Asians taking shit roles in Hollywood....

[survivor]

I'm trying to get a perspective about some of this.
BTW, I'm not on here too often but I try and I would like to hear your opinions.

So, I know it's hard to turn down ANY roles an actor is given because you need money and you want to get ahead but GEEEEEZZ. Isn't there such a thing as responsibility knowing that your role can represent more than you think?
I've debated a little about this with some actor/actress friends who feel that this showbiz stuff is about climbing the ladder and doing whatever it takes to move up and THEN, you can choose your roles. I wasn't and still am not comfortable with this notion. In fact there's one actor in particular who's signed up for what it seems like EVERY SHIT detail that's come down the line and he's still not too famous and I think he's done more harm. I forget his name but the guy who has the handle lopan has him as his avatar (not bagging on lopan though). BTW, my showbiz friends feel he's helped pave the way for Asian Americans in media.

I DUNNO about that....

So, what do you guys think?

[Scowl]

Are you talking about James Hong?

The problem that I see is that all the responsibility usually gets heaped on the shoulders of the actors. People talk a lot about how if only AAs would not take such shitty roles, but what people often forget about are the white people writing those scripts and directing those scenes and casting those roles. The AA actors are not the ones with any creative or decision-making power.

If an AA actor refuses to compromise his or her principles to take a shitty role, the movie people will just find another one who will take it. If every single AA actor outright refused to take any stereotypical roles, nothing would change. They would just use yellowface. And no, that would not magically make America sit up and take notice of what bullshit it is, because Hollywood uses yellowface now and almost no one sees a problem with it.

So it's really not up to the actors. You can praise John Cho and villify Gedde Watanabe all you want, but they are not the ones running the movie industry.

I also think that it is symptomatic of internalized racism when we put all the pressure on our own to be "proper representatives" of our people while ignoring the outsiders who not only gave us the shitty portrayals in the first place, but who have the power to continue doing it on a mass scale. Bai Ling is horrid, but ultimately insignificant compared to the script writers who always write-in the ching chong shit and the studio execs who approve it every single time.