Hollywood’s Walk of Shame: The History of Asian Stereotypes in Pop Culture

[@frizzlethecat2084]

I listened to a podcast with George Takei recently, and he pointed out how progressive Star Trek actually was and how much it meant for him to be not just a comedic role or a villain, but a recurring character who was also the best pilot on Earth and a Lieutenant, too.

[@TheMidwestAtheist]

Unfortunately, Star Trek also had Klingons. (Who were stand-ins for Asian communists.) memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Depicting_Klingons Edit: In regards to the "They were Soviets, actually" replies, I should have said they were _largely_ stand-ins to imply they were not solely such stand-ins. Obviously(?), the Soviets were also communists, so _of course_ there would have been Soviet analogies to be made.

[@LuckyJujube]

I thought Klingons were representing Russians. I didn't know they represented Asians too. Thanks.

[@Masanumi]

@@LuckyJujube well, technically Russians are Asians. But I never had that in mind seeing Klingons.

[@frizzlethecat2084]

@@TheMidwestAtheist Basically for Russia, yeah. But at least the real Russian was working in the crew, so I'd still call it progress. They also had an episode about two alien races who were enemies to each other, with faces that were half white and half black. Only difference? the one had the right side black and the other had the left side black. They hated each other and had been at war for a long time. Showing the stupidity of fighting because of skin-color. Also-also, before Lt Uhura came on the screen, there had been NO black people in a sci-fi movie or setting or anything. Tehre was no representation of black people even existing in the future before Uhura. Star Trek might not be the best thing since cheese, but it made a lot of "firsts".

[@lkeke35]

I felt the same way about Uhura. I thought the show as groundbreaking in a lot of ways. They even managed to include a Russian character, at a time when the US was deep into the cold war with the USSR.

[@JimJamJaboo]

Growing up, Harold and Kumar goes to White Castle was the only positive Asian representation that I could relate to. That movie was ahead of its time.

[@TheMrHavish]

Same for South Asians (like Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, etc.)!

[@dadada486]

The thing about Harold and Kumar is it plays on the idea that Asians are not represented. That's hardly a win.

[@TD-bl9lb]

Hollywood has always casts Asian females with white males as well. It seems like 95% of the Asian female roles are meant to be exotic wives/girlfriends. Very impressionable to young Asian viewers.

[@TheDarkKnight81]

WMAF is cancer

[@Mububban23]

I can’t look at Mickey Rooney in that clip from Breakfast at Tiffany’s without feeling viscerally angry

[@mocuishle1028]

It reminds me of the scene from the movie “Dragon: The Bruce Lee story”.Bruce and his girlfriend, Linda, were watching “Breakfast at Tiffany’s “. When the Andy Rooney scene was shown, Linda realized how offensive it was to Bruce. It hadn’t occurred to her prior to that how Asians would be offended by the character. DRAGON was an excellent movie!

[@troyjardine5850]

Rooney's racist preformance is why I refuse to see that movie

[@vic5015]

Yeah, that was *really* bad.

[@none-kq7ho]

It makes me want to curl up and die. Its disgusting.

[@BalorShield]

@@mocuishle1028 were they watching 60 mins with Andy Rooney? lol

[@vic5015]

I have an Asian friend who made an interesting observation once. He asked "what was the last major Hollywood studio movie you saw with an Asian female character who was *not* a sex object?"

[@alondathomas293]

I was gonna say Crazy Rich Asians, but that movie was actually an indie film.

[@camboxromeo9513]

@@alondathomas293 Made by Asians, marketed by Hollywood

[@rajeshVengadesan]

​@@alondathomas293: that movie is walking stereotype itself

[@Youdontknowwhatliterallymeans]

Has your friend ever once denounced the fact that minorities are portrayed negatively in Asia media almost every time?

[@rajeshVengadesan]

@Youdontknowwhatliterallymeans : which minorities?

