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In Reply to: here's the point posted by blah on December 9, 2005 at 15:56:33:
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Follow Ups:
"American" is not an ethnic designation--by definition, ANYONE can be American as it denotes a nationality. One can typically only be Japanese if one is born Japanese, or Chinese if one is born Chinese (very few people naturalize, I believe, into these countries, as opposed to America).I go back to my original point: many people might get upset if Tom Cruise (or Mel Gibson) played Martin Luther King in a movie.....
Would you get upset if a Swede played an Italian? They are every bit as different biologically as Japanese and Chinese. I think the real problem here is the deep hatred that still exists amoung some Japanese and Chinese for one another. Personally I think that is their problem and i would prefer that artists be allowed to be artists and make choices based on art rather than the politics of hatred. Actors act. They pretend tobe somebody they are not. Where do you draw the line and why?
..has little to do with what the Chinese think about the Japanese, or vice versa; it has everything to do with Hollywood having a long, ignorant history with regards to Asians.
Funny that one would speak of Hollywood as a single entity while complaining about the grouping of Asians. That aside let me relate to you a story of an Asian actor I worked with for seven years. He was of the opinion that Asians as a group have been under represented and often poorly represented in the film and television industry. We had a disagreement over Joel Grey playing an old Asian character in Remo Williams. He felt that it should have been played by an Asian actor. I disagreed on the basis of art for art's sake. The illusion was worth the cost of employment of an Asian actor IMO. I'm not big on the idea of birth rights. So this actor, Garret Wang agrees with the common belief that actors should not be crossing broad racial lines just as you alluded in your example that a white person playing Martin Luther King Jr. would be considered by many to be offensive. OTOH That same actor who is Cantonese, played a Korean on the show we worked on together. Clearly he, an Asian actor, did not see a problem with actors crossing cultural lines. There are more than a few that see your analogy as flawed. A Japanese character played by a Chinese actor is not nearly as universally offensive as actors crossing racial lines in their portrayals. I am of one extreme. I believe in the magic of movies and the fun of creating illusions. I have put a white actor into black makeup on national television. I sleep fine at night. By the way the Black man that was being spoofed by the white actor I put into black makeup thought it was both an amazing illusion and a very funny sketch. I am very sensitive to the plight of minorities and the discrimination they face but as an artist who works in the film an television industry I am not sympathetic to politics of any kind dictating what artists can and cannot do.
There are certainly no absolutes, as your example points out. There may indeed be instances where one can switch out races without too much problem. BUT, in this instance, I am familiar with these chinese actresses and their native languages, and it is very odd indeed to see them speaking english with a chinese accent when they are portraying something as quintessentialy japanese, and feminine, as Geisha--whose mannerisms and speaking style is unique, and very japanese. As I said before, most Americans could probably care less.
Ah, now you raise some interesting points. I have not seen the movie and I will take you at your word in regards to your opinion. I wouldn't be able to judge well even if I had seen the movie. In short, by your accounts the acting is inadequate and therefore fails artistically. That does make the choice you object to look bad/objectionable on many levels. so do we set special rules for bad artists? It is tempting but...who gets to be judge? In the end, the critics and the buying public will judge. maybe it will fail in Japan and China as you predict but for artistically legitimate reasons rather than unfortunate prejudicial reasons.
I don't blame the artists, however--I am actually a fan, just not in this case.....I blame the casting director, and the producers for seemingly thinking "it doesn't matter".
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