Comments on: (500) Days of Summer’s Chinese Family Scene

By: heyyoyo

heyyoyo — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 09:06:56 +0000

There weren’t any racial slurs, and its funny because in the Asian Society you don’t see this kind of stuff happen so the look in their eyes are funny. This would be frowned upon in Asia, that’s what makes it funny in this given situation.

By: jddfwfrd

jddfwfrd — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 03:45:15 +0000

Honestly, simmer down young padawan. It’s a joke, and should be taken as such.

By: filmhimstripher

filmhimstripher — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 06:42:56 +0000

And although pointing out “it's a black family” is not directly malicious or racist. Considering history and social context it IS inappropriate. And I feel that it's the same with Asians. So maybe racist is a little too strong. But it IS just as inappropriate to use Asians because historically we have been discriminated against. Just because there isn't as much talk and activism surrounding Asians as much as there is with blacks, doesn't mean it isn't just as inappropriate to single out Asian people in that way.

By: filmhimstripher

filmhimstripher — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 06:24:59 +0000

Okay, maybe there is nothing necessarily straight racist or malicious about just stating the facts. “There' s a black family” “There's a Mexican family” etc. But the fact that they use Asians and avoid using any other race is racist. Maybe the representation isn't necessarily racist, but the film producers' actions are. For some reason it's politically correct to say “there's an Asian family” but not “there's a black family”? Obviously they consciously chose to avoid saying there's a black family because they are trying to be politically correct. So then they just choose to target Asians. Okay, what sense does that make? This isn't just 500 days of summer. It's in so many movies where they poke fun at Asians becuase its easy and it's more politically correct than poking fun of any other race. And that is wrong. If you're going to use Asians in jokes then people shouldn't be afraid to use blacks or any other race. I just want Asians to be treated fairly like anybody else. I don't want us to butt heads. I want you to understand BlahBlahChoi!!!!

By: BlahBlahChoi

BlahBlahChoi — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 04:57:31 +0000

i guess, we're just gonna head-butt on this, but i just don't see how saying, “there's a black family” is racist, nor how saying “there's an Asian family” is racist, either. If he would've said, “I don't want to make out b/c there's a black family in the bathroom, let's call the lynch mob.” – then, maybe racist… same as if he said, “Could someone pull the rice patty hat over the slanty-eyed gooks, who are watching us from the bathroom.” – also racist, but simply stating the obvious? Not so much, in my eyes… My tirade about the whole matter stems from the ignorance based off the assumption that the character referred to them as Chinese. The joke is funny b/c, again, they're acting like they're at home, where you wouldn't normally have to deal w/ a random family in the bathroom, whilst you make out on the bed, furthermore, it adds more humor due to the randomness, that it's a particular family… again, leading to the point, that it'd be ok to say, “black family” … “white family”…. “asian family”… etc, b/c it does take place in the US, and we're accustomed to it being White/Black w/ Asian, Mexicans, Europeans, etc…

By: filmhimstripher

filmhimstripher — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 02:04:35 +0000

Yes, that is definitely another valid criticism that using Asian is more appropriate than Chinese, because it is prejudice to assume that they are Chinese when they could be any other kind of Asian ethnicity. BUT I do not think that saying “Asian” as opposed to “Chinese” would have made it an alright joke. I know the joke was not ENTIRELY about the Asian family themselves, but it is true that using Chinese or Asians is DEFINITELY a necessary part of facilitating the joke and is racist. If the joke is just a “fish out of water” kind of thing where there is just a random family in the bathroom, then they should have just said there's a strange family in our bathroom. It's just such a double standard, because can you honestly say that if they said “hey there's an African family” or “hey there's a black family” it wouldn't be racist? It IS racist. So why is saying “hey there's an Asian family” any less racist? I would bet all the money in the world that they wouldn't single out black people like that, so why is it okay to single out Asian people? It's because we're easy targets.They use Asians instead of blacks or any other race because using Asians is some how comedic and okay to American culture, whereas to use blacks would be more blatantly racist. Basically, it's language like that that continues to marginalize people.

By: davechoi

davechoi — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 01:33:40 +0000

well… i don't think the joke were the “Asian family themselves”; rather, the joke was that they were pretending to be home (e.g. rushing to the bedroom from the kitchen), and their romantic moment being looked in on by a random family in the bathroom… I wouldn't have mind if they said, “Asian family…” but they didn't… what they did perpetuate, is that Chinese is what all Asians are… I'm not gonna lie, I get really ticked off when people assume I'm Chinese; moreover, when someone calls me “Chinese” in a way to offend. It's similar to calling a black person a Nigger… To them, Chinese is the worst and most offensive thing they can say, rather than calling me a “B*tch” or a “Mo'Fo'… Yes, calling someone Chinese doesn't have the same history as calling someone, Nigger, but you get my point… that same racism is assisted by the ignorance of daft mo'fo's who think all Asians are Chinese – thus my point… I'm offended by the writer's “witty” writing, but lame ignorance to call them a Chinese family, w/o knowing their true nationality, as explained in my previous posts.

By: filmhimstripher

filmhimstripher — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 14:05:25 +0000

And TheWhiteGuy. Your comments are self-contradictory. What sense does it make that it's okay to point out it's a Chinese family or a Peruvian family but not okay to point out that it's a black family? It's not a nationatlity vs. a race thing. It's race (even though technically race doesn't exist). But you get the point. Whether they say Chinese, or they say black, or they African, or they say hispanic, or they latino, or they say puerto rican, it's RACIST. Because they would never say WHITE, they would never say Irish, they would never say German, they would never say Russian. Because in the movie industry we are the MINORITY and if we continue to let language like this go by and accept it as viable jokes we are allowing Asians and other people of color to be further marginalized by white americans. I'm sorry if it seems harsh. But it's reality.