# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/101 "2026-06-24T17:45:04Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > Jake Gyllenhaal played a Persian prince in "_ **Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time**"._ That’s one where none of the main cast was of Middle Eastern descent (much less Persian/Iranian), and only two – Ben Kingsley (half-Indian) and Steve Toussaint (Black) – weren’t whites of European descent. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/102 "2026-06-24T18:21:15Z")
> [@Pitchmeister](#): > > A „period-correct“ performance of Hamilton with an all-white cast simply is not going to happen. Maybe if they cast a Black actor as George III… ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/103 "2026-06-24T18:28:46Z")
Do casting directors actually try to figure out an actor’s “ethnic background”? I thought they looked at headshots and other professional photos, the demo reel, etc. The résumé may have a bunch of physical details like height and weight and so on. If your skin colour is super pale, they will obviously know stuff like that. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/104 "2026-06-24T18:33:33Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Yeah, and that gets a little crazy- I mean Charlize Theron- very beautiful- was cast as Aileen Wuornos in _Monster._ Should we require showrunners to cast plain actors in not so good looking parts? Or if the biographical part calls for a brunette, is it okay to cast a blonde who dies their hair? One of my mom’s biggest complaints was that in the movie Madame Curie she was played by Greer Garson, who to put it bluntly was much prettier than the real Madame Curie. ---
**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, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/105 "2026-06-24T18:37:06Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Do casting directors actually try to figure out an actor’s “ethnic background”? Absolutely, if it’s part of the role. And lets face it, most of the examples given in this thread aren’t unknown actors playing minor roles. A casting director isn’t getting away with “Well I didn’t know Geoffrey Rush wasn’t Egyptian!” ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/106 "2026-06-24T18:41:24Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > I didn’t know Geoffrey Rush wasn’t Egyptian!” I think I switched that movie off when it came on the TV, so I cannot really judge how well it all turned out… ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/107 "2026-06-24T18:49:05Z")
> [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > No mention yet of Robert Downey Jr. in black face in **Tropic Thunder?** That seems to be one of the biggest offenders in this area. Or at least one that gets brought up frequently. Robert Downey Jr. was playing a white actor in the movie. The _actor_ was in blackface. The overall role was written to show the absurdity of blackface. Absolutely nowhere in the same realm as Al Jolson singing “Mammie”. This isn’t blackface because the studio needed a name or blackface to demean blacks, it was a commentary on the stupidity of blackface and the vapidity of stereotypical actors. I have absolutely no problem with that role. ---
**Author:** ![PlaceboTarget](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/placebotarget/32/1073_2.png) [@PlaceboTarget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlaceboTarget)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/108 "2026-06-24T19:14:05Z")
> [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](#): > > it was a commentary on the stupidity of blackface and the vapidity of stereotypical actors. Excellent explanation. This criticism becomes even funnier when the actor played by RDJ remains in blackface even when it is unnecessary or dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/109 "2026-06-24T19:19:09Z")
In the movie “Swingtime” (1936), Fred Astaire danced in blackface to the song “Bojangles of Harlem.” It was intended as a tribute to Bojangles, but is still very cringy. They could have had him do the number without blackface, or better still, hired a black dancer (like one of the Nicholas Brothers) [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/c6cLbk9k8BI/hqdefault.jpg "Swing Time - Bojangles of Harlem") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6cLbk9k8BI) The movie “Holiday Inn” (1942) is worse. It has a blackface sequence featuring Bing Crosby that’s intended as a tribute to Abraham Lincoln, but it’s full of painful stereotypes: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/B9sitVOoxb8/maxresdefault.jpg "Bing Crosby performs in Blackface in Holiday Inn") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9sitVOoxb8) Judy Garland did blackface in the movie “Everybody Sing”: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Y9glvXLW1tw/hqdefault.jpg "Judy Garland as a Blackface Pickaninny in Everybody Sing") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9glvXLW1tw) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/110 "2026-06-24T19:23:21Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Uncle Remus’s tales ended up not being of resistance, but, rather, a promotion of the Lost Cause Narrative as it’s difficult to tell from the movie whether slavery is still legal and all of the Black people are very happy to work on plantations There are no slaves in that film, and the Uncle Remus stories have nothing to do with the Lost cause CSA myth. > [@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. And nothing to do with the Confederacy. > [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > 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…” Has there been any actual blackface in recent memory that did that? Yes, in the 1950s and even 1960s, casting white people for Chinese was pretty standard, and similar for native Americans- sorta. > [@DPRK](#): > > Do casting directors actually try to figure out an actor’s “ethnic background”? Today, yes. Look at Resident Alien. But not so much 50 years ago. > [@furryman](#): > > One of my mom’s biggest complaints was that in the movie Madame Curie she was played by Greer Garson, who to put it bluntly was much prettier than the real Madame Curie. Not to mention Bonnie and Clyde, with Faye Dunaway playing the rather plan Bonnie. This caused some confusion on the part of movie goers, asking why the hell Clyde wouldnt want to sleep with someone that gorgeous. