MovieChat Forums > Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior (2006) Discussion > Highly Culturally Ignorant Movie

Highly Culturally Ignorant Movie

posted 18 years ago by ZeRoRaVeN
113 replies | jump to latest

This movie, in my opinion has a horrific insult toward Chinese culture. The monk saying things like Hum and mediate and you'll learn Chinese history. What is this? I can understand Disney trying to explain Chinese culture by making them all Chinese-culture-retarded for the outsiders who don't know much, but it feels as if they're stereotyping the average American Chinese person. I'm sure they didn't indeed it as such, but it felt like that. Many of us Chinese-Americans are not that "Americanized" to forget of our cultural roots.

Overall I found it insulting because of how Chinese culture was heavily distorted and filled with things that I felt gave the wrong message to those outside of our culture.

I'm not basing this on acting, as that can forgiven and I wouldn't go to such lengths to be posting about it, but the Chinese cultural distortion was far too severe.

I'm disappointed by Disney in this movie. I could care less about the acting or story, it was just something I got off my DVR and was just some random thing I decided to watch to do something at night but...I'm really angry.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] stinkyuu 18 years ago

I agree, even though i am not Chinese, I've lived in China a good part of my life. I know what you 2 meen.

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[–] eternal_chibi 18 years ago

But thats kinda ignorant. Its not much different from a German playing someone from england. same race. Most asians agree that they can play other asians. Like in memoirs of a geisha

[–] ziekte 17 years ago

by - eternal_chibi on Wed Jul 5 2006 21:09:03
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But thats kinda ignorant. Its not much different from a German playing someone from england. same race. Most asians agree that they can play other asians. Like in memoirs of a geisha

So if you're German and you're walking down the street and someone yells out "Cheerio, Brit!", you're telling me that you won't get offended? It's ignorance. It's going to piss you off.

[–] insert-clever-name-here 17 years ago

I'm a white Canadian and I really would'nt care if someone assumed I was British, Irish, Scotish, German, Swiss, Australian, or American (well okay, maybe American, who the heck wants to be that?)
Its just a fact of life that asians are interchangable in asian roles. If I was an Asian Actor or actress I would be pretty damn happy about that personally! It certainly broadens the chances of getting roles..

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] flavia18 17 years ago

As far as the "down the street comment" is concerned, how can you be
insulted by someone making a mistake?

But the previous poster wsa correct: it's nitpicking for anyone to
insist that all cultures have to be portrayed by people within the
cultures - if only because it just might not be possible to
find someone specific. Tho' I do agree that letting white people do
any race is disgusting. Thank G-d we're beyond that

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Those who study history are doomed to watch others repeat it.

[–] IThinkMilhouseIsElBarto 13 years ago

Tho' I do agree that letting white people do
any race is disgusting. Thank G-d we're beyond that

Then The Last Airbender happened.

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[–] andreagiuseppe 18 years ago

yeah i do find it kind of annoying that people lump all asians in one huge category. I found it odd that they had a Chinese woman portray a Japanese woman in Memoirs of a Geisha. There are Distinct differences between them but people are just not willing to see them

[–] flavia18 17 years ago

And I had a Chinese friend of mine tell me that he couldn't always
tell the difference. Go figure.

___________________

Those who study history are doomed to watch others repeat it.

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[–] andreagiuseppe 14 years ago

Yeah i posted that before i read up on the movie trivia.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] ShaneWaldrop 17 years ago

Get a life. Its a TV movie.

[–] joeboden 16 years ago

So it's okay to be racist and stereotypical as long as it's on TV?

[–] purplehorses 16 years ago

No, being racist and stereotypical is never okay, but Disney wasn't being racist or stereotypical. They weren't making fun of Chinese people or saying that all Asians look alike by having a Thai actress portray one. They simply needed an Asian actress. So they chose Brenda Song because she fit the part. And, no, all Asians don't look the same but this is a KIDS MOVIE. Kids can't tell the difference between Japanese, Chinese, and Thai and it's not up to Disney to try and teach them. They'll learn that with time, not by watching a TV movie and researching every single actor's ethnicity and comparing it to their character. IT'S JUST A MOVIE AND THEY'RE JUST KIDS.

"Yes, yes, you're very smart. Shut up."

[–] takiko-1 15 years ago

> IT'S JUST A MOVIE AND THEY'RE JUST KIDS.

