Excited
Mark Lee over at Overthinking It hated Mister Miyagi’s accent in The Karate Kid and the phrase “Wax on, wax off” that got him teased growing up. Really hated it. So much so, that he re-dubbed the famous scene in the movie without the accent. (Compare the dubbed scene above with the original clip from the movie.)
… there was plenty of racism to go around when I grew up [in Birmingham, AL] in the 90’s, and I took my fare share of lumps for being one of the only Asian kids in my middle and high schools. Those lumps came in a variety of forms, including squinting eyebrows to make a “Chinese face,” accusations that my ancestors were kamikaze pilots, and, you guessed it: “Wax on, wax off.” Said in an exaggerated accent, of course. Perhaps in combination with the squinting eyebrows.
I won’t lie — there have been plenty of squinty-eye faces and “ching chong” stuff growing up that have gotten me plenty fucking angry growing up. Mister Miyagi, not so much; if a kid ever did the “Wax on, wax off” did, I would tell the kid politely that I was Chinese, not Japanese. (And then I would tell my grandmother over the weekend and she would go on a tiride of how horrible the Japanese were; but that’s another blog post entirely.) None the less, Mark’s recount of Mister Miyagi, growing up in the deep south and his feelings about Asian-American “otherness” is a must-read for people who are fascinated with how pop culture has effected their own racial identity.
And a footnote: A YouTube comment mentions Miyagi “doesn’t seem as wise” without the accent. Agree? Disagree?
(via Andy Baio)
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Just though about it. The problem with the dubbed clip is that Mr. Miyagi's voice is too young, and it clashes with the image of the gray-haired guy. That's where the not-wise-enough comment probably comes from.
Just though about it. The problem with the dubbed clip is that Mr. Miyagi's voice is too young, and it clashes with the image of the gray-haired guy. That's where the not-wise-enough comment probably comes from.
I'm commenting first only having heard the overdubbed version. (I saw the original film years ago.) It sounds fine to me, although the editor in me would have turned "Apply the wax, remove the wax" to "Wax on, wax off" for the repetitions, just to be less wordy. And I'm not familiar with Mr. Lee's acting ability; perhaps another actor could get the more wise, or perhaps Mr. Lee could if he specifically went for that. Anyway, I'd be fine with an accent-less Mr. Miyagi.
Now I went back and listened to the original. It was so painful to listen to I cut it off after the squish exchange.
I'm commenting first only having heard the overdubbed version. (I saw the original film years ago.) It sounds fine to me, although the editor in me would have turned "Apply the wax, remove the wax" to "Wax on, wax off" for the repetitions, just to be less wordy. And I'm not familiar with Mr. Lee's acting ability; perhaps another actor could get the more wise, or perhaps Mr. Lee could if he specifically went for that. Anyway, I'd be fine with an accent-less Mr. Miyagi.
Now I went back and listened to the original. It was so painful to listen to I cut it off after the squish exchange.
His accent never annoyed me, and the first movie did briefly touch upon the injustice of fighting for a country that puts you and your family in a concentration camp.
But what I did find freakin annoying was that he would always refer to himself in the third person: "Miyagi do this." "Miyagi do that."
Nobody talks like that except for mentally ill people.
His accent never annoyed me, and the first movie did briefly touch upon the injustice of fighting for a country that puts you and your family in a concentration camp.
But what I did find freakin annoying was that he would always refer to himself in the third person: "Miyagi do this." "Miyagi do that."
Nobody talks like that except for mentally ill people.
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