[@kpepperl319]

I'm so tired of tv shows that will only have Asian actors as lead roles if it involve martial arts. I promise you, we do not all know how to fight... If we all know martial arts, trust me, there wouldn't be any uptake on anti-Asian crimes... There will just be a lot of racists ended up at hospitals.

[@jaubinr]

That’s why I watch cdrama, kdrama and jdrama. Maybe someday American will do great show with Asian has well !

[@clay3544]

Thank you Samantha B for this feature!❤️ I wasn't aware of those laws and acts that were in place so long ago.

[@aarontelander]

As an actor, I hate being asked to do “the accent” 😔

[@iChillypepper]

As the child of Mexican immigrants, I can relate ... apparently we can’t speak proper English for some reason 🥴🤬 Add a British one, let’s see what happens 😆 Good luck

[@yodel1300]

Does the term Asian American include people of Indian/Pakistani arc descent?

[@shockofthenew]

@@yodel1300 yes

[@vic5015]

I remember watching an episode of Gotham years ago that had a Chinese-American guest star role. Most of the comments were some variation of "wow, I can't believe who good [blank]'s English is. He even sounds like a New Yorker!" Spoiler alert: the actor *is* from NYC. I was born in LA and have lived here my *whole* life so I wanted to reach through the computer screen and just throttle those people. Smdh

[@WeatherManToBe]

@@yodel1300 yes. You can also say south asian to more specify the indian sub continent.

[@mrspenguinlips]

As an Asian American, I completely agree: less movies with Mark Wahlberg! Thank you for this segment! So many people think representation doesn’t matter but never question why they have so many stereotypes built into their psyches when they don’t know any BIPOC.

[@rwbrooklyn]

especially Mark like to beat up Asian in real life

[@Decadancehallking]

Asian face john wayne is the stuff of nightmares

[@AZ29174]

Hey, He once played Genghis Khan (for real) in a Howard Hugh movie and later may suffered for it. The movie location was, I believe, filmed at a site downwind from all these above ground nuclear test explosion. The fallout exposure later contributed to a life long battle with cancer that eventually killed him.

[@JeffreyPiatt]

He did regret taking that role.

[@cim888]

@@JeffreyPiatt Regret is one thing, actively using your super stardom to make a difference is another.

[@AlexisMcLaren]

Forgot to mention the criminally underrated shows Warrior and Kim's Convenience.

[@Beyond50Beauty]

Kim's Convenience is SO GOOD!

[@dasbutte6254]

She Probably didn't mention Kim's because it was made in Canada.

[@CrazyAznKT]

And Into the Badlands!

[@berkpick]

Kim's Convenience is Canadian, so it's not really relevant to how asians are represented in American culture, BUT also it'd be cool of Bee, as a Canadian, to give it a nod. It is really good.

[@GronaldS]

I heard Kim's Convenience was cancelled a season early because one of the show runners/co-creators was ousted for not being Asian, and his partner refused to do twice the work alone so just quit. I was really looking forward to the pay off of Appa and Jung reconciling.

[@nickjunes]

As a half Asian / Half white man I have grown up in a country where I am not reflected in any media. I really hope for more diversity one day, including all the people of color, not just Black and White. This is my country. I don't belong anywhere else and I would like for people be familiar with me too.

[@benita8856]

What do you think of Mark from omni man? He's both white and Asian too

[@Christine-ln7wv]

I love that final jab at Mark Whalberg. If I never anything with him in it again it would be too soon.

[@PugetSoundPete]

No mention of a courageous actor, Noriyuki "Pat" Morita. I admire him.

[@jenniferpatterson4964]

He’s long since passed away, but what an incredible actor and human being. RIP. ❤️

[@thomasbenau2810]

They also forgot the late greats jack soo and don ho. And need I mention is was also the Democrats who enslaved them and Republicans who freed them, just like African Americans.

[@parkchimmin7913]

@@thomasbenau2810 Ah, a party switch denier

[@thomasbenau2810]

Park ChimMin So they didn’t free them?

