I work on a field that has struggled for decades trying to bring non-white males into the discipline.
As a matter of fact I think it is possible to claim that, in the United States, the project to diversify the field of Physics (in terms of race and gender) has been a failure.
Why is this the case? Why has, for example, Biology done so well in bringing women and minorities into the field but Physics, which has tried similar programs, has failed so miserably?
There is no reason to believe that physicists are somehow more racist/sexist than biologists (James Watson anyone?), so what is exactly the problem?
There is not a single student or faculty member in the Princeton Physics Department that is black.
Black people make ~15% of the US population.
Does this mean that the department is actively discriminating against the black population? Quite the contrary, they do try to get as many minority students as possible, within reason of course.
The problem is that there are very few black people that have interest and are qualified to become a student/professor in Physics and therefore, this makes the task of diversification very hard.
So you ask, "can't they find one asian american male that is talented enough to have a leading role in Hollywood?"
Well, just in the same way that "Princeton Physics cannot find one african american that is talented enough to be a student/professor" the answer is that I would not be surprised if they couldn't.
Of course this does not mean that there are not great asian actors and black physicists out there - what it means is that in some fields certain minorities are so underrepresented, for cultural and historical reasons, that the task of diversification - without compromising quality - can be quite hard.
This problem needs to be solved - but it is definitely not as easy as simply giving leading roles to whichever male asian actor is out there.
It requires an entire revolution in the cultural mindset - it requires the asian community to start appreciating the arts as much as any other profession.
I will never forget the time that I asked one of my professors in college (a chinese female physicist) if she thought her son, who was very much into playing music and painting, would become an artist. She replied: "No, he will not be an artist." (from her tone I knew she actually meant "No, I will not let my son be an artist.")
You can go ahead and accuse Hollywood of being racist all you want (I won't stop you, I really do not regard highly the american film industry anyway) but maybe the better solution to end this serious underrepresentation is to start by teaching chidren - of all races and creeds - to learn to appreciate the arts and to regard them as worthy to be pursued as any other profession.
I work on a field that has struggled for decades trying to bring non-white males into the discipline.
As a matter of fact I think it is possible to claim that, in the United States, the project to diversify the field of Physics (in terms of race and gender) has been a failure.
Why is this the case? Why has, for example, Biology done so well in bringing women and minorities into the field but Physics, which has tried similar programs, has failed so miserably?
There is no reason to believe that physicists are somehow more racist/sexist than biologists (James Watson anyone?), so what is exactly the problem?
There is not a single student or faculty member in the Princeton Physics Department that is black.
Black people make ~15% of the US population.
Does this mean that the department is actively discriminating against the black population? Quite the contrary, they do try to get as many minority students as possible, within reason of course.
The problem is that there are very few black people that have interest and are qualified to become a student/professor in Physics and therefore, this makes the task of diversification very hard.
So you ask, "can't they find one asian american male that is talented enough to have a leading role in Hollywood?"
Well, just in the same way that "Princeton Physics cannot find one african american that is talented enough to be a student/professor" the answer is that I would not be surprised if they couldn't.
Of course this does not mean that there are not great asian actors and black physicists out there - what it means is that in some fields certain minorities are so underrepresented, for cultural and historical reasons, that the task of diversification - without compromising quality - can be quite hard.
This problem needs to be solved - but it is definitely not as easy as simply giving leading roles to whichever male asian actor is out there.
It requires an entire revolution in the cultural mindset - it requires the asian community to start appreciating the arts as much as any other profession.
I will never forget the time that I asked one of my professors in college (a chinese female physicist) if she thought her son, who was very much into playing music and painting, would become an artist. She replied: "No, he will not be an artist." (from her tone I knew she actually meant "No, I will not let my son be an artist.")
You can go ahead and accuse Hollywood of being racist all you want (I won't stop you, I really do not regard highly the american film industry anyway) but maybe the better solution to end this serious underrepresentation is to start by teaching chidren - of all races and creeds - to learn to appreciate the arts and to regard them as worthy to be pursued as any other profession.
These are all good points and true enough. But I think part of what the OP is trying to say, is that not only are AA men not represented in Hollywood, they are actively and demonstratively discriminated against in Hollywood. If Princeton actively rejected applicants soley because they were black, I think you might have a problem.
