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ASIAN AMERICAN ISSUES
IS HOLLYWOOD UNDERMINING CHOW YUN-FAT?
f it's a sin to make ambidexterous mayhem look stylish and virtuous, Chow Yun-Fat was once eternally damned. Blame it on the camera. Its slow-mo infatuation with his every grin and grimace in John Woo classics like A Better Tomorrow, The Killer and Hard Boiled had made him the world's most idolized action star long before his 1996 leap to Hollywood.
Chow's Hollywood projects have undermined rather than enhanced his godlike stature.
Take The Replacement Killers (1996). Its plot was contrived and sterile to a surreal degree. Add to that the look-but-don't-touch romance with leading lady Mira Sorvino and a box office flop was assured.
The Corruptor (1998) did even less for Chow. Not only was he cast as a cop who became corrupted for no good reason, but the action was set in the kind of squalid fleshpot one sees only in the poorest of third-world countries and the Chinatowns of schoolboy fantasies. The coup de grace were jokes casting aspersions on Asian male sexuality. Strike two!
Then came Anna and the King (1999) in which Chow donned embroidered silk buffoonery to play a backward monarch held in thrall by a western schoolteacher. The reworked plot wasn't as ludicrous as the original King and I, but the remake cut Asia's top male superstar to fit the old Hollywood cosmology in which Asians are a quaint race in need of western enlightenment. Strike three!
After that Chow might have been reduced to playing wizened oriental masters dropping metaphysical pearls on young white heroes in training had Taiwanese director Ang Lee not come along to cast him as a legendary swordsman in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000). Despite its modest production and promotion budgets, the movie slashed all expectations and fairly flew up to become the year's most profitable release.
No coincidence, some suspect, that the role that saved Chow's chestnuts was conceived and written by an Asian and filmed with an all-Asian cast in the world's most pro-Asian nation -- China.
It isn't so much that Hollywood consciously sets out to undermine Asia's top male superstar, argue some. It's just that its imagination has been stewed for so long in its own racist malarkey that it is incapable of letting an Asian leading man play a truly sexy and heroic role. Look how it turned Jackie Chan into a tool (fool?) of Asian-male-bashing comedy in Rush Hour 2. And Hollywood may yet get its apparent wish to deep-six Chow Yun-Fat. In early 2002 Chow starts shooting Bulletproof Monk, a cult comic adaptation, in which he plays an aging master passing on warrior wisdom to a young white hero.
Is Hollywood undermining Chow Yun-Fat's action-superstar stature?
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WHAT YOU SAY
[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]
(Updated
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 06:07:38 PM)
No surprise here. Look at what happened to Jet Li. Hollywood has put him in one ludicrous production after another, from
ragin azian
Monday, November 05, 2001 at 21:22:07 (PST)
I think Chow Yun Fat is doing well in America and Hollwood given the fact that I see good looking Chinese guys, tall ( 6' or over ) with a beautiful face and can speak English perfectly who aren't dicovered or put in a position to act for whatever reason. I hate to say it, but I don't think CYF would be a superstar today if he was born in America. Just take a look at Robin Shou, the tall, buffed, sexy Chinese guy from the "Mortal Kombat" movies and you never see him put in American movies other than martial arts movies. Chow Yun Fat probably would never got into acting if he was born and raised here in America even though he is talented and has great screen presence. He would have probably been another doctor or engineer like most Asians in America, not the Man and superstar that he is today. -CYF Fan Forever
CYF Fan Forever
Monday, November 05, 2001 at 19:39:19 (PST)
- Chow rarely had sex scenes in his HK movies
- His last few HK movies weren't that good either
- China is a "pro-Asian nation" ? More like a "pro-China nation"
-"Waiting" sounds interesting
Tom
Monday, November 05, 2001 at 19:22:18 (PST)
Yeah when will we "bone" the female leads in these movies. just saw "the one" with jet li and he doesn't even get to kiss white actress playing his wife. wuz up with that?
cyf could certainly be a non martial artist leading man for american consumption, but where are the good scripts for asian leading men besides the chop socky roles.
disappointed
Friday, November 02, 2001 at 23:13:03 (PST)
The next CYF movie is an adaptation of Ha Jin's fabulous book, Waiting, and the news is that Gong Li will be co-starring as his wife. I think if they do this movie right, CYF will get a chance to display his dramatic acting skills. Initially it will not be easy for him to pick and choose roles in the US as he doesn't have the status of a Tom Cruise or Michael Douglas. I think he's done quite alright so far. The Replacement Killer made him sexy; he was a fallen hero in The Corrupter, and he got only positive reviews in Anna and the King even though the movie didn't. He was mentioned a lot in CTHD even though his was only a supporting role, and I think that movie got a higher profile because he was in it. I think most fans expect him to gain instant success in Hollywood but it can't be that easy. He didn't make it big in Asia until John Woo came along. All he needs now is the right movie and the right director.
BTW it will be good if biographies of Asian authors are included in the book reviews, also where to order the books online.
