Do you guys think the directors over there in China are over doing it with the Kung Fu flicks? Are there any Asians reading this that feel the same way? I’m Asian and every time I see a new kung fu flick commerical making it on the big screen I cringe.
Also, off-topic question below:
The cosmetic surgery obsession, wow WTF is going on over there. Not the whole cosmetic surgery thing but the fact that they want to look like a different race is just crazy. Who is the mastermind behind all of this brainwashing?
Moving this from General Questions to Cafe Society. The first part of your question is probably best answered there.
As for you second question, it would probably be better suited to IMHO, but I think people can answer it here as it is marginally connected to the basic idea.
I think the over-representation of martial arts films being exported from Asia is mostly down to the universalness of the action film. A romantic film is likely to rely on a lot of cultural expectations that foreigners aren’t going to be familiar with, so the plot won’t make much sense. Likewise, a historical drama is probably going to assume that the audience already has some basic understanding of the history of their own country, so nuances are going to be lost for a foreign audience there, too. And comedy is notoriously hard to translate. On the other hand, you don’t need a lot of background to appreciate a guy getting kicked in the head.
No idea about the cosmetic surgery thing. I’ve never even heard of that. Can you provide some examples? Aside from Michael Jackson?
Not to mention that Western society – and the USA in particular – isn’t generally receptive to the notion of an Asian leading man. That’s why in those rare instances where an Asian fella is the leading man, he still maintains a distant and chaste relationship with the female lead. (The King and I, anyone?)
Yeah, I’ve noticed that Asian male actors usually get portrayed as either chaste action heroes (Jackie Chan), nerds (Hiro!), or (more recently, as on 24) shadowy agents of various Asian countries.
I cringe, because the wave of Kung Fu movies being brought to the west are utter SHIT. Details here
I don’t really keep track enough to know how well these movies did in their home country, although I understand Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon was not well received in China and Hong Kong, and I can see why. Maybe the new wave is more geared towards Western audiences?
I’m more annoyed by the Asian stereotype in actual Hollywood movies (like Rush Hour or The Last Samurai). There are plenty of non-kung-fu Asian movies; they just don’t have any cross-cultural appeal.
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The “Western” standard of beauty has been the norm in Asia for awhile now. Cosmetic lines release whitening lines exclusively in Asian countries because that’s where they sell; girls commonly get eyelid surgery for double eyelids. There is no “mastermind”; it’s just the weird idea that most things Western = good.
“In their own way”? Heh. I know you didn’t mean it that way, but it sounded a bit condescending. Really, though, I’m laughing.
I agree with JThunder. The one that really got me was Replacement Killers. I love Chow Yun Fat and was really wanting him to kiss Mira Sovino (is that her name?)…what a hot pairing. But they left it semi-open-ended and nary a kiss in sight.
The main problem, in answer to the OP, is our fairy tales and stories have radically different endings than Western moviegoers like. Love and romance is really secondary. Family is most important, as is king and country. Finding yourself and becoming pure is vastly more important than finding your true love. Hence the ending of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Western moviegoers (myself included) generally like a neat story that wraps up well. Asian - Far East - movies tend not to wrap up so nicely. Bollywood movies are three hours long and wrap up everything, including what you were doing in your last life and the next seven lifetimes.
But everyone likes kung fu. So, kung fu sells. Just that Indians have NOT mastered how to make a good fight scene. Have you ever seen an Indian fight in a movie? Utterly ridiculous.
Or Jet Li in “Unleashed”? They hint around at him and the female lead (I’m forgetting her name) having feelings for each other, but nothing happens. Plus, he is meant to be a bit of a man-child.
Indeed, Zoggie. Jet Li is considered to be one of the more physically attractive of the Asian leading men, but even he is treated like a eunuch. Ditto for Chow Yun Fat. And of course, neither one is regarded as a Hollywood heartthrob of any sort.
I’m sure that this is one reason why China doesn’t export a lot of romantic movies to the Western world. The idea of an Asian leading man isn’t perceived as something that audiences would deem credible.
It ain’t Hollywood, but in Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle, Harold (Korean-American?) does end up starting a thing with an attractive Hispanic (or white?) girl.
Why is that? I mean, in Asian countries they’re romantic…? In Indian movies they are.
Why, America, why? Asian guys are hot. Is it because American audiences all want big masculine burly guys like John Wayne? I for one am sick and tired of testosterone pouring out of their…pores. I want more from my leading man than just pulling out a gun!
ETA: Yes, I really liked Harold and Kumar. There were actually less annoying stereotypes in it than usual and Kumar especially was just one of the guys…not an Indian guy or a foreigner but a pot-smoking women-chasing American.
I also think that Kal Penn (aka, Kumar!) is pretty hot. He seems to be getting a bit more recognition, though. He’s in the running for one of House’s new lackeys on “House.”
Err. I’m not sure what you are getting at, though I guess I’ve heard “in their own way” in a context that was more of a backhanded compliment. That wasn’t at all what I meant, though.
I’m not sure that “double eyelids” and whiter skin is necessarily held up as a way to look Caucasian. In fact, I think there’s a misconception about what the whole “double eyelid” thing is about–I think folks going in for that are trying to look like other, more attractive Asians. And traditionally, not having the brown skin of a farmhand has been preferred in almost every society.
In any case, I haven’t heard of the eyelid surgery as being big anywhere nowadays except Korea. There is a bit of a stereotype about Koreans having the single eyelids.
