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| In honor of Anna May Wong | |
| Last Edit: WaymanWong 09:07 pm EST 03/09/21 | |
| Posted by: WaymanWong 09:02 pm EST 03/09/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Gene Nelson -- No "White Privilege" Benefit? - BroadwayTonyJ 06:11 pm EST 03/08/21 | |
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| ''Regarding Anna May Wong, she was a superb actress and had been starring in a number of small, lower budget films.'' And most notably, Wong shared the screen with Marlene Dietrich in ''Shanghai Express'' (1932). Sadly, she was rarely given star roles and missed what could've been her biggest break. Let's not forget WHY Wong was ''rejected'' for the part of O-Lan. MGM had cast Paul Muni (in yellowface) to play Wang. Due to the Hays Code anti-miscegenation rules of the '30s, that meant the actress who played Muni's wife had to be white. And so the Oscar-winning part of this Chinese peasant went to German actress Luise Rainer (in yellowface). MGM offered Wong the supporting role of Lotus, but she turned it down on principle: ''If you let me play O-Lan, I’ll be very glad. But you’re asking me—with Chinese blood—to do the only unsympathetic role in the picture, featuring an all-American cast portraying Chinese characters.” The recent ''Hollywood'' series on Netflix featured this conflict with Wong (played by Michelle Krusiec) and rewrote her story, so she'd win an Oscar. Sadly, there was no ''Hollywood'' ending for her in real life. I wish she had lived long enough to make a comeback in ''Flower Drum Song.'' |
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| Link | Vanity Fair: The true story of Anna May Wong and 'The Good Earth' |
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| re: In honor of Anna May Wong | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 02:37 am EST 03/10/21 | |
| In reply to: In honor of Anna May Wong - WaymanWong 09:02 pm EST 03/09/21 | |
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| Well, at least we agree that Anna May Wong was a superb actress. She was also a very outspoken individual who rubbed a number of powerful institutions the wrong way, including the Chinese government, the Chinese press, and the Hollywood unions. She was a highly principled individual who is greatly respected and revered today. However, in that era, career-wise, actors pretty much had to play the game. Wong, like Frances Farmer, Buddy Ebsen, and (ironically) Luise Rainer all paid the price for challenging what was admittedly a corrupt system. I've read a lot of books about the film industry in the 30's. There are conflicting opinions about Wong being rejected for the role of O-Lan. Based on my research and what I've been told by various film historians, the deck was stacked against her, and she never had any real shot at getting the role. Of course, the official reason given was the Hays Code anti-miscegenation rule, which had a spotty record of enforcement when it was inconvenient for "the powers that were" to honor it. I don't recall MGM having a problem with Clark Gable (as Christian) marrying Mamo Clark (as Maimiti) in Mutiny on the Bounty, which won the Best Picture Oscar in '35. Paul Muni was born in what is now the Ukraine. His native language was Yiddish. His parents' nationality was Hebrew -- their ancestors were indigenous to that particular part of Asia, which by definition makes them Asian. I know that you are a champion of only Southeast Asian actors playing Chinese and Thai roles, and I respect your opinion. However, I am dead certain that Muni never considered himself to be white. He certainly was not European. If you are going to talk about his race, what else could it possibly be but Asian? Last year there was a very powerful discussion about race on CNN, moderated by Fareed Zakaria with Anand Gridharadas as a participant. They talked about how terms like "whiteness" and "Caucasian" have become almost meaningless and impossible to define. They even touched on the word "yellowface" and how it is used in the entertainment business. It was a tough program to watch. Zakaria vehemently called the word repugnant and its use an example of tribalism in which one group of Asians seeks to have superiority over another. I'm just curious if you are aware that these conversations are taking place on cable TV and most likely being viewed by millions of people. By all accounts that I know of, these men are respected journalists. Do you think they are misguided or wrong? Do you acknowledge that Asians are much too large and diverse a group to ever have the same viewpoint about these issues? |
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| re: In honor of Anna May Wong | |
| Posted by: larry13 10:02 am EST 03/10/21 | |
| In reply to: re: In honor of Anna May Wong - BroadwayTonyJ 02:37 am EST 03/10/21 | |
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| I had to look up Buddy Ebsen to learn about his problems with MGM. Too bad! Unlike my feelings about most everyone else who clashed with the studio system, I have zero sympathy for Ebsen whose virulent conservatism led to his working hard to damage the career of Nancy Kulp, his former colleague, because she was lesbian. | |
