mikenyc

Courtesy of Reuters....

Complaints Doom Charlie Chan TV Fest

Tue July 1, 2003 02:02 AM ET
By Steve Brennan

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - There's got to be an ancient Chinese proverb to fit the bill for Fox Movie Channel's dilemma over its nixed plans for a Charlie Chan film festival.

The classic-movie cable network has decided not to air a collection of old movies featuring the fictional Chinese detective after receiving complaints from members of the Asian-American community that the movies are racially offensive.

While lauding the decision to veto Chan on Monday, Karen Narasaki, a leading Washington-based advocate on Asian-American issues, said that "it's kind of shocking that (a Chan festival) would even occur to them."

The Charlie Chan movies have long been a controversial chapter in film history because non-Asian actors were tapped for the lead in the most famous film adaptations of the savvy detective character created by novelist Earl Derr Biggers.

Warner Oland starred in 16 Charlie Chan pictures for Fox from 1931-37, starting with "Charlie Chan Carries On." Sidney Toler took on the role in nearly two dozen features from 1938-47, starting with "Charlie Chan in Honolulu."

While the Asian-American community applauded Fox Movie Channel's decision to scrap the festival, http://www.CharlieChan.net, a Web site for Chan fans, polled visitors to ask them whether "the Fox Movie Channel's decision to cancel the Charlie Chan festival" was the right thing to do, an overreaction or "a joke."

A spokesman for Fox Movie Channel confirmed that he had spent "much of the day (Monday) hearing from viewers who were extremely upset by the decision."

A statement posted at the Fox Movie Channel Web site said: "Originally restored to meet the requests of mystery fans and film preservation buffs, Fox Movie Channel scheduled these films in a showcase intended to illustrate the positive aspects of these movies, such as the complex story lines/characters and Charlie Chan's great intellect. Additionally, numerous subscribers to Fox Movie Channel as well as film historians have long requested that Fox Movie Channel broadcast these films.

"However, Fox Movie Channel has been made aware that the Charlie Chan films may contain situations or depictions that are sensitive to some viewers. Fox Movie Channel realizes that these historic films were produced at a time where racial sensitivities were not as they are today. As a result of the public response to the airing of these films, Fox Movie Channel will remove them from the schedule."

Narasaki, who heads the influential National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium, said, "I have to applaud Fox because they responded in a way that many corporations would not and because they had the courage to say, 'Our initial decision was wrong.'

"There is a lot of discussion about films that involve African-Americans -- for example, D.W. Griffiths' 'Birth of a Nation' -- and people understand that all this is part of the past, and it's best to move on from that. It might not have occurred to (Fox) that showing somebody playing in yellowface is basically a very emotional subject for the Asian-American community. But I applaud Fox for responding as they did."

The channel's spokesman did confirm that in response to "many thoughtful letters" from members of the Asian-American community, they had viewed the 22 Chan movies that had been scheduled and realized that 10 of them featured characters in painted face. "It's easy to see how these would be highly offensive," the spokesman said.

Narasaki said part of the Asian community's stance on the old Chan movies is the stereotypical way in which the detective is portrayed and by the fact that the role is not even played by an actor of Chinese origin.

"The thing is that you have someone who is playing what people thought Asians were at that time and using very stereotypical ways to do that," she said.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

http://asia.reuters.com/newsArticle....toryID=3016438

LBPound

I'm so sick of this kind of crap - if you're offended by something, don't watch it, don't buy it.

Mutley Hyde

Racist bastard.

















Actually, I agree with ya 100%.

Derrich

Up next, the Amos and Andy marathon.

D

Panda Phil

There are people working hard to maintain and improve race relations in America.

And then there are these whiney crybabies.

kevin75

devilshalo

I say hand them all over to Turner and have them digitally replace the caucasian actors with more appropriate asian actors.

QuAcKeR

This is so annoying. I was looking forward to seeing these films!
Go to the Fox Movie Channel web site and register a complaint. I know it won't bring back the festival, but as least it'll show support from the other side as well. Here's what I sent:

As a film student who has very recently graduated from college I was very excited when I found out about the Charlie Chan film festival. Among my many classes, one class was devoted solely to race and cinema. While we watched many films in that course, we did not get a chance to view any Charlie Chan movies. The Fox Movie Channel marathon would have been an excellent opportunity to study and learn about these films. I do not believe that history should be shelved and censored simply because certain people oppose it. There will always be a group out there ready to step up and show hypersensitivity over something, and the Charlie Chan festival merely became a victim of such trivial complaints. Famed Chinese cinematographer James Wong Howe was usually credited only as James Howe, but that does not mean we should boycott the dozens of great films he helped to make. The same logic holds true for Charlie Chan films. While the treatment of race in society was different in the early days of cinema, we should not discredit important aspects of cinematic history. While I realize that my e-mail will not bring back the festival, I do hope that the Fox Movie Channel will somehow make the Charlie Chan films available, be it on DVD or through a postponed marathon.

Thank you for your time.

There's a popup here that links to where you can submit comments.

PatrickMcCart

More movie facism...

I hope they're happy that they're promoting film censorship.

In the mean time, write to Fox supporting them and the Chan films. We can't let those who support censorship get in the way of what WE want to watch.

It's hardly like that. Turner has actually been superb in keeping stuff like that in circulation. Fox should have let Turner Classic Movies run the movies...they have more courageous people working there. (They once ran a minstrel show novelty as filler in prime time! That takes guts.)

volvos70turbo

This is not a case of 'hyper sensitivity'. This show had a Caucasian actor portray himself as a Chinese man. Can you not see why this is wrong? Would it be okay if a Chinese TV show had a bunch of Asians walking around talking like 'hicks'?

bothanspy

[aniston] I love Kung Fu. [/aniston]

Seriously, Birth of A Nation still airs, is still considered a monumental work, and is blatantly racist. Hal the movies in America that have FOB-e Indian (Asian) people in them, arent even portrayed by Indian people and nobody raises a stink about that. Its part of the culture.
Charlie Chan is part of historical culture and should be viewed as a reflection on that culture, and not as an endorsement of current culture. I hate this revisionist history.

Buck Turgidson

Whether or not it's justified, that character (and especially all that "Number One Son" pidgin English jazz) is loathed by most Asian-Americans. He's their Amos and Andy.

Revoltor

Under that logic, they oughtta stop airing Remo Williams and the Tracey Ulman show.

mikenyc

"This is not a case of 'hyper sensitivity'. This show had a Caucasian actor portray himself as a Chinese man. Can you not see why this is wrong? Would it be okay if a Chinese TV show had a bunch of Asians walking around talking like 'hicks'?"

Yes, I'd love to see it. Why ?

Because it promotes the free exchange of ideas, NOT censorship by the very, very "few" who, for one stupid reason or another, would LOVE to withhold something to express their social power, rather than engage in a sincere dialogue and exchange of honest feelings.

If these asian americans don't like it, then register your complaints, BUT using your ethnic heritage as a psychological
"crutch", just for the reason of extending your power over other people, and prevailing your opinion over others, is equally reprehensible and, well, racist !

marty888

Of course it is wrong - or, more accurately, was wrong. It is a part of film history, and yes, a part of American history that these types of depictions were completely acceptable in the past. Pretending that this type of "casual" discrimination never existed (by hiding the films away) serves no purpose. The use of a simple disclaimer would have sufficed, and the exposure to these films may very well have caused many people to think "wow, can't believe how insensitive we all used to be". We should learn from the past, not hide it.

Scot1458

Amos and Andy are freakin hillarous. The tv show isn't as good as the radio show, but I don't see how it's racist. It's as racist as Sanford and Son. At least blacks were represented.

These PC Nazis have done it again. I want to complain about The Godfather...that's racist to everything Italian.

davejt1

I realy don't want to get into a flame war on either side of the issue, here, but thought I'd pop in with my 2 cents:

I remember watching the old Charlie Chan movies on Saturday afternoons when I was a kid. I loved them - good stories and the "twist" when the real killer/thief/etc. is revealed was always fun - I never could guess these correctly.