[@parkchimmin7913]

@@thomasbenau2810 The Republicans that advocated for the emancipation of slaves are different from the Republicans today. Same with Democrats back then and Democrats now.

[@vexxama]

Six people didn’t even watch the whole video and decided since it mentioned racism they didn’t like it. Shows how thin skinned and defensive people get

[@RoxnDox]

and of course, George Takei in his role on Star Trek. Not *the* lead character, but he was certainly one of the major players in it.

[@KelRiever]

Yes, but there was a lot right about his character to. Like as in he was a fencer in one episode and not your typical racist 'samurai sword wielder' or 'kung fu expert'. Honestly, for its time, it was ahead. And yeah, if you made that character in a version of Star Trek today, there' be a lot to change. But there was, in the modern version of that character.

[@RoxnDox]

@@KelRiever Yes, they were quite good and progressive in the original series, both casting and writing.

[@Celisar1]

@@RoxnDox Not too much when it comes to women. Those had to wear highly unprofessional but sexy miniskirts, had minor roles and were mostly there to be romanced by Kirk in every episode. Do you know that it had been originally planned to have a female first officer called “number one” which should have been played by Majel Barret but the producers insisted it had to be changed to a man?

[@RoxnDox]

@@Celisar1 well, some progress is better than no progress...

[@thomasbenau2810]

Celisar1 I guess someone said to him make it so.

[@Zett76]

As a kid, I always wondered "Why do they call David Carradine names like 'dirty Chinese', in 'Kung Fu'? That doesn't make any sense..."

[@1639danmcc]

Wasn't David Carradine brought in to play Caine on the series Kung Fu instead of Bruce Lee?

[@AZ29174]

It was Bruce Lee's idea for the show later to be "Kung Fu." He was not cast for the role because the show's producer confided to his wife that Bruce Lee was TOO Chinese for the role just like they have a white guy with makeup play a Asian male in "Miss Saigon!" 😫😭😖🤮

[@lauranceemory4448]

I was a bit surprised Sam overlooked that whole thing. I was in high school when Bruce played Kato on TV series The Green Hornet. All we wanted to talk about who was that Bruce Lee guy? Totally amazing!

[@TDavis_333]

I think in that series they did at least acknowledge that there was no way this guy was going to pass for Chinese. His character was half American and wanted to go to America as it was part of his heritage. It did at least embrace the positive steriotypes, but there wasn't any reason an asian actor wouldn't have worked just as well.

[@vickigreen9545]

It’s only when you think about sharing your childhood movies with your children, that you look at them with critical eyes ... and can’t share half of them 😢

[@janinebean4276]

I’m surprised they even cast an Asian man as seductive, usually we see Asian men on tv as desexualized.

[@maymersnow]

🍻 Cheers to no more Mark Walhberg!

[@felinecontrolled]

🍺

[@gregorygarcia7807]

I'm gonna have to agree with you there!

[@lenawagenfuehr53]

#time's up Market Mark!

[@troyjardine5850]

Mark (The Happening): "What! No!"

[@Bringthapain]

Never thought that guy was funny.

[@kendrarasberry3078]

The cartoons and The Ancient One break my heart.

[@xanderfulton3186]

The ancient one is actually a whole different level of hurt cause they didn’t just cast a white actress to play an Asian character, they rewrote the character’s backstory to be white from the very beginning

[@kendrarasberry3078]

@A Gift of Honey Yeah, I definitely heard that.

[@Ruruisinane]

@@kendrarasberry3078 which means it's doubly racist because it conforms to racist expectations in two countries :/

[@JeffreyPiatt]

There a bigger market than the US domestic market and to get in some films are getting investment from Chinese studios to get around the limit on import films. Basically the investor from China tells them what to change to make it past the censorship board in China and they distribute it there sometimes with extra footage with native actors. Iron Man III has a China exclusive scene with Tony Stark meeting with a Stark Industries scientist played by a Chinese actress.

