SciFiSam: according to the meaning of Banzai at About.com, it translates as “Long life!” or “Hurrah!” (literally “ten thousand years of life”) - it also says that non-Japanese often think it’s a war cry due to confusion over a WW2 phrase containing the word.
Aside: I proofread a friend’s novel a while back, and she would not be convinced that this cry was not “Bonsai!”.
I’ve seen the show. The UK version, nudity and all. I think it’s great fun. I didn’t find it racist at all (but I am a white Canadian chick, so. . . )
[sarcasm] So solly, Mr. Man! We go back to our laundry now! [/sarcasm]
:mad:
Not to single you out individually, but at what point does it become OK for Asian-Americans to protest about their portrayal in the media? At what point are the gripes legitimate, and can we raise them without being accused of “hypersensitivity” or “political correctness”? What is the line that has to be crossed? Because I’m seriously thinking that it doesn’t exist.
I mean, it’s clearly not the repetitive depictions of people of Asian descent as having thick accents and speaking broken or stilted English. The defense of “Banzai” here, Charlie Chan elsewhere on the Board, and of Apu in “The Simpsons” clearly shows that portraying Asians as thick-accented goofy talking outsiders is perfectly A-OK, and to complain about it is simply being “hypersensitive” or “thin-skinned.” Hey, Shaquille O’Neal got off comparatively lightly for taunting Yao Ming with ching-chong talk at a press conference. And I’m sure there are some who will tar those who cringe at Mickey Rooney’s performance in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” or Kate Hepburn in “Dragon Seed” as being too sensitive.
Yellowface clearly isn’t the line. After all, Charlie Chan is defended, and there were many who defended the casting of Jonathan Pryce in yellowface in “Miss Saigon” all those many years ago. Also see above re: Rooney and Hepburn.
The near-invisibility of Asians in non-stereotyped roles? Oh no, you can’t complain about that, because then you’re simply seeking “quotas” or restricting “creative freedom.” So what if Hollywood is a harsh place to find work if you’re an Asian actor, particularly an Asian male actor who is not a martial artist? Can’t go around seeking quotas. And hey, David Carradine was clearly a better choice than Bruce Lee for the role in the original “Kung Fu.” :rolleyes:
So, tell me, please. When is our offense justified? Is there a line that can be crossed where we don’t have to sit back and be quiet anymore? When we are raising legitimate gripes, and not just “making noise to be heard”? Please tell me where that line is, so I can just go back to my convenience store counter and shut up until the time comes.
(And, to clarify - my main beef with “Banzai” has to do with the voices. In each of the video clips, the commentator speaks with a stereotypically thick accent and in poor English. If they did a better dub, or spoke in Japanese with subtitles, it would probably not bother me nearly as much.)
SciFiSam raygirvan is more or less correct in his interpretation of ‘Banzai’. Banzai literally means something like “ten thousand years of life”, but it refers to the reign of the emperor.
With Japanese, as in English, the literal meaning is often not a very good indication of the actual denotation.
As an example, a literal translation of “lie back and think of England” into Japanese, would give you the rather nice image of relaxing on your lounge and reminiscing about your British homeland. The problem is that the literal translation lacks any context.
“Banzai” was a war-cry for the Japanese soldiers throughout the Asian/Pacific front.
raygirvan cited that “non-Japanese often think it’s a war cry due to confusion over a WW2 phrase containing the word”.
Please, there was no confusion. It was a war-cry used to inspire Japanese soldiers into battle in the name of the emperor.
Paradoxically, have no objection to the term “banzai” myself, because I understand that it has now shed itself of the WW2 meaning among Japanese today, and most Japanese people you meet wouldn’t even understand the objection that some people have to the term.
On the other hand, many Pacific Islanders, Singaporeans, and Malaysians will cringe when anyone proposes a toast and then shouts ‘banzai’!
Further Japanese-sourced cites for its use: here and here and here. It would only refer to the reign of the emperor if the emperor were actually present or mentioned.
I think he looks a whole lot like this guy: (who doesn’t have a picture on IMDB)
http://us.imdb.com/Name?Watanabe,%20Gedde
Ironically enough, Gedde is famous for another famously offensive Asian character: Long Duc Dong.
So we’re finally getting Bonzai? They dubbed that to Italian before it gave it to us (and they dubbed it with Japanese accents too).
raygirvan Yeah, the use today is different from the use a few decades ago. You should know better than to use Japanese sources to verify anything that happened between 1939 and 1945 
It’s an American version of the British show…including American stars instead of British…there is an article in today’s (July 10) USA Today Life section on the show.
