Westerners portraying Asians

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Westerners portraying Asians

Postby Mulboyne » Mon May 17, 2004 11:51 am

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A Brief History of Hollywood Yellowface

Also

Dis-Orientation: Japan from a Western Viewpoint in Mike Leigh's "Topsy Turvy"

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When the "appearance of reality" becomes a secondary concern, the process of turning a white person into an Asian becomes fairly simple. For the eyes, prosthetic eyepieces are cast, using "real Asians" as models for the flexible molds. The eyepieces are then applied to the actor's eyelids and held in place with spirit gum. Finally, makeup is applied to hide the eyepieces, and rubber bands are attached to the top of the head to pull the corners of the eyes up into that familiar "slant."


My personal favourite is the Mexican actor, Ricardo Montalban, playing the great kabuki star, "Nakamura", in 1957's "Sayonara".

Ironically, this film was to provide the first Asian Oscar winner. Miyoshi Umeki won Best Supporting Actress for her role opposite Red Buttons. Since 1957, only three Asian actors have received nominations - Haing S. Ngor won for "The Killing Fields" while Pat Morita and Ken Watanabe didn't get the top spot.
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Re: Westerners portraying Asians

Postby Taro Toporific » Mon May 17, 2004 12:31 pm

Mulboyne wrote:My personal favourite is the Mexican actor, Ricardo Montalban, playing the great kabuki star, "Nakamura", in 1957's "Sayonara"..


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Besides myself as leader of the Crazy 88, my favorite Asian portrayals include:

Boris Karloff Image

Kentucky actor Charles B. Middleton was Ming the Merciless, the megalomaniac ruler of the planet Mongo
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Postby AssKissinger » Mon May 17, 2004 12:52 pm

Isn't there a movie where Keanu Reaves (sp?) plays Buddha?
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Re: Westerners portraying Asians

Postby kurohinge1 » Mon May 17, 2004 1:01 pm

Taro Toporific wrote:... Besides myself as leader of the Crazy 88 ...

:lol: :lol: :lol:

And there's even a Taro Toy:
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Features removable limbs, Bo Sword Staff, Katanna Sword, axe, House of Blue Leaves diorama base and blood spraying action!

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Keanu's Little Buddha (1994)

Postby Taro Toporific » Mon May 17, 2004 1:02 pm

AssKissinger wrote:Isn't there a movie where Keanu Reaves (sp?) plays Buddha?

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Whoa, like Buddha-dude!

Amazon.com says: ...Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor. A beautiful travelogue and history lesson unfolds in the two parts of this film: a historical text of Siddhartha (Keanu Reeves) and the contemporary quest of Lama Norbu (Ying Ruocheng), who believes he has found the reincarnation of his former teacher in a Seattle child....
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Postby Mulboyne » Thu Jan 15, 2009 2:32 pm

My personal favourite is the Mexican actor, Ricardo Montalban, playing the great kabuki star, "Nakamura", in 1957's "Sayonara".

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And the man has now passed away.
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Postby Behan » Thu Jan 15, 2009 3:16 pm

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What a different series it would have been had Hollywood picked Bruce Lee instead of David Carradine.
His [Brendan Behan's] last words were to several nuns standing over his bed, "God bless you, may your sons all be bishops."
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Postby Dragonette » Thu Jan 15, 2009 4:50 pm

Behan wrote:Image
What a different series it would have been had Hollywood picked Bruce Lee instead of David Carradine.

The weirdest thing about that series was that he was forever being picked on by the bad guys for being Chinese - what I always wanted to know was how they could possibly figure that out?

I would have picked on him for being a big bald-headed Irishman who talked, dressed funny... :razz:
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Beaming up in a casket lined with 'soft Corinthian leather'

Postby Taro Toporific » Thu Jan 15, 2009 5:40 pm

Mulboyne wrote:Image

And the man has now passed away.


:bowdown: wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricardo_Montalban ....He has frequently portrayed Asian characters -- mostly of Japanese background, as ... Hawaii Five-O episode "Samurai" as Leonard Tokura an organized crime boss.
[INDENT]HAWAII FIVE-O 104 Samurai
(10/17/1968)
McGarrett protects a suspected gangster (Tokura) from Japanese assassins, even as he and Five-O try to find evidence linking Tokura to organized crime.[/INDENT]

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Postby sillygirl » Thu Jan 15, 2009 9:30 pm

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From 'You Only Live Twice'
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Postby Sentakki Fried Chicken » Thu Jan 15, 2009 10:05 pm

There's Shirley Maclaine in "My Geisha" from 1962...
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Postby Sentakki Fried Chicken » Thu Jan 15, 2009 10:08 pm

...and who could forget John Wayne as "The Conqueror?"
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Yul Brynner, the King of Siam

Postby Samurai_Jerk » Fri Jan 16, 2009 12:04 am

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Faith is believing what you know ain't so. -- Mark Twain
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Postby GomiGirl » Fri Jan 16, 2009 12:11 am

Man - Yul Brynner - doki doki.

