After protests from Asian American groups, Fox Movie Channel will broadcast the following panel discussion segment in connection with its Charlie Chan Film Festival this month.
George Takei,
Moderator:
Hello and welcome. I am George Takei. You’re watching Fox Movie Channel.
I’m here with a group of prominent Asian-Americans talking about racial issues
raised by Charlie Chan films. Murder Over New York is one of forty odd movies
made in the 1930s and 40s about the intrepid Chinese police detective from
Honolulu.
In the film, the police chief says, “I want every Hindu in town rounded up,”
when the suspected killer is of Indian descent. He goes on to call the suspect,
“Ali Baba.”
Historically, what do these films tell us about Hollywood and Society a half a
century ago?
Let’s open this discussion with Stephen Gong.
Stephen Gong, Associate Director, Berkeley Art
Museum:
Well, one of the things to keep in mind about this film is that it was made in
1940, just before the U. S. entered the war and yet the war is just on the
horizon, so you can see that the whole murder plot revolves around the
sabotaging of U. S. bombers that are bound for England.
It is a reminder that so many of the Charlie Chan films were tied to a specific
place in their history and were very topical for the audiences of the day.
Frank Wu, Professor, Howard University:
http://www.law.howard.edu/faculty/pages/fwu/
http://www.tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/8681
What makes it hard to talk about these issues often, though, and this hasn’t
changed very much, is if you’re Asian, there’s a perception that you can’t
be Asian-American. You can’t be a real, one hundred percent, red-blooded
citizen of the United States.
So that when we raise these issues sometimes, people say, “well, what are you
complaining about? You’re doing better than you would be in your homeland.”
Or, “if you don’t like it here, just go-back-to-where-you-came-from.”
Well, y’know, I’m from Cleveland (laughs), so things aren’t that much
different there.
And that’s what hard about talking about these issues, that often, people
look, and because we talk about racist/races, black and white, they look and
they see - “well, it’s about Asians; that’s not about race, that’s just
about them foreigners.”
And it’s trying to explain, “No, you _can_ be both Asian and live here;
intend to stay here - not be a tourist or a guest - but be someone indeed who
was born here and who very much wants to belong - and when we watch these
movies, it’s just a reminder that we don’t quite belong, no matter how hard
we try.
Ken Narasaki, APA Media Coalition:
http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0621238/
http://www.naatanet.org/forumarchive/charliechan.html
I wanted to talk about that scene in which the policeman says,” I want every
Hindu in town rounded up.”
I’ve had people tell me, “Well, y’know, actually the Chinese in these
Charlie Chan films are treated quite well. And it’s really the other people
who get it badly, so what are you complaining about?”
But I think that sort of speaks to one peculiar position of Asian-Americans in
this society, that we’re often used as the example of that this society really
isn’t racist, because “look at you people, you’re going just great.
Y’know, maybe if those other guys followed your example,” uh, and I think
this is sort of like a small example of that in this film, where they
distinguish between the South Asians and Charlie Chan and his family.
I think African-Americans often times were in these same films treated very
terribly, and I do think that just because we are treated _better_ in these
films doesn’t make it any reason to ignore the fact that these films contain a
lot of racist images.
Dr. Peter X. Feng, Professor, University of
Delaware
http://www.udel.edu/PR/NewsReleases/2004/sep/9-11-03/expert.html
Well, if we’re talking about Hollywood films, I think changes happen very,
very slowly.
Right now in Hollywood, we have an interesting phenomenon where there have been
several attempts to create opportunities for certain stars formerly of Hong Kong
cinema.
In particular, I’m thinking of Chow Yun Fat and Jet Li and Jackie Chan. I
think that the visibility for those actors who are clearly always marked as
foreign, clearly still speaking with foreign accents, the characters are also
never described as American, they are always described as being from overseas; I
don’t think it’s created more opportunities for Asian-American actors.
Parry Shen, Actor, Better Luck Tomorrow: http://www.parryshen.com/
The film that Roger and I just did, we were basically in every single major
magazine, newspaper, television show. Critically acclaimed, and we figured,
“Okay! This is it. This is what’s going to send us off, and maybe help, help
send in a new era”.
But after the film, after all that, it sort of - there was still a ceiling. That
just shows this sort of limited thinking, that there - that comes from a bygone
era. That we still are up against. Despite all the great work that people - not
just actors that, just us - other people who have come before us, still find
that there _is_ a ceiling, because the people are so limited to the views that
they have cemented in their heads
Roger Fan, Actor, Better Luck Tomorrow:
I think what held us back was, “Okay, you’re reached a certain level in your
profession. And where do you put that person next?”
And it came down to the conversations that Parry and I were having was, “Okay,
we love you guys, we think you’re talented. But we’re here to make money.
We’re not here to change and... or accelerate the evolution of time.” And I
think that was one of those things where I went like, “Ohhhh, okay. So,
basically there just isn’t a market that has been created, where people want
to see you, and hence they will put box office dollars down to see you.
Frank Wu:
When Bruce Lee became big, he was a hero. Y’know, no one had seen an Asian
lead actor like that in a role. And so - before that, it’s hard for us to
think of an era before Asians were martial arts experts, kung fu, black belt,
but what this shows is how powerful these images are.
Here you have a role that we can all applaud. We can look at Bruce Lee and say,
“That’s terrific, that’s wonderful.” That he’s broken through like
that. He’s a mainstream success, until his tragic death.
And yet, even _that_ quickly degenerates into a stereotype.
Y’know, “Ching Chong, Ching Chong.”
Kids come up to me on the street _to this day_ - - not every day, but at least
once a year some kid comes up and starts doing these kung fu moves.
So that’s what these images _do_ - - they just seep into our culture, they
rattle around in our heads, they tell us “that’s what you’re supposed to
be.”
Helen Zia, Author and Journalist:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2003-08-14-zia-usat_x.htm
http://www.geocities.com/riverlotus/apa/apa5-17.html
It’s interesting that you talk about the Kung Fu movies and the martial arts,
because of course one of the early Kung Fu movies was Kung Fu. And here we have
the lead star, where Bruce Lee was really slated and expected to play that lead
role, was not cast as that. And instead, a white actor, David Carradine - in
yellowface, again - played that role.
And, in fact, we can only imagine how much more improved that character would
have been had it been a real Asian who really was a martial arts hero.
Frank Wu:
And in some ways I think they went with Carradine because of a lingering kind of
influence of Charlie Chan.
I mean, think about Bruce Lee, and think about that character. Bruce Lee,
swaggering through the West. No. They had in mind - they wanted to get across -
this peace, love, mysticism philosophy, and they found in David Carradine
somebody who’s much more elegant and soft spoken that they could get it
across.
This great line, my favorite line, from David Henry Hwang’s Tony award-wining
play, M Butterfly, which involves a character who cross dresses, and somebody
says, “Do you know why it is that men play all the female roles in the Peking
Opera?” And the answer is, “because only a man knows how a woman is
_supposed_ to behave.”
And I feel that’s the same thing with the casting of David Carradine. “Bruce
Lee, you don’t know how you’re _supposed_ to behave. That’s not how
Chinese people are supposed to behave. David Carradine, he knows how Chinese
people are supposed to behave.”
Yvonne Lee, Ex- U. S. Civil Rights Commissioner:
We have to remember that Bruce Lee was a struggling Asian-American actor, trying
to find any role. And it only got, it took him to Asia, to Hong Kong, to make it
big, and then return back here. So, that’s the irony - that he started out
here, could not have the opportunity, had to go overseas, make it big, and then
return as an action hero.
Transcribed by Jan Willis