Keep in mind, these films were made in the 30's and 40's. There was a certain mindset at that time - there was a given norm in the way people behaved, talked, and treated others who were different from themselves. Our society has changed and evolved - both for the good and the bad.

Instead of burying such films, I believe that these should be shown and discussed. Especially if you have children - something like this would really open up a conversation with them about tolerance and individual differences. It's funny, but I believe such films can actually be helpful in encouraging an open, honest dialogue about race/ethnic differences and explain why such portrayals are offensive today. How does that phrase go - something about learning from our past mistakes so as to prevent them from happening again? How can you learn from a mistake if you have no recollection or evidence of it ever occurring in the first place? I never even realized that a non-Oriental actor portrayed Charlie Chan (of course, I was also 9 or 10 at the time I watched these). [side note - thought balloon over my head]Boy, you do learn something new here everyday on this forum. [/side note]

Anyway, back to my story: If a non-Oriental actor were made-up to portray Charlie Chan in such a manner today, I, too, would be offended given how far our society has advanced since that time. However, given that these films were made so long ago, I would like to see them and evaluate them within that context.

Scot1458

The best part about this crap, is that christians voice thier disporoval at various films/tv series, and we are told to shut up as it's "Art".

Hypocritical knotheads.

Groucho

Uh, where in the article does it state that:

1. The group complaining isn't Christian

2. The group complaining has told Christians in the past "shut up as it's art"

Not everything is about religion, Scot.

Dimension X

Here are a few more movies that should be banned then.

Across the Wide Missouri (1951)
Cheyenne Autumn (1964)
(Ricardo Montalban isn't Native American)

Broken Arrow (1950)
(Jeff Chandler and Debra Paget weren't Native Americans)

The Outrage (1964)
(Paul Newman isn't Mexican)

The Conqueror (1956)
(John Wayne wasn't Asian)

The Ten Commandments (1956)
The King and I (1956)
Invitation to a Gunfighter (1964)
Westworld (1973)
(Yul Brynner wasn't Egyptian, Siamese, half African-American, or a Robot)

They Died with Their Boots On (1941)
Buffalo Bill (1944)
China Sky (1945)
Sinbad the Sailor (1947)
La Strada (1954)
Attila (1954)
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Zorba the Greek (1964)
Marco the Magnificent (1965)
The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969)
The Greek Tycoon (1978)
(Anthony Quinn wasn't [fill-in-the-blank])

Edited to throw in a few more:

The Face of Fu Manchu (1965)
The Brides of Fu Manchu (1966)
The Vengeance of Fu Manchu (1967)
The Blood of Fu Manchu (1968)
Castle of Fu Manchu (1972)

Murder by Death (1976)
The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (1980)

7 Faces of Dr. Lao (1964)
(To the best of my knowledge, neither Christopher Lee, Peter Sellers, nor Tony Randall are now, or ever have been, Chinese)

Dr. DVD

Surprised the Asian American rep. said she was surprised Fox took action and that it was "atypical" of a corporation to do so. It is without a dobut the most corporate thing to do IMO, especially in terms of studios.
Something might jeopardize our flow of $$$$?!? Well, don't do it then! Screw history preservation, money talks muthaf***a!!

marty888

Uh-oh ..... does this mean that we can't watch Breakfast at Tiffany's anymore? Unless you all know something about Mickey Rooney that I don't.

Derrich

There's a difference between an actor portraying a different race and an actor portraying a racial stereotype. Amos and Andy is a far cry from Sanford and son. The King and I isn't the same as Charlie Chan.

It's not a free change of ideas when the only exchange is one-sided and obviously rascist.

D

volvos70turbo

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.

volvos70turbo

The problem is that their plan was to celebrate the Charlie Chan series. I agree we should not bury the past, but people have to understand how hurtful these types of stereotypes can be.