Threaded Order Chronological Order
| re: Gene Nelson -- Yes "White Privilege" Benefit | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 06:36 pm EST 03/08/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Gene Nelson -- Yes "White Privilege" Benefit - BroadwayTonyJ 04:58 pm EST 03/08/21 | |
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| I don't think I was part of that conversation about Adiarte, though I am still curious which actor you were thinking of who was a child star and then died after developing acne. In terms of being Asian enough, as I wrote at the time, we get into some very difficult territory that verges on the White supremacist notion of "one drop" to determine who is or isn't Asian. But I don't think any definition of who is appropriate to play Thai/Southeast Asian should be so loose as to include Russian Jews and someone whose mother was mixed race with ancestral connections to Siberian Mongol tribes. I think this was only considered appropriate in the 1950s because these actors were regarded as "foreign", which was to say anything that deviated from White/Western European. |
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| re: Gene Nelson -- Yes "White Privilege" Benefit | |
| Last Edit: BroadwayTonyJ 07:42 pm EST 03/08/21 | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 07:40 pm EST 03/08/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Gene Nelson -- Yes "White Privilege" Benefit - Singapore/Fling 06:36 pm EST 03/08/21 | |
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| A few weeks ago, you posted something like since the film of The King and I was going to be somewhat racist, Brynner should have turned it down so a more appropriate Asian actor could get the role. I argued that Rodgers was calling the shots and that Brynner would be the king. I brought up the names of Patrick Adiarte and Yuriko Kikuchi, who both gave stunning performances. I told you this film undoubtedly helped their careers. Both had played the roles on Broadway and deserved the opportunity to appear in the film. I said for this reason alone the film should be made and asked you to reconsider about calling it racist. Something like that. I've read a lot about the movie industry back in the 50's and earlier. I know this is going to sound awful but back then the "powers that were" generally favored Asian actors who were Russian, Mongol, Armenian, Indian, but rarely southeast Asian. They wanted an Asian look, but not too ethnic. Brynner, of course, was a great actor and he had the right look, one that would probably please a mostly white audience. I believe Richard Rodgers back in '51 was being truthful (in his own mind) when he stated that Yul Brynner was an Asian actor. Bobby Driscoll was a popular child actor in the 40's. He made some films for Disney, won a juvenile Oscar for The Window in '49, and then Disney starred him in Treasure Island and the voice of the title character in the animated Peter Pan. He also played the lead role of Bibi in The Happy Time. As he entered puberty, he developed a bad case of acne, which eventually resulted in Disney cancelling his contract. The roles began to dry up, he tried TV for awhile, but he turned to drugs and the rest wasn't very pretty. I would not characterize any of the decisions that the "powers that were" made in these instances as white supremacist or examples of white privilege, but I respect your passion and opinions. Of course, since that time the culture has evolved, audiences today no longer want fairy tales or romanticism for films depicting Asian characters. In the remake of The King and I all the Thai characters will be cast with Southeast Asian actors or the film will not be made. |
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| re: Gene Nelson -- Yes "White Privilege" Benefit | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 09:05 pm EST 03/08/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Gene Nelson -- Yes "White Privilege" Benefit - BroadwayTonyJ 07:40 pm EST 03/08/21 | |
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| I think you night have had that specific conversation with somebody else. I posted in that thread, but I didn't write that Brynner should have turned the part down. I was arguing for a middle ground, where we can respect the film for what it is and also recognize that it reflected the racism of the time. I also wrote about how we don't have to get caught up in binaries of good versus bad, and that acknowledging the film is racist doesn't mean we can't appreciate the film. Likewise, the film could have been positive for the careers of two Asian actors while also being a racist movie. Those two things can exist, and that's okay. The first step to becoming antiracist is to recognize that racism that we all live with and perpetuate. | |
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| re: Gene Nelson -- Yes "White Privilege" Benefit | |
| Last Edit: BroadwayTonyJ 09:46 pm EST 03/08/21 | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 09:45 pm EST 03/08/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Gene Nelson -- Yes "White Privilege" Benefit - Singapore/Fling 09:05 pm EST 03/08/21 | |
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| I responded to that specific post of yours. Another ATC-er replied to my post. Gradually the thread morphed into a discussion about Patrick Adiarte and Yuriko. You did not participate in the rest of the thread. It's been a few weeks and I'm sure I got some of your exact words wrong. However, I definitely responded to what you are stating in your post above. I agree that there is racism in all aspects of our society. I'm just not that comfortable with going back to the 30's, 40's, and 50's and characterizing the actions of the moviemakers of that era as racist or examples of white privilege. I would rather say what they did was wrong, unfair, unjust, or words to that effect. |
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