DLH
Wednesday, October 31, 2001 at 18:52:14 (PST)
CYFHARDBOILED,
I know what your saying, but Chow Yun-Fat's career is on the downside if you look at his recent work. It's not his fault though. There aren't many directors in the business who know how to use the man. And they've been giving him stupid scripts in America. If these white American studios don't let someone hardcore direct Chow Yun-Fat then his talents are being wasted. Pair Chow up with John Woo again and let them do whatever they want and you know that film will be killer. But i doubt these American producers have got the balls to do that. There hasn't been an American action film yet that could match the intensity of Hard Boiled or The Killer or A Better Tomorrow. Too violent and too raw for most of mainstream america.
Valley Chinese Dude
Wednesday, October 31, 2001 at 18:21:39 (PST)
First of all, this article didn't get some of the facts straight. The movie wasn't scripted, filmed, etc by all Asians. It was written by a white guy. White people were involved in the movie. Secondly, some of Charlotte Guyman's comments are right on. Chow Yun Fat was great in Anna and the King. In response to Chinese Valley Dude, I don't agree that Chow Yun Fat's career is on the downside. It's not right to compare Muhammed Ali and age to Chow Yun Fat and age. I agree that when you get older, it's harder to box. But for acting, I think you could get better with age and experience. Whya re so many people writing that Chow Yun Fat is making us look bad and stuff? He's making us look good. He doesn't do kung fu crap usually. This guy can help our image. I love John Woo's Hard-boiled, The Killer, and A Better Tomorrow. Chow Yun Fat is the best actor.
CYFHARDBOILED
Tuesday, October 30, 2001 at 14:02:08 (PST)
Hollywood ultimately wants to change his name to Charlie Y. Foo(l), so that his acting will taste as good as fortune cookies and other assorted crap we get from cheap Chinese take out joints all over the country.
Sterile and Americanized, with the emphasis on *STERILE*.
Mongol Horde
Monday, October 29, 2001 at 20:13:50 (PST)
Asians are getting shafted by Hollywood left right and center. i cannot recall a decent hollywood flick where the asian guy bags the babe (except "The Lover", but that's french). Chow, my friend, you are a tool. Is he aware of the image he is portraying or is the temptation of the almighty dollar too much? The only way to change this is to have more asian producers and directors who are aware of cultural issues. I don't think actors can do much to change things cos they're just mere pawns. We need more asians in higher places but its a fat chance.
shafted (_o_) but will bank roll Pissed off
Monday, October 29, 2001 at 04:55:16 (PST)
I'm not Asian so you can take my opinion for what it is worth, but I had not seen CYF in anything before "Anna and the King" and even though it was not a very popular film I was very excited about his acting, good looks and extreme sexual charisma. I then saw on video three of his John Woo films. It was only after these did I see him in his first two American films. I have since seen him in four more Hong Kong films in which he was twenty to forty years old. My admiration keeps growing for this actor. If he does not become an American superstar Hollywood and the movie goers are deaf, dumb and blind. All Hollywood seems to think Asian males are good for mainly is Kung Fu or bad guys, but don't AAs' add to this problem? Look at the poll on who was the greatest Asian actor? Who won?..Bruce Lee of course! He will always be an icon because of his martial art skills, but he was not a great actor. Why don't AAs' get behind a great actor like CYF? He is probably the only Asian actor right now that might have a chance of breaking through to become a superstar who does not do Kung Fu. Get behind him and show America that Asians' can do more than martial arts.
Charlotte
Charlotte Guymon
Lacyguymon@aol.com
Monday, October 29, 2001 at 04:50:08 (PST)
Nah, i think perhaps you are overstating it. Chow Yun-Fat may be on the downside of his career, with his best stuff behind him, but once in a while he'll still put in a great performance, like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. If he has the right talent behind him and the right script he can still be The Killer all over again. Chow Yun Fat's legendary status will always be intact. He will always be a cinematic god for his work in the past. Nothing can diminish that. Just think of Muhammad Ali when he came back for one round too many. He didn't exactly go out on top, but no one's holding that against him either. He still is regarded as the greatest athlete of the century. So what even if Chow is in a rut with these schmucks in America who have no idea how to utilize a screen god. To me, Chow Yun-Fat will always be the epitome of cool.
Valley Chinese Dude
Sunday, October 28, 2001 at 22:25:03 (PST)
Of course, just like they stifle all Asian and Asian-American actors. They can't bear to see a leading Asian in Hollywood, simple as that. There's that glass ceiling of racism, and when you look at other talented Asian actors like Russell Wong, who have been in the business for so long and still can't be a leading man, it's proof. This is unfortunate.
The Assassin
Sunday, October 28, 2001 at 21:18:10 (PST)
Chow Yun Fat is really going downhill. What kind of bullshit is Bulletproof Monk? I bet the loser cracker gets an Asian girl too. F*** Hollywood! I'm really disappointed in Chow as well.
tool
Sunday, October 28, 2001 at 12:05:00 (PST)
I was realy so pissed when i saw the replacement killers -- I really wanted Chow's character to bone Mira Sorvino's character! It was such a slap to all Asian men. I swear to God, I'm going to become a big time businessman and buy out those white/jewish-run studios. Then I will hire only select white executives who will promote movies that treat Asian men and women with respect. Then I will proceed to fund movies that perpetuate offensive stereotypes of whites, then ask them how they feel about it. And when they compain, I will tell them to relax, and 'get a sense of humor'.
Pissed off.... I will have those bastards someday.
Sunday, October 28, 2001 at 11:56:53 (PST)
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