I’m obviously still working on my own privelege, but even from an ignoring-race-utterly viewpoint, that question is just so STUPID.

When I saw the movie, I remember how lackluster and unbelievable the romance was between these two characters and how I was not invested in it emotionally and I find it hard to believe that that is what Jet wanted for the film as it was to be his great American breakout movie. The mpvie did not do well at the Box Office either and I wonder if that was part of the reason why, as it had a good Af-Am cast.

I also find his reasoning a little harder to believe because I’d seen his earlier films (Once Upon A Time In China) and he managed to be far more of a romantic character in them then he was in Romeo Must Die. (He was also more funny and charming then in any of the American films he’s made to date.) To be fair however Chinese movies do tend to have a lot less sex in them and Japanese films have a lot of men acting like brutes. (Maybe these are the only Japanese films that get released in America or I just need to pick better movies.)

It makes me wonder if he was right about Chinese society or if he was pressured by Hollywood to tone down the relationship between the two characters in the film.

That said, I see no reason why an American born Asian can’t be seen in romantic roles. That people in Asia won’t like it certainly can’t be used as an excuse with Asian actors born in this country. I have yet to see John Cho, Daniel Dae Kim and a host of other Asian actors (who do not do martial arts) as anything other than nerds and comedy relief and in the case of Lost an oppressive husband whose wife seems to hate and fear him.

rhonda, whites cast as non-whites is a lot older than Kung Fu. In American movies whites were cast as non-whites from the beginning, and earlier than that in the theater. Othello was played by white actors since the play was written — when Desdemona was played by a boy.

xgoestoinfinity: “Is there a name for a personality complex in which one thinks everything looks like them and everything was and should be made for them and them alone and should be about them and “to-Hell-with-you-go-watch-Tyler-Perry” if you disagree? This is just too crazy to be just narcissism.” “Ethnocentrism” might be the word for it. It’s not a “personality complex”, though, it’s cultural, and it’s not limited to white Americans. Which doesn’t excuse it, of course.

As to ANYONE making the argument that POC don’t make money, I would challenge them that there are very few women *of ANY color* in my age group who wouldn’t pay good money to watch Denzel Washington BREATHE.

And then there’s Tyler Perry, who pisses me off with his “tragic mulatto” stories and perpetuation of the Jezebel/Mammy/Sapphire stereotypes in his movies. Seriously. I watch his movies and see he must REALLY hate black women with their portrayals.

“Write good shit, put good PoC actors in them and hey presto! There will be more household POC names!

And don’t TELL ME this fucking NONSENSE that Hollywood does it because of profit-only, free market, blah blah blah ostrich-in-the-sand BULLSHIT.”

This.

Is there a name for a personality complex in which one thinks everything looks like them and everything was and should be made for them and them alone and should be about them and “to-Hell-with-you-go-watch-Tyler-Perry” if you disagree? This is just too crazy to be just narcissism. *shrug*

Maybe there’s a name. Just too tired and enraged to think =/

And now that we’ve settled that ignorant argument, time to demolish the BS nonsense that there aren’t enough POC actors and actresses to take on those roles that they keep giving the white people. That too, is some old BULLSHIT.

In addition to that bullshit is something else worth noting: how many actors of color aren’t even obscure because they can’t even get their faces online? Once upon a time, a group of actors I knew did a reading of one of my screenplays for me. Somehow, an African-American woman ended up playing the narcissistic white guy. She’d never seen the script before, knew nothing about this complicated character, yet she blew us all away. Big time. I’m a fan of acting like some people are fans of sports – I watch it, I analyze it, I’m endlessly fascinated by the craft and people who do it well (or even interestingly). I will never forget her performance. And yet, she has no entry on IMDB. She never made it. Would she have made it if she were white and all else were equal? Possibly not – white people fail out all the time, too. But there’s no doubt in my mind her race was a factor against her, and that’s largely because we screenwriters were taught not to specify race in screenplays, not to focus “too much” on women.