This movie suggests that even Westernized Asian Americans are really still just aliens and potential enemy combatants at that. With attitudes and propoganda like this, it's no wonder that a "day that shall live in infamy" came. That was the day the US government interned the Japanese Americans. Sick.
shareRacism as defined in college today which is the definition I presume you mean did not exist in 1942. On the other hand, what the Japanese, German, and the Soviet governments were doing in 1942 as part of their "government" policy was even more "sick". It was a rough and horrible period. To get "angry", as you call yourself, over a movie made in 1942 watched today without taking into account the context in which the movie was made seems trivial.
shareI couldn't agree more. I noticed from the scene in the cruise line office. But one of the core rules of warfare is to dehumanize your enemy. Bogart might put it best near the end of "Passage to Marseille", "Look around, see who the assassins are." I have not seen any Japanese, German, Austrian, or Italian films of this same era, but if they were not censored, I am quite certain they dehumanized their enemies as well.
shareGet over it!
shareGet over it!
Hey AngryAsianAmerican (as you call yourself),
Yes, that's right, I DARE you.
What do you mean "yet to be avenged"? You have something in mind? And what the heck are you talking about when you say "asian nation"? There is no one "asian nation". You're probably not even asian. Please tell us you're nationality, all mighty "AngryAsianAmerican"!
In case you can't read between the lines of the replies to your original banter, you're the one who appears to be racist.
This movie was made over 60 years ago. I suppose you're into burning books as you are into movies.
I am of Chinese descent but I think all Asians (I mean Orientals) must take action, I will not specify here, to avenge ths insult, this disgrace, this dishonor. I pledge my life in this quest for justice.
shareHey, take it easy. It's only a movie.
We are ALL Americans.
the movie was made in a differant era. we have learned from our mistakes. we did not intern arabs after 9/11/2001, and for the overwhelming majority racism against arabs hasnt been an issue..
Had you lived in Japan circa 1942 you wouldnt even be allowed to make a movie. No freedoms, just like the nazis, just like todays terrorist sponsored regimes. And yet we got some SHMUCK offended about a 1942 propaganda film and calling out RACISM!
Some people on here should have their mommy or daddy review their posts before clicking submit or else risk looking like a total moron like this thread starter.
IDIOT.
-- “A hot dog at the ball park is better than steak at the Ritz.” Humphrey Bogart
Calling me a moron and an idiot for standing up to this racist bilge? I will shout from the rooftops that this disgusting propaganda is being tacitly approved by a closet racist like yourself looking to thwart the righteous outrage and calls to avenge the dishonor, disgrace, and disharmony that this grevious insult brought to my proud young patriotic Chinese heart.
Asian male equality = an Asian Brad Pitt and Ron Jeremy.
Hey, Genius! So you're of Chinese extraction? Well, here's a modest suggestion:
Why don't you take a little trip to China? While there, ask your fellow Chinese, your brothers and sisters and elders, which makes them angrier: American racism in WWII, or Japanese racism in WWII?
Actually, if you don't already know the answer, you should stop wasting everyone's time with your silly posts, and start learning some history!
And if you're going to respond with some inane, juvenile claim like, "Oh, Japanese and Chinese are of the same race, so it doesn't really count as racism", then those labels that so offended you - "moron" and "idiot" - have been well-earned.
I just looked at your list of comments, and every single one of them is about Asians and racism in the movies. so who's the racist? we, who can enjoy a Bogart film despite the offensive stuff because we understand it was made in the 1940s, or you?
you've also sent emails to porn stars asking them to help Asian men break into porn films.
clearly, you're a complete loon.
why don't you get over yourself?
Amazing how little humans learn from history and how slowly some attitudes and ideas evolve, which causes me to despair too often about the future of this planet !