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| Buddy Ebsen & Nancy Kulp | |
| Last Edit: BroadwayTonyJ 11:49 am EST 03/10/21 | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 11:48 am EST 03/10/21 | |
| In reply to: re: In honor of Anna May Wong - larry13 10:02 am EST 03/10/21 | |
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| I agree about Ebsen's actions toward Kulp. The cast of The Beverly Hillbillies always seemed to have great camaraderie and gave the impression that they genuinely liked each other off screen. Kulp was a fine character actress and had a long, distinguished career in films, TV, and on stage. She also seemed like a very genuine person in real life. I found it incredibly sad and disheartening that Ebsen would behave so abominably toward her. Certainly Kulp's political views were none of his business. | |
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| CORRECTION: My error -- Ukraine is considered an Eastern European country and NOT part of Asia | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 07:40 am EST 03/10/21 | |
| In reply to: re: In honor of Anna May Wong - BroadwayTonyJ 02:37 am EST 03/10/21 | |
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| Sorry about this mistake. However, the rest of what I stated about Paul Muni's ancestry is accurate. | |
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| re: In honor of Anna May Wong | |
| Last Edit: WaymanWong 03:49 am EST 03/10/21 | |
| Posted by: WaymanWong 03:38 am EST 03/10/21 | |
| In reply to: re: In honor of Anna May Wong - BroadwayTonyJ 02:37 am EST 03/10/21 | |
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| In the context of ''yellowface,'' Asian roles almost always refer to Southeast Asians (i.e., Chinese, etc.), not Ukrainians (from Eastern Europe). Geez! Of course, not all Asians think alike, any more than all Caucasians think alike. And clearly, we'll never see eye to eye on Hollywood's racist legacy. With all due respect, I'm not wasting any more time with straw-man arguments and nonsensical analogies (like comparing Nelson and Adiarte). |
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| re: In honor of Anna May Wong | |
| Last Edit: BroadwayTonyJ 07:51 am EST 03/10/21 | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 07:50 am EST 03/10/21 | |
| In reply to: re: In honor of Anna May Wong - WaymanWong 03:38 am EST 03/10/21 | |
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| You are correct about the Ukraine. I apologize for my error -- I should have been more careful before making that statement. However, everything else I posted about Paul Muni's ancestry is accurate. "Asian roles almost always refer to Southeast Asians." Really, according to whom? Obviously, noted historians of Indian, Iranian, and many others would take issue with that statement. You are obviously pushing a personal agenda. Further discussion between us on this subject is a waste of time. Have a nice day! |
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| re: In honor of Anna May Wong | |
| Last Edit: JereNYC 12:22 pm EST 03/10/21 | |
| Posted by: JereNYC (JereNYC@aol.com) 12:21 pm EST 03/10/21 | |
| In reply to: re: In honor of Anna May Wong - BroadwayTonyJ 07:50 am EST 03/10/21 | |
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| "Asian roles almost always refer to Southeast Asians." Really, according to whom?" This is a particularly American nomenclature, which is important, I suppose, since the topic here is Hollywood movies. Regardless of geography or reality, when most Americans use the term Asian, which is, itself, a pretty recent replacement for "Oriental," they mean Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese...people from Far Eastern countries that would have been referred to in former times as "yellow," as in "the yellow peril." Or, as Oscar Hammerstein II may have put it, people whose eyes are oddly made. (And, yes, I'm aware of the origin of the term "Far Eastern" and am using it simply for clarity here.) The current term for someone from the Indian subcontinent is South Asian. In these terms, someone from Iran would probably be considered Middle Eastern. Again, this is by Americans. The rest of the world doesn't observe much of this and any people from the continent of Asia are Asians. The grain of salt that all this should be taken with should be apparent in Americans labeling themselves with an imprecise word that could apply to anyone from North or South America or the Caribbean, but, of course, doesn't. I have some pretty interesting discussions about this with my European husband who gets confused by all this. |
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| re: In honor of Anna May Wong | |
| Last Edit: BroadwayTonyJ 02:44 pm EST 03/10/21 | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 02:40 pm EST 03/10/21 | |
| In reply to: re: In honor of Anna May Wong - JereNYC 12:21 pm EST 03/10/21 | |
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| Maybe it's a generational thing. I'm 72. On a personal level my relatives have consistently used the term Asian when talking about the Korean and Lebanese members of our extended family. My Korean sister-in-law Miyung and her kids (Linda, Lisa, and