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/111 "2026-06-24T19:55:11Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > And what about Peter Sellers playing a dopey Indian for laughs in "The Party"in brown face? Hmm - serial offender or what? He also played Dr. Ahmed el Kabir in _The Millionairess_ (with Sophia Loren). Now mostly remembered in this country for the awful related hit single, _Goodness Gracious Me!_, which was related to, but not included in, the movie. You just know I’m about tp link to it… [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/6JszWrBDq2A/hqdefault.jpg "Peter Sellers & Sophia Loren - Goodness Gracious Me （1960）") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JszWrBDq2A) Top 5 UK hit single, no less. Kudos if you managed 30 seconds. And if you want to be really depressed, check out who produced it. > **[Goodness Gracious Me (song)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodness_Gracious_Me_(song))** > > "Goodness Gracious Me" is a comedy song recorded by Peter Sellers and Sophia Loren. Released by Parlophone, it was a top 5 UK single in 1960. It features Sellers in the role of an Indian doctor and Loren as a patient who falls in love with him. > The song was conceived and instigated by George Martin, who was the producer for Peter Sellers's comedy recordings. Martin commissioned Dave Lee and Herbert Kretzmer to write the song. Martin himself produced the recording. Martin envisaged the song ap... j ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/112 "2026-06-24T19:57:24Z")
My take on Peter Sellers in “Murder by Death” is that the film was pointing out how ridiculous it was for a Chinese character to be played by a white actor who spoke in broken English despite the character being a genius. That is, it was satirizing the racism of the Charlie Chan films. ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/113 "2026-06-24T19:59:11Z")
> [@Pitchmeister](#): > > A „period-correct“ performance of Hamilton with an all-white cast simply is not going to happen. Well, now that it’s no longer the _Trump_-Kennedy Center, sure. ---
**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, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/114 "2026-06-24T20:14:47Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Has there been any actual blackface in recent memory that did that? Yes, in the 1950s and even 1960s, casting white people for Chinese was pretty standard, and similar for native Americans- sorta. There’s plenty of examples just given in this thread. But here’s a couple more I haven’t seen mentioned. Johnny Depp as Tonto Emma Stone as a part-Chinese, part-Hawaiian woman in Aloha. Rooney Mara as Tiger Lily in the recent Peter Pan remake Benedict Cumberbatch playing Khan. which is multiple layers wrong there ---
**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, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/115 "2026-06-24T20:26:48Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Benedict Cumberbatch playing Khan. which is multiple layers wrong there I know this one gets a lot of hate, but the original character was supposed to be of North Indian Sikh origin but was instead portrayed by Ricardo Montalbán which makes that original portrayal to be problematic. The hate for the later use of Cumberbatch is mostly a reaction to him not being the same ethnicity as Montalbán rather than the fact he isn’t Indian. In the end, there is nothing really in either portrayal that relates to their supposed ethnic origin, so the switch does not make me cringe for that reason. `//i\\` ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/116 "2026-06-24T20:28:24Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > And if you want to be really depressed, check out who produced it. I knew immediately who you meant without reading further… > [@](#): > > Top 5 UK hit single, no less. Kudos if you managed 30 seconds I had the unfortunate masochist urge to listen all of its three minutes in a perplexed state, and yes, it’s dreadful. But I’m sure if I’m thinking hard I could find similar things from German pop culture of that time, too. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/117 "2026-06-24T20:34:34Z")
Sellers had already cut his teeth voicing Indian-accented characters alongside Spike Milligan on _The Goon Show_. ---
**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, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/118 "2026-06-24T21:22:31Z")
> [@icon](#): > > I know this one gets a lot of hate, but the original character was supposed to be of North Indian Sikh origin but was instead portrayed by Ricardo Montalbán which makes that original portrayal to be problematic. That’s why I said multiple layers wrong. They could’ve hired an Indian actor to be true to the character. They could’ve hired a mexican actor to be true to the original actor. Instead they went and hired a pasty white guy. Apparently their excuse was “we didn’t want to cast a person of color as a villian” ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/119 "2026-06-24T22:07:05Z")
Or in 1966 they just could have called the character Simón Fidel Francisco de Peron y Juarez, called him “Pancho”, and saved us decades of trouble. Kirk: PAAAAAAANCHOOOOO!!! ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2026, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135/120 "2026-06-24T22:19:01Z")
> [@f.coli](#): > > 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. 1979- _Undefeated:_ Roman Gabriel. Roman Gabriel was half Filipino and half white. He played John Wayne’s adopted Cherokee son. He was better known for his previous career as a NFL quarterback. > [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Emma Stone as a part-Chinese, part-Hawaiian woman in Aloha. This one slightly annoys me. She was playing a character based on someone Cameron Crowe met. The person he met was part Asian, had an Asian last name, talked a lot about her Asian heritage but looked like a blonde white woman. In other words she looked like Emma Stone. Having someone who looked Asian would defeat the purpose. Emma Stone wasn’t doing yellowface because she was playing someone who was supposed to look like her. She wasn’t made up to look Asian. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/other-cringeworthy-blackface-yellowface-etc-movies/1031135.md?page=7)