Comments on: Casting White Actors In Asian Roles: 1957 to Today

By: I am going Linsane. You should too. | a Little Light

I am going Linsane. You should too. | a Little Light — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:10:41 +0000

[...] to enter elite colleges, are passed over for promotions on the corporate ladder and are disrespected to the point where the protagonists in our own stories get played by Caucasians. There almost seems like there is an unspoken agreement where Asians are allowed to enter American [...]

By: Danielle

Danielle — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 23:17:11 +0000

Your definition of Asian is hilariously nerdy? I knew it. To you all, we’re just comic relief. Anyway, I’m only part Asian but I still think it’s wrong that we often see the shunning of full-Asians and only seem to be able to “handle” a character that has at least a little European features. We need to come out of our hole and realize there are people who look different from us and they are equally beautiful,talented, and AMERICAN.

By: fayeday

fayeday — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 22:23:55 +0000

I don’t know if anyone’s brought this up (this is an old thread, anyway), but Avatar: the Last Airbender movie was horrible about this. The were accused of “racebending”- the original cartoon series had a lot of cultures and peoples that borrowed heavily from existing Asian ones, and all of the three good main characters, who in the cartoon series looked vaguely Inuit or Chinese (respectively), were switched to white actors, while all of the bad characters, who in the series LOOKED either white or some very pale Asian culture (I apologize for not being very familiar with all of the ethnicities) were changed to INDIAN ACTORS. What.

Not to mention the movie itself was a bad adaptation…

By: Brandi

Brandi — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 17:46:06 +0000

If you’ve ever read the Dr. Fu Manchu books, they are shockingly racist, so I’m not sure that they could in anyway improve on sensitivity and not have an entirely different story.

By: It will continue...

It will continue... — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 15:58:15 +0000

White actors have played blacks, American Indians, Hispanics (I have to point out the lead for the movie “The Mexican” was played by a white actor) and as this article points out, Asians. Until people of color address this on a united front through mass media, white actors will continue to covent the portrayal of people of color.

By: Lucia

Lucia — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 11:57:06 +0000

karinova, I completely agree. It’s not like there is a lack of ASIAN talents and by erasing the Asian characters, the show business is ruining their already slim opportunities. Anyone, tell me one very famous male Asian actor (who doesn’t specialize in comedy). How about one universally known Asian pop star? There aren’t any in America.

By: Otto Soze

Otto Soze — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 04:57:00 +0000

It is so embarrassing that with all the diversity we now have in 2010 we still need to “white-wash” films for White America. My first question is now that we have a president with a dark skin tone, does White America really give a damn about seeing a white guy in a film. I seriously think they don’t and it is so sad that I have to ask this question like only white Americas wants and needs matter. I agree largely with most of the post above with all the films listed with white actors playing Asians roles. Especially my favorite anime of all time DBZ. What we all need to do is not support these movies. Dont even go to the theater and spend a a ticket on that crap. Support movies that are trying to make a progressive change in racial image in the main stream. Where any American, black, white, yellow, red, whatever can land a leading role in a film that may not even call for an ethnic character. Like Will Smith in “I am Legend.” Anybody/race could have played that role and that movie made SERIOUS money worldwide. When films start having leading men or women of “non-white” backgrounds in it that are not ethnic and just MAINSTREAM. We can fix this terrible problem of not so much racism but close-mindedness in the media. Because media is the most powerful weapon known to man. It can totally damage the image of a race and culture.

If you see films like these don’t support them. Tell your friends not to support them and then these guys will lose money and make movies the way we tell them too.

By: PattiLain

PattiLain — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 04:45:40 +0000

Yeah, Firefly was really frustrating that way. http://xkcd.com/561/

But like K said further up, “A lot of movies use the idea that in the future, American culture will meld with an Asian culture. I think that most of the time, it’s just an excuse to add “exotic” Asian design elements.”

By: HabeQuiddam

HabeQuiddam — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 21:53:02 +0000

I always found it kind of strange that with all the people swearing in (Badly spoken) Mandarin, there isn’t a single main character in Firefly played by an Asian actor/actress. It’s disappointing to see that it runs older and deeper than even that.

By: Marsnite

Marsnite — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 03:20:32 +0000

For the love of Jesus Christ and all that is holy in this world and the next GOKU IS NOT JAPANESE! He’s Chinese. The original “Dragon Ball” was based on a Chinese story, there are characters named after Chinese food, Goku wears Chinese characters on his outfits, etc.

That is all.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:08:15 +0000

watch Turner Classic Movies for all your Yellowface needs
all menace all heathen all yellow!!!

By: Elaine

Elaine — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 07:47:51 +0000

The actress is Myrna Loy, from the Thin Man movies. Definately not Asian, she was from Montana.

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 05:12:26 +0000

Thanks for this post. In regards to Dragonball and Avatar, many people argue that those are ultimately fantasy worlds and in a way, post-race. However, if you think of Lord of the Rings, where it is also a completely fantasized world, the story is obviously revolved around European culture. The kings, the hierarchy, the clothing, the weaponry, the war tactics, they all point to European culture. Movies like Dragonball and Avatar fall into the same category. It is a shame that movies with such rich Asian-based culture are not portrayed to their greatest potential.

By: Philip

Philip — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 05:16:04 +0000

Wow that is sad… In regards to recent movies, what goes through the minds of these white actors as they take on roles as such obvious Asian characters? Did Sean Farris’ agent go, “Hey Sean, I’ve got a great new role for you, you can play Kusanagi Kyo, a Japanese kenpo fighter with ancient powers flowing through your bloodline.”

By: Tadamori

Tadamori — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 02:21:32 +0000

I saw Teahouse of the August Moon. I thought Brando was actually pretty good in it.