HistoryProf

I am now going to start a letter writing campaign to have about 1,458 westerns shelved forever due to their racist and stereotypical portrayal of Native Americans. It is no concern of mine that these films typify a certain historical and cultural chapter in our history, they offend ME, and therefore NO ONE should ever see them again.

davejt1

This just made my "Favorite Post of the Week" list!

JestersTear

I want to ban any film that has a white man as a villian. Obviously the American public is stupid, and they will see a movie with a bad white man in it and think that all white men are evil.

We also need to ban Bugs Bunny cartoons where he dresses in drag to fool Elmer Fudd, because that part should have gone to a female rabbit.

Then we need to ban all Carrot Top movies / commercials / tv apperances. Not out of any racial / gender bias... just because he sucks.

PatrickMcCart

One other thing...

While Chan may speak and act "stereotypical," how is he a bad role model? He's a crime fighting detective who solves mysteries.

Sure, Warner Oland was Swedish, but Chan is still a respectible character.

Stereotypes made the classics fun to watch...now, they're comical or even silly by today's standards. I'm Scottish-Lithuanian, but I don't want all the Paddy Irish cop films banned. Neither do I want the Hannibal Lecter movies banned because he's a bad image of what a Lithanian is.

Pac-Rat

Fictional? Not completely.
http://www.honolulupd.org/museum/apana.htm
Shocking. Karen Narasaki has her gums flapping again. For those that don't know- her name will often be found in complaints about "womyn's" issues, hate crimes and affirmative action issues. She's never met a camera or microphone she didn't like.


Yeah, we should never have someone represent something they're not. Such as lumping all Asian actorsinto a pool and plucking them out randomly to play what's needed. As well as all other groups, so NO Canadians playing annoying, yellow-toothed British secret agents.
Speaking of representing something they're not- why is someone who is of Japanese ancestry, as MS Narasaki is, representing something that is obviously a Chinese issue? Isn't she perpetuating a myth that we they all think, look, and act alike?

In seriousness, I never saw a problem with the character. Growing up I viewed Chan as a detective who happened to be Chinese, not a Chinese detective. He was smart, and always better then the criminal's he went after in every aspect of human qualities. People can find negatives in anything, especially people like MS Narasaki. Not all whites are corrupt business men, not all blacks are gangstas, not all Koreans own grocery stores but some are/do those things, and if you choose to... that's what you'll remember when you watch a film or TV show. At a time when the Chinese were still thought of as disposable railroad workers, how is Chan a negative? Is he the ideal representative of what Chinese-Americans are today? No. But what race/ethnicity in Hollywood is?
So, yet another squeaky wheel gets greased, and now we're a better society and can feel good about ourselves. woo-hoo.

Maybe it's because I never saw anything wrong in the supposed "stereotype". Afterall my grandmother spoke and behaved in a similar fashion, as did Great Aunts and Uncles.

Rypro 525

I guess, we should ban some of the cowboy bebop episodes since there are asians portraying and attempting to imitate an african american accent.

mikenyc

"I think Asian Americans are one minority group that rarely if ever use their race as a psychological crutch. This is simply a case where it does not seem right to celebrate a show that was blatantly racist."

If my memory serves me correct, Charlie Chan was, what can be now regarded as "upwardly mobile", upper middle class, and a Police Detective, that was very highly respected within his professional community. He had a large, closely knit, family of educated, equally intelligent, upwardly mobile, children.

How was this "blatantly racist" ?

Scot1458

Dimension

A few more

7th Voyage of Sinbad

Matthews isn't Middle Eastern, hell the whole cast isn't either.

Touch of Evil

Anybody think Charleton Heston is Mexican?

The Eastwood Spagetti westerns

Sure Clint is Amerian, but thoes "mexicans" are Italians.

volvos70turbo

You know, I tried to run a search on Asians in 'whiteface', guess what, I couldn't find anything.
Funny.


yeah, not racist at all.

shill66

Sure, but you really should have said so back in the 1930s. It's a bit too late to complain to the right people now, because most of them are long dead.

So, is it time to encourage Fox to put these out on DVD so that the public can make their own decision? My "Mr. Wong" box set is nice, but doesn't compare to the potential of a set of these terrific films!

mwj

PC to the rescue. We think so you won't have to.

Billman

maybe it's just me...

but ever since I read this story, I've been dying to watch Charlie Chan movies

Scot1458

give me a break. If that's the best you can do, then everything and anything is "racist". Unfortuatnley that word no longer means what it should.

And that still looks awsome!

