The San Francisco-based AsianWeek recently did a two-part story on “The 25 Most Infamous Yellow Face Film Performances (part 1, part 2)” You ask, what is “yellow face”?:
“It may be hard to believe, but there was once a time when Hollywood would routinely turn to non-Asian actors to portray Asian characters in films. Often, these “yellow face” performances both reinforced and embodied all the negative stereotypes — funny accent, slanted eyes, buck teeth, and enough “Orientalism” to send the yellow fever meter through the roof.”
I was glad to see that #2 on the list was Mickey Rooney as Mr. Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Now I really liked this film (despite Mickey Rooney), but the first time I saw this movie, I *could not believe* the portrayal of Mr. Yunioshi by Rooney – I was disgusted. I found that Mr. Yunioshi’s character not be comic relief, but the very racist portrayal having nothing to do with the overall plot of the movie. (Note: I was also shocked to see George Peppard as the lead actor – I just remember him from the TV series, The A-Team !) If you’ve ever seen the movie, what are your thoughts on this? Am I over-reacting?
