Rated R—for racist?

As a half-Chinese guy with a western-sounding last name, I don’t cry racism often, if ever. I think the last time anyone called me a “chink” with anything remotely involving invective was back in the 3rd grade. And that boy is dead now, thanks to my Triad brethren. (Kidding--just seeing if you’re paying attention––we just roughed him up and branded him with gang-tattoos).

Even in high-school my best friends affectionately called me “half-breed," on occasion—a geeky homage to Bones giving Spock the same nick-name in Star Trek. And my first car at sixteen, whose paint bore the same color as a lemon, was lovingly (and accurately) dubbed “The Yellow Peril.”

What I’m getting at is that I’m not a hypersensitive, militant cracker-basher––I can take a joke and am not one easily offended. But, I am prone to what scientists might call…the heebie-jeebies.

It’s that sour feeling you get, not when confronted with racism, but its six-finger banjo-playing in-bred cousin—ignorance.


Today's challenge: See if you can spot the tokenism in this photo? In this case, it’s the notion that Hollywood needs to whitewash film scripts to make them more marketable. I’m talking about the hullabaloo over the movie 21—about a legendary M.I.T. card-counting ring that traveled to casinos on weekends, taking them for millions. The movie is based on the bestselling book Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions.

When I read Bringing Down the House a few years back, pseudonyms were given to the main characters, but it was pretty obvious that these were Asian kids. It was part of their cover story.

But now we have 21. A movie “based on a true story” except the main characters have all been recast as white-folk. Hmmmm….let’s see: M.I.T. students, into gambling, good at math…what’s the first thing that comes to mind? An Ashton Kutcher look-alike? C'mon, if you're gonna recast the lead character, at least gimme a bankable star.

The whole thing is subtle and strange (and rather moot, since the film is a total dud). Still, it creeps me out.

Comments

[Eric]

Bernie Mac said it best in Ocean's 11: "You sure as hell won't let me deal the cards...might as well call it White-jack."

[David I]

Wait until you see the all-white version of "Roots". Well, they had to change the storyline just the tiniest bit...

PS It's okay to diss crackers. Being haole is something you are born with. Cracker is a choice.

[Sandra Cormier]

The thing that gets me about that movie is the fact that the kid had to cheat to get the money for college. If he was so smart, why didn't he apply for a scholarship?

Does college really cost $300,000.00? Boy, I was lucky I went in the 80's.

[PS]

Hmm...I'm torn about this. Yes, according to IMDB, the real person on which the protagonist of the book (and therefore the movie) was based is Jeffrey Ma, who plays a Planet Hollywood blackjack dealer in the movie. And at least one other member of the real MIT team was Asian.

But I've been thinking about stereotypes a bit lately...and I wonder if casting the film authenticly would have raised accusations of stereotyping from Asian communities...i.e., good at math, gamblers, etc., etc.

I do honestly see your point, or at least I think I do. Homogenizing the cast is a little...questionable. But would a more Asian cast have been more acceptable? Granted, I can picture the kid from Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle as the protag...but still...

[jamie]

I know. It's a strange situation. I keep thinking of the movie The Art of Happyness, and how much of an uproar there would have been if they'd cast Tom Cruise in the lead. Granted, this story is a bit more nefarious. And the author didn't even use their real names in the book.

[Derek]

There was an article in the Boston Globe this weekend about how Ben Mezrich, the author of the book, went wayyyy beyond just changing the participants names and ethnicities. An interesting read.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/04/06/house_of_cards/

[Mike F]

Along the lined of PS's comment: I wonder if the studio execs were worried about being accused of furthering stereotypes by casting the math guys as Asian. I know it's based on a true story so it wouldn't be the case, but we all know that term doesn't mean much in Hollywood. But yeah, it does seem odd and raise questions.

[Katie Alender]

Seconding what Derek says--the casting ignorance is just the tip of the iceberg of problems with this book, it turns out.

[m.g. tarquini]

Geez. How come the studio execs never worry about casting Italians as mafioso? Or Romans with British accents?

Had a discussion with The Bunions about all the Asian films that get remade in English with non-Asian cast. Films like The Eye and ...gosh, can you believe I'm totally blanking at the moment? These movies are copied right down to the stage direction. Why remake them at all?

Maybe the studio execs think Americans are illiterate and unable to keep up with subtitles? Or maybe we are too challenged with looking at a picture and reading at the same time?

And how come nobody ever accuses My people of being good at math?

[PS]

Ack! Romans with British accents! I hate that!

But supposedly British accents are used for marketing high-end merchandise and services. And not just in the US.

[jamie]

Ah geez--now the author of the book is being accused of just making stuff up. I'm so glad I write fiction. I don't need to cover my tracks...

[ello]

Seriously - Hollywood has no problem with stereotypes. It had all to do with casting whites over asians because of marketability. Must I point out the classic case of Bruce Lee and David Carridine in Kung Fu?

[Jamie]

You mean David Carradine isn't really Chinese??

***recoils in horror***

[Carleen]

My favorite thing is when Hollywood tells the story of the minority experience but from the majority POV, as in Glory with Denzel Washington and Matthew Broderick. It shows what Hollywood white folks think of other white folks: they're too what...dumb? racist? unsympathetic? to relate to a story unless there is at least one white person in it.