Excited
When I first saw the movie poster for Extraordinary Measures, starring Brendan Fraser and Harrison Ford, I had no idea what it was about. I guessed Harrison Ford played some kind of heroic character, but beyond that, I had no idea. Nor did I really care — the movie poster looked “eh.”
Then I read this article on racebending.com and found out that Harrison Ford’s character, a doctor who finds a cure for Pompe disease, is actually based on an Asian doctor, Dr. Yuan-Tsong Chen. Here is a portion of Roger Ebert’s review of the movie:
Dr. Robert Stonehill doesn’t exist in real life. The Pompe cure was developed by and his colleagues while he was at Duke University. He is now director of the Institute of Biomedical Science in Taiwan. Harrison Ford, as this film’s executive producer, perhaps saw Stonehill as a plum role for himself; a rewrite was necessary because he couldn’t very well play Dr. Chen. The real Chen, a Taiwan University graduate, worked his way up at Duke from a residency to professor and chief of medical genetics at the Duke University Medical Center. He has been mentioned as a Nobel candidate.
I know this isn’t the first time a Caucasian actor was hired to play a role based on an Asian or Asian American — far from it. But that doesn’t make it any more bearable each time it happens. I’ve always had respect for Harrison Ford as an actor, but I wonder if the movie — which opened to just $7 million this weekend, for 7th place — would’ve been better had an unknown Asian actor been cast. I understand the studio probably wanted a famous actor to carry the role. Yet, if you look at previous unknowns like Gabourey Sidibe in Precious and Carey Mulligan in An Education, you know this is the year of the breakout star.
I don’t know about you, but I believe America is more than ready for Asian Americans starring in non-martial arts films. Even if Hollywood isn’t.
How does this post make you feel?
- Fascinated
- Amused
- Bored
- Sad
- Angry
NOTE: 8Asians.com is a community, and we thank you for being a part of it. While we welcome and appreciate differences in opinion, if you're rude or you're promoting spam, we have a right to edit or delete your comment. Read our comment policy for more information.
If you see a comment that violates the 8Asians.com comment policy, you may flag the comment by mousing over the comment and clicking "FLAG."
No, I have not seen it, but I read the book. And while the movie has gotten a lot of criticism from the black community, I also know it has received tremendous support (from the black community as well) for how it tells a terrible, terrible story most of us cannot begin to imagine, but one that exists in too many young girls' lives (even one is too many).
It saddens me that because you view the movie as portraying dark-skinned blacks in a negative light (would you consider Precious herself to be a "villain/evil/despicable"? Her skin is as dark as anyone's), you feel I should not highlight this movie as a reason for casting unknown actors/actresses of color. A film that tells the story of a young girl of color who overcomes unbearable circumstances and finds her voice? I couldn't ask for a better paradigm.
You must not have seen it.
It's poverty porn full and overflowing with the sterotypes white people salivate for. ALL the dark-skinned characters are the villains/evil/despicable and only white people (or "black" people whose skin is so light they might as well be white --Mariah Carey, Paula Patton etc) are good.
The reviews of this film have been OVEWHELMINGLY negative by black reviewers both in the media and on the net. The clamor became so bad the film's producers had to bring out every black person who had participated in the movie (and a few who hadn't like Mary J Blige) to hold a press conference where they all repeated over and over "The film's not racist. Stop calling it racist."
This movie is straight out of apartheid era- south Africa. Is THAT the kind of film paradigm you want Asians to emulate? I sure hope not!
Why not?
Precious is not the kind of film you want to cite if you're advocating Asians getting "breakout" roles.
Don't be so hard on yourself about the 21 thing, Lenoxus. And yeah, this white-washing isn't something that many people (Asian or not) are aware of, which is why it's great that platforms like 8Asians exist to spread the info. Maybe if enough people say "Hey, this is messed up," studios will finally change their ways.
You know, when I first read about the studio replacing Asian-Am characters with whites in the movie "21", I had a horrible, horrible thought. I thought, "Well, at least they won't be perpetuating the Asians-as-math-geeks stereotype." I promptly (mentally) hit myself, okay? :(
The thing about the dearth of Asian-Am lead actors is, well, it's not an immediately obvious thing for whites like me to notice, because it's a dearth, an absence. Even though I freaking live in an area with a comparatively large Asian-Am population, the whole thing flew over my head until I started reading about it on sites like these. Gah.
Yes, whiteout, or whitewash. Mea culpa, atlasien. Thanks for the clarification. :)
That's what I thought, too.
I think this is really a case of "whiteout", not "yellowface". Otherwise, I totally agree. I won't be seeing this movie. How disrespectful to Dr. Chen! I really hate these kinds of movies... "21" is another example.
Custom Search
Recent Posts
- Chinese New Year Lanterns
- Is Kim Jong Un Dead? Assassination Rumors Hit the Internet
- Help Fight Stereoptypes With Asian Crew Clothing
- Deftones’ Chi Cheng Wakes Up From His 3-Year Coma
- SXSW 2012 Has a Nice Handful of Asian Movies
- Woman In China Gives Birth To 15 Lb Baby
- Naruto & Dragonball Now Available On Barnes & Noble Nook
Recent Comments
- : Where is the Love? What if you were to accept what Biffer has to say as a minority talking to the Establisment of Black and... – What if Jeremy Lin Weren't Asian?
- : My reply is actually to "Where is the love?" – What if Jeremy Lin Weren't Asian?
- : Biffer, Here is one thing to notice though. Whites tell us they dont see color. Blacks tell us we as minority are in some ways... – What if Jeremy Lin Weren't Asian?
- : @whereisthelove @Biffer It's not that I'm turning it into a tirade against Blacks but folks seem to be on a lovely Kumbaya trip thinking that... – What if Jeremy Lin Weren't Asian?
- : @PhucDat You've obviously never heard of the "no asians, no fats, no fems" that's commonly referenced in the gay community. It's very frustrating and makes... – Asian Men Have The Highest Salary
APA Events
Feb 16: Adam WarRock and Kirby Krackle: West Cost Tour Dates!!!
Feb 16: (New York, NY) Amar Chitra Katha: Monica Ferrell, Chitra Ganesh, Keshni Kashyap, and Himanshu “Heems” Suri of Das Racist
Feb 17: (Los Angeles, CA) All My Sons
Feb 18: (Stanford, CA) Stanford’s 16th Listen to the Silence Conference- Feb 18: (San Francisco, CA) NAAAP-SF Lunar New Year Gala 2012
Feb 25: (Los Angeles, CA) Past Present I Future Imperatives: Queer Space Time
Mar 3: (New York, NY) Vong Pak’s ‘Electric Shaman’ Concert
Apr 30: (Sacramento, CA) California Asian Pacific Islander Policy Summit 2012: iAdvocate
Staff and Contributors
- Editors
- Ernie Hsiung - Founder, Editor-in-Chief
- Moye Ishimoto - Co-Editor, Editorial
- Joz Wang - Co-Editor, PR & APA Outreach