[@richardbrown3055]

@@xanderfulton3186 yes, because it is a title and not a name, and they used the change to subverted the stereo type, and make the character a woman, played by an amazing actress.

[@OpinionsNoOneCaresAbout]

I liked the SNL parody of the Calgon ad where the customer was all "Ancient Chinese secret, huh?" and then Jackie Chan kicked the crap out of him.

[@just_chris1630]

I want to see an entire action movie where the role stereo types are reversed. Just because I think it would really confronting, probably to the point of comedy, to see a film where even the extras are the opposite of what we’d expect.

[@Meridian83West]

And though it's not as bad as it once was, let's not forget movies and TV shows having Asians speaking in "Charlie Chan"-syntax, where they know the proper use of polysyllabic words like "exquisite" but don't use articles or pronouns. I know I never met any Asian people who spoke like that.

[@laurenvicker4826]

So true, but she might have mentioned Toshiro Mifune and his samurai movies. He was our first Super Hero.

[@marccolten9801]

Made in Japan by Asian writers and directors.

[@iChillypepper]

Yeah but that wasn’t done by Hollywood

[@CherieOliviaAnondananda]

You knew I was going to google that ...

[@wzeng02]

Thank you for being this topic to a wider audience. We need to stop this misrepresentation.

[@melvasaiel]

Also recommended: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, featuring a diverse cast including a Filipino guy as the main love interest.

[@Erinya558]

The Ancient One was always such a weird choice :/ though I have heard one reason for it that kind of made sense; back in the comics the Ancient One, and the Mandarin too for that matter, were extremely simplified Asian stereotypes and were often used more as a way for the writers to include commentary on Asian culture (which obviously did NOT age well) and Marvel didn’t want one of their first big Asian characters to be the Mystical Elder stereotype. I personally think that’s a bit of a lazy excuse not to write better, modernized versions of these characters and obviously takes work away from good Asian actors, but I think it’s at least a bit more understandable.

[@QuarterLifeCrises]

For similar reasons the Ancient One casting didn't bother me that much. And if a female Asian woman was cast in the exact role instead of Swinton, they'd have be accused of perpetuating the Dragon Lady trope (What bothered me more was the erasure of Tibet for China's sake). They tried to do something similar with the Mandarin in IM3: trying to turn stereotypes on their head. They might not have been successful but I don't think it was just racism. But the Doctor Strange franchise still has time to redeem itself by including a wider Asian cast of sorcerers, not just Wong, in future movies 🤞

[@CollinMcLean]

It was actually because of issues with releasing the film in China given the political tensions between Tibet and China.

[@NewMessage]

Lookin' at you, Micky Rooney...

[@queerbrowngirl9293]

hey non-asian fans of east asian music & tv, this is why we have been trying to get yall to stop those "cute" imitations of east asian accents for years, we get that u dont mean any harm, but mocking accents has been the #1 way hollywood used asian people as a joke for the last 100 years. please please please finally put that trend to rest. no more adding "eu" or "o" to the end of english words, no more spelling R words with Ls, no more using asian accents as a punchline. if u truly are a fan of asian media, than respect asian people.

[@DyslexicAnaboko]

It broke me when I found out that the indian dood from short circuit was a white guy in brown face. I loved that movie as a kid.

[@Karackal]

Hollywood does matter. It gave me enough internalised transphobia to delay my HRT by at least a decade. The rule seemed to be whenever you need a cheap joke and no racial minority fits the bill go for a transwoman.

[@davidhill2020]

The weirdest part is that the reason Tilda Swinton played The Ancient One is because China said that they didn't want Marvel to have the character portrayed as a Tibetan monk, so they changed it to a Celtic mystic.

[@tiawilliams5690]

The director had Swinton in mind early on. He wanted the Ancient One to be female but thought casting an Asian woman would feed a stereotype so he went Celtic so he could work with her People assume China has more say in movies than they actually do. The movie that fills me with rage is The Martian. Most of the book Asian characters were replaced with white or black actors as if they're all interchangeable.