:love2: :love2: :love2: :love2: :love2:

Such a shame he has passed as he was one of my first crushes as a pre-teen. Ironic now given who I am about to marry and the resemblance.
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Postby gomichild » Fri Jan 16, 2009 10:11 am

We need to get the Boy a tan and teach him how to frown more severely.
gomichild's ramblings - Cerebral Soup | flickr | Womb Quake
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Postby Greji » Fri Jan 16, 2009 10:51 am

GomiGirl wrote:Man - Yul Brynner - doki doki.

:love2: :love2: :love2: :love2: :love2:

Such a shame he has passed as he was one of my first crushes as a pre-teen. Ironic now given who I am about to marry and the resemblance.


You're marrying Taro with a nose job?
:confused:
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Postby Buraku » Fri Jan 16, 2009 5:43 pm

It's a bit strange how some stuff is still somewhat socially acceptable and other stuff clearly is not

For instance nobody wants to call John-NeverWentToWar-Wayne a racist

but this kind of behavior back in 1927 was considered to be

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?
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Postby Takechanpoo » Fri Jan 16, 2009 7:23 pm

I'm very very sorry not to let you watch my creepy gaijins collection in my deleted youtube account, ChinpokoHead.
One crazy gaijin bitch, who English instructor in Kyoto, persistently demanded youtube to delete my artistic account. This crazy bitch said "This account is to rape all white women!!! Women live with fear of rape! I always You are a threat to me!!! Internet harrasment!!! I consulted my boss to report police about you!!!!" What a inflexible mad one this bitch was!!!:devil2:
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Postby sillygirl » Fri Jan 16, 2009 8:25 pm

Takechanpoo wrote:I'm very very sorry not to let you watch my creepy gaijins collection in my deleted youtube account, ChinpokoHead.
One crazy gaijin bitch, who English instructor in Kyoto, persistently demanded youtube to delete my artistic account. This crazy bitch said "This account is to rape all white women!!! Women live with fear of rape! I always You are a threat to me!!! Internet harrasment!!! I consulted my boss to report police about you!!!!" What a inflexible mad one this bitch was!!!:devil2:


Stop portraying an Asian person, will ya? :ninja2:
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Postby Greji » Fri Jan 16, 2009 8:31 pm

Takechanpoo wrote:I'm very very sorry not to let you watch my creepy gaijins collection in my deleted youtube account, ChinpokoHead.
One crazy gaijin bitch, who English instructor in Kyoto, persistently demanded youtube to delete my artistic account. This crazy bitch said "This account is to rape all white women!!! Women live with fear of rape! I always You are a threat to me!!! Internet harrasment!!! I consulted my boss to report police about you!!!!" What a inflexible mad one this bitch was!!!:devil2:


She was probably the same school Marm I heard about...
:cool:
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Postby sillygirl » Fri Jan 16, 2009 10:47 pm

Greji wrote:She was probably the same school Marm I heard about...
:cool:


Aarrgh --internet harrassment...from a crazy gaijin bitch! :lol:
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Postby Takechanpoo » Fri Jan 16, 2009 11:23 pm

I introduced her to this forum.

Back to the theme:

Ork or Uruk of Mordor in The Lord of the Rings was [SIZE="5"]APPARENTLY[/SIZE] originated from Mongoloid of Mongol Empire in 13 century, which at that time all Europeans feared to be invaded.
Nobody refer to it, though.
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Postby Buraku » Sat Jan 17, 2009 12:08 am

Who can ever forget Ming!

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Takechanpoo wrote:I introduced her to this forum.

Back to the theme:

Ork or Uruk of Mordor in The Lord of the Rings was [SIZE="5"]APPARENTLY[/SIZE] originated from Mongoloid of Mongol Empire in 13 century, which at that time all Europeans feared to be invaded.
Nobody refer to it, though.


you know sometimes people base fantasy on real world history, its not racist its just being fantasy influenced by history. Some people look too deep into this stuff, maybe war of the worlds is just scifi and has nothing to do with illegal immigration.
I'm sure Japanese also have all kinds of stories of foreign monsters invading japan thanks to the Mongols
http://www.tamagawa.ac.jp/sisetu/kyouken/kamakura/genkou/index.html
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