Part of the problem is active discrimination. Part of the problem is that because asians make up a small, relatively quite minority in the west (especially the US), they are invisible to the Hollywood/media establishment. From a purely financial basis, you could easily argue that it is OK for the studios to avoid and reject AA leading roles. The average American has pretty deeply embedded stereo-types of of asians and they are accepted as completely ok to hold. Typically, I think, Americans think of asians as campy kung fu fighters, nerdy math geeks, Jerry Lewis caricatures, or passive, subservient wimps. Hollywood continues to use and portray these stero-types. If Hollywood only used black actors for roles as criminals, slaves, convicts, drug abusers and pimps, there would be vocal opposition. In fact, for the acceptance of black men in leading roles over the last couple decades, there is still a feeling that they have not fully broken through the glass ceiling, by some. Hence the media hype in 2001 best actor and actress when to African Americans...it was considered a break through. Asian Americans might never have a similar break through because they are not given the opportunity.
I believe a film studio, being a publicly owned business, has a duty to make as much money as it can... no?
Frankly I'm pissed by how much creative power is wasted and diluted to e.g. make worse remakes of perfectly good movies. But the viewers are far more at fault than the studios. If a large part of the viewership wasn't racist, confused by foreign cultural elements, unable or unwilling to handle normal subtitles to see a better overall movie, and in general avoiding everything "difficult", the studios wouldn't accommodate them.
Completely anecdotal, but Asian countries do make quite a lot of movies.
It's not unheard of here in Korea for Korean Americans to come over here and capitalize on their Americaness.
For example, I imagine that in America, Daniel Henney would be just another struggling actor, trying to make contacts and land roles or however they do it. But here in Korea, he's a star, more pay than anyone would think of giving such a junior actor in the states. All he's really got going for him is that he's good looking and can speak perfect "American" english.
From what I hear, it's also popular for Korean American singers, musicians, DJs, etc. to come over here and be far more successful than if they stayed in the states.
If the same sort of thing is popular amongst all Asian American artists (moving back to their home country where there is less competition) then that might explain the talent drain (if there in fact is one).
O-Mac, you might want to learn something about making points in ways that don't make everyone want to disagree with you. You bring up a good issue about the dearth of leading, high-profile roles for Asian-American male actors in Hollywood. Asian-Americans make up 5% of all Americans, and I don't think I've seen 5 leading Asian-American male actors out of the last 100 movies made. I think most people here would agree that, you know what, maybe they are wrongfully underrepresented in the mass-media, and maybe they should get a few more roles than they already do. But you know, you approached it a little more hysterically than most people have the patience for. So think about that at least.
LOLOL Hysterically yes, because no one seems to be listening. I know I'm not the only one out there who has the same thoughts as I do about this. But when you read people shoving off the topic like it's no big deal or a stupid point then yeah there is a reason to go all noodle about it.
in 2008 we shouldn't even be discussing junk like this. I'd much rather be talking about whether a movie was well acted or not or well directed or not instead of debating why asian amer. males are always represented poorly in hollywood.
LOLOL Hysterically yes, because no one seems to be listening. I know I'm not the only one out there who has the same thoughts as I do about this. But when you read people shoving off the topic like it's no big deal or a stupid point then yeah there is a reason to go all noodle about it.
in 2008 we shouldn't even be discussing junk like this. I'd much rather be talking about whether a movie was well acted or not or well directed or not instead of debating why asian amer. males are always represented poorly in hollywood.
If someone was going to find a way for an Asian American to be a major character, I don't think it would start off with Hollywood movies. HBO has much more ability to create great characters. I could see them coming out with a show that makes an Asian a star, and then Hollywood following whatever mold HBO set.
Off the top of my head and I don't track this kinda stuff but I do watch movies and TV:
Asian Cross Over Actors
Chow Yun Fat
Jet Li
Jackie Chan
Ken Watanabe
Jason J. Tobin
Asian American Actors
John Cho
Daniel Dae Kim
Russel Wong
Garret Wang
Brandon Lee
Jason Scott Lee
Michael Paul Chan
Al Leong (heh)
BD Wong
Victor Wong (Big Trouble!)