Religions and popular myths, or to be more synthetic, ignorance in general, are man's worst enemies. Yes, yes, I know it's been repeated ad nauseam and it's almost a cliché, but still, it's a good cliché to keep in mind. Noobzilla mentioned 9/11/01, which reminds me of one reality that truly angers me. How could a good Christian protest against the building of a mosque a few blocks away (or next to it, it really doesn't matter) of "ground zero" ? Why would supposedly reasonable, civilized and equitable persons oppose this, unless they confound Al Qaeda with the religion which these terrorists used as a pretext for attacking the USA ? White-bread Anglo-Protestant Americans had the same reaction towards Asian-Americans after Pearl Harbor: now that's racism. I am still amazed at the percentage of Americans opposed to the building of that mosque, and it honestly disgusts me. To claim moral superiority as a nation, one has to demonstrate high moral principles, and concerning the mosque "situation", results from that moral litmus test is really alarming. If these people who dare declaring publicly their anger against their fellow citizens' religion really sought peace on earth, the right thing to do is to offer your hand and agree to the mosque project: they could of course recognize by doing so that they overcome an ill-directed anger to these people. To wish for peace and the progress of mankind, we have to change, we have to act differently from our ancestors and understand that mankind can only survive its own collective instinct of destruction by thinking ahead of those who want revenge against the "other".
AngryAsianAMerican: you're acting like ancestors who didn't know any better then. I do hope you desire peace, not only as wishful thinking...
Hard to type when I'm laughing so hard, but...
Lighten up, Francis. By now all the people involved in making this film are deceased. You can really hit 'em where it hurts by canceling your cable and Internet service.
I'm an English fan.
You find the calls for vengeance for justice for equality for righteousness for honor humorous?! In the time of terrible triumph of righteousness revenge of harmonious victory, you will not be laughing my disbelieving doubtful friend!
Asian male equality = an Asian Brad Pitt and Ron Jeremy.
Guys, angryasianamerican is a troll. I'm sure that he's really Asian-American and I'm sure that he kinda sorta feels this way, but he's exaggerating the outrage way up to get you to notice him.
The facts:
1. Across the Pacific is a racist film.
2. It was made in 1942 shortly after the Pearl Harbor bombing.
3. Asian-Americans face descrimination in films today, but not in this manner.
I suppose we had just let china to themself in the 40s and let Japan run all over them (as they were doing, and would have completed..)
Offended over a movie vs. offended by actions like those of japan and germananys
during the 30s and 40s is pathetic. Get a grip, what are you? 12 ?
-- 'I dont mind a reasonable amount of trouble.' Humphrey Bogart, The Maltese Falcon
Oriental?....Asian countries consider that term a Colonialization,used when the British occupied their countries.Also,you refer to yourself as Chinese,then you must realize that China participated with interment of Japanese found in China during WW2-China was on our side during the war....
shareThe Japanese did horrible things to the Chinese. This guy needs to read a history book.
shareHow do you propose to get your revenge and your quest for justice? It's going on 6 years now.
shareHow exactly does one avenge a movie from 1942? If this upset you so much, you'd probably better avoid any films made from about 1910 - 1946, plus "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "Teahouse of the August Moon" for the use of yellowface.
shareYou enjoy being an American.
share"how DARE you tell me to "get over' this unbearable and yet to be avenged insult to the honor of the Asian nation?"
What the hell is "the Asian nation"?
Get over it.
OP,
If you REALLY want to drive your point home, I suggest self-immolation. Like the Buddhist monks in Vietnam did- just fire yourself up and let that light shine. I promise I will take your rants more seriously if you do it. Really.
"It ain't dying I'm talking about, it's living!!!"
Augustus McCrae
FDR and the Democrats placed innocent Japanese-Americans in internment camps. Let's not forget that...
Odd, how that fact gets omitted in history classes in the government-run public schools in the US.
Omitted? In the college classes on WWII I've attended the Japanese internment was practically all the prof talked about. What got omitted was the way the Japanese treated Chinese people in the puppet state of Manchuko. Ever hear of that, OP?
"It ain't dying I'm talking about, it's LIVING!"
Captain Augustus McCrae
Uh, this is taught in every class I've ever had on World War II. Going all the way back to grade school in the 1970s.
Here's a joke I heard:
Q: What do you call a Republican with half the facts.
A: An expert.
Janet! Donkeys!
FDR and the Democrats placed innocent Japanese-Americans in internment camps. Let's not forget that...
That was the day the US government interned the Japanese Americans.That is an atrocity. The least the government could have done was paid them. Insert rimshot here.
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