All Asians Are Not The Same

[+ Avalon]

Does anyone know if Asians are offended when their nationalities are misidentified?

 

Like on "Fresh Off The Boat". It's about a Chinese family but the actor playing the father is played by a Korean. George Takei has made several appearances. His name is "Bernard"; I don't know what nationality his character is suppose to be.

 

On the old "M*A*S*H" many Korean characters were played by non Koreans.

 

I had always thought the character Harry Kim on "Voyager" was Korean but to my surprise I discovered that he was Chinese. The actor is Chinese.

 

https://forum.galacticwatercooler.com/archive/index.php/t-11889.html

[nynakedtop]

Does anyone know if Asians are offended when their nationalities are misidentified?

 

Like on "Fresh Off The Boat". It's about a Chinese family but the actor playing the father is played by a Korean. George Takei has made several appearances. His name is "Bernard"; I don't know what nationality his character is suppose to be.

 

On the old "M*A*S*H" many Korean characters were played by non Koreans.

 

I had always thought the character Harry Kim on "Voyager" was Korean but to my surprise I discovered that he was Chinese. The actor is Chinese.

 

https://forum.galacticwatercooler.com/archive/index.php/t-11889.html

 

 

in a word... yes...

 

particularly given the master-narrative of essentializing and fetishizing the "other-ness" of asians, why wouldn't they be?

[510guy]

As an Asian I guess I can answer this.

 

Asian people in general don't get as easily offended to the point where we make a fuss. If you are familiar with the World Series this year a baseball player on Houston Astros made a slanted eye gesture towards Yu Darvish of the LA Dodgers who is half Japanese. darvish's was very gracious and said don't make a big deal out of it.

 

But to answer question, I won't say offended but it it just highlights the naive of people to expect a Japanese person to play a Chinese. This was an issue when Joy Luck Club came out which was about Chinese women. The goal was to find Chinese actresses but they could not find right fit so they settled for Japanese and Filipina in one instance I think.

 

I will also say that Asians in general are racist. I have been around enough of them (my whole life). So we won't cry racism if it happens. Bit there is a sense of "we are better than you" even towards other Asian races.

[Walker1]

If you cast an American white as a German-would that be offensive? I know some Hispanics that get offended when they are called Mexican-they could be from El Salvador or Panama .

 

I think it stems from ignorance-people just don't know.

[LoveAustinCF]

If you try to look up the history between the Asian countries then it's something that's very easy to understand.

[+ Avalon]

If you cast an American white as a German-would that be offensive? I know some Hispanics that get offended when they are called Mexican-they could be from El Salvador or Panama .

 

I think it stems from ignorance-people just don't know.

 

But there are many German-Americans. They are the largest minority in the USA.

 

"German Americans (German: Deutschamerikaner) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 44 million in 2016, German Americans are the largest of the ancestry groups reported by the US Census Bureau in its American Community Survey. The group accounts for about one third of the total ethnic German population in the world."

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Americans

[LookingAround]

Lots of British actors have played Americans such as Damian Lewis playing Nicholas Brody in Homeland. Lots of Americans have played Russians—see the Hunt for Red October. Should white people be offended?

[Maxl]

As an Asian, I will not feel offended when misientified but think it is normal (real hostility is another thing). It should not be taken for granted that the people of other cuntrual background could make the same judgements as mine. Mostly, this is a good opportunity to open a conversation, isn't it?

 

I cannot represent anyone but myself.

[+ poolboy48220]

I'm continually surprised by how many actors on "The Walking Dead" (including Rick/Andrew Lincoln) are British.

 

I think it's kind of cool when casting ignores race or nationality. When Denzel Washington was cast as Keanu Reeve's brother in "Much Ado About Nothing", I was initially confused, but then thought it was brilliant. Oddly enough, hair color matters to me. A brunette, not blond, Barry Allen in "The Flash"? A barely-red-headed Ben Affleck as Daredevil? Argh.

 

There was an old King of the Hill episode where the guys were talking to their new Asian neighbor at a neighborhood barbeque. They asked "Are you Chinese, or Japanese?" He said he was from Laos and explained where it was. The guys looked confused, then asked again "So are you Chinese, or Japanese?"

[MikeBiDude]

Lots of British actors have played Americans such as Damian Lewis playing Nicholas Brody in Homeland. Lots of Americans have played Russians—see the Hunt for Red October. Should white people be offended?

[marylander1940]

Does anyone know if Asians are offended when their nationalities are misidentified?

 

Like on "Fresh Off The Boat". It's about a Chinese family but the actor playing the father is played by a Korean. George Takei has made several appearances. His name is "Bernard"; I don't know what nationality his character is suppose to be.

 

On the old "M*A*S*H" many Korean characters were played by non Koreans.

 

I had always thought the character Harry Kim on "Voyager" was Korean but to my surprise I discovered that he was Chinese. The actor is Chinese.

 

https://forum.galacticwatercooler.com/archive/index.php/t-11889.html

 

Are you Asian?

 

Can Asians tell a block away if someone is Chinese, Korean or Japanese?

 

I know that in Korea "ugly like a Japanese" is a terrible insult.

 

I do know Puerto Ricans who get offended if confused with anybody else, including Cubans.

I'm surprised about it because I find Cubans to be one of the most successful immigrations we ever received, very similar to Jews, Iranians, Indians and Greeks.