Dustin Nguyen
Dennis Dun
Justin Lin
Parry Shen
Sung Kang
Admittedly I had to google for some names like "Ensign Kim actor Star Trek" and "asian actor 21 jump street" but I remembered largely who they were.
Do asians americans have an actor of the caliber as Denzel? Nope. Chow Yun Fat I think is pretty damn good. And I've enjoyed every movie I've seen Ken Watanabe in (not many but a few). And Jason Tobin isn't old. A couple of the guys above probably weren't born here either.
Get over yourself. If you think it sucks then go to film school and write and produce your own indie films with asian american leads. Justin Lin did well with a nom at Sundance and a nom at Spirit.
Personally, I thought that film sucked but my wife dragged me to it at some art theater.
According to Gatdula its all about numbers:
Quote:
Gatdula said that during the pre-production of Finishing the Game, Lin had to go to marketing meetings with the distributors.
?Basically, it?s a room full of people and they had a pie-chart of all the different slices of people who would watch the movie,? he said. ?There was a Caucasian slice, a Hispanic [slice], and an African-American slice but there was no Asian category. They basically said that Asians have the same buying habits as Caucasians.?
?We [Asian Americans] are invisible in the heads of business people,? he added.
This has everything to do with taking a story based on real life events and modifying it beyond acceptabillity in the name of commerce.
What does that say about America's tolerance? We'll vote for a woman or black candidate for President but people won't go see a movie with 4 Asian actors??
I understand the frustrations coming from fans of the book I Am Legend when Will Smith was cast even though this was purely a fictional story.
For all the ballyhooing about how progressive Hollywood is they still make their missteps with alarming frequency.
Off the top of my head and I don't track this kinda stuff but I do watch movies and TV:
Asian Cross Over Actors
.....
Asian American Actors
......
Admittedly I had to google for some names like "Ensign Kim actor Star Trek" and "asian actor 21 jump street" but I remembered largely who they were.
Completely irrelevant.
When the studios go out of their way, not just to avoid asian leads, but to change the ethnicity of primary characters because 'Americans' are unable to relate to them, that is hardly related to a the number of asian actors you can name.
Quote:
Originally Posted by vinea
Do asians americans have an actor of the caliber as Denzel? Nope. Chow Yun Fat I think is pretty damn good. And I've enjoyed every movie I've seen Ken Watanabe in (not many but a few). And Jason Tobin isn't old. A couple of the guys above probably weren't born here either.
I would argue Ken Watanabe is on par or perhaps a better actor than Denzel.
Quote:
Originally Posted by vinea
Get over yourself. If you think it sucks then go to film school and write and produce your own indie films with asian american leads. Justin Lin did well with a nom at Sundance and a nom at Spirit.
What's the point? Unless he also goes out and buys his own studio, it is quite likely the leading characters might be ethically cleansed so they relate to the audience better.
Quote:
Originally Posted by vinea
So tell your fellow asian-americans to have different buying habits. Asians are what? 4.4% of the population? That's not insignificant.
When the studios go out of their way, not just to avoid asian leads, but to change the ethnicity of primary characters because 'Americans' are unable to relate to them, that is hardly related to a the number of asian actors you can name.
And the last time this was prevalent was when? Kung Fu? The King and I?
Are we looking at this from a historical perspective or the state of the industry now? Because as far as I recall the male lead in Anna and the King was Chow Yun Fat. Not a bald Russian guy.
As I said, I don't follow this very closely but I do note many more asian american actors today than I did growing up.
Quote:
I would argue Ken Watanabe is on par or perhaps a better actor than Denzel.
Except he isn't asian american...and it's hard to say really. I think that Denzel has had far more varied roles.
Quote:
What's the point? Unless he also goes out and buys his own studio, it is quite likely the leading characters might be ethically cleansed so they relate to the audience better.
Yes, because Justin Lin completely failed in getting more asian americans actors into movie roles because he didn't go out and buy a studio...and yeah, Better Luck Tomorrow was ethically cleansed and didn't address the issue of a "model minority" at all.
Mkay.
Quote:
Will that change their skin colour?
Do you need it to? Or do you simply want the asian-american demographic not to be clustered in with the caucasian one so you end up with 4% of the lead actors in hollywood?
While there's still a bit of asianploitation with kung fu roles and asian comedy with Li, Chan, etc if the trend holds true then young directors like Lin may be able to push asian films like Spike Lee and John Singleton did for african-american film making in the 90s.
That the african-american community shows up as a seperate demographic certainly didn't hurt. The same needs to occur for the asian-american community for there to be real monetary benefit for more asian male leads.
But what the heck, if you want role models, asian film making is vastly better than it was a decade or two ago. I may be a little odd in actually watching sub-titled movies but I've seen decent Korean, Chinese and Japanese films with strong asian leads.
4%, while a significant number, is still smaller than the other two major minority groups in the US. You want something to happen, you go make it happen. There's at least ONE Asian American role model that has succeeded into breaking into directing and producing.
I'm sure there's more if you look closely. But proving a market exists in the indie film market is a good first step in getting the majors to change. Where there's money, they'll cater to it.
And the last time this was prevalent was when? Kung Fu? The King and I?
Are we looking at this from a historical perspective or the state of the industry now? Because as far as I recall the male lead in Anna and the King was Chow Yun Fat. Not a bald Russian guy.
This year's number one movie, 21, was based on a story of a group that was mainly asian. They were cleaned up for the move version.
In other other news, Naveen Andrews to play an Iraqi!
In other other other news, Hispanic dude to play Asian dude!
In other other other other news, Asian dude to play Hispanic dude!
And the common factor of your examples? The characters, at least, were still of their original ethic groups, even if the actors were taken from different groups. Sometimes, as in Kingsley's case, an actor of a different background is used because of his skill as an actor.
In some cases it is to make because the studios believe a white actor will be more acceptable. And sometimes the character itself is just not white enough.
Quote:
Originally Posted by midwinter
Cleaned up? They changed the story. Period. The end.
Agreed. They changed the story to make it more marketable. Same with the main characters...more marketable, cleaned up.
Comments
As a matter of fact I think it is possible to claim that, in the United States, the project to diversify the field of Physics (in terms of race and gender) has been a failure.
Why is this the case? Why has, for example, Biology done so well in bringing women and minorities into the field but Physics, which has tried similar programs, has failed so miserably?
There is no reason to believe that physicists are somehow more racist/sexist than biologists (James Watson anyone?), so what is exactly the problem?
There is not a single student or faculty member in the Princeton Physics Department that is black.
Black people make ~15% of the US population.
Does this mean that the department is actively discriminating against the black population? Quite the contrary, they do try to get as many minority students as possible, within reason of course.
The problem is that there are very few black people that have interest and are qualified to become a student/professor in Physics and therefore, this makes the task of diversification very hard.
So you ask, "can't they find one asian american male that is talented enough to have a leading role in Hollywood?"
Well, just in the same way that "Princeton Physics cannot find one african american that is talented enough to be a student/professor" the answer is that I would not be surprised if they couldn't.
Of course this does not mean that there are not great asian actors and black physicists out there - what it means is that in some fields certain minorities are so underrepresented, for cultural and historical reasons, that the task of diversification - without compromising quality - can be quite hard.
This problem needs to be solved - but it is definitely not as easy as simply giving leading roles to whichever male asian actor is out there.
It requires an entire revolution in the cultural mindset - it requires the asian community to start appreciating the arts as much as any other profession.
I will never forget the time that I asked one of my professors in college (a chinese female physicist) if she thought her son, who was very much into playing music and painting, would become an artist. She replied: "No, he will not be an artist." (from her tone I knew she actually meant "No, I will not let my son be an artist.")
You can go ahead and accuse Hollywood of being racist all you want (I won't stop you, I really do not regard highly the american film industry anyway) but maybe the better solution to end this serious underrepresentation is to start by teaching chidren - of all races and creeds - to learn to appreciate the arts and to regard them as worthy to be pursued as any other profession.
This problem needs to be solved
The problem will solve itself, if there even is a problem.
I work on a field that has struggled for decades trying to bring non-white males into the discipline.
As a matter of fact I think it is possible to claim that, in the United States, the project to diversify the field of Physics (in terms of race and gender) has been a failure.
Why is this the case? Why has, for example, Biology done so well in bringing women and minorities into the field but Physics, which has tried similar programs, has failed so miserably?
