The Movie "21" apparently has cast White actors for people who are Asian. link The new movie 21, based on the true story of a group of MIT students who take Las Vegas casinos for millions by perfecting the art of card counting, is gaining a lot of press before it hits theaters on March 28. The movie, which stars Jim Sturgess (Across the Universe), Kate Bosworth (Blue Crush) and Kevin Spacey (all of these), opened the SXSW festival. But not all of the press it's getting is the good kind. It seems that the main players on the MIT card-counting team were Asian and were "recast" by Hollywood movie execs for white actors. A recent article in AsianWeek complained about this trend, deeming it a "whitewashing" of historical events. The author of the book the story is based on called it "stereotypical" casting. I didn't know much about the MIT team and hadn't read the book, Bringing Down the House, that the movie is based on. But Hollywood has a long history of distorting facts or rearranging stories because execs think it will be more palatable and/or profitable. Gender, race, political affiliation, motive ... all appear to be flexible when it comes to big screen adaptations. In this case, some think the race of the characters is central to the plot. Allegedly, part of the reason the group was so successful was that they didn't fit the stereotype of a card counter (young, brainy-looking, male and Caucasian). According to an article on Wired.com: The MIT team thrived by choosing BPs who fit the casino mold of the young, foolish, and wealthy. Primarily nonwhite, either Asian or Middle Eastern, these were the kids the casinos were accustomed to seeing bet a thousand bucks a hand. Like many on the team, Kevin Lewis was part Asian, and could pass as the child of a rich Chinese or Japanese executive. "When you're recruiting, you don't recruit white kids. They look conspicuous. Asian kids, Greek kids, dark skin fits in better with lots of money in the casinos. White 20-year-olds with $2 million bankrolls stand out," explains Andrew Tay, one of Lewis' teammates. "A geeky Asian kid with $100,000 in his wallet didn't raise any eyebrows." What do you think of the controversy? Is it justified?
I think Hollywood thought I wouldn't be able to identify with an Asian-American protagonist. That's a bit insulting. I also think sticking yet more white people in a movie makes it more boring. But, as for historical accuracy, changing the race of a couple of people is probably minor compared to some butcheries of the facts Hollywood has committed.
asian-anti-invasion! you have liked to see an asian take the lead role. but i grew up watching tv where there were hardly any asians to begin with. everytime i saw an asian on tv, id get all excited "OOH AN ASIAN!!!"
I saw the movie and was at the premiere @SXSW with the real guy / writer and actor. this question was addressed. the main guy signed off on it. and there were asians in the movie. i believe he said "its all love". I thought the movie was great, it wasn't overly 'hollywood'. got questions about the movie? tinman will answer
but does this include all the negative portrayls of asian americans, I remember in particular a gilligan's island episode with a japanese soilder stuck on the island who didn't know the war was over just throwing that out there, not arguing that hollywood today has to make up for the past. i guess since the movie isn't based on race its no big deal. although I tend to agree with juanvaldez that its also an insult to the consumer
my favorite was when they re-made Hamlet as a musical for famous movie producer Harold Hecuba. Let's see "Lost" beat that.
Hollywood studios are like cattle. If one studio does something successfully, they all do it the same way with minor variations to call it new. For example, you always see the same movie twice but with different titles (The Descent and The Cave, Powder and Phenomenon, Red Planet and Mission to Mars, etc, etc.) What got me fried after a while was every movie had to have one blonde, one Asian and one black (Charlie's Angels); black and white partners (I Spy. Lethal Weapon etc.) -- because the movies had to be politically correct. In a way, the movie industry has promoted racism for years. One day the industry truly will turn a blind eye and go strictly for ability, regardless of race. Sidney Poitier, Katherine Hepburn, Orson Wells (a fat guy), etc. would be great actors in any generation. When we can stop thinking about it, the "difference" will go away.
I'm dissapointed that in 2008 something like this would still happen but Hollywood has come a long way since Bruce Lee was turned down in the lead for Kung Fu. Unfortunately for us Asians I think something like this isn't so much outright racism but formulaic Hollywood casting. My guess is that casting decisions were based more on putting together a young good looking but somewhat 'B' list cast with the exception of Kevin Spacey. In this case the pool of Asian and Indian actors is probably smaller than white kids. In general though in the past 15 years Hollywood has gotten better about casting minorities and actors like Will Smith and Denzel Washington have gotten roles that were originally written for white actors. Unfortunately for us Asians we're not quite there yet but that a movie like Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle could get made or that Daniel Dae Kim and Naveen Andrews could have major roles in a hit TV show are good signs. I also get the feeling that if Chow Yun Fat could speak unaccented english you will see him in a leading role for a character that wasn't written for an Asian.
rocketsjudoka, Jeff Ma ok-ed it. Its not like he was ticked off about it either. before people start 'blaming' hollywood etc, watch the movie. he even plays a blackjack dealer in the movie: http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2673972736/tt0478087
there are 2 asians in the movie and jeff ma (the real card counter makes a cameo appearance). and morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) is in it too. let's say its all asians as the card counters. then the movie will turn into: unfortunately if you have a cast of all asians, then people think more about it as an 'asian' movie.
I'm still angry that Passion of the Christ wasn't played by Denzel Washington. Oh well... it sucks, but what can a movie downloader do?
anyone who is upset over white people playing asians in this movie is a self-righeous over-sensitive drama queen.
eh, I'm not worried about this. There's already a disproportionate number of asian americans that run whats going on behind the scenes in hollywood. It's better to run the industry than just be the spokesperson for it.
put Asians in the lead role of that film and it probably drops its box office pull by at least 20-25%
