's extremely limited Asian bloodline at some point during the promotion for this film.
Hollywood doesn't gamble. That simple. Too much money is invested into these movies and famous actors have a massive influence in pulling in the audiences.
If there was a bankable Asian star, he would be cast in some of these roles and they wouldn't need to be 'white-washed'.
Also worth mentioning that Asians make up less than 5% of the US population.
If there was a bankable Asian star, he would be cast in some of these roles and they wouldn't need to be 'white-washed'.
Also worth mentioning that Asians make up less than 5% of the US population.
TUROK
Member
I'm sorry, I'm not trying to attack you in any way, but after reading this, I glimpsed at your username and could not stop laughing.
Just wanted to say that.
Sye d'Burns
Member
Rice-Eater
Member
That's the joke, sort of. I purposely chose a stereotypical Asian name because I thought people would find it funny. And it gets amplified when I partake in topics such as this one. I'm serious about how I feel but at the same time I'm very aware of how silly it makes me look. In the end, nothing is going to change so if I can get a laugh out of it then that's cool.
PastorOfMuppets
Banned
You're right, I apologize for my use of the term "white peopl"....hey wait a minute.
I was actually railing against Hollywood. White people I can save for another day of the week.
FreeMufasa
Junior Member
Really? I thought it was always clear when there was an Asian character and a White character. They're drawn very differently.
A Japanese character usually looks like this
Whilst a white dude like this
The only thing is the big eyes on the Japanese characters which is explained.
But they're all soooo white, I mean, come on, those guys are mayonnaise and miracle whip on white bread while it's snowing. It just doesn't get much whiter than Jackman, Cruise and Lebeouf.
Finaika
Member
Because everyone in the world watches Hollywood movies, so they must not be racist & cater to the global population.
FreeMufasa
Junior Member
lol. Yeah sometimes it can mean the same just with blonde and blue.
Even if the cast are all Asian, the director, production artists, and money are still Hollywood. Its still not authentic.
Why don't you watch Asian cinema? Serious question. Korean movies, for example, are very good this decade.
shanshan310
Member
I can't tell if you are joking or not but Yeah, they should at least try.
Phoenician_Viking
Banned
Well i have a tiny evidence (one movie) of blackwashing white characters. The movie Death at a funeral (British version) was made entirely out of white people. The American version is made out of black people. Of course i am not saying in any way that there is no whitewashing. There is plenty of it. I was just playingthe devil´s advocate.
A very interesting video about Anime characters being Japanese and not white.
Jett you motherfucker. Ahahahahha.
A very interesting video about Anime characters being Japanese and not white.
Jett you motherfucker. Ahahahahha.
As someone who lives in the DC area... what?
WorriedCitizen
Member
Meanwhile in Bollywood:
Really? I thought it was always clear when there was an Asian character and a White character. They're drawn very differently.
A Japanese character usually looks like this
Isn't she mostly German/American and only partially Japanese? Yet she looks exactly like 100% Japanese women/girls in the anime.
The point is, in anime/manga character's look is rarely connected to her/his nationality. So it's no wonder that when Hollywood takes anime and tries to turn it into a movie, it doesn't care about the actor's nationality - only about the look.
B_Rik_Schitthaus
Banned
I think both versions were a disgrace to even the accommodating mode of the farce.
Blackace
if you see me in a fight with a bear, don't help me fool, help the bear!
You act as if America would accept a black captain America...
Zoe
Member
like Dean Cain?
NeonZ
Member
Well, that's due to Sadamoto often using the same face for main characters. Shinji's face itself comes from a girl from a previous Gainax show. But obviously no one would seriously consider recasting him with a woman.
http://wiki.evageeks.org/File:Sadamoto_nadia-shinji.jpg
In Eva's context itself though, Asuka is differentiated from the others by hair and eye color, while the Japanese cast is left with brown or black hair and darker eyes (although Shinji's is also colored blue in the anime at least, although they're brown in the manga), aside from Rei
who's half-angel
Capitol Hill, Foggy Bottom, etc. Certainly not the same demographics as DC on the whole.
FlyingTeacup
Member
the dragon ball movie ruined my childhood memories of goku.
But Goku's not Asian?
FlyingTeacup
Member
he was until the freeza arc. the difference between saiyaman and asian is the tail.
I'm clenching straws. haha.
ohhhhhhhhh lord
yes but its not some conspiracy, its just pandering to the idea that american viewers wont go for something too foreign/nothing to relate to
seperate question... the last samaurai? was that originally a book... or did i just get annoyed because tom cruise
i ask cause i thought that had a touch of whitewashing
yes but its not some conspiracy, its just pandering to the idea that american viewers wont go for something too foreign/nothing to relate to
seperate question... the last samaurai? was that originally a book... or did i just get annoyed because tom cruise
didnt die
i ask cause i thought that had a touch of whitewashing
sazabirules
Unconfirmed Member
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