Nationalism and the casting of Asian actors/actresses in movies

[China_Guy]

@ElvisL1ves

Korea was a colony of Japan at the time, and had been for decades. A good percentage of Japanese soldiers *were * Korean.

not oicking on you but this is incorrect.

koreans and japanese may share a common ancestry.’

the japanese imperial army contained a lot of korean soldiers. the koreans are & were culturally and linguistically separate. koreans were not japanese nationals. in fact you’ve got 4th generation koreans in japan that do not have the right to japanese citizenship (anyone - has this changed in the past 10 years?)

[Autolycus]

@Mtgman

Cream cheese wontons? Where’s the “yuk” smilie?

Enjoy,
Steven

Hey, dont diss the Crab Rangoons!

will re-read the thread and reply seriously later

[FRDE]

@Siam Sam

I’m curious too, now that I think about it, why you would think my wife comes across as “Americanized” when I said her fellow Thais sometimes think she’s Filipina or Japanese. Must be those famously “bossy” Japanese ladies, eh? :rolleyes:

Remove the ‘y’ from the highlighted word

• then you’ll understand, well if you know Singapore English or … maybe Malay Pidgin

Boss =/= Bossy

Cultural promotion is quite interesting, it is a way of allowing people to keep their prejudices (rules of thumb) intact - yet make an exception.

[Siam_Sam]

No, I’m still clueless why you think my wife bossy and if she were, how that would make her fellow Thais think she was Filipina or Japanese. It’s even only until she speaks that they think it. When they hear fluent Thai, then they realize their mistake; they were going by sight otherwise.

[Odesio]

@Monty

Last year, the American missionary assigned to my ward in South Korea was Navajo*. Until he started speaking, almost everyone he encountered considered him Korean.

*Navajo and its variant spelling Navaho are perfectly fine words in the Navajo language used by the Navajo to describe themselves.

I think I’m missing something. Why the disclaimer? So far as I know it’s never been offensive to refer to a Navajo as a Navajo.

Marc

[HazelNutCoffee]

@Siam Sam

No, I’m still clueless why you think my wife bossy and if she were, how that would make her fellow Thais think she was Filipina or Japanese. It’s even only until she speaks that they think it. When they hear fluent Thai, then they realize their mistake; they were going by sight otherwise.

I think FRDE is using the word “boss” in some other sense, since if you read his previous post he claims that it does not mean “bossy” and mentioned a knowledge of Singapore English / Malay Pidgin.

FRDE, I’m flattered that you think we have some kind of working knowledge of Singapore English / Malay Pidgin, but I think it’s safe to assume that most of us don’t, so please enlighten us as to what “boss” means in this context.

[Siam_Sam]

@HazelNutCoffee

I think FRDE is using the word “boss” in some other sense, since if you read his previous post he claims that it does not mean “bossy” and mentioned a knowledge of Singapore English / Malay Pidgin.

Yes, that’s what I thought, but even though I’m in Bangkok, I’m afraid I don’t hear much Singaporean English OR Malay pidgin. Still, he seems to be referring to some cultural aspect – action or language – but my wife has been mistaken here for Filipina or Japanese occasionally on sight alone. And she’s certainly not “Americanized.”

[Monty]

@MGibson

I think I’m missing something. Why the disclaimer? So far as I know it’s never been offensive to refer to a Navajo as a Navajo.

Marc

I’ve heard a number of non-Navajos “inform” me that it’s offensive. Oddly enough, the Navajos I know don’t find it so–not even when used by non-Navajos-- and when I studied the language in college, I learned both words the Navajo use to describe themselves.

[Odesio]

@Monty

I’ve heard a number of non-Navajos “inform” me that it’s offensive. Oddly enough, the Navajos I know don’t find it so–not even when used by non-Navajos-- and when I studied the language in college, I learned both words the Navajo use to describe themselves.

Wow, that’s just plain weird. As much as I hate to take this thread off on a tangent, do you remember why those non-Navajos told you that it was offensive?

Marc

[pizzabrat]

@r4nd0mNumb3rs

Japanese- Many have distinctive eyes (hard to describe) that I rarely see in other nationalities, often coupled with thinner eyebrows.

Really!? According to their comics, their men seem to think that they have the thickest eyebrows in the world. Even the American ones.

[Crispy_McCloud]

@FRDE

Remove the ‘y’ from the highlighted word

• then you’ll understand, well if you know Singapore English or … maybe Malay Pidgin

Boss =/= Bossy

Okay, I’m Singaporean, and I swear, this is the first time I’m hearing the phrase ‘boss lady’ or ‘boss girl’. FRDE, how is the term used exactly?

[Voyager]

@Bridget Burke

Anthony Quinn’s father was Irish & his mother was Mexican. Mexican can be a mixture of Spanish (Basque, Celtiberian, Roman, Visigoth, Jewish & Moorish), any of the quite distinctive “native” peoples & numerous African slaves brought over by colonists.

As for Irish…

.

Anthony Quinn was “genetically equipped” to play just about anything. And he had a large enough spirit to try.

Everything but Greek. A lot of casting, especially back then, seemed to work on anyone not blonde and clearly Anglo could be cast for about any ethnic role, except black. Casting is all about stereotyping. My daughter, who looked very New York Jewish (through me) got cast in bright, nerdy, character roles. No one struggling minds, unless the stereotyping is for characters no one is writing for.

I suppose blatant miscasting gets noticed by critics, but emotional miscasting seems to be more of a problem than ethnic miscasting.

[FRDE]

@Crispy McCloud

Okay, I’m Singaporean, and I swear, this is the first time I’m hearing the phrase ‘boss lady’ or ‘boss girl’. FRDE, how is the term used exactly?

It just means somebody who runs things

• also someone you don’t want to mess with

@Siam Sam You have misunderstood what I said.
Taking offense, when none was meant is highly offensive

[Siam_Sam]

@FRDE

It just means somebody who runs things

• also someone you don’t want to mess with

@Siam Sam You have misunderstood what I said.
Taking offense, when none was meant is highly offensive

Okay, I understand now. Simply by looking at my wife and not hearing her speak, her fellow Thais on the odd occasion will decide she’s someone who likes to run things and that she’s therefore Japanese or Filipina because of that. It’s perfectly clear to me now, of course. :smack:

Well, I’ll leave it alone now. I only just tossed my observations into the ring for general consumption. Didn’t know some nutter was going to latch onto it.

[FRDE]

@Siam Sam

Okay, I understand now. Simply by looking at my wife and not hearing her speak, her fellow Thais on the odd occasion will decide she’s someone who likes to run things and that she’s therefore Japanese or Filipina because of that. It’s perfectly clear to me now, of course. :smack:

Well, I’ll leave it alone now. I only just tossed my observations into the ring for general consumption. Didn’t know some nutter was going to latch onto it.

Not that she likes to run things - they just assume that she does run things.

I’m not sure how I should take being called a ‘nutter’

• perhaps I should say ‘I resemble that’
• but you probably would not understand the joke

Actually I was sticking a name on a phenomenon that you had observed and were puzzled about.

[ouryL]

Orientals in old movies were always gussied up to look more stereotypically Oriental. Asians in modern movies tend to be dressed toward to norm.

[Elendil_s_Heir]

Even Marlon Brando was cast as a Japanese man in Teahouse of the August Moon, IIRC. Way to go, Hollywood. :rolleyes: