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ASIAMS.NET |
ASIAN AMERICAN ISSUES
Asian Men Deliberately Excluded from Star Wars?
ow that the fifth installment of the Star Wars saga has hit theatres, it's official: Asian men have no place in George Lucas's vision of the future. An Asian female Jedi was glimpsed in the most recent installment, but not one single Asian male has been spotted in any of the five movies.
The absence is all the more remarkable given that Star Wars borrows its themes and fight scenes so obviously from samurai and kung-fu flicks. On a purely demographic level, it's difficult to imagine a distant future in which Asians will not be the preponderance of humanity. Even on a mundane economic level, Asians account for at least a third of today's global box office and video revenues.
The utter absence of Asian men in the latest installment is even more glaring in light of the promises Lucas made in response to Asian protests over the omission of Asian actors coupled with suspicious attachment of Asian cultural traits to unsavory alien grotesqueries in The Phantom Menace. Lucas had even hinted that images of Bruce Lee would be used in the installment now known as The Clone Wars.
In The Phantom Menace Lucas used Asian martial artists both to choreograph and perform the kendo-inspired light-saber sequences. But as if wishing to take back the decision, in The Clone Wars Lucas's PR machine made a point of showing that the fight sequences were choreographed by a white man and performed by the actors themselves. That explains why they were so leaden and lackluster, but raises the question why?
Could it be that George Lucas wants to avoid calling attention to his large debt to Asian action films?
Is Lucas afraid that including an Asian man will invite critical focus on the new movie's sub-par swordfight sequences?
Is Lucus slyly inviting viewers to see wizened little Master Yoda as a winking representation of Asian men?
Despite his avowed interest in Chinese and Japanese martial arts, culture, literature and films, is Lucas a closet racist after all?
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WHAT YOU SAY
[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]
(Updated
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:56:00 PM)
Sensible...nice link d***head. Lucas only casts asian females. He must have some sort of complex against asian males.
Even though his art director is an asian guy and his choreographers are asian males and his influences are asian. I bet the asian aliens are a couple of white guys badly mimicking asian accents.
Jaguar
Sunday, June 09, 2002 at 01:41:03 (PDT)
Speaking On that movie Undercover Brother. I had to walk out of it. And told all my friends not to go see it. Some did and others didnt. I have read posts from many Asians men and women who have been upset about the potrayal of Asians in the media/pop culture. Im a U.S. Marine and I cringed when I saw Full metal jacket for the first time. This was in boot camp. I always wondered what my Senior drill Instructor a Hmong thought of us seeing that film. But I've gotten sidetracked. I meant to use Undercover Brother as an example of the underlying
change in the potrayal of whites (particularly white males) in the media.
In the Film the villian is of course a white male, and the hero is black. the white female is a sex object to be used and than discarded for a more suitable black female. Other whites are potrayed as enfeebled, unhip, effeminate or worse. There are lots of examples of this in other films.
Such as Men in Black, How High, Black and White, Rush Hour 1 and 2. So many obvious and obscure I cant name the all here. I know you're thinking, "this is an ASIAN forum", but there aren't alternatives for whites out there. And seeing that Asian males have seen and experienced the same discriminations. I might get a more receptive audience.
Thanks for reading.
arcshot101
axis187@hotmail.com
Saturday, June 08, 2002 at 17:00:24 (PDT)
isnt Jango Fetts character a Maori by background? Who knows how many asians were involved in production of the Film?
As for George Lucas the man is utterly high on himself and why Asian Males would be so despondant over 2 sup par films (the first 3 and many others were better) surprises the hell out of me.
arcshot101
axis187@hotmail.com
Saturday, June 08, 2002 at 16:41:16 (PDT)
Desslar,
You are dumb beyond belief. Get a clue before you post here. Anyone as stupid as you doesn't deserve to be told why your post is ridiculous.
LA yonsei
Friday, June 07, 2002 at 16:39:44 (PDT)
In general there is a lot of this kind of role assignment in Hollywood--In "Hook" (Dustin Hoffman and Robin Williams) one of the boys in Never Neverland is killed in the fight with the pirates. He is an Asian, and he receives no funeral. No mention is made of him after he dies.
//Donn
Donn/USA
Friday, June 07, 2002 at 14:43:04 (PDT)
>>but not one single Asian male has been spotted in any of the five movies
WTF? Don't you remember the guy in Return of the Jedi who says "There's too many of them" during the death star attack?
Shalashaska
Friday, June 07, 2002 at 11:22:56 (PDT)
[You are being ironic, aren't you? --Ed]
Lame, lame, lame. I think Lucas is probably preoccupied with telling a stroy, not checking the racial origins of every cast member. Would the films really be any better with Asian male characters?
Personally I enjoy Hong Kong films very much, and I am never concerned with whether or not there are any caucasian characters.
Desslar
Thursday, June 06, 2002 at 13:40:07 (PDT)
"there's also an uncredited temple jedi played by"
*sarcasm on* yeah, lucas is just so egalitarian and have all these asian male actors for jedi in the jedi temple but we just never see them because lucas is saving the best for last because of the upcoming clone wars. *end sarcasm*
villageidiot
Thursday, June 06, 2002 at 11:28:07 (PDT)
reply to jing cha... the asian man is actually Doug Chiang... an art/design director in a cameo... as for the asian female... I can tell you right now... there are a number...
first is jedi Bariss Offee, played by Naliani Krishan
http://www.starwarz.com/nalini/bio.htm
two...
Queen Jamilla played by Ayesha Dharke
http://www.starwars.com/bio/ayeshadharker.html
three...
Jedi Master Depa Billaba by Dipika O'Neill Joti
http://www.starwars.com/databank/character/depabillaba/index.html
four...
Youngling mari amethest by Phoebe yiamkiati
http://www.starwars.com/bio/phoebeyiamkiati.html
five...
jedi Bultar Swan / uncredited
http://www.starwars.com/episode-ii/feature/20020131/index_0.html
there's also an uncredited temple jedi played by eric wong...
sensible
Thursday, June 06, 2002 at 04:48:23 (PDT)
>> On a purely demographic level, it's difficult to imagine a distant future in which Asians will not be the preponderance of humanity.
yeah... the movies aren't "distant future" they're in fact "a long time ago... in a galaxy far, far away"
>> In The Phantom Menace Lucas used Asian martial artists both to choreograph and perform the kendo-inspired light-saber sequences.
actually nick gillard is an english bloke... and to say that light-saber sequences are kendo inspired... is now a half truth... it would be a more valid case in the first trilogy... but there was... little to no real choreography in those films... the new sequences try to borrow a lot from a lot of things... rangning from tennis and on...
if there is something we need to attest... about blatant exploitation would be that damned Undercover Brother movie... yeah... we're too enlightened to be bothered by stereotyped exploitation of our 70's past my butt...
sensible
Thursday, June 06, 2002 at 04:02:28 (PDT)
Slayer of the Gods,
I think you should start your own website called
www.whyihatewhites.com
good luck
Wednesday, June 05, 2002 at 10:43:42 (PDT)
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