Discrimination in movie casting seems to be alive and well :(

[Iceburgeruk]

Couldnt believe that news i heard, that they are thinking of having Mickey Rourke play Genghis Khan, I mean seriously come on has the movie industry in the U.S not progressed at all. Its not like there is a shortage of Chinese-American actors who could play the part. But then this sort of casting seems to be a dark shadow which still hangs over hollywood to an extent. People might ask what the big deal is but I`m sure if someone cast Liam Neeson as Martin Luthor King Jr people might see where I am coming from here.

And I don`t know if its a conscious decision on the part of studios and directors, I don`t want to try and throw blame about when many of these decisions might be being made without the people even realising they are adding to descrimination.

Lets be fair though the current situation is that you can only be an asian actor and headline films if you know martial arts. And even then it isnt a total guarantee (Bulletproof Monk, Dragonball, Avatar the Last Airbender). I mean look at Chow Yun Fat, he makes a load of great action movies with him as the main character and then when he moves over to hollywood he ends up playing villains or wise mentor characters. Even Bulletproof Monk had him in a supporting role and that also had that when it was adapted from the source material into film it had the student charatcer changed from asian to white.

And of course if you are unlucky enough to be a middle-eastern, hispanic or West Asian, you certainly arent likely to even be given the time of day. Unless of course you go the Charlie Sheen route and get rid of that pesky estevez surname.

I just think its frightening that in the 21st century in a multicultural nation like America that the media industry can still behave in such a biased manner. Rite angry rant overs. Anyone else similarly annoyed by these things?

 

[GEO]

Sadly, it's been like this forever. The casting of Genghis Khan makes it more obvious, but most movies star a white person as the lead, or at least someone light enough to pass (the charlie estevez... errr sheens of hollywood). Just take a look at most movies, you can't say that only a white person could star since most are generic in time/place.

That's why I'm not bent out of shape at Fox playing Lynch. Although the black/white duo is used quite often in hollywood, mostly with the black person being the jokester, at least Lynch is an equal bad ass and maybe even more compelling than Kane. Many American developed VGs also tend to have the white person as the lead (as well as comic book heros).

I just want to be entertained when I go to the theatres. An asian, Indian (american or from India), Latino, African, Samoan, etc can entertain me just the same. But Hollywood is really scared to give many of these actors a chance.

 

[Tacit Ronin]

Micky Rourke needs a few more botox shots and he will look completely east Asian anyway.

 

[Big Daddy]

Asians aren't really stereotypically seen as a coolest people around (they're smart[according to stereotypes] but that has its downsides), so I don't think an Asian hero would appeal to people other than in a cheesy martial arts movie.

 

[terry78]

Hell, I wasn't even a fan of Wanted, but them giving it to Jolie as opposed to the obvious Halle was a slight.

 

[chaseter]

Bollywood has been doing this for yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaars!!!

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

Do we even need another Genghis Kahn movie? What about the sequel to Mongol?

 

[TNC9852002]

That's gonna be some great makeup work

 

[Octoberist]

I honestly don't care, and I'm Asian myself. But at the sametime, I do think you're bound to see 'white' actors on 90% of American movie posters out there. So why not give us Asian a shot once in a while? The Last Airbender is probably a key example of a miss opportunity, regardless if the characters are meant to be Asian or whatever. (In it's defence, the kid who plays Aang is probably half Asian)

 

[Addendum]

But with the cartoon, not every character in Avatar was voiced by someone of Asian descent.

 

[Octoberist]

I don't think anyone cares about the ethnicity of the cartoon voice actors; more on the live action ones that you can see.

 

[Golgo-13]

Hollywood is like this: if the lead of the movie is white, then the movie is main stream. If the lead of the movie is Black, for example, then it is typically marketed toward the ethnic group that the lead belongs too. There are some exceptions like in the case of actors like Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, but for the most part this is how it is. I believe they feel, if the lead is white, then they'll maximize their profits as 60% + of the country is white....