There is no reason to believe that physicists are somehow more racist/sexist than biologists (James Watson anyone?), so what is exactly the problem?
There is not a single student or faculty member in the Princeton Physics Department that is black.
Black people make ~15% of the US population.
Does this mean that the department is actively discriminating against the black population? Quite the contrary, they do try to get as many minority students as possible, within reason of course.
The problem is that there are very few black people that have interest and are qualified to become a student/professor in Physics and therefore, this makes the task of diversification very hard.
So you ask, "can't they find one asian american male that is talented enough to have a leading role in Hollywood?"
Well, just in the same way that "Princeton Physics cannot find one african american that is talented enough to be a student/professor" the answer is that I would not be surprised if they couldn't.
Of course this does not mean that there are not great asian actors and black physicists out there - what it means is that in some fields certain minorities are so underrepresented, for cultural and historical reasons, that the task of diversification - without compromising quality - can be quite hard.
This problem needs to be solved - but it is definitely not as easy as simply giving leading roles to whichever male asian actor is out there.
It requires an entire revolution in the cultural mindset - it requires the asian community to start appreciating the arts as much as any other profession.
I will never forget the time that I asked one of my professors in college (a chinese female physicist) if she thought her son, who was very much into playing music and painting, would become an artist. She replied: "No, he will not be an artist." (from her tone I knew she actually meant "No, I will not let my son be an artist.")
You can go ahead and accuse Hollywood of being racist all you want (I won't stop you, I really do not regard highly the american film industry anyway) but maybe the better solution to end this serious underrepresentation is to start by teaching chidren - of all races and creeds - to learn to appreciate the arts and to regard them as worthy to be pursued as any other profession.
These are all good points and true enough. But I think part of what the OP is trying to say, is that not only are AA men not represented in Hollywood, they are actively and demonstratively discriminated against in Hollywood. If Princeton actively rejected applicants soley because they were black, I think you might have a problem.
Part of the problem is active discrimination. Part of the problem is that because asians make up a small, relatively quite minority in the west (especially the US), they are invisible to the Hollywood/media establishment. From a purely financial basis, you could easily argue that it is OK for the studios to avoid and reject AA leading roles. The average American has pretty deeply embedded stereo-types of of asians and they are accepted as completely ok to hold. Typically, I think, Americans think of asians as campy kung fu fighters, nerdy math geeks, Jerry Lewis caricatures, or passive, subservient wimps. Hollywood continues to use and portray these stero-types. If Hollywood only used black actors for roles as criminals, slaves, convicts, drug abusers and pimps, there would be vocal opposition. In fact, for the acceptance of black men in leading roles over the last couple decades, there is still a feeling that they have not fully broken through the glass ceiling, by some. Hence the media hype in 2001 best actor and actress when to African Americans...it was considered a break through. Asian Americans might never have a similar break through because they are not given the opportunity.
Frankly I'm pissed by how much creative power is wasted and diluted to e.g. make worse remakes of perfectly good movies. But the viewers are far more at fault than the studios. If a large part of the viewership wasn't racist, confused by foreign cultural elements, unable or unwilling to handle normal subtitles to see a better overall movie, and in general avoiding everything "difficult", the studios wouldn't accommodate them.
Hey lady! You call him Doctajones!
It's not unheard of here in Korea for Korean Americans to come over here and capitalize on their Americaness.
For example, I imagine that in America, Daniel Henney would be just another struggling actor, trying to make contacts and land roles or however they do it. But here in Korea, he's a star, more pay than anyone would think of giving such a junior actor in the states. All he's really got going for him is that he's good looking and can speak perfect "American" english.
From what I hear, it's also popular for Korean American singers, musicians, DJs, etc. to come over here and be far more successful than if they stayed in the states.
If the same sort of thing is popular amongst all Asian American artists (moving back to their home country where there is less competition) then that might explain the talent drain (if there in fact is one).
