# Other Cringeworthy Blackface/Yellowface/Etc. movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [June 23, 2026, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135 "2026-06-23T15:04:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![icon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c6cbf5/32.png) [@icon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/icon)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/81 "2026-06-24T11:40:26Z")
Yes, Burt Kwouk is known to me for playing Kato in the Pink Panther series which seems a little cringeworthy because he is Chinese playing at being a Japanese. It is obviously not to the level of the doing the same for Memoirs of a Geisha where then main character was likely chosen due to name recognition having recently appears in _Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon_ rather than choose some unknown Japanese or Japanese-American actress. Of course probably the most notable one in recent memory is Scarlett Johansson in th_e Ghost in a Shell_ live action movie. They don’t even change the character’s name, and yes you can create a android/robot to look however you want, and it is a fictional work so it could be true, but this one was one of the ones that really made it cringe worthy. This was definitely different than _The Edge of Tomorrow_ which took a Japanese story and remade it, so none of the characters where given Japanese names and just played by non east-asian actors. `//i\\` ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/82 "2026-06-24T11:51:21Z")
How is that different from an adaptation of a Shakespeare play that changes the location and character names to tell it in another time or place? ---
**Author:** ![icon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c6cbf5/32.png) [@icon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/icon)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/83 "2026-06-24T12:03:47Z")
To which are you responding? Ghost in the Shell, or Edge of Tomorrow? Ghost in the Shell is purportedly in the same universe/context as the original work, which is why it is a cringeworthy replacement. Edge of Tomorrow, just re-contextualizes an idea, which is why it really is not cringeworthy. `//i\\` ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/84 "2026-06-24T12:10:14Z")
Sorry I thought you were criticizing Edge of Tomorrow. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/85 "2026-06-24T12:21:44Z")
Akim Tamiroff (again) for playing a Chinese General in _Yangtse Incident._ ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/86 "2026-06-24T12:27:49Z")
As I understand the family story, my grandfather skipped school when he was in 2nd grade so he could see the amazing “Talkie”, “The Jazz Singer”. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/87 "2026-06-24T12:39:42Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > 🤦‍♂️ > [@CalMeacham](#): > > Actually, the tales of Br’er Rabbit and others are recognizable African folktales. You can find them in books on African mythology. The people who told them weren’t creating the stories – they were preserving their cultural heritage in a way that was particularly appropriate. > > Joel Chandler Harris was a white guy who retold these stories, often in excruciatingly rendered dialect. He didn’t make them up, either. Y’all might want to come over here instead. > [@Song of the South is Racist as Much for What it Doesn’t Show as What it Does](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/song-of-the-south-is-racist-as-much-for-what-it-doesn-t-show-as-what-it-does/1000966): > > Continuing the discussion from [American Civil War: questions from a Canadian](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-civil-war-questions-from-a-canadian/842680/174): An example of this: the main Protagonist Kid (poor little rich kid whose daddy own’s the plantation, even as he is supposedly troubled by debt) has a birthday party. PK has two friends at least (other children) who get a decent amount of screen time: one is a White Girl, the other a Black Boy. One of the minor conflicts of the movie is whether it is appropriate for PK to invite WG, who is from a poor family of lower… ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/88 "2026-06-24T12:54:23Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Actually, the tales of Br’er Rabbit and others are recognizable African folktales. You can find them in books on African mythology. The people who told them weren’t creating the stories – they were preserving their cultural heritage in a way that was particularly appropriate. > > Joel Chandler Harris was a white guy who retold these stories, often in excruciatingly rendered dialect. He didn’t make them up, either. A bit of clarification, that was not me but the historian saying “possible”, in any case, the folks at Britannica noticed that that does not change much about the racism or prejudice coming from slavery or plantation life. As for Song of the South, the problem was what was omitted by the movie, it is context removal in a way that makes the past inequities to be normal or from a happy time. The fact that the origins of the tales are from Africa does not remove the cringe issues that the movie had/has. [https://www.britannica.com/art/African-American-folktale](https://www.britannica.com/art/African-American-folktale) > African American folktales are a storytelling tradition that originated among enslaved African Americans during the 18th and 19th centuries. Enslaved people brought a rich oral tradition with them to the New World, and though the stories evolved over time in the Americas, many of their original themes remained. > > These folktales served not only to preserve and pass on African culture, but also provided respite from the hardships of slavery and fostered a sense of community. They often took the form of parables that conveyed ideals, morals, and cultural values. Some tales contained coded information or escape plans. Characters and motifs from African stories often were adapted to a New World setting. For example, the African hare became Brer Rabbit, and the African jackal became the American fox. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/89 "2026-06-24T13:02:38Z")
