MovieChat Forums > Big Trouble in Little China (1986) Discussion > Was Gracie Law supposed to be half Chine...

Was Gracie Law supposed to be half Chinese?

posted 7 years ago by TMC-4 (19447)
14 replies | jump to latest

http://www.lipstickalley.com/showthread.php/1186210-Was-Gracie-Law-supposed-to-be-half-Chinese-(Big-Trouble-In-Little-China)

Or a white girl adopted with Chinese parents? Maybe Chinese grandparents? She's a lawyer that lives in Chinatown. She tries to protect Chinese immigrants from Chinese gangs, prostitution etc. Her last name is Law and she knows quite a bit of Chinese mythology and Lo Pan is no secret to her (although not in depth of experts)... When she gets captured, because she was being nosy as usual, Lo Pan gets excited upon discovering her green eyes, he now has a second potential bride. Lo Pan seems to be much bent of having a Chinese girl with green eyes to break his curse, so why get excited if she's just supposed to be a random white girl?

[–] saviodium (500) 7 years ago

Actually she might have supposed to have been full Chinese with the way Lo Pan reacted to her having green eyes. the whole point was Chinese woman don't "come with green eyes". So it was so unique to find one, let alone 2.

It is probably just 'poor' casting. In that time especially there was not a lot of big name Chinese actresses so they went for a familiar name over a matching actress to character race.

[–] AP (5259) 7 years ago

If she was supposed to be fully Chinese, I would think they would've given her a dark wig or dyed her hair at least.

I always assumed that, since she was a lawyer, she felt a desire to protect immigrants. Since she lived in San Francisco, she could move into Chinatown and help out there. This would explain why she knows a lot about Chinese culture. If you live within a certain culture and make it a point to interact with them, it makes sense you would know a thing or two.

[–] saviodium (500) 7 years ago

"If she was supposed to be fully Chinese, I would think they would've given her a dark wig or dyed her hair at least."

Maybe they got lazy or just didn't care, or wanted to show she was westernized. If she was not Chinese why would it matter if she had green eyes. The whole point was Lo pan needed a chinese girl with green eyes. if he could use any one with green eyes he would not have had such a difficult time finding them.

I could be wrong, but this is what I always assumed.

[–] AP (5259) 7 years ago

I think he just needed a girl with green eyes. I don't think she had to be Chinese unless I'm forgetting something. A lot of people talked about how rare it was for Mio Yin to have green eyes for a Chinese woman, but I don't think it mattered to Lo Pan. If Gracie was supposed to be Chinese, they would have said something about how weird it was.

Lo Pan said something like "There were others", so he found women in the past and since he's mostly lived in China, I'm sure things were hard geographically as there were few green-eyed women in the area.

Remember, there was also the burning blade test and it was mentioned that not everyone survived it. That should also be factored in. For all we know, he found some European woman centuries ago, but she didn't survive.

[–] saviodium (500) 7 years ago

Well the only reason I assumed it had to be a chinese girl with green eyes is because that was the focus of the story. IF it could be any race with green eyes it would be a lot less problematical. Green eyes are fairly common in some other races. Why would Lo Pan react to the "2 girls with green eyes" so amazed if she was just a white girl.

I could be wrong and because as you said the burning blade test was involved and maybe he used it before on "some European woman" we do not have enough information. I am mostly making my assumption based on his reaction to Gracie Law having green eyes. If she was not supposed to be chinese his impressed reaction to meeting her does not make sense.

[–] AP (5259) 7 years ago

After getting married, he was supposed to use his wife's blood to become flesh again. I got the impression he was planning on using it all, thus killing his bride. With two wives, he has plenty of blood but can keep at least one of them around for his own sick pleasure. He was a dirty old man, after all.

[–] R_Kane (15828) 7 years ago

Lo Pan's issue was (jade green) eye color, not ethnicity. Gracie Law had green eyes. He could sacrifice her, screw Mao Yin for eternity, and be happy. It's a (in my opinion very good) John Carpenter movie. It does not reward deep analysis.

BTW, Kirk Russel has always admitted that he was channeling The Duke, John Wayne, in this role.

[–] crc32 (2584) 6 years ago

I'm pretty sure she was supposed to be chinese. The fact that she had green eyes made her very special only because she was chinese otherwise they woulden't have focused on it and Lo pan could have just picked any white girl with green eyes, It was a requirment that she needed to be chinese for the ritual from what I remember. Plus kurt russel says he's specifically is looking for a chinese girl with green eyes which is what tipped off the bad guys. We all agree it was silly right up their with white actors playing in black face.

[–] AP (5259) 6 years ago

When Kurt Russel was looking for a Chinese girl with green eyes, they knew he was looking for Mio Yin, not Gracie.

[–] crc32 (2584) 6 years ago

I'm watching it again. I must have been in Junior high the last time I saw it.

[–] crc32 (2584) 6 years ago

Yea I see it now. Gracie law was identified as an american by both wang and jack so she was american. Some how when I was younger I fuzed both green eyed women as being the same charachter. Probably cause the plot focused on their green eyes.

[–] AP (5259) 6 years ago

Yeah, it's a bit confusing. Grace was just a white lady. She was kidnapped later for having green eyes, which was needed for the ritual. Mio Yin also had green eyes but people made a bigger deal about it because she was Chinese as well (Grace's eye color was never brought up until Lo Pan found her). Because of this, people thought the ritual required Chinese women with green eyes. The movie went through several rewrites. It was supposed to be a Western first and for a time, was a sequel to Buckaroo Banzi before Carpenter took over. That might account for some of the haziness.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

but , that just leads us back to - if any woman with green eyes will do, why has lo Pan struggled?
"there were others, to be sure" - that dosent answer it - if they dont have to be chinese there were thousands.

[–] AP (5259) 5 years ago

Keep in mind, the wives also had to survive the Burning Blade. After Lo Pan captured Mio Yin and Gracie, they went through that weird ritual and Lo Pan was surprised they both survived. We can assume most women who were taken that far died. That might've been part of the issue as well.

The only other explanation is that he was particular for a few centuries and only wanted Chinese wives but later decided to expand his horizons. It's an unanswered question certainly but it's safe to say Gracie was white.