MOVIES
Asian Images in Hollywood
By Angela Boey Posted April 15, 2008
For a long time, Caucasian actors trying on “Oriental” accents and makeup was as good as it got when it came to “Asians” in Hollywood. Heck, even Hollywood legends Katherine Hepburn and Marlon Brando jumped on the bandwagon, Brando spending two months armed with a tape recorder and a Japanese interpreter in hopes of capturing an “authentic” Okinawa accent.
It’s fascinating to see Johnny Depp attempt a Scottish accent or Hugh Laurie fake an American twang in his speech, but somehow, a part of me remains unimpressed when I hear of brave attempts to perfect a “movie” accent of fractured English and incomplete sentences.
“The stars were what made the money,” Turner Classics Movie host Robert Osborne pointed out, reminding me of the context in which these movies were made. “People didn’t really go to see a movie about China and the Second World War. They went to see Katherine Hepburn in the movie, and she showed her versatility by playing a Chinese woman — not very well, but that’s what she did.”
This June, you’ll be able to judge the performances for yourself when the one stop channel for the classics, TCM, features a month-long lineup of films around the theme of “Race & Hollywood: Asian Images in Film.”
Peter X. Feng, an Asian American literature, cultural studies and film professor at The University of Delaware, will lend his perspective, joining Osborne in introducing and discussing the films in lite analytical segments that preview and conclude each feature film.
The lineup reads something like a Yellow Pages of Chinese restaurants. Plenty of jade, dragons and “the Orient” to go around. I also wonder what studio executives were thinking when christening their films The Teahouse of the August Moon and Phantom of Chinatown. I suspect it’s trying to fit in as many exotic sounding words as possible in the first case, and as for the second, the only reason that comes to mind is Snakes on a Plane.
Ever wondered about the origin of the sage, mustachioed Asian man dispensing aphorisms? The culprit makes special appearances, doing a little detective work of his own and supplying his trademark versions of truisms in Charlie Chan at the Circus (Curiosity responsible for cat needing nine lives) and Charlie Chan in Honolulu (Caution very good life insurance). Though audiences in the 1920s would have simply described the Charlie Chan films as entertaining, modern audiences will no doubt find enough fodder for conversations on political incorrectness.
World War II, or more importantly, Hollywood propaganda of World War II, didn’t help the Asian image either, creating in its wake, a slew of cruel and sadistic Japanese villains.
Growing up in a small town with little exposure to Asian culture, Osborne gave me a peek into what it was like growing up when films were portals to another world: ““I didn’t know anything about the political implications,” he explained. “To me, the Japanese were people not to be trusted. But now as an adult, I look back and see that those films were feeding that image for years.”
For the record, on the off chance that someone might pick up The Teahouse of the August Moon and overlook its unfortunate name, it’s actually a decent film. Based on a Pulitzer-prize winning play about the American occupation of Japan after WWII, the comedy takes undisguised digs at democracy and includes truly inspired logic on the part of Brando’s Japanese character, who is able to convince the Americans to convert the construction of a “pentagon-shaped” school to the namesake Japanese teahouse. Still, it took all my mental prowess to figure out why the film ends with such a dud of a line: “It’s a land of mystery of the Orient.” I’m still trying to figure that one out.
And who can overlook the influence of kung fu films in Hollywood? The strange celebration of kitsch and physical dexterity? As I sat down to watch Enter the Dragon for the first time, I was prepared for “Chinese” elevator music, even for the unnatural squeals and screams coming out of Bruce Lee’s mouth. Then I realized that those squeals and screams went with every kick and punch administered by the very ripped body of Bruce Lee. So did the single sound effect of an unconvincing “thwack!”
To put it lightly, you have to watch this film with fistfuls of salt. What ultimately leaps off the screen is Bruce Lee’s breathtaking athleticism. For that I even forgive the cheesy “thumbs up” he gives at the end. After single-handedly taking down a mad man with the chunkiest metal block of a hand claw I’ve ever seen and looking like he came out of a catfight, the man deserves it.
Maybe it’s too soon to say which one of Hollwood’s more recent “Asian” films will become classics, but they’ve pretty much been either pop culture phenomenons or pathetic misses. Who can forget the snorefest that was Anna and the King? When the only raves you hear about are for the sets and costumes, run far, far away.
As for the hits, it’s safe to say that Hollywood has found a winning formula with crowd-pleasers like the Rush Hour and Shanghai Noon/Shanghai Knights franchise.
But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
“More social progress is going to be achieved by making an entertaining Hollywood film that treats characters as human beings as opposed to making a didactic film about how the American society is racist,” Feng explains.
Comparing Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle to Crash, I would have to agree.
And as it turns out, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle is one of Feng’s favorite films too.
“If you want to talk about it in relationship to this film festival, it was a nuanced portrait of Asian American men,” Feng points out. “[And] John Cho’s character gets the girl at the end of the film, which is unfortunately, still very rare in Hollywood.”
For me, what makes the film truly unique is its focus on the lighter aspect of what it’s like to be Asian (really) without taking itself too seriously.
Ultimately, unless Asians are involved in every aspect of film making, Feng explains, from writing scripts to “green lighting” projects, we might never get a Hollywood version of critical triumphs like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or Raise the Red Lantern.
A Hollywood film by Asians, about Asians without having to negotiate with stereotypes? Now that would be worth watching.
For complete schedule on TCM “Race & Hollywood: Asian Images in Film” lineup in June 2008, visit www.tcm.com