Asian Majority

A recent outdoor showing of the classic Sixteen Candles has stirred up some controversy for Gedde Watanabe’s portrayal of Long Duk Dong. In the film, he portrays an over-sexed, geeky Asian man. Unfortunately this has long been a problem with TV and film in America, although things are starting to improve but not enough yet.

For some Asian, this movie draws an outcry, but for others, they don’t think it’s as big of a deal. Yet, being sensitive and taking action deserves a thumbs up in my book. Until there is some equalization, we need to draw attention to the fact that we won’t back down. Fortunately, this did elicit an apology from the organizers. I can’t imagine the uproar if they played Breakfast at Tiffany’s. That is definitely one of the worst portrayals of the Asian man.

Ultimately the portrayal is awful, but you can check it out yourself below.

Here is the article: http://www.hyphenmagazine.com/blog/archives/2007/08/sixteen_candles.html

So two Holloywood producers, Bob and Harvey Weinstein, are using this money to invest in Asian-Themed projects. Overall, this is very welcome news as it will provide more exposure to Asian actors and actresses in the US. Some projects include a tale about Chinese folk hero Hua Mulan and a remake of “The Seven Samurai”.

One exciting project they invested in is “Forbidden Kingdom” which stars both Jackie Chan and Jet Li. The only disappointing thing from the article is that it sounds like almost all the projects are involving actors from Asia. It’s still a great thing, but it would be great to see some more Asian-American actors and film topics. We’ll see if that comes to fruition. Speaking of Asian-American actors and films, if you’ve never seen Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, that is a hilarious movie.

Here is the original article: Film | Comments Off