[@hruntingson]

@@tiawilliams5690 apparently they are all interchangeable. Unfortunately in one direction. 😔

[@QuarterLifeCrises]

@@tiawilliams5690 I know the Indian character, Venkat I believe, was played by Ejiofor. Who else was changed? (though Hollywood doesn't count Indians as 'Asians', do they? We are South Asians to them. Even in the video, Sam is talking about a specific ethnicity and not all of Asia).

[@Bug-sg1li]

That was just an excuse mate. Did they asked CCP? Nope just excuses

[@AnneWilkynson]

Samantha you nailed it yet again!👍

[@robinsonshe06]

I so love her ❤️

[@pronoy91]

Crazy Rich Asians was more about Crazy Rich people and less about Asians (maybe one kind, the stereotype kind)

[@irams8486]

I see your point about how the movie idolizes the mega wealthy however it’s still break stereotypes because it doesn’t relegate them to the side character that they can be used to make jokes about thin eyes, ascents, eastern magic jokes or ninjas etc. Give them a complete story.

[@AnRuixuan]

No it was very much an Asian story. One of the major themes of Rachel's story was the disconnect between the (Asian-)American culture she grew up in and the Singaporean culture her boyfriend was from. There was so much Singaporean/Chinese culture embedded into all aspects of the story that you can't just gloss over them.

[@shouldbewritig]

@@irams8486 it looks like it idolizes them but it’s actually a statement on rich people since it’s through Rachel’s perspective criticizing classism. Because sure she gets to enjoy their luxuries and have some fun but the elitism never disappears completely.

[@irams8486]

@@shouldbewritig I kinda agree but I believe the book achieves this better then the movie tho

[@Billabong0211]

Indian people are Asian too apparently. Not just Chinese people.

[@uthmanbaksh3530]

I don't even wanna rehash the disaster that was The Last Airbender movie, where the protagonists were played by white people and the villains were played by Asians. That's one of the many reasons why that movie bombed, also M. Night Shamylan directed it.

[@indigowolf556]

I never saw that movie with John Wayne only saw a little Snippets. But it looked awful just awful.

[@Rhythmicons]

That was The Conqueror. There's a line in there about women being no better than the second squish of a grape.

[@skepticalsmurf]

she forgot to mention how Bruce Lee was hosed for the role of Caine in Kung Fu...

[@Simulatedmagic93]

The reruns! As someone who grew up in the 90s I saw so many racist cartoons on TV reruns from the 40s and 50s...like why? why were those on in the 90s for me to see ?! that Flinstone clip she showed reminded me that I've seen that episode as a kid on TV like wtf

[@msjulicious]

why didn't she mention All-American Girl with Margaret Cho? i used to love that show

[@Balooza79]

Should've mentioned "Parasite" as well, is a great Movie and won last year's Best Picture-Award!

[@clairekim2525]

To be fair, I think this segment was specifically about "Hollywood" as in American cinema. It's cool to see a Korean film get so acclaimed, but I don't really consider it as "representation" for Asian Americans.

[@Balooza79]

@@clairekim2525 If that's the case (which I highly doubt but whatever, you might be right) there would've been no reason to mentioned Minari, it's also a Korean film with no context to Hollywood whatsoever. But I don't wonna fight, I agree with Ms. Bee, just thought Parasite deserved to be mentioned.

[@clairekim2525]

@@Balooza79 Oh, I see why there might have been confusion! Minari is an American film released by A24 and written/directed by Lee Isaac Chung (who was born in Denver and raised in Arkansas). It's about an American immigrant family who starts a farm in Arkansas in the 1980s, and it's loosely inspired by his own experiences. Because they're immigrants, over half of the dialogue is in Korean, but it's still very much about the "American dream" and the experience of Asian Americans. The confusion might have arisen because the HFPA forced the studio to submit Minari as a "foreign language film" in the Golden Globes campaign. It should be noted that this decision made a lot of people (including me) really frustrated, though, because it demonstrates the HFPA's lack of understanding about the difference between language and cultural identity. variety.com/2020/film/news/minari-foreign-language-film-golden-globes-1234874332/

[@suzettewilliams1758]

Riz Ahmed has also been nominated and he is also Asian.

