Willravel

This was inspired by the no women thread. I was going to list movies that didn't have asians in them, but I soon realized that the list of asians IN them is much, much smaller than the list of movies without. Actually I can list on one hand all the movies with asians even in secondary roles (excluding movies from asia of course. I mean I'm not stupid, jeez. Why would you even say that?). Seeing movies like Better Luck Tomorrow, the Debut, and Harold and Kumar are welcomed exceptions to the asian free rule of hollywood. Aside from Jet Li, Jackie Chan, and Lucy Liu, I can think of almost no asian actors working in american cinema today. I'd Blame Surf Ninjas, but Ernie Reyes Jr. is actually a really cool guy.

BTW this also applies to Indians (from India, not to be confused with Native Americans), Pacific Islanders, South Americans, and Middle Easterners. There is a very short list for admittance into hollywood. Whites, blacks, and latinos welcome.

Church

i'm confused as to why you are excluding Jet Li, Jackie Chan, and Lucy Liu? They are asians, aren't they? And why should the be excluded just because they're mainstream? I'm not being an ass here, I'm just trying to better understand what kind of answers you want.

__________________
Through counter-intelligence, it should be possible to pinpoint potential trouble makers, and neutralize them.

1slOwCD8

Yea, theres no reason to exclude them. We dont get enough credibility as it is. Itd be like saying there are no movies with black ppl, excluding denzel washington, samuel jackson, halle berry, or will smith, etc.......

Willravel

I'm sorry, I honestly should have been more specific about the asian trio.

Martial arts movies are a lot of fun and can be quite good. That being said, I would love to see an asian in a movie that doesn't feature them in a wire harness doing multiple kicks in mid air. I love Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and Lucy Liu. I loved Jackie Chan in Police Story, and I'm not saying movies like that don't have their place. Jet Li in Fist of Legend was great, too. The problem is that when they do Ameican movies (a la Cradle to the Grave, Rush Hour, Around the World in 80 Days) we never get to see them act, not one bit. THEY CAN REALLY ACT. We were lucky to get Hero over here in the states, but beside this, we don't get to see Jackie or Jet do what they came to do. They are just stereotypecast into kicking and punching their way through a few hours of derivitave cinema at a time. Lucy Liu, while quite good on Ally McBeal (one of it's few redemming qualities, IMO) has been limited to stripping or kicking onscreen.

The acting talent in Asia is astounding. I always watch for dubbed releases whenever I am going to rent or buy videos. It's sad that America, on the whole, misses out on the great movies and actors from Asia.

As for comparing asian actors to black actors, we are seeing a really great thing in the fact that Denzel Washington and Halle Berry winning oscars for really good work. HOWEVER, I can name a lot of black actors in movies. At least a hell of a lot more than 3. It's no comparison.

1slOwCD8

Yea, pretty much every asian role out there is very very steriotypical. It would be cool to see more leading roles by asian actors or actresses. Thats why Harold and Kumar was such a break through. oh yea, thats an interesting choice for the title of the thread.

Suave

This is a fun topic. I wrote a paper on ethnicity in the movies, and yes, the vast majority of main characters in Hollywood are white, with blacks at second (likely due to the whole slavery issue and all that, as well as powerful black lobby groups), and latinos at a pretty distant third. Don't worry though, the Asian invasion should be well on its way thanks to the new Asian hip-hop gangsta culture making its way into the US.

Willravel

Suave, I really hope you're right. We already had the asian writing on clothes from target fad (that was very embarassing) that came over with the Pokemon franchise. Fortunatally anime's following is growing by leaps and bound in America. There are several high quality anime series that are almost mainstream here now (Gundam, Bebop, etc.).

Actors like Chow Yun Fat have paved the way, now it's time for more.

arf

The Guru, has an Indian male lead actor and other indians as his friends, and the story revolves around him coming to america from India and trying to follow the american dream as an Indian.

Willravel

Yea, Guru was pretty good...I guess. I DID appreciate what it was trying to do, and it pointed out the lack of indian actors in hollywood blatently (i.e. the conversation about apu from the Simpsons being the only indain in the media).

Sensei

In a study comparing TV character ratios with the actual US Population, blacks were actually overrepresented while Hispanics and Asians were severly underrepresented. Overall, minorities are still underrepresented and the most stars of the vast majority of the top shows are white.

