MovieChat Forums > Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) Discussion > Why does Mr Yunioshi upset you?

Why does Mr Yunioshi upset you?

posted 8 years ago by mmserrano4
29 replies | jump to latest

You can't judge people from 50 years ago by the same standards we hold people to today. You can't say "It was 1961 they should've known better", well they more than likely did, but the stereotypical Asian character was just funny for audiences at the time when Vietnam was still going on and public opinion probably wasn't very high. And none of you can say that if you were alive then with only the resources available to you then while growing up you wouldn't think it's every bit as acceptable as they did. Like some other dude on this board said, there are far more outrageous things in this movie than the fact that they negatively portrayed an Asian character, like how she got married, seemingly of her own free will as we are given no reason to believe he forced her into it, the fact that she fell in love with a man that looked like her mentally disabled brother and always called him by her brother's name, and the fact that she's a complete gold digger and prostitute that helped run a drug cartel as a working correspondent between a mob boss and his people.

Communism was just a red herring!

[–] MisterWhiplash 8 years ago

1961 was before Vietnam.

iTunes podcast: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-wages-of-cinema/id977881387?mt=2/

[–] mmserrano4 8 years ago

On March 8, 1965, the first American combat troops – the 9th Marine Expeditionary Brigade – waded ashore at China Beach north of Da Nang. There had already been limited U.S.naval action, and the bombing of North Vietnam had commenced. There were also 23,000 military advisors already on the ground.

A two second Google search told me that. *beep* started happening as early as 1954.

Communism was just a Red herring!

[–] cbee43 8 years ago

It was very offensive too Asians....no different than whites in blackface!

[–] almostfm-1 8 years ago

One thing that may help explain it (but not excuse it) is to remember when this movie was made. It was barely 15 years after the end of WW2, and there was still a lot of anti-Japanese feeling in the US.

Think back 15 years to 2001-do you think people's views of Muslims (particularly radical ones) has changed a whole lot since then?

[–] ironskeletor 8 years ago

You'd be ripped to shreds if you did a Yunioshi-style caricature of Muslims in a 2016 movie.

[–] gribfritz2 8 years ago

The question posed isn't if the PC police would come out to badger everyone into adopting their views. The question was regarding anti-Muslim sentiment 15 years after 2001 compared with anti-Japanese sentiment after WWII. Although there is a difference. AFAIK, individual Japanese haven't done anything to fan the flames of anti-Japanese sentiment, as opposed to Muslim extremists.

[–] marktayloruk (2424) 4 months ago

Nothing wrong with either

[–] mmserrano4 8 years ago

r e s-p c t

Communism was just a Red herring!

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] fede_4488 8 years ago

and because you're white.

[–] Goodbye_Ruby_Tuesday 8 years ago

Even if Mickey Rooney had been 100% Japanese, the performance still would have been over-the-top and detracting from the tone the rest of the movie establishes. Not that the movie's good--it's actually pretty lackluster when you take Audrey Hepburn's outfits out of the equation--but Rooney's performance sticks out like a gangrened foot that needs to be amputated.

There's something I know when I'm with you that I forget when I'm away

[–] ModernAudrey 8 years ago

Well said, Ruby Tuesday. I don't really care about the inherent racism of the character. Mickey Rooney is just so totally over the top here, everytime he comes on screen it completely drags me out of the movie. It's distracting and irritating, and IMO does nothing but detract from an otherwise great movie.

[–] irishm 8 years ago

I thought Rooney was awful in that part. And yet, I am un-PC enough to be amused by character actor Vito Scotti's portrayal of the Japanese soldier marooned on "Gilligan's Island", so apparently the racism itself isn't what bothers me either.

[–] stormhappy106 8 years ago

Mickey Rooney later apologized for his racist portrayal

[–] g_dekok 8 years ago

I would hope so.

[–] notmtwain 8 years ago

He didn't apologize. He said he forgave those people who were offended and said that for the first 40 years after the movie came out, nobody had said a word.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700256494/Mickey-Rooney-upset-at-racism-allegations.html?pg=all

[–] AnonymousFilmLover26 8 years ago

He's the worst low-point in what I find to be otherwise, a perfectly pleasant and charming movie. I don't think of myself as the PC Police by any means, but he just makes me cringe.I'm simultaneously embarrassed and offended - and I'm not Japanese myself. I think the worst part of it all is that they had Rooney play him - an actor who's obviously not Asian or Japanese in any capacity. This was, of course, part of the joke, and completely intentional at the time but I just don't really get it, if you know what I mean. I'm not angered or particularly saddened by Yunioshi, it just makes me shake my head and ask myself "Who thought this was a good idea?"

I equate Yunioshi with the Chinese character in 'Sixteen Candles', if that helps explain anything. Every time that character is seen or mentioned at all, a loud "GONG!" sound is played...it's just cringe-inducing for me. It's evidence of blatant racism; and that is one aspect of this film (or any older films) that certainly does not withstand the test of time, in my opinion. Especially in these current times when people seem to take offense at the drop of a hat...They've reduced an entire culture to nothing but a running gag which happens often enough in movies, but the very worst part is modern viewers seeing 'Tiffany's' for the first time, no longer see the humor or comedy in any of it.

[–] mmserrano4 8 years ago

Long Duk Dong was absolutely hilarious.

All great and precious things are lonely.

[–] fede_4488 8 years ago

You find Long Duk Dong and Mr Yunioshi funny.

No more questions, Your Honor.

[–] mmserrano4 8 years ago

Mr. Yunoshi was a bad part of a bad movie, an attempt at comic relief in a drama. Long Duk Dong was an irreverent joke in a comedy. People who get legitimately offended at these characters are obviously weak of mind.

Those seven years of MacGyver finally payed off

[–] fede_4488 8 years ago

You must be white if you don't get it

[–] mmserrano4 8 years ago

Hispanic. BTW that's racism against white people ;)

Those seven years of MacGyver finally payed off

[–] fede_4488 8 years ago

Well said.

[–] Philip_90 8 years ago

He didn't. Some people take offence in everything nowadays.

[–] mmserrano4 8 years ago

hail milo.

Those seven years of MacGyver finally payed off