MovieChat Forums > Finishing the Game: The Search for a New Bruce Lee (2007) Discussion > MG, why does this man always make movies...

MG, why does this man always make movies about Asian stereotypes?!

posted 17 years ago by mookie4820
24 replies | jump to latest

Seriously, Better Luck Tomorrow, Tokyo Drift, and now this. I mean, just because Asians aren't that big in the film industry doesn't mean that Justin Lin has to rub it in every white guy's face in Hollywood. All of his Asian actors think they're cool, but they really aren't. Nothing compared to TOSHIRO MIFUNE nor TONY LEUNG.

Even if ANG LEE did movies about Asian Americans in his early days, it wasn't really about Asians vs. America theme, but more about a greater, more complex story within Asian families living in America. Ang Lee never really fussed about the situation, and basically just did what he did best...tell good stories. Which is why he has gone on to do masterpieces like Brokeback Mountain and Sense and Sensibility.

And by the way, all this is being written by an Asian American. And I do have pride in various Asian cultures. But just seeing Justin Lin doing something like this makes us look pretty bad.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] yjodry 17 years ago

Amazing thread, really. So interesting! Thanks a lot.

[–] Dimeron 17 years ago

Yea, because if he didn't make films that attack Asian stereotypes, who will?

White Hollywood producers?

[–] leesteht 17 years ago

Most Asians are "too busy" with careers that make them prosper and do NOTHING to bring credibility to their race or culture. Much like Spike Lee and John Singleton has done for their culture, Asians need people to bring the Asian culture and "truths" to light. Ever heard any stereotypes about Asian men?

And, other Asians are conformists or "sell-outs" and (again) do nothing for anyone but themselves.

I'm glad we finally have someone who directs films that spotlight some GREAT talent regardless of race, but just happen to be Asian. Wouldn't that be a great future if the Black, White, Jewish, or any other color Hollywood would do the same?

[–] mookie4820 17 years ago

I understand your point of view, but people like Sung Kang are not great Asian talent. I can never see him on the level of Toshiro Mifune.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] Staticks 17 years ago

The irony is that you complain about Justin Lin's whining, yet you're doing the exact same thing. I guess it takes a whiner to know one.

[–] mookie4820 17 years ago

All of you are too immature.

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[–] jdubb24 16 years ago

Wow, terrible logic. Did you just compare African American discrimination with Asian American? Completely different.

Justin Lin is no Asian American film savior. Can you really say that movies like this and Tokyo Drift are improving the social expectations of asians in media? C'mon, Lin is clearly exploting his ethnic background to its fullest extent. After getting some public attention for his first film which was picked up by MTV films he has been acknowledged as an Asian American film maker. Why not continue targeting the same demographic which will remain loyal to you? This is where the $$$ is coming from. Sure he's made attempts with Annapolis, but again, that was a flop. So Lin returned to the safety of promoting Asian stereotypes. Even if he wrote a comedy about the death of Vincent Chin, asians would still flock to the theaters to suck his dick.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] mynamesdignan 15 years ago

"asians would still flock to the theaters to suck his dick." wow that was a little rough and most assuredly uncalled for. That was just a downright vile thing to say. Justin Lin is a postive role model in the realm of motion picture histoy. He has made Asians more prominent in Hollywood just by his sake of being able to make movies. It is perfectly acceptable to call him an Asian John Singleton or Spike Lee. Ever since Robert Rodriguez a Mexican Spike Lee.

Justin is trying to show that Asians don't always have to play the stereotypical parts that have been given to them. Han (Sung Kang) in Tokyo Drift was a well thought out, acted and terrific role. Perry in BLT was a multi faceted teen character that could have been any race.

[–] pynkpanther 15 years ago

sounds like you (op) think just because there aren't many (maybe one per decade?) major asian motion pictures in america that any released must be righteous or not be made at all - as if the only group that can make bad (which this movie wasn't), stereotypical, b-rated or even low-class movies are caucasians.

what a lot of pressure and a load of crap.