Percentage of Arcadia, California population that is Asian: 50+
Percentage of characters that are Asian on Joan of Arcadia: 0

__________________
Slacking off with style since 1981.

Suave

Not to offend any Americans, but it shouldn't be a surprise. The extent of racial segregation down there was simply being mirrored rather well in the entertainment industry (although thankfully it's changing).

Lockjaw

Not to thread hijack but it wasn't that long ago that black actors and actresses were type cast and it's still happening today considering most "black" movies are shucking and jiving good time Charlie pieces.
When people say black actors and actresses I've got roughly 10 in my head that are good and aren't comedians.

1) Denzel Washington
2) Halle Berry(even though IMO she can't really act all that well)
3) Jamie Foxx
4) Morgan Freeman
5) Angela Bassett
6) Michael Clark Duncan
7) Will Smith(again not THAT great of an actor but a big name none the less but when was the last time you saw him do a good movie that wasn't a summer blockbuster)
8) Jada Pinkett
....that's about all I've got of people that aren't type cast kind of actors.
Which is pretty crappy considering how long Blacks have been in film...although I suppose it does suck more that Latinos and Asians in early films were basically white people in make up and badly exagerated accents. And why is it that Latinos play Middle Eastern characters so much?

ironchefkorea

Please elaborate, because I'm an asian-american and have no idea what the hell you're talking about. And I'm not trying to attack you or anything, I'm just curious. I'm a film student and aspiring writer/director, and one of my major pieces right now is a gangster movie about Koreatown.

__________________
If it wasn't for microsoft, if we lived in the middle east? Y'all wouldn't have no hands....

Orpheus

What's so great about Asians imitating a degenerate form of thuggery?

Lockjaw

He's probably in small part refering to a rapper named Jin who is poised to start making some noise on the hip hop scene. As you probably already know there's a rather sizeable collection of young Asian Americans who have co-opted the hip-hop lifestyle and intermingled it with their own culture.
Look him up he's not half bad. Not the greatest but pretty good.

ChrisJericho

Interesting. So your saying that the popular African American actors received their fame not through talent and hard work, but because of the "slavery issue" and lobbying groups?

Wow.

__________________
"A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows us that faith proves nothing." - Friedrich Nietzsche

jorgelito

For alot of great and pertinent info regarding Asians in entertainment, go check out: www.angryasianman.com

There is an Asian Hip-hop culture: Think AZN, etc. Plus Black Eyed Peas, N.E.R.D., Smiles and South Star. There's so much more to this thread too.

Consider film & T.V. -
Oh, Joan of Arcadia does not take place in Arcadia, CA. It's a fictitious place. However, North Shore, and the O.C. are totally f'd up. Hawaii and Orange County have no Asians?

In Law & Order:SVU, B.D. Wong is a pretty prominent character - He's a pschologist, spaeks perfect English etc.

That girl from Bend It Like Beckham is on E.R, along with Ming Na. Again, as Americans.

Last year, the success of Harlemm Lee on Fame, and Dat Phan on Last Comic Standing is interesting. Especially since they won, by audience voting. It is interesting that America voted for them.

I haven't got to film yet, but I have to go to the bathroom.

Lockjaw

I don't think you can classify the Neptunes as exclusively Asian hip-hop considering the existance of Pharrell.

wolfpack0102

personally, my favorite asian actress is Kobe Tai!

jorgelito

No, no of course not. I was just trying to show that Asians do exist in entertainment and stuff. Something like that....actually those groups are a good example of diversity. Just look at Black Eyed Peas - Black, Asian, LAtino and white girl.

ironchefkorea

I know Jin, and unfortunately, his quality of rap has dropped signifcantly since he was signed with Rough Ryders. He should've stuck to battling. Much love, though, as he's one of the first asian MCs to make it. The "Azn" movement is a fucking joke, so don't bother bringing that up. It's as pointless as mentioning V-Unit and their music video. The artists that Jorgelito mentioned, though they may have an asian member or two, still don't receive much credit, at least in my eyes. If you guys want to hear good asian MCs, check out Drunken Tiger, Snacky Chan, Seoulstylez, and other heads from the LA underground scene.

Honestly, I don't think asian will be given a chance to advance in the entertainment industry beyond kung-fu and racing movies. Jin and these other heads coming up in the entertainment scene aren't going to help at all, either. The best things that have occured in entertainment so far in terms of asian- americans are Harold and Kumar, Better Luck Tommorrow, and the Korean couple in Lost. I can only hope that more people are ready to stand up, and break the conventions of the industry themselves. I aim to be one of them, though I know there will be plenty of people before me.

__________________
If it wasn't for microsoft, if we lived in the middle east? Y'all wouldn't have no hands....

Coppertop

What about George Takei?
Bruce Lee?
Pat Morita?

Lockjaw

It will happen it will just take time. Every minority group gets type casted to this day. It took black people forever to break out of the Rochester and Mammy roles. Until Sydney Portier there really wasn't much demand for a serious non stereotypical black actor. And even then things got sidetracked horriblely with Blacksploitation flicks.
Think about how bad things have to suck for middle eastern decended actors and actresses. About the only roles they probably can get are as some kind of terrorist or riding around on a freakin' camel in a period piece.
Damn shame really. Maybe you should do mockumentary about Hollywood pidgeon holing Asian talent into kung-fu roles. Kind of like Robert Townsend's Hollywood Shuffle.

jorgelito

Hi ironchefkorea,

Do you live in LA? It sounds like you know a bit about the 'scene' etc.

Did you check out something called "Kollaboration"? http://www.kollaboration.org/

I've heard of Snacky Chan, is he good? What's he like? People like to compare Jin tha MC with Emininem. Don't be too hard on him, that's just what happens when you go 'pop'.

Have you heard of the "Talk of the Block Party"? Snacky Chan, and some others were there.

jorgelito

Ha ha!

I like Lockjaws idea of doing a "Hollywood Shuffle" with Asians.

Let's do it! Who's down?

We could call it, "Jackie Goes to Hollywood" subtitled 'and the 36 Chambers of Casting'

Lockjaw

If you do it I wanna be the token black guy. You can even have me killed off early.

ironchefkorea

I'm originally from NY, then moved to the San Fernando Valley in junior year of high school. I got sent away to a placement/correctional facility for senior year, graduated, and am attending junior college in Santa Clarita, where my parents bought a house. I have a reasonable knowledge of the scene in LA, though my hip-hop interest mainly revolves around Rhymesayers (before Slug fell off), Def Jux, Anticon, etc, East Coast shit.

Through a different forum I'm acquainted with an MC, HepDaTightest, who battled there. There was also a girl there who performed, and is now signed with SM in Korea, whose friend I am acquainted with. I didn't get the chance to go, but I knew about it. Haven't heard of "Talk of the Block Party," though.

Snacky Chan is pretty sick - good flow and delivery, it's just up to him to take the extra strides to be up there. As far as Jin goes, he's good at battling, but he hasn't transferred very well to writing. Slim has genuine talent, and though I feel he's out of subject matter at the moment, Infinite through the Marshall Mathers LP were pure progress and excellent hip-hop.

__________________
If it wasn't for microsoft, if we lived in the middle east? Y'all wouldn't have no hands....

Suave

No, but I'm glad you're looking for a fight and want to be confrontational. I'm saying there are MORE of them working because of lobbying groups and the slavery issue. If you want to be so naive to believe that everyone gets a job purely on the merit of their skill, especially in the entertainment business, go right ahead. There are many political and social factors that dictate who gets what job when, and whether you like it or not, the United States (as most countries are) is still inundated with systemic racism. I have no qualms with any racial group, or their abilities in acting. I'm merely stating what I perceive to be factual information.

Ironchef: I've just been noticing a "surge" in the entertainment industry of Asian actors/musicians compared to what there used to be. The increase that I've seen is larger than with most other social groups, and although it's based largely on unscientific data, I'm quite positive it is there. I've seen a lot more Asians doing hip-hop for example, as well as the popularity of martial arts movies (while stereotypical, they're still getting Asians into the industry).

jorgelito

Ironchefkorea,

Have you heard that guy named something Lyrics"? Also how about the Def Jam Poetry Slam? I think there was this dude there, Bo Kim or something, maybe something Bo? I can't remember, but the thing was run/sponsored by Russell Simmons. It's like spoken word and stuff.

I remember watching "Showtime At the Apollo" a couple of years back and there was this Asian chick all dressed up real "normal like" and proceeded to bust out the most amazing beat box. She brought down the house. Quite the contrast, visually and aurally: Her, dressed like a corporate big-wig, but hearing her hard-ass beat box. Anyways, I think her name is Elaine Chow or something.

You guys should totally check out this web-site: www.angryasianman.com

There's lot's of interesting info concerning entertainment etc.

Come down to LA to check out the Hip Hop Summit they have in Koreatown every year. It's more of an "underground" scene with freestyle battles, beatboxing, and b-boying dancing etc. It sounds like more up your alley.