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CRAZY: Why Use a Half-Asian to Portray a White Girl in Film about Race

posted 17 years ago by ExterminateTheBrutes
91 replies | jump to latest

As an Asian, the moment I saw the film, I knew Jane March was not fully caucasian and that she was entirely or partially Asian.

There have been a lot of other objections to casting of Jane March on account of her "too-pretty" looks and lack of acting ability, but amazingly I have not read a single mention of her "lack of whiteness" either anywhere at IMDB or in any of the external reviews.

Now in another film she might pass as White and in any case it may not matter. But the central theme of this film is RACE -- HELLO... How could you have this half-Asian playing a role whose most prominent characteristic is her being WHITE???

I could only smile when she reffered to some of the other girls in her boarding house as "half-caste", she being one in real life...

Boggles my mind...

[–] reichu 17 years ago

Yes, it is true that she isn't fully caucasian, but I doubt that most people would be able to notice that from watching the film. TBH it bothered me very little that Jane March was not entirely white because I thought that she looked and played the role very well (despite what others have to say).

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[–] Aniki21 17 years ago

Her skin tone is very European but her Asian features are obvious in her face. I could tell immediately that she wasn't fully European although she certainly doesn't look fully Asian either as the original poster concluded.

[–] ExterminateTheBrutes 17 years ago

In order for movie to be successful, the two leads had to look VERY different from each other -- a lot more different than they actually do in the film. If you look at many of the love scenes, you don't see a strong skintone difference between the two actors. It would have worked better if the actress had been a light-skinned blonde and the Chinamen more chinese like -- instead of the eastern version of an American model. That would have brouhght out the racial and culture divide at the heart of the movie into sharper relief.

I still stay it is crazy to use a half-Asian to portray a white woman in movie with a theme such as The Lover. Bizarre!!! Instead they chose to make a movie that looks pretty on the strength of glamour borrowed from its attractive cast. If it were not for great location footage from Vietnam, it would be have been irredeemable altogether.

[–] denizen_blank 17 years ago

Tony Leung in no way looks like the Chinese version of an American model. He's a well-known actor in the HK film scene. No man fills out a robe and a dusty desert landscape quite like him. A CHINESE desert landscape.
Also, March's slight build and elfin features convey that the quality of being FRENCH. French girls don't look like American girls, and they are rarely blonde. I thought she looked quite French.

[–] Solph 17 years ago

I am Asian but I didn’t know she is half Asian until reading here, probably because I saw the picture of Marguerite Duras on the book cover first and the character is French. (To me she looked quite French, but what do I know, I’m Asian).

As to Tony Leung, he is a handsome Asian male, not a typical Asian male shown on TV or movies though. I think he is more handsome than the Chinaman described in the book.

[–] AsianFilmGurus 15 years ago

Actually I thought Tony looked more like a typical slimy Asian Pedophile. And this is coming from an Asian woman's perspective. Don't ask me why, he just looks like one!

[–] Sarpedon99 16 years ago

I agree she did look like a French girl with her features. In that sense, she was convincing. Acting is about appearances. I don't see what the fuss is about March's actual ancestry. Most people by looking at her would never have known. In any case, it is a very beautiful and poignant film all the same.

[–] tomarx7 15 years ago

I did'nt realize Jane March was a half Asian till coming upon this site. She looks only about 25 percent Asian. This is a tempest in a teapot. When I first saw The year of living dangerously... I was very upset that they used a short ugly white woman to portray a short ugly Asian dude. With all the male actors out there that are Asian to boot, they cast a white woman. Just another example of the stacked cards that the Asian male faces in the White world. Thanks to the Lover and Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan and Jet Li etc. I reversed the years of oppression that kept my inner player down, and once I hit a certain age, I made up for the lost time and then some. Looking 20 for nearly two decades I made up for all the missed opportunities of my youth and got to live out most of my fantasies and got to date across the racial lines, the class lines and the age lines. Thanks Tony for a great role and giving me and countless other dudes a boost up.

[–] ridge-m-1 8 years ago

Knucklehead, Linda Hunt won the Academy Award as best supporting actress playing the role of Billy Kwan. It made her career!

[–] ikickss 17 years ago

I am 100% Asian with very light skin tone. I can tell you from my experience traveling France and Quebec that, at least, half the French girls have darker skin than I do.... the most distracting thing about Jane March is lack of acting ability not her looks.

Also, the central issue in the movie is not about race... it's about colonialism from left's perspective. The book this movies is based on is just a love story. The race and all other are just context where forbidden love occurs.

[–] markkimse 15 years ago

haha, i'm 100% korean and couldn't pick it out either! (thought she was French before this like others here)

[–] BirchGirl 8 years ago

There are French people who have her look you know. Coming from a half-Asian who knows many other half-Asians, I think she looks predominantly White (25% Asian). I can usually spot a 1/2 Asian at first glance and I failed with this one. I thought she was just White when I first saw her.

[–] Royalcourtier 7 years ago

The original poster did not suggest that she looked fully Asian. And I agree with him, why cast a half-caste as a French girl?

[–] NuYorkie 17 years ago

One of the reasons for using Jane March was her resemblance to young Marguerite Duras:

http://www.longitudebooks.com/images/book_large/CBD09.jpg

Jane March:

http://distritos.telepolis.com/distritomujer/doc/ima/es0.JPG

http://users.cybercity.dk/~dko8834/jane_march-1.html

http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/934/lover019fy.jpg

[–] ridge-m-1 8 years ago

@ NuYorkie You nailed it. The casting crew for "The Lover" literally looked at thousands of girls for the part of The Young Girl. The more promising ones were personally interviewed by Annaud. When he first saw Jane March he knew she was the one because of the way she handled herself and her resemblance to Marguerite Duras. I don't find her acting to detract from the picture whatsoever and what male can take their eyes off of her?

[–] caspcasp 17 years ago

Her being half-asian is actually rather appropriate as Marguerite Duras notes in her book that she, her brothers and her mother lived like the natives and took on a native appearance, often being more savage than any native. Though they were 'French' and white, they were born in Vietnam, and raised poor scroungers. The children disliked French food and formalisms, as much as their mother tried to ingrain them with French imports. They fell into primitive states of sorts.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] Robodok 17 years ago

"more savage than any native"

Clearly Dumas is racist.

[–] cd9652a 17 years ago

no my friend, that was language that was common back then. She is as racist as you are, i.e not at all.

[–] ridge-m-1 8 years ago

However Duras does not succumb to political correctness as the sheep living in the nanny state mostly do.

[–] brendanseeto 17 years ago

If that is the case about her brothers being " more native then the natives", was the eldest one really as prejudiced as shown in the movie? Or that vicious?

[–] manniepitch 17 years ago

in the process of growing, heredity plays an important role, yes, i agree but don't u think that climates, environment, food, etc. also affect one's growing?

[–] lazymouse8 17 years ago

Hmm you bring up a very good point. I noticed that too, but I had suspension of disbelief or whatever you call it (I used my imagination).
Plus, I think it was more important that she was really hot, which Jane March is.

[–] ridge-m-1 8 years ago

Suspension of disbelief is easily accomplished in this film with Jane March being half-Asian. How can a man take his eyes off of her?

[–] nemrac10 17 years ago

You could see that shes part Asian a mile away( &not to mention in her real life too that shes part asian )... I too donot understand why was she cast for this role of being a fully caucasian girl!

I thought maybe I was the only one who thought of her looking too asian herself.

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[–] FloralArmchair 17 years ago

It's weird, yeah. I watched it last night - and it was the first time I noticed it!

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[–] 17 years ago

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