But sometimes kids can pick up on the subtle things that adults can pick up on, too. And don't pretend that TV isn't teaching kids how to grow up. It *shouldn't* be, but it is with parents happily parking their kids in front of their TV rather than spend time with them because the parents are either too lazy or too tired.

[–] purplehorses 15 years ago

Yes, tv does teach kids things. But not everything on tv is supposed to be educational. This is one of those things that is not supposed to be educational. They are not teaching kids how to tell the difference between ethnicities or to be racist. They are teaching kids to respect and be proud of their heritage.

"Yes, yes, you're very smart. Shut up."

[–] takiko-1 15 years ago

> They are not teaching kids how to tell the difference between ethnicities or to be racist. They are teaching kids to respect and be proud of their heritage.

What if kids "pick up" the wrong thing?

[–] purplehorses 15 years ago

Then that's not the movie's fault. That's how the kids were brought up our just how they think. The projected audience of this movie is not smarte enough, for the most part, to pick that up.

"Yes, yes, you're very smart. Shut up."

[–] takiko-1 15 years ago

> The projected audience of this movie is not smarte enough, for the most part, to pick that up.

So now the viewers are "not smart"... And don't underestimate the intelligence of kids. They are the future and the day a kid outsmarts you, I'm sure you'll be eating your words.

[–] purplehorses 15 years ago

I'm not saying all kids aren't smart--I'm only one myself. But an eight-year-old isn't going to know the difference between a Thai, Chinese, or Japanese person just by looking at them and it's not Disney's responsibility to teach them.

"Yes, yes, you're very smart. Shut up."

[–] andersson_david1 15 years ago

I agree completely

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[–] emseear 18 years ago

That sounds exactly like disney just look at Mulan and Aladin.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] maverick33 18 years ago

In acting portrayals its all about appearance, not nationality. Keep in mind that Bruce Lee was American.

[–] skullgame 17 years ago

Yes, he was born in the US, but I think the debate is over ethnicity. Bruce Lee was 3/4 Chinese & 1/4 German, so he would be considered Chinese for casting purposes. A person of Japanese ethmicity shouldn't play a Chinese character. I realize that the stereotype is that all Asian people look the same, but that is simply not the case. I can tell the difference between a Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc person by looking at their features, particularly eyes.

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[–] eternal_chibi 18 years ago

there werent any japanese people in memoirs, but you could think of it this way.
any importaint historical movie. where the important historical people are black, white, or hispanic
the main character is supposed to be ethiopian, polish, or salvadorian
but the actors who portray them are egyptian, french and puerto rican
honestly, its pretty hard to tell the difference, but youd never hear anyone complain- because they probably couldnt tell the differnce.
they couldnt find any japanese people to play these roles (info that u can find on imdb)
if other asian people cant tell the exact nationality of other asian people based on their features, who am i to compain

[–] pyeol 18 years ago

No, the young Chiyo, Susuka Ohgo, is Japanese. Same with the actors Youki Kudoh (Pumpkin), Ken Watanabe (The Chairman), Kôji Yakusho (Nobu), Kaori Momoi (Mother), and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (The Baron). I agree that the majority of the cast were not Japanese but it wouldn't be fair to say that there weren't any.

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[–] ravmeltt 16 years ago

I agree with this poster. If other asian people can't tell the exact nationality of other asians, then why complain? Disney probably realised that other people or nationalities wouldn't either, and as other posters said, it is a kid's movie. I'm an adult, and I watched it a while ago (August 17 2008) and thoroughly enjoyed it, and it never crossed my mind whether the stars where Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Thai, or other. I don't know the culture, and I didn't watch the show for cultural reasons, but or enjoyment.
And you Chinese who are complaining, be thankful that the movie was made. Too often people of other ethnicities other than white, complain that not enough movies are made for other ethnic stars. A wonderful kids movie was made depicting the chinese. Be glad it was made and exposed some of the culture of the chinese people (whom I admire by the way), and lighten up!
I'm black, from the Caribbean island of Trinidad & Tobago, but I'm referred to as African American. Do I argue about that? They've stopped using the term blacks globally, apparently, so they use African American. Well, if I have the opportunity, I'd say where I'm from. You think if I were acting in a movie, I would say to the producers: "Oh, don't refer to me as African American, I'm from the Caribbean". Pleese. People, stop making a big issue of things. Let the children enjoy the movie without you adults making issues of "big people" stuff.
Who cares whether a Japanese or Chinese act the role. In Hogan's Heroes Kernel Klink was not German, but he played one. And he didn't even like Germans at that time because of all the war issue. (Check his bio under Hogan's Heroes on imdb. People play other characters and other ethnicities. It's TV. That's part of what acting is about.