**
:rolleyes:
[url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,91187,00.html]here is what i was referring to:
MANAA can’t make up their minds what they are objecting to. first they are mad because Liu was part asian and it belittled asians to have a part-asian person (because they are the devil. or something). But then they were fine with it because the dad was asian and the mom white. Oddly enough it is no longer belittling asians and her being mixed is a non-issue. Then suddenly the roles are reversed and it magically becomes offensive again.
and i missed the show because i’m finishing up work before i leave on vacation, was it offensive or not? (remembered i forgot to set the vcr while on the bus)
I watched it, and I thought it had some funny bits in it. They made Simon Cowell (American Idol) squirm and look like a dope, and Kelsey Grammer looked baffled, but played along. Amusing summer replacement fluff; might improve with age.
It watched it since I was too lazy to get up and change the channel after the Simpsons went off. Bizarre show.
I laughed a number of times though.
It watched it since I was too lazy to get up and change the channel after the Simpsons went off. Bizarre show.
I laughed a number of times though.
Except for the handshaker and one question lady, the rest was really bad.
Most Extreme Elimination Challenge on TNN (spike) at 9pm Sat. & 8pm Sun. is a much better show.
Oh, come on, Tars. We’ve had this discussion already. The role reversal does matter, at least as far as perpetuating stereotypes is concerned. Their willingness to accept the Chinese man/ white woman pairing but to protest the white man/ Chinese woman pairing is necessarily inconsistent if looked at from the perspective of perpetuating stereotypes. And the current stereotype is that Asian women are accepted and welcomed and have access to the ultimate sexual prize in our culture - white men. Whereas Asian men are relegated to the bottom of the sexual hierarchy and have access to no one.
I don’t think it’s as worth making a big deal about than, say, “Banzai”, which perpetuates the far more offensive stereotype of Asians as funny-talking perpetual outsiders. But it’s not completely off-base.
I watched some of it. Realized it made Most Extreme Elimination look like high-quality programming.
So I changed the channel and watched that instead.
…I thought it was really funny. But I’m into that bizarre, absurd, doesn’t-make-sense type of funny.
Oh well. Different strokes for different folks.
My beef with their protest is instead of saying outright they disagree with the asian woman/white male pairing, they hide it by objecting to her mixed status, which i see as an affront to friends of mine who are mixed. Are they not worthy to stand up for justice and overcome great obstacles? according to MANAA they are. If they came right our and said what they objected to their argument would come out better, but it sounds like they are trying to hide their real agenda. But after repeatedly hearing 19 year old asian males who do nothing but study and play C-strike at home complain that they never meet asian women (who, oddly enough, aren’t to be found at the guy’s home) and then blame everything on white males. Sure there are plenty of white jerks, but being a jerk man is equal in every culture (around 90% of guys, probably higher), and sitting at home feeling sorry for yourself will not get them a date. They do nothing to eliminate the stereotypes of the asian male but expect women to come running to them with no effort on their part. That is not the way it is and i resent being blamed for it simply because of my skin color.
I’m starting to honestly believe that some people sit around all day and just wait to be offended by something. It must give their lives meaning or something. And besides, what’s the big deal about being offended by something?
If it offends you, don’t watch it. Is that really so hard to understand?
And is it so hard for you to understand that people’s view of other ethnic groups are shaped to a significant degree by the media? And maybe, just maybe, if the media pumps images full of Asian men speaking funny and acting oddly into people’s brains, those people, especially younger people with less experience of the world, may conclude that all Asian men are really like that and base their interactions with Asians on that premise?
Throughout childhood, I was very hesitant to identify as “Indian.” Why? Well, it might have had something to do with other kids asking me if I went home to my tee-pee or wigwam, if my father was heap big chief, my mother heap good squaw, and being accused of doing rain dances every time recess was cancelled for rain. Why did they do this? Couldn’t have been because Christopher Columbus screwed it up 500 years ago and his mistake lives on in our popular culture?
Chinese, Japanese and Korean kids I grew up with were always asked to show off their kung fu skills, and kids would taunt them with that freaky yell thing that Bruce Lee did in his movies. Why? Well, as commendable as Bruce Lee was for knocking some holes in the color barrier, his films were pretty much the only impression people had of East Asians for a damn long time. And it still is.
Yes, kids are stupid and mean and will always find something. But does that mean we should still give them racist dreck in prime time to feed off of? Would it really kill anyone to maybe, instead of greenlighting something like “Banzai” with its crappy racial overtones, to maybe try and cast an actor of Asian ancestry in some non-stereotypical role? The examples are few and far between, fewer and farther for Asian male actors. It’s getting better, but putting a show like “Banzai” in a high-profile slot after “The Simpsons,” well, that’s a big step backwards. And everyone knows that if it had been African-Americans instead of Asian-Americans, it would have never seen the light of day. But it’s still considered OK to denigrate the Asians.