O-Mac, you might want to learn something about making points in ways that don't make everyone want to disagree with you. You bring up a good issue about the dearth of leading, high-profile roles for Asian-American male actors in Hollywood. Asian-Americans make up 5% of all Americans, and I don't think I've seen 5 leading Asian-American male actors out of the last 100 movies made. I think most people here would agree that, you know what, maybe they are wrongfully underrepresented in the mass-media, and maybe they should get a few more roles than they already do. But you know, you approached it a little more hysterically than most people have the patience for. So think about that at least.
LOLOL Hysterically yes, because no one seems to be listening. I know I'm not the only one out there who has the same thoughts as I do about this. But when you read people shoving off the topic like it's no big deal or a stupid point then yeah there is a reason to go all noodle about it.
in 2008 we shouldn't even be discussing junk like this. I'd much rather be talking about whether a movie was well acted or not or well directed or not instead of debating why asian amer. males are always represented poorly in hollywood.
LOLOL Hysterically yes, because no one seems to be listening. I know I'm not the only one out there who has the same thoughts as I do about this. But when you read people shoving off the topic like it's no big deal or a stupid point then yeah there is a reason to go all noodle about it.
in 2008 we shouldn't even be discussing junk like this. I'd much rather be talking about whether a movie was well acted or not or well directed or not instead of debating why asian amer. males are always represented poorly in hollywood.
Asian Cross Over Actors
Chow Yun Fat
Jet Li
Jackie Chan
Ken Watanabe
Jason J. Tobin
Asian American Actors
John Cho
Daniel Dae Kim
Russel Wong
Garret Wang
Brandon Lee
Jason Scott Lee
Michael Paul Chan
Al Leong (heh)
BD Wong
Victor Wong (Big Trouble!)
Dustin Nguyen
Dennis Dun
Justin Lin
Parry Shen
Sung Kang
Admittedly I had to google for some names like "Ensign Kim actor Star Trek" and "asian actor 21 jump street" but I remembered largely who they were.
Do asians americans have an actor of the caliber as Denzel? Nope. Chow Yun Fat I think is pretty damn good. And I've enjoyed every movie I've seen Ken Watanabe in (not many but a few). And Jason Tobin isn't old. A couple of the guys above probably weren't born here either.
Get over yourself. If you think it sucks then go to film school and write and produce your own indie films with asian american leads. Justin Lin did well with a nom at Sundance and a nom at Spirit.
Personally, I thought that film sucked but my wife dragged me to it at some art theater.
According to Gatdula its all about numbers:
Gatdula said that during the pre-production of Finishing the Game, Lin had to go to marketing meetings with the distributors.
?Basically, it?s a room full of people and they had a pie-chart of all the different slices of people who would watch the movie,? he said. ?There was a Caucasian slice, a Hispanic [slice], and an African-American slice but there was no Asian category. They basically said that Asians have the same buying habits as Caucasians.?
?We [Asian Americans] are invisible in the heads of business people,? he added.
http://asianjournal.wordpress.com/20...hing-the-game/
So tell your fellow asian-americans to have different buying habits. Asians are what? 4.4% of the population? That's not insignificant.
This has everything to do with taking a story based on real life events and modifying it beyond acceptabillity in the name of commerce.
What does that say about America's tolerance? We'll vote for a woman or black candidate for President but people won't go see a movie with 4 Asian actors??
I understand the frustrations coming from fans of the book I Am Legend when Will Smith was cast even though this was purely a fictional story.
For all the ballyhooing about how progressive Hollywood is they still make their missteps with alarming frequency.
Off the top of my head and I don't track this kinda stuff but I do watch movies and TV:
Asian Cross Over Actors
.....
Asian American Actors
......
Admittedly I had to google for some names like "Ensign Kim actor Star Trek" and "asian actor 21 jump street" but I remembered largely who they were.
Completely irrelevant.
When the studios go out of their way, not just to avoid asian leads, but to change the ethnicity of primary characters because 'Americans' are unable to relate to them, that is hardly related to a the number of asian actors you can name.
Do asians americans have an actor of the caliber as Denzel? Nope. Chow Yun Fat I think is pretty damn good. And I've enjoyed every movie I've seen Ken Watanabe in (not many but a few). And Jason Tobin isn't old. A couple of the guys above probably weren't born here either.
I would argue Ken Watanabe is on par or perhaps a better actor than Denzel.
