I saw this trailer for a movie version of the Street Fighter video game character Chung Li.
Before I saw it I was kind of hesitant because I remember seeing a Street Fighter staring Jean-Claude Van Damme which was horrible.
But after watching the trailer here I let go a sigh of relief, this looked like a winner.
Street Fighter: The Legend Of Chun Li
But after awhile I got to thinking about another trailer I saw for an Asian orientated anime that was going to make it's debut as a live action movie.
Dragonball Evolution Trailer
Dragonball Evolution from Joel LeBlanc on Vimeo.
Anyone see the difference?
Allow me, while the Street Fighter movie was featured an Asian actress, (well half Asian Kristin Kreuk technically), playing the star, the DragonBall Z movie had a very much Anglo star for it's movie.
My question is, should Hollywood be obligated to portray the actual race the character is based on in their movies?
The knee jerk reaction from me would normally be a "hell yeah, what is you stupid?!?!".
I mean what if they had John Travolta playing Martin Luther King?
Denzel Washington playing George Washington?
Aaaahhh, but there is the difference you say?
Those characters were very much real, and there race clearly defined, you say?
Well yes your right, damn right.
That's too much diversity if you ask me, and yes I do believe in a thing as too much when it comes to diversity.
So by that thinking, characters from the movies are make believe, conjured up from the minds of very creative artists, race shouldn't be assigned to them.
I disagree, well rather I disagree if you are on this side of the pond and you happened to be a minority.
When your a minority trying to see your self in the media is like trying to find Waldo while high out of your mind.
And you might not like what you see when you do find him.
Heroes and role models have to be grabbed up soon as the pop up or run the risk of having some twisted self esteem issue if your a minority.
You can ask any black woman who had a white doll as a little girl or watches to much TV about that issue.
Than there is the motivation of Holly-weird on why they are changing colors in the first place.
Is it catering to a larger white audience?
Is it traces of that old being a "better Native than the Natives" syndrome?
Is it even wrong for them to do so?
Do you even notice?
Would you notice if it didn't involve your race?
Well..........
10 comments:
Hollywood is a business, pure and simple. Accuracy gives way to money any day of the week. In the original Street Fighter movie (I too seen it and fell asleep), Van Damme got the nod because he was the flavor of the week.
I personally think it's more about the actors than the movies. If you could imagine Hollywood for a moment (as a writer, this tortures me), there are literally millions of scripts and movie ideas floating in oblivion.
In most cases, the movie is a vessel for a particular actor to bring home the bacon.
Nothing gets the go-ahead lest there be dollar signs in the immediate future.
My head's spinning right now thinking about those Chevy Chase and Wesley Snipes movies that came poppin' out 4 per year in an attempt to capitalize on their respective fame.
Very rarely does a movie come out that actually means something. And when it does, directors like Spike Lee, Ron Howard, Clint Eastwood, John Singleton, and a handful of others fight tooth and nail to do it justice.
The current Hollywood craze is redoing Japanese horror movies a year after they come out. I can't think of a horror movie in the past 4 years that hasn't been a re-cast rip-off.
As far as heroes and role models go -- I don't know anything about that. I was in a verbal bout last week with two guys going back and forth on whether Jesus was black or white. I said he was a product of his territory - modern day Israel - and I was the bad guy. Anyway, that's not important...
Let's just hope that nobody's looking to Van Damme to be their idol. We need less drunk French-Canadian karate guys!
Josh,
Here is the thing would we be as tolerant if this was done to a black character?
Say if they did a remake of Shaft and cast the actor as white?
Despite the fact that the character was originally based on a white man?
I can understand recasting a movie that has been set in another country like many of the Japanese horror flicks that have their settings in the United States.
I'm like this- I feel if the character was originally a minority it should be played by a minority. If she/he was white, it doesn't matter. Hypocritical? Yes, but we still don't see enough minorities on the screen so I'm for it. For instance the Angelina Jolie character in Wanted was originally modeled after Halle Berry- why not give the role to her? But I also here Captin America might be played by Will Smith and I'm like why not?
Actually I would prefer that the original race of the character regardless be left alone, and the oppurtuinity to create minority characters from scratch be taken.
I never liked when comic book chracters from Marvel or DC were changed to black, when there was so little quality minority characters in their universe in the first place.
It comes off as lazy.
I can't see the link for the first video to compare, but I know a little bit about Dragonball Z... My son was a big fan when he was little.
From what I understand, this series has been around a long time and has changed multiple times.
I can say that in respect to the cartoon series and the toys, that not all of the characters look Japanese or Asian... in fact, a lot of them don't. But is that just in America or is that everywhere. Marketers have been known to change things up based on their target audience.
I guess I would have to learn more about the characters and what they represent to form a solid opinion of whether or not the main character should be played by a white guy or not in this particular case.
I think a lot of characters should be interchangable. I liked it when they changed the Green Lantern to a black guy.
Hey ClnMike, if you could play an (already existing) super hero in a movie which one would you be?
@ Josh.. I agree about Jesus, he wasn't either (black or white) IMO...
@ Mike:
You know, I'm sort of an actor guy. To me, it doesn't matter who I'm watching play a part so long as they're good. Unless you're actually looking for accurate representation, a good actor can be universal.
Now, if Tom Hanks (one of my favorite actors) had been cast instead of Denzel in American Gangster, I would have been furious.
But when it comes to anything fiction, I just wanna see good acting.
@ CC:
Unfortunately, I don't think more minorities on screen is going to happen with Hollywood's current setup. I'm not sure if any industry is willing to go against the grain of a working business formula and sacrifice revenue.
The good news: It's not racism, bigotry or exclusion - it's just not viable due to greed.
And since it's not about anything but money, the tide can very easily shift and minority actors/tresses may continue picking up a head of steam.
Running Mom,
Well thats the thing, if we make them interchangeable yet the people doing the changing are always seeing themselves what makes you think we would be represented at all?
The death of blaxploitation films didnt happen because hollywood lost interest in black consumers it happened when Jaws came out and Hollywood realized that we would go to the movies to any picture they put up.
As for what super hero?
Blah, I like villians, I would be the Joker.
Josh,
Yeah good acting trumps all but how do you know that what were getting on the screen is the case of good acting being chosen over consumer pandering?
And Tom Hanks in American Gangsta wouldnt have worked because too much of it was based on race.
It's all consumer pandering on the most basic level. Entertainment is an industry, and nothing can be done about that.
I have 1200-word rant in my mind at the moment on why it is the way it is (it's killin' me not to type it!), but the answer for everything entertainment is simple: $
The rest is just the rest...
Josh,
Rant away my friend the dollar has been known to cause trouble when it comes to culture.
Although I don't know if Hollywood is obligated, I'm not a big fan of them changing the race of a character (unless the race is inconsequential to the character). One example that sticks out for me is the soap "One Life To Live". In the early 90s, there was a character named Blair Daimler and she was played by Amerasian actress Mia Korf. She left after a couple of years and the character remained off the show for almost a year. Although the producers said they auditioned Asian and Amerasian actresses, when they brought Blair back, she was now played by blonde Caucasian actress Kassie DePaiva. I was like "what the fuck" at first, but then I got used to it. DePaiva still plays the role to this day. I wonder if the character would have had the same staying power if they did hire an Asian or Amerasian actress when they recast the role.
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