[@pot8ho]

His performance in The Sound of Metal is NEXT LEVEL. He's so talented!

[@suzettewilliams1758]

@@pot8ho Love Riz, it's on my list to watch.

[@shockofthenew]

He's definitely worth mentioning (!) but because he's British I guess he doesn't fit as the "first Asian American" to be nominated...

[@QuarterLifeCrises]

In Hollywood only East Asian = Asian. The rest are South Asian, if even that.

[@jayweh]

I cannot even imagine how talks about casting a non asian actor as asian went. like, they had to talk about how make up had to fake asian features on john wayne, when at the same time you do have asian actors in the country. this is unfathomable for me. how awkward those conversations must have been. how ridiculous.

[@lairdhercules4553]

I actually had a conversation about this that in modern times, Asian is the new black. Like in old horror movies, if you were black, you were not going to survive. Now it's Asian's. We actually time how long they live. The boys tv show was just over 1.5 minutes and even winter soldier and falcon was a few minutes. I hope this changes.

[@iChillypepper]

Funny how Hollywood had no problem stealing Asian stories though like 7 samurai to make movies like the magnificent 7 😒

[@glennanderson3684]

Kurosawa made Seven Samurai as a homage to American Westerns. Sturges made Magnificent Seven as a tribute to Seven Samurai.

[@lauranceemory4448]

@@glennanderson3684 And he credited Seven Samurai as inspiration for film, so you are wrong in calling it "stealing"

[@billfisher9238]

no mention of first Asian actor Oscar winners Miyoshi Umeki and Haing S. Noor? or Linda Hunts' win for playing a male chinese dwarf?

[@davidtsen6233]

This is such a great encapsulation of the last few years' cringiest moments for Asians. I doubt Italians flinch when they see caricatures like Mario or your 'pizza shop cartoon', but all of these modern Asian injustices raised still pinch like little needles. There is a difference. All the while, good Asians are taught to just 'grin and bear it'

[@ThunderStruck15]

I mean... why are you throwing other people who are stereotyped under the bus to make a point about how stereotypes are wrong?

[@Brwnsugar]

Thank you for showing a lil glimpse to what sooo many don't even know.

[@Kfoldcv]

Thank you for covering this

[@Sandrae7560]

Don't forget the Charlie Chan series with the taped eyelids to show they were Asian🤬🤬🤬 Lest we forget Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany🤬🤬🤬

[@TyLarson]

Sad about Crazy Rich Asians was that it focused completely on Han Chinese rather than native people. It would be like a movie on South Africa with only white people.

[@stepheninczech]

Oh god, I still quote the "ancient chinese secret" commercial to this day. hahaha

[@dr.OgataSerizawa]

Thanks, Sam. Good work to all involved!

[@andyv6619]

Thank you Samantha for your honest and accurate facts! You got a new subscriber.

[@kennmossman8701]

What about the noxious Grammarly ads that show an Asian woman?

[@trackandhp7]

Asian American doesn't just equal East Asian. I think it's great to call out Anti-Asian racism in Hollywood but South Asians, Middle Easterners, Southeast Asians, etc are Asian too. Riz Ahmed was another actor of Asian descent nominated for lead actor this year, yet you ignored his accomplishment. He's not less Asian just because he's brown.

[@trackandhp7]

@hnel435 I live in the US, and there's no reason that "Asian" has to just equal East Asian, which is why I call it out when I see people do that. In the UK, the word actually tends to connote South Asians. In general, exclusion of any ethnic group is completely unnecessary if we're trying to create a more inclusive environment, media or elsewhere.

