February 05, 2004

The Asian Imposter Hall Of Shame. Vaudeville and then Holywood had a distinctly odd way of portraying Asians. And you still wonder why Margaret Cho is pissed?
posted by anonymous 20 years ago
  • Mickey Rooney forever ruined Breakfast at Tiffany's for me. Gaack!
  • He put WHAT in my coke?
  • I had never made the connection that "that font" (scroll down) has no relation to anything authentic (Asian or otherwise, really). Silly me. There's always Sir Alec as Prince Feisal. (Forgive this classicist a broad definition of Asian.)
  • And there is Ben Kingsley as Ghandi - but frankly do we care? A brilliant actor brought an even more brilliant man's life to the screen. All of these actors (with the exception of Carradine, who was reprising an earlier role) played these characters decades ago. You know, when the only female characters on Star Trek, that most progressive of shows, had to wear mini-skirts and tremour in fear? If they want to complain about the protrayal of Asians in Hollywood, they should find some recent examples. Actually, the more serious issue isn't the protrayal of Asians, but rather the unrepresentation of both South and East Asian in the North American entertainment industry. We see more movies about South Asians in Britain than about the communities here. But Apu? That's just whiny, and offensive to a damn fine voice actor. Aside from the fact that just a few voice actors play dozens of characters of all races and ages, everything is up for laughs in the Simpsons, and despite that the writers have nonetheless done so in a repectful manner. Apu is smart, hard-working and proud of his heritage. Would they rather that the Simpson's existed in an all-white world? You can't ask for integration and then get pissy when you get integrated. Also, there are a bunch of Goths outside who want to talk to you about some ornate capitals.
  • Ben Kingsley is Indian - his real name is Krishna Bhanji. Also, I don't think they're complaining about Apu. Or, at least it doesn't read that way to me.
  • Cool, I never knew Ben Kingsley's real name. Though, of course that means he's been an imposter in all those English roles, and the German-Jewish one, and the Chillean one... :) I'm not positive on the Apu thing, but the page does rank Hank Azaria in "Asian Imposter Hall of Shame," which just isn't that complimentary. I remember worrying, many years ago when I was younger, whether I should laugh at Apu - I mean, he's a stereotype, right? And then I realised - they are all stereotypes. And laughing at Homer but not Apu is it's own kind of double standard. Someday, I'd really like to live in a world where we can colour blind cast, and laugh at each other's ethnic stereotypes all we want, because we know that they don't matter any more. That said, I have some beavers pelts to go see aboot - my igloo needs decorating.
  • Those of you who have been fortunate enought to _not_ see John Wayne as Genghis Khan in "The Conqueror", trust me--that's one of the all time worst examples of this Hollywood ploy.
  • Where is this "Holywood" that you speak of?
  • That's so cool... I had NO idea Kingsley was Indian.
  • Was Yul Brynner Siamese?
  • Dizzy - IMDB says he was Russian/Mongolian, so some claim to being "oriental."