Comments on: Is “Ninja Assassin” an Example of a Post-Ethnic Asian Film?

By: Godheval

Godheval — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:21:35 +0000

There is no such thing as a post-ethnic (or post-racial) society. Not to be a cynic, but come on – this is the same Hollywood that whitewashed 21, The Last Airbender, and has a history of excluding Asians in general. Do you REALLY think they were aiming for Asian ethnic solidarity? Or were they just casting who they thought were best for the roles – which since it was a martial arts movie, of course Asians were eligible.

By: ssj4152

ssj4152 — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 13:49:13 +0000

Hollywood films usually don't have good storylines.
take a look at spiderman for example, it's high tech, cool film with horrible storyline.
hollywood has good reputation, and can afford big budget, but they can't come up with any good stories. the less famous industries are way better when it comes in the qualities of the movies.
of course, hollywood is good for something, that is to brainwash people into thinking less of the asians, it doesn't matter which asian country, it's just that hollywood people are so racist and had to be biased when it comes to treating minorities especially asians.
I don't think it's bad to use a korean actor to play japanese role, but I do think it's wrong to set a ninja training school somewhere in china, or a kung-fu school in japan or something. yes hollywood is nationality challenged, and some americans think that tokyo is the capital of china, all thanks to hollywood

By: ssj4152

ssj4152 — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 05:49:13 +0000

By: Sticky Rice!

Sticky Rice! — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 22:43:00 +0000

By: JC

JC — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 22:26:04 +0000

This is already happening in Asia – many big budget films like Red Cliff use actors from China, Taiwan, Japan and Korea regardless of the ethnicities of the role (Don't call them separate races please). I don't think think is this it case in Hollywood – they did it because they didn't really cares. I think for me the bigger issue is pan-Asian unity in Asia, and I can see this happening with the younger generations – most young people have favorite singer/actor from the other countries. This is going to happen as China becomes powerful and liberalized, and WWII becomes distant memory, I think a world dominate Pan East Asian union will soon be upon us. Yeah, maybe not for another 50 years, but it's definitely possible.

By: D_S_R

D_S_R — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 03:22:47 +0000

This topic is 'racy'.

From what I feel, it looks like there some internal 'tension' between Asians… accepting, forgiving and 'whatever' of things in the past and present??? How much does it 'affect'? … heh. My 'livelihood' depends on it!!! eh?

On the topic of entertainment. Entertainment is… hmmmmm…. ENTERTAINMENT!
People are 'drawn' to caricatures. Caricatures are drawn to 'standard' in which some 'people' can relate to and 'judge'. STEREOTYPES!… Ninja Assassin! uhmmm… Violent, silent, relentless… you like?…

All we need are more period films. They do well at the box office worldwide and really show how we look, behave, feel, live, work, and love !

Hehe! Sticky Rice.

By: davidc75

davidc75 — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:26:38 +0000

koji sakai,

your thoughts about this being a post-ethnic asian american age is an optimistic one. this is certainly complicated. from the perspective of authenticity, it probably would be better to have ethnically "correct" actors in those roles. in the "ninja assassin" example, notions of authenticity become less important because it's an american perspective on japanese ninja culture, recycling a hodgepodge of asian tropes, anyway, so there is little authenticity to begin with.

from a creative point of view, it's in actors' best interests to be able to play an ethnic range or their parts will be limited because, let's face it, asian american actors are still primarily slotted in asian roles (with nice exceptions like the demitri noh character on "flash forward" played by john cho). in some ways, their success is important because it places asian american actors more prominently in the cultural field as they become "stars." this may be relevant to us as asian american audiences because it creates celebrity and perhaps more cultural validation in media through a major celebrity. that might make the average asian american dude seem more attractive or the asian american woman seem less exotic if asian americans develop a cult of celebrity and idol worship. these would be good developments, although it comes at the cost of racialization and lack of ethnic specificity.

neither one alone would be completely satisfactory, but for now i side with having asian american actors getting as many roles as they can get. not because i think it represents an optimistic post-ethnic world but because i would take increased cultural space versus ethnic accuracy (for now, accuracy can be a later goal and may be a goal when the aforementioned john cho plays the korean american lawyer guy in "west 32nd"). either way, our thoughts matter little because media oligopolies will work in their financial best interests.

By: edpenano

edpenano — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:51:05 +0000

Really interesting twist on an old adage. If Asians/Asian Americans/Asian Canadians, etc… combine forces (to form Voltron), then WoW. We will be a force to be reckoned with indeed. At least on the Hollywood stage…