[–] reikun86 17 years ago

actually, they had FOUR chinese women play japanese women. Tsai Chin, who actually played grandmother wu also played Auntie in Memoirs of a Geisha.

[–] xix_azn_luv_xix 18 years ago

a chinese directed this

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[–] xix_azn_luv_xix 18 years ago

really? Cuz on IMDB it says Directed by: John Liang....

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[–] sgtabchia 18 years ago

Also i know kung fu forms, and shes doing some sort of tae kwon do/karate thing. People always think that karate and kung fu is the same. Karate is Japanese and Korean, kung fu is chinese. Also kung fu was the most orginal.

[–] gangsta__fairy 18 years ago

yes
i do taekwon-do and i know they 3/4 of the stances were taekwon-do which is KOREAN

[–] tjantus 17 years ago

And what little, so-called "kung-fu' there was demonstrated was the Chinese national art wushu, which while very dynamic to watch and athletically complex, is a far cry from Shaolin gung-fu, which has been suppressed in China since the early 20th century.
Hopefully a film such as this will, because it is entertaining, stimulate an interest in some young viewers to pursue knowlege in the martial arts and the many values that a dedicated study of them might bring. Otherwise, it's just eye-fluff, brain-candy.

Still, the so-called "martial arts" in this movie are really just a hook. The plot is maybe culturally insulting to many, but the emphasis of the movie seems to be the deepening of personal values and appreciation for one's heritage and family as opposed to the mindless, status-seeking, shallow youth culture that the media--Disney included--seems bound and determined to perpetuate. Even while it takes shots at it here.

[–] taring_naga 17 years ago

yea, too bad tkd directly is related to classical wushu

[–] actionromancefan 18 years ago

Personally, I thought it was soooooooo funny. Yeah, I realize that you can't just go "Ohmmmmmm" and learn all about Chinese culture but it was just so funny. I'm sure kids don't actually beleive that, it's funny, and if you have kids that don't get the joke explain to them that it's a funny movie. Great disney movie, I hope she becomes a winterfest and prom warrior and any other dance you can think of warrior!

[–] bygkahuna2004 18 years ago

lol,thrity or forty years ago, every actor in this movie would have been caucasian, just be happy asians are represented at all!!!

[–] ryu3010 18 years ago

I see your point, but it was also done that way to dramaticize the moral of the story, if you forget your past then you forget where you came from and it kinda succeeded in that aspect. The only reason I like the movie is the spectacular fight scenes (For a Disney movie, that is) and Brenda's and Shin's excellent performances. I'm more disappointed though that they cast a Japanese guy and a Hmong girl as the leads instead of actual Chinese actors, but it still turned out okay.

Visit http://imdb.com/title/tt0493093/board/thread/54413763?d=54413763#54413763t to view the nominees and vote for the first ever Disney Channel Awards! Wendy Wu has been nominated for 4 awards, including best DCOM and Best lead actor Shin Koyamada.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] ErbacaM 17 years ago

YES. I KNOW what you mean. Although it IS Disney and more geared towards kids, the rampant racism in this movie is pretty insulting. If those who made this movie had actually WANTED to make it properly, they'd read up more on Chinese culture before their attempt at making the movie. The dumbing-down effect is just too much. The whole kungfu thing and all that moon-and-nature thing? First of all,it's really old-school. Secondly, Chinese people DO do "normal" things too, not just dress in monks' robes and mediate.

[–] taring_naga 17 years ago

oh just shut your whiny ass. I'm Asian too, and I didnt see this movie as racist at all. how is this "rampant racism"? Just because they have a monk in it? That's part of the storyline. And the only real Chinese culture I saw was, besides the Wushu, the moon cakes and speaking in Chinese. That's... it. Who cares!?

And the movie DOES portray Chinese people doing "normal" things too... hell, the main character is trying to be homecoming queen. Dont be so defensive about things, and dont over analyze.

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