[foxy]

My dentist is an Indian woman. I once asked her where she was from, meaning what part of India. She answered “Seattle” and we both laughed. She went on to say she has never been to India, was born in the US and her parents were from two different parts of India and came to the US when they were young. She couldn’t remember where they were born. It’s not always easy to ask a question out of curiosity and not make it sound racist. “ What are you?” doesn’t quite work. I find when I meet someone who has an unusual name I struggle to find the right words also. I’d like to think most people would not be offended if you ask about their nationality but it’s not always easy to ask.

[Whitman]

From Movieline.com (2011): Mr. Yunioshi is shocking to behold. To say the character and performance don't hold up today is an understatement; at the time the caricature may have been accepted and written off as merely colorful comedic slapstick, but many decades of social progression later, it's clearly downright racist. "Miss Go-right-ry!" Rooney calls to Hepburn, affecting an outlandishly extreme "Asian" accent. With his gnarly prosthetic teeth, slicked back hair, Coke-bottle glasses and squinty eyes, he's an uncanny personification of WWII-era anti-Japanese propaganda cartoons. He's skeevy to boot; the film mines laughs out of his features, accent and behavior, not to mention Holly's efforts to shrug off Yunioshi's efforts to get her upstairs into his apartment for a private photography session. It may have been just another blip in a long history of movies featuring insulting ethnic stereotypes, but in the middle of an otherwise lovely film it became one of the more cutting examples of institutionalized racism in Hollywood.

 

[LoveNDino]

I'm Asian and it doesn't bother me one bit if one cannot tell what kind of "Asian" I am. If asked, I usually say "I'm Jewish."

[Rudynate]

The term "Asian" is itself over inclusive, being applied to perhaps hundreds of different ethnicities. Nonetheless, it is improvement on the bone headed expression "Oriental" that previous generations have favored.

[mike carey]

I once asked her where she was from, meaning what part of India. She answered “Seattle” and we both laughed.

When I was in the air force I had one guy of Asian descent work for me. His last name was Ng. When people asked him where he was from he would say he came from a little fishing port. And then add, 'Fremantle'.

[rvwnsd]

If you cast an American white as a German-would that be offensive?...

"American white" isn't an ethnicity. I think you intended to say "If you cast an American actor of non-German descent..." As a descendant of Germans, Prussians, and Poles I would not be offended.

[510guy]

Also, hearing Asian stereotype jokes don't really bother me either. That show "Fresh off the Boat" probably would not be PC for many other races. Sometimes we just got to laugh at ourselves. My friend tried to set up his facial recognition on his Samsung phone; it kept telling him to open he eyes wide.

 

The only time it does offend me if done in spite. I was recently on a Southwest airlines flight and an obviously irritated flight attendant was getting drink orders from an older Chinese lady whom I did not know. The flight attendant had a hard time hearing the lady and the flight attendant said to the effect, "it looks like your eyes were closed so I couldn't tell if you were talking to me." That was inappropriate. But I did not say anything as I did not want to get dragged off the plane later.

[+ Avalon]

Are you Asian?

 

Can Asians tell a block away if someone is Chinese, Korean or Japanese?

 

I know that in Korea "ugly like a Japanese" is a terrible insult.

 

I do know Puerto Ricans who get offended if confused with anybody else, including Cubans.

I'm surprised about it because I find Cubans to be one of the most successful immigrations we ever received, very similar to Jews, Iranians, Indians and Greeks.

 

I'm not Asian. But I would think that a person of Chinese, Korean or Japanese heritage could recognize their own ethnicity from a distance.

[marylander1940]

I'm not Asian. But I would think that a person of Chinese, Korean or Japanese heritage could recognize their own ethnicity from a distance.

 

Do we have any Asians on here to ask them?

[mike carey]

Do we have any Asians on here to ask them?

Umm, there have been posters who identify as Asian posting since the thread was opened.

[+ Avalon]

Do we have any Asians on here to ask them?

 

Several people of Asian heritage have replied.

 

Btw on American soap opera "Days of Our Lives" there is a prominent gay Japanese character. And on the Australian soap opera another gay Japanese character.

 

Both have "white" fathers.

[+ poolboy48220]

Fully politically incorrect...in high school in the mid 70's, one of my good friends (not an Asian) was commonly known as "Chink", because he had squinty eyes. To this day, I don't think my parents know his real name.

[Walker1]

"American white" isn't an ethnicity. I think you intended to say "If you cast an American actor of non-German descent..." As a descendant of Germans, Prussians, and Poles I would not be offended.

 

Yes and no. What I meant was there is no homogenous white . There are German, Poles, Russians etc etc. Asians are not that different-China, Japan, India, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Mongolia, Malaysia etc etc. In Asia people do not identify as Asians-more country, regions, religion and how ever many local divisions-more or less like Europe.

 

Once they move to America, Asian descent seems to be a moniker. But someone from the Phillipines has very little in common with someone from Saudi Arabia. There is no one Asian group, just as whites or even blacks are not one big monolithic group-except maybe in America.

 

In Africa a masai has very little in common with other tribes.

 

All though with globalization and the internet, divisions are slowly receding.

 

Race is another thing-white, black , etc.

[mike carey]

Both have "white" fathers.

There is a news announcer here, Kumi Taguchi, who was a mainstream news announcer on ABC TV but is now hosting another program. Her mother was Anglo and her father Japanese, she grew up in Australia. Kumi presents as an archetypal Australian, but she does acknowledge her heritage. For the most part, no-one notices her, or other presenters who are Asian or of Asian descent any more than they notice Emma Alberici. One of them, Jason Om did draw attention to himself though, http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-15/same-sex-marriage-how-my-dad-changed-his-mind/9152518