[@supersayan6318]

Damn... "If you want to be radicalized, leave KZbin on autoplay". Shade at KZbin's algorithm which no matter what you are watching, if it's on autoplay, it will eventually have you watching far right KZbin videos.

[@railehtdoe2907]

Myrna Loy ended up playing Asian roles too while Anna May Wong was around.

[@Anarchy4Angels]

The Karate Kid was very brave telling the story about how Mr Miyagi's wife and baby died in a camp when the US imprisoned Asian Americans in the Second World War. It's an exception though.

[@MegaCassie83]

Stereotyping Black, Indigenous, Latino, and Asian has always been Hollywood's doing in movies. In 2021 we are all still being stereotyped. I just was channel surfing and TCM is still playing western were they romanticize the Indigenous Holocaust. I just hope these people's God's give them the same energy they've given all of us. Oh there a people in an Asian country stereotyping us Latino women as chulas. Which is an actual slur.

[@Yamamotoseto]

Thank you Samantha bee for supporting the Asians everywhere

[@stevenre000]

the last air bender, dragonball evolution, the last samurai, and the great wall are some dishonorable mentions.

[@jackkim2708]

Thank you so much for bringing this up

[@DyslexicAnaboko]

I refused to watch the ghost in the shell movie. Pissed me off that they casted scarlet as major. Such bullshit.

[@Lanius17]

This was in the comedy Category section on KZbin’s homepage for me. 🤔🤔🤔

[@v-22]

The best was Tarantino, who targeted Bruce Lee, THE ONE Asian-American idol, and tarnished his image and reputation for no real reason.

[@abigailchun4512]

Thank you so much for covering this ❤️

[@p.l.5860]

Thanks for the research and time you put into this.

[@bottleaire2082]

What about that Jerry Lewis bit in Hardly Working? Everything is a cringe, which is probably why I spend so much time staring out windows. S2 has picked up. I'm in every episode.

[@cacritic28]

And there was Hop Sing in Bonanza. David Carradine in Kung Fu. Giggly chauffeur in Rosalind Russell’s Mame. But there was Russell Wong in Vanishing Son!

[@ericjiang7986]

Always being a sidekick and nerdy in Hollywood so tired

[@lenawagenfuehr53]

Everyone please remember the name Kim Wong Ark - the man who fought the anti-Asian immigration acts and won!

[@kevinbwillson4161]

Fantastic Sam and Friends more more more Please

[@JL-qj4pi]

I knew Marky Mark was going to make an appearance. Fortunately, not long enough to inevitably brag about his time in prison.

[@lenawagenfuehr53]

Really? He tried to get his record expunged, the little weasel...

[@BFBMTb]

Thanks for the video. It was spot on and very informative.

[@markusbrauns4274]

In the movie Remo Williams, a white American actor, portrays an Asian.

[@scientivore]

I'm surprised you didn't mention 1982's The Year of Living Dangerously, for which Linda Hunt, a white woman, won an Oscar for playing an Asian *man*.

[@Mububban23]

Re Scarlett Johannsen's "whitewashing" of Major in Ghost int he Shell, I have to say in their defence, have you seen the original anime? Or any anime? Many of the characters are down to look more anglo than asian! Many asians see white skin as preferable for whatever reason, so they anglo-case the characters they draw, enlarging and rounding the eyes and lightening the skin tone. Sticking Major's brain in the body of a European-looking robot to me was just another way to show how she'd been violated and had her identity taken away from her without consent. And I'm half Chinese so I absolutely get where the genuine disgust at asian portrayals is coming from, because I've had it my whole life too.

[@jenniferpatterson4964]

As a POC, I get it, too. In my community, the idea of lighter skin and “good” hair came from centuries of having our looks lambasted by those perceived to have been in power, coupled with perceived preferential treatment of those possessing the desired traits. It lent itself to the eventual belief that this would be the requirement in order to get anything good in life, and generational self-hatred. If one hears or sees it often enough, one begins to believe it themselves. You can’t deny what you can see with your own eyes. If I can actually see that I’m treated better, in any way, than a darker skinned counterpart, who is in all aspects an equal, I can’t really be surprised if my counterpart starts to hate herself or me while slowly changing her look to conform. It’s the long con mindf$#& of mainstream media, in all its various forms.