HistoryProf

Hey Quacker: I can't seem to get the fox movie channel site to open....is there another link or an email address to send our thoughts on this ridiculousness?

the more I think about it...the more this pisses me off. Ms. Narasaki typifies everything that is wrong with the PC and litigous atmosphere in this country. I simply can't understand the logic behind a decision that is based on the fact that some people are offended, then NO ONE can see it. Not to mention the fact that, as many have pointed out, Chan was a character who always came out on top. How is that a bad thing? It reminds me of the whole Speedy Gonzales thing and Hispanic groups lobbying for those to be forever banned - which they effectively were (although I did see a few on the Chuck Jones show a few weeks ago). I don't recall the guys name, but I was heartened to hear one hispanic activist who came out and explained the speedy was a GOOD character for hispanics to rally behind: he always beat the gringos, was smarter, faster, etc.....

in short, people really really really need to lighten up about this crap.

volvos70turbo

Okay, maybe I am being ultra sensitive. To be truthful, I actually don't really care if it airs or not. One question, does it bother you seeing people like Chris Rock or Dave Chappelle do their 'whiteface' routine?

audrey

So are you saying that productions of Shakespeare, which feature black actors in all the major roles or similar efforts, are inappropriate? Or what about American actors who portray British citizens? Or.... IMO too many people are just too thin skinned these days.

Mutley Hyde

I thought it was damn hilarious when Eddie Murphy went undercover as a white guy on SNL.

Rypro 525

thank you, fox,
imdb.com

Caught in an unexpected controversy over its decision to cancel a "Charlie Chan Festival" after receiving complaints from Asian-American groups, the Fox Movie Channel said Wednesday that it "will schedule Charlie Chan films based on the feedback of its subscribers." Fans of the Chan films had expressed outrage at the original FMC decision to cancel the "festival," observing that the character had always been portrayed respectfully, with particular emphasis on his intellect, ingenuity, and his application of the maxims of Confucius. Tim Lucas, editor of Video Watchdog magazine, told the online CNS News Wednesday that the FMC announcement "shows me that it is beginning to give some credence to the [Chan supporters'] viewpoints, who never had a chance to make their opinion known prior to the decision to cancel."

Mutley Hyde

Damn, now I wish I had cable.

Rypro 525

damn, I wish comcast digital would carry fmc

Scot1458

cool! Send your comments in guys.

f1shf00d

I can't believe that we need to defend racism: the fact that there are people who sit around evaluating the ethnic or racial backgrounds of other human beings sickens me---the only good that can come from censoring these films is that Fox can now release the DVDs sooner with the bright red label, "Banned in the U.S.A."

ChefWinduAZ

I got this from imdb.com :

Rupert Murdoch's Chinese-born wife, Wendi Deng, may have had a hand in the decision by the Fox Movie Channel's decision to scotch a planned Charlie Chan movie festival, the New York Daily News reported Sunday, citing inside sources. A spokesman for the cable channel later denied that that Deng was involved in the decision, saying it was made following protests by several Asian-American groups who complained that the Chan character, portrayed by white actors, perpetuated racial stereotypes.

Mikael79

Until the whole Charlie Chan thing happened, I actually thought that America was starting to right itself from it's previous veering off into "Politically Correct Hell", but it seems I was wrong.

Racism is wrong. There is no defending it. If the Chan movies were made today with white actors playing Chan, I wouldn't be here defending them. BUT, they were made in the 30s and 40s. People evolve, and ideas evolve. What was wrong 70 years ago is different from what is wrong today.

This is the same country that at one time thought that Alice Cooper was the second coming of Satan, and today he's on celebrity golf tours and everyone finds him rather tame. In a few years Marilyn Manson will be reading children's books to kids on PBS.

I have a feeling that many posters HAVE seen Charlie Chan films, yet I also get the impression that many HAVEN'T. At first glance, I thought it was offensive.....until I watched it for five minutes. After you physically watch a Chan film, you learn quick that Charlie Chan is in charge, and he is a hero.

The films were not racist, but the producers were. Is common day Hollywood much different? Do the films of today "aimed" at modern day African Americans really represent the average African American? In 70 years, will people view the 2003 world as racist and idiotic? I wouldn't be surprised.

ChefWinduAZ

I find there to be a big difference between a Charlie Chan film where a white man is playing an Asian character who is a detective who solves crimes and one of those musicals from the 20's, 30's , and 40's where the white actors are in black face and they are clearly making fun of black people. I even saw a clip of Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland in black face. I didn't have much respect for them before I saw the clip but now I definately don't have any respect for them. At least Charlie Chan films showed people that Oriental people could be other things besides butlers, cooks, and field workers.