I didn’t see _Soul Man_ (1986) mentioned yet. There’s just nothing redeemable about that movie. A rich white kid has a dad who won’t pay for his education, so to get financial aid he dies his skin black and wears an Afro. [![](https://i.ibb.co/hF7dHYrg/IMG-2236.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/hF7dHYrg/IMG-2236.jpg) The most shocking aspect is that the movie includes James Earl Jones. I was 8 when it came out and I could tell it was just wrong on so many levels even then. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/90 "2026-06-24T13:13:49Z")
You people seem to think that my saying that the Br’er Rabbit tales being retellings of traditional African folktales somehow says that _Song of the South_ hasn’t got racism problems have to explain how those two things are connected. They’re not. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/91 "2026-06-24T13:25:31Z")
Well, of course. The nit from me was that I quoted the historian, that was not me, but the most recent point was that besides being a retelling of traditional African folktales, there was a lot of repurposing and retooling (that is part of creating IMHO) of those tales by enslaved people in the Americas. In any case, I have say here that I appreciate your nits. My criticism is actually for folks out there that do grab well intentioned nitpicks like yours and use it to support their idea that there was no racism in _Song of the South._ ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/92 "2026-06-24T13:33:45Z")
And I’m suggesting to not let Doc drag you into a hijack here when there’s a perfectly good thread he participated in two years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/93 "2026-06-24T13:48:09Z")
It sure looks like Will Ferrell darkened his skin to play Mustafa in the opening scenes of **Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.** ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/94 "2026-06-24T14:00:33Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Yes, blackface/etc for the point of bigotry is wrong. But if it is satire?? I mean they cast Jewish (and Italian) actors as the “Hekawi” as a joke or satire (altho I think “One of the lost Tribes” was mentioned once in F troop). There’s a wide range between “using blackface to denigrate them” and “we’re using blackface for satire purposes.” And most of the example fall into that range which is basically “we wanted a famous person in this role and most famous people are white, so…” ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/95 "2026-06-24T14:07:08Z")
I have the winner. Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girls is only from 2009 and features quite a few blackface moments that are totally wild. Here is one still or production photo during it: [![](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTUnUecaBjjTjQDKVi5nFUgKLoGwf8-DJeRXyJmmcOeouJyBmejqqzOWuHl&s=10) ](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTUnUecaBjjTjQDKVi5nFUgKLoGwf8-DJeRXyJmmcOeouJyBmejqqzOWuHl&s=10) ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/96 "2026-06-24T15:12:47Z")
> [@Smid](#): > > Not Ukrainian, he’s a brit with a Lithuanian (and Jewish) mother As it beats working and I still have his biography on my Kindle app. I can confirm that my memory was correct, and Wikipedia is wrong, his mother was from Ukraine not Lithuania [https://imgur.com/gallery/C3Xfj7M](https://imgur.com/gallery/C3Xfj7M) ---
**Author:** ![f.coli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eada6e/32.png) [@f.coli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/f.coli)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/97 "2026-06-24T16:40:10Z")
In “You Only Live Twice”, remember that Connery was not playing a Japanese character in the movie, he was playing a British man being disguised as a Japanese man. Regarding John Wayne, I can think of four westerns he starred in in which his character had an Indian friend: 1963 - McClintock: Michael Pate 1970 - Chisum: Abraham Sofaer 1971 - Big Jake: Bruce Cabot 1973 - Cahill, U. S. Marshal: Neville Brand None of these four actors claimed Native American ancestry, as far as I know. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/98 "2026-06-24T17:09:38Z")
I don’t think anyone has yet mentioned Godfrey Cambridge in the 1970 film, Watermelon Man. He portrays a white man (in whiteface) who one day wakes up as black (in natural-face). The film contrasts activities that in one society are normal, but a parallel society, quite different. One, as white man, is normal – sprinting to catch the bus to work and cutting across lawns for a shortcut. But who, as a black man, is arrested as a suspicious criminal, trespassing for nefarious intent. ---
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/99 "2026-06-24T17:30:20Z")
> [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](#): > > agreed. No one made a big deal about Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr in the Broadway edition of _Hamilton_ That’s kind of the whole point of Hamilton - pretty much all of the actors are POC, and that’s woven deep into the DNA of the show. A „period-correct“ performance of Hamilton with an all-white cast simply is not going to happen. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/100 "2026-06-24T17:33:56Z")
Ah, I just thought of the Sinbad films. [Seventh Voyage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_7th_Voyage_of_Sinbad), [Golden Voyage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_Voyage_of_Sinbad) and [Eye of the Tiger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinbad_and_the_Eye_of_the_Tiger). I unabashedly love the first with it’s Harryhausen creations and palace setting in the actual Alhambra. As a kid I also loved the latter two, mostly for the creatures though they weren’t nearly as good as the first. But Kerwin Matthews and Patrick Wayne (following in his father’s footsteps!) weren’t exactly the most Arabian of leads. Though credit where credit is due I suppose, at least the third had Jordanian-born Nadim Sawalha in a minor supporting role as one of Sindbad’s crew. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135.md?page=6)