Get over yourself. If you think it sucks then go to film school and write and produce your own indie films with asian american leads. Justin Lin did well with a nom at Sundance and a nom at Spirit.
What's the point? Unless he also goes out and buys his own studio, it is quite likely the leading characters might be ethically cleansed so they relate to the audience better.
So tell your fellow asian-americans to have different buying habits. Asians are what? 4.4% of the population? That's not insignificant.
I would argue Ken Watanabe is on par or perhaps a better actor than Denzel.
I was going to respond to this, and then my brain melted, so now all I can say is that you should have this put on a t-shirt.
Completely irrelevant.
When the studios go out of their way, not just to avoid asian leads, but to change the ethnicity of primary characters because 'Americans' are unable to relate to them, that is hardly related to a the number of asian actors you can name.
And the last time this was prevalent was when? Kung Fu? The King and I?
Are we looking at this from a historical perspective or the state of the industry now? Because as far as I recall the male lead in Anna and the King was Chow Yun Fat. Not a bald Russian guy.
As I said, I don't follow this very closely but I do note many more asian american actors today than I did growing up.
I would argue Ken Watanabe is on par or perhaps a better actor than Denzel.
Except he isn't asian american...and it's hard to say really. I think that Denzel has had far more varied roles.
What's the point? Unless he also goes out and buys his own studio, it is quite likely the leading characters might be ethically cleansed so they relate to the audience better.
Yes, because Justin Lin completely failed in getting more asian americans actors into movie roles because he didn't go out and buy a studio...and yeah, Better Luck Tomorrow was ethically cleansed and didn't address the issue of a "model minority" at all.
Mkay.
Do you need it to? Or do you simply want the asian-american demographic not to be clustered in with the caucasian one so you end up with 4% of the lead actors in hollywood?
While there's still a bit of asianploitation with kung fu roles and asian comedy with Li, Chan, etc if the trend holds true then young directors like Lin may be able to push asian films like Spike Lee and John Singleton did for african-american film making in the 90s.
That the african-american community shows up as a seperate demographic certainly didn't hurt. The same needs to occur for the asian-american community for there to be real monetary benefit for more asian male leads.
But what the heck, if you want role models, asian film making is vastly better than it was a decade or two ago. I may be a little odd in actually watching sub-titled movies but I've seen decent Korean, Chinese and Japanese films with strong asian leads.
4%, while a significant number, is still smaller than the other two major minority groups in the US. You want something to happen, you go make it happen. There's at least ONE Asian American role model that has succeeded into breaking into directing and producing.
I'm sure there's more if you look closely. But proving a market exists in the indie film market is a good first step in getting the majors to change. Where there's money, they'll cater to it.
And the last time this was prevalent was when? Kung Fu? The King and I?
Are we looking at this from a historical perspective or the state of the industry now? Because as far as I recall the male lead in Anna and the King was Chow Yun Fat. Not a bald Russian guy.
This year's number one movie, 21, was based on a story of a group that was mainly asian. They were cleaned up for the move version.
This year's number one movie, 21, was based on a story of a group that was mainly asian. They were cleaned up for the move version.
Cleaned up? They changed the story. Period. The end.
In other news, Ben Kingsley to play Gandhi!
In other other news, Naveen Andrews to play an Iraqi!
In other other other news, Hispanic dude to play Asian dude!
In other other other other news, Asian dude to play Hispanic dude!
This year's number one movie, 21, was based on a story of a group that was mainly asian. They were cleaned up for the move version.
Ah, my bad. I thought the book had all western names?
In any case, that doesn't change my position. Rather than whine about it, make an indie version and tell the real story.
In other news, Ben Kingsley to play Gandhi!
In other other news, Naveen Andrews to play an Iraqi!
In other other other news, Hispanic dude to play Asian dude!
In other other other other news, Asian dude to play Hispanic dude!
And the common factor of your examples? The characters, at least, were still of their original ethic groups, even if the actors were taken from different groups. Sometimes, as in Kingsley's case, an actor of a different background is used because of his skill as an actor.
In some cases it is to make because the studios believe a white actor will be more acceptable. And sometimes the character itself is just not white enough.
Cleaned up? They changed the story. Period. The end.
Agreed. They changed the story to make it more marketable. Same with the main characters...more marketable, cleaned up.