[–] ajnemajrje 15 years ago

That is what I thought about this too that he is bring the Asian stereotyopes to light in a humorous way by making fun of them instead of coming across as a pissed off Asian dude :P

[–] Kazou_Kuriyama 17 years ago

The actors he uses are young and are trying to rise up in Hollywood, the ones you named had resumes spanning decades from Asia before crossing over. I hope you can make the distinction between Asian and Asian American because they're two different experiences. If you can't, you're totally naive to what AA's in the entertainment industry go through when trying to find work. It says a lot that Hollywood would rather import Jackie Chan and Jet Li than find talent closer to home. And there's a lot of good talent out there, just few opportunities - Ken Leung stole that Sopranos episode, Daniel Dae Kim does an awesome job on Lost.

It's kinda ironic that you say Lin doesn't tell stories because when Better Luck Tomorrow came out, it got mad props for... telling a story instead of tackling social identity straight on. Every AA movie that came out before Better Luck Tomorrow - Yellow, The Debut, Eat Drink Man Woman, etc chose to portray Asian Americans as conflicted about who they are and where they stand. Better Luck Tomorrow was the first movie where the conflict of growing up Asian American took a backseat to an actual story, which was based of the Sunny Hills murders in Fullerton. http://www.popmatters.com/film/reviews/b/better-luck-tomorrow.shtml <-- Read this review by O-Dub and see if you agree.

I have no clue where you got the idea Tokyo Drift was about an Asian vs America theme rubbing Asian American culture in white peoples' faces. Tokyo Drift was a popcorn movie that took place in Japan, not America, and it starred a white guy and Lil Bow Wow and the white guy wins and gets the girl at the end. One thing Lin did during production was get rid of the whole Asian female white guy motif that used to be so ubiquitous. If you can't give him props for that, again, you have no clue what's goign on in your community.

White people are generally fine and don't need you to apologize for them for *beep* that isn't even borderline offensive. You don't get a prize for apologizing

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] activista 17 years ago

How exactly is Mr. Lin "playing the race card" in his films,as you put it? He already made BLT, in which his characters WERE humanized,they were real characters that you came to care about,the emphasis wasn't even on them being Asian-American, and it WAS a big hit,regardless. Have you actually seen the film? (I haven't,only because it hasn't come to the Midwest, and according to the schedule,dosen't even seem to be opening here anyway, which is too bad.) Funny how white directors can do whatever the hell they want to in film, and no one calls them on it, but let a director of color try to do something different as well as call attention to certain issues that people of color in general have to deal with simply being minorities in this country, and white folks instantly want to scream, "You're pulling the race card!" even though they're been doing that s*** since they came to America themselves. Exactly what the hell is pulling the race card,anyway? Explain that to me,please.

[–] eatingclass 17 years ago

Yeah, nice point on the white directors. At Sundance, someone accused BLT of being a negative portrayal of Asian Americans and questioned why Lin would do such a thing with his talent. Roger Ebert came out and defended Lin and asked if anyone would say anything like that to a white director.

What a double standard.

[–] bigheadrhino 17 years ago

Yes.. because every movie ever made is completely realistic. And I find it incredibly ironic that you point out BLT as an example of an "unrealistic" movie when it's based on a true story. The real story is actually less "realistic" because the ringleader of the kids who murdered Stuart Tay claimed to be a Wah Ching member. There is no way America could fathom an Asian American kid who is simultaneously in the largest Asian gang in the world AND top 1% in the nation academically.

[–] Kazou_Kuriyama 17 years ago

If you don't know anyone who studies or takes tests stoned, your eyes must've been closed in college... seriously dude

The thing about Asian gangbangers is that a lot of them aren't poor. They don't gangbang over turf like Latinos or blacks. They gangbang coz they don't care and have no sense of identity. Look up Marvin Mercado - one of the founders of Asian Boyz. The guy was a straight A student and then cops found out he was killing people. The movie is true to life but only if you're self-conscious enough to recognize Asian Americans have a completely different experience growing up than you do.

[–] Dimeron 17 years ago

Would the vast majority of film enthusiast intellectuals happens to be Asian?

There are many things JL could have done and do them better. But fact of the matter is he is one of the few AA in the media that is trying to make a difference.

FF3 is a popcorn flick, nothing more and nothing less. I ensure you a lot of Asians are very happy JL managed to avoid as many negative sterotype as he could in that film. The film in its original form was just a walking disaster for Asians, with your stereotypical white knight, Asian damsel, and one-dimensional Asian male villain to be defeated by the white knight.

[–] 15 years ago

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