Friday, February 08, 2008

Asian/Asian-American Actors & American Media

Two nights ago, I caught the tail end of Enter the Dragon with Bruce Lee on AMC. Not a big fan of kung-fu films, but it made me think back to the Bruce Lee biographical film Dragon, which I also caught on AMC. In Dragon, there is a scene where Bruce (played by Jason Scott Lee) talks about giving his kids, who lived in America, a Chinese hero. In another scene, he's in a rage and recounting the racism in the industry and how he has to dumb himself down for roles. (ie: ridiculously bad accent, etc.) Going back now to Enter the Dragon, I can actually see Bruce Lee trying to give his character and story some integrity or, in a way, bring the role to the level of any American action hero. Not easy to do against the bow chicka bow 70s style and stereotypical Asian whorehouse setting, but I think he succeeded anyway.

It's easy to brush off Bruce Lee's trials in Hollywood to a crazy time of racial divide/civil rights movement, but then something reminds me that there's still work to be done.

Last night, I watched an episode of Law and Order. To sum it up, a man said to be from China made a confession in one of the worst Chinese accents I've ever heard. The confession ended with him saying he didn't want to go back to China because America was free. Or something to that extent. Law and Order is about 18(?) years old now, but it's still recent enough to make having a scene like that sad...and outdated, really. There are other recent examples out there, but this was the freshest in my mind.

In recent years, I've been seeing more Asian/Asian-American actresses in American media, but Asian/Asian-American actors, especially in leading roles, are still rare. The roles they do get - I'll be blunt - tend to suck. So, many Asian-American actors tend to look for work in Asia, because there's a better chance of getting good roles.

Related Links
Ecce Homo Orientalis
'Slanted Screen' Rues The Absence Of Asians

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