 

[Octoberist]

it's kinda like the new Nightmare on Elm Street. I thought it would have been perfect if they had a diverse cast representing today but no..it was mostly white supermodels. Okay back in the 80s, questionable now. It doesn't make or break that movie, but still.

 

[terry78]

Brown and yellow people are a niche demographic, man. That's just how it is.

 

[Sentinel X]

The last airbender is just a perfect example...they took the 3 main asian characters and made them white. Its already tough as at is for asians to find good acting roles in hollywood and of all the minorities I'd say they're the most victimized of this type of discrimination, imo.
Anyways, as much as I love the show, I don't think I will give money to this or other movies that continue to do this. Its just ridiculous.

 

[bullets]

I think it's ridiculous they don't tap into overseas talent when so much of it is out there.

 

[Octoberist]

The last airbender is just a perfect example...they took the 3 main asian characters and made them white. Its already tough as at is for asians to find good acting roles in hollywood and of all the minorities I'd say they're the most victimized of this type of discrimination, imo.
Anyways, as much as I love the show, I don't think I will give money to this or other movies that continue to do this. Its just ridiculous.

I'm tellin' ya, my Asian-sense are tingling with Noah Ringer. I

 

[Project862006]

funny thing is aang is the only character in the show i did'nt see as asian everyone else was obvious

 

[Matt]

Food for thought: What if Rourke gave the best performance out of all of those who auditioned? In that case, wouldn't it be discrimination if they did NOT cast him?

 

[ChickenScratch]

Happens all the time. Chinese play Japanese, Koreans playing Japanese, John Wayne playing Genghis Khan, white actors playing native Americans in cowboy movies. It is what it is, live with it or don't watch it. I'm pretty sure they would cast a white person to play an Indian if they can get away with it so my Indian brothers don't have much worry ... wait, just remembered Ben Kingsley playing Gandhi.

 

[roach]

Happens all the time. Chinese play Japanese, Koreans playing Japanese, John Wayne playing Genghis Khan, white actors playing native Americans in cowboy movies. It is what it is, live with it or don't watch it. I'm pretty sure they would cast a white person to play an Indian if they can get away with it so my Indian brothers don't have much worry ... wait, just remembered Ben Kingsley playing Gandhi.

ummmm..... Johnny Depp is supposedly playing Tonto in the Lone Ranger movie

 

[Thundarr]

Mickey Rourke as Ghengis Khan? I'm sorry, but that's just stupid. There are plenty of Asian actors out there who are well known enough to draw at the box office in the lead role. Chow Yung Fat, Jet Li, Bolo Yeung, Al Leong, and these are just off the top of my head. I'm sure if you'd hold an audition you could find plenty of talented Asian actors.

And by the way, I LOVE that Dave Chapel sketch.

"So let me get this straight. Tom Cruise is The Last Samurai, and Brad Pitt is The Mexican? I've got a movie for Hollywood. It's called 'The Last N!&&er On Earth', starring Tom Hanks!"

 

[Venom]

Food for thought: What if Rourke gave the best performance out of all of those who auditioned? In that case, wouldn't it be discrimination if they did NOT cast him?

Very good question. I'd actually say he shouldn't have gotten an audition in the first place.

 

[roach]

or what if no one but MR wanted the role

 

[Figs]

They have been doing theese kind of things for years. This reminds me of the Chapelle show, where the comedian Paul Mooney reviews some movies. He goes into a rant about how offensive it is for the asians, that Tom Cruise is the Last Samurai. The best bit however, is when he lays out his own idea for a movie - "The last "N-word" on earth" Starring Tom Hanks.

Check out the video

http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=219442&title=mooney-on-movies

Although I agree that Hollywood should grow a pair of balls and give a chance to non white actors for roles that they should get but I just had to point out something about the Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai thing.

Samurai stands for plural as well. So it wasn't that Tom Cruise was the last samurai but he rode with the last samurai. Just because he helped them and actually suited up doesn't mean he became an official samurai.

Just a nit pick but I do agree that Hollywood should take more chances. I know that they want "names" to bring in the audience but they still take it too far with some of their choices.