[@lisablumenthal482]

Major is portrayed in the original anime and the manga as having a distinct European look. I think Scarlett Johannsen was a good choice. It wasn't as if the whole film was devoid of Asian actors. Scar Joh was a high tech doll. Major was a character of great depth who was robbed of her identity and choices. If anything putting an Asian actor in that role would remove the commentary the authors were trying to make, about how Asian identities are forced to conform to Western aesthetics.

[@cooldood84]

I needs me some more BEE!

[@lynneborrie-belcher895]

Margaret Cho had a hilarious sitcom in the early 90's that even my rather old fashioned Dad enjoyed. They didn't want her to be the lead because she was too chubby in their opinion (she has a wide face, cuz she is a classically Korean-featured beauty). She has been at the forefront of changing Asian stereotypes for 30 years. MODAN!!!!

[@lilyh1470]

The best Asian American representation shows that do justice is 'Warrior" and "The Terror: Infamy." Enough said!

[@edwardmeer95]

My ex used to say that line from Full Metal Jacket all the time. She'd sound like a white valley girl till she wanted to mess with me. Then again her mom and sister were the last 2 people on the helicopter leaving the embassy. So I guess it's okay?

[@eduardleon5409]

Almost as bad as mentioning Asian Americans and only showing people of Japanese and Chinese descent but omitting the rest of Asia.

[@Rhythmicons]

If you think those were bad portrayals of Asians then don't look at this book: Ignacio, Abe et al. The Forbidden Book: The Philippine-American War in Political Cartoons. San Francisco: T’boli Publishing and Distribution, 2004.

[@deejayxcrypt]

4:03 The Full Metal Jacket scene is a very realistic one though. Sad to say.

[@jasonluong3862]

Brian Dennehy as Kublai Khan made in 2007! I kid you not.

[@BankruptMonkey]

I loved the 90's Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella where the prince was Asian American, and he was shown as being handsome while being an Asian male.

[@richarddavis3980]

The ancient one from Dr.Strange, left panel 3:39 min in, is actually not an example of whitewashing because it states in the movie that she is Celtic and was not asian at all.

[@richarddavis3980]

And that the sorcerer supreme doesn't have to be Asian

[@stepheninczech]

Mark Wahlberg fighting the asian guy with the duck is unsurprising considering the dude hucked rocks at black kids as a teenager.

[@stellaroj]

I finally understand the ancient Chinese secret joke from Arrested Development.

[@ylyg123]

0:43 Asian performer's role 3:46 women portrayal

[@gempursuharto]

most of depiction are sadly true, its just a matter of unbalanced depictions. Unfortunately mainstream finds smart successful powerful asians boring.

[@kitadraws5990]

Thank you for this

[@francishollingshead2134]

Chloe Zhao won the Academy Award for Best Director. I'd like to think that's more important than a nomination.

[@RonWinter335]

4:14. Thirteen minutes!? Braggart.

[@kismypencek6185]

That John Wayne clip is cringe

[@Emanon...]

Suggestion: More Asian/Middle East roles actually played by these groups. Maybe fewer Jewish characters in every show since they make up 1-2% of the population? It's quite jarring to see no black or latin characters, and sometimes 1-2 Jewish characters in the same show. They're already quite well represented in media and Hollywood.

[@ravenrose5712]

What do Jewish people have to do with any of this?

[@Emanon...]

@@ravenrose5712 They're vastly overrepresented in movies and TV shows. Almost always 1-2 Jewish characters in a show, even though Hispanic, African and Asian Americans are much larger groups, they never get the same treatment with characters of their background on the screen. Think of any big contemporary comedy or drama show, and I'll prove it...