In a recent article for Cinematical, I wrote: "Too often, Asian-American actors are relegated to bit parts (the food delivery guy, gangster #3, mysterious prostitute) simply because of their race." Historically, there's another reason why Asian-American actors have not been cast in leading roles, even when the role is that of an Asian or Asian-American character: the "yellow face" factor, in which a non-Asian actor is cast as an Asian.Playwright/actor David Henry Hwang has written a play with that title, which was inspired by the controversy that arose in the early 1990s when non-Asian actor Jonathan Pryce was cast as a Eurasian character in the original stage production of Miss Saigon. (Hwang's play opens shortly off-Broadway in New York.) Robert B. Ito wrote a biting article on the subject in Bright Lights Film Journal that gave historical context.
Philip W. Chung commented on the phenomenon last week in AsianWeek: "Often, these 'yellow face' performances [by non-Asian actors] both reinforced and embodied all the negative stereotypes -- funny accent, slanted eyes, buck teeth, and enough 'Orientalism' to send the yellow fever meter through the roof." Chung compiled a list of 25 "yellow face" film performances "that have arguably had the most impact on our cultural landscape." Last week's article counted down from #25 to #11.
Chung starts off his list with a recent example -- Christopher Walken in Balls of Fury -- and then stretches back to Richard Barthelmess in D. W. Griffith's Broken Blossoms (1919), which he says formed a "template for Hollywood's take on Asian men ... unrealistically noble, feminine and utterly asexual." Chung takes a fascinating skip through the decades and points out "yellow face" performances by Fisher Stevens (#20), Eddie Murphy (#18) and Peter Lorre (#13).
AsianWeek's Top 10 will be counted down this week. Who do you think should be included on the list?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-03-2007 @ 8:58PM
eugene said...
I'm torn. On the one hand, I DO think western cinema has marginalized and denegrated both asian men and women... on the other hand, I hate to see asian americans fall into the same cycle of victimization and entitlement.
While I would love to see asians treated more fairly and equitably, most of me thinks that asian americans should just do what we have done in other businesses and aspects of life, make our own way.
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12-03-2007 @ 9:01PM
mish said...
I would be surprised if Micky Rooney as Mr. Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany's isn't #1 - one of the most cringe inducing performances I can remember. I understand that many films are products of their time and culture, but I can't believe that such a performance was deemed acceptable in 1961 - then again I guess it was.
I've always joked I'd love to remake that film - if only to feature an Asian actor dressed up as redneck hick who eats tubs of lard and watches nascar all day.
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12-04-2007 @ 12:00AM
John R said...
This list should've been made around this time next year. We could add Justin Chatwin as Gokou in Dragonball.
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12-04-2007 @ 8:26AM
Brock said...
Mickey Rooney's performance in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" has to be in the top three, along with a Katharine Hepburn, Walter Huston and Agnes Moorhead trifecta for their performances as Chinese peasants in "Dragon Seed."
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12-04-2007 @ 1:34PM
Ron Waite said...
One movie that should've made the list of all time worst was Spielberg's WAR OF THE WORLDS. Like Psycho - why bother? The renovated remake was just awful. Lacked all of the excitement of the original. In fact they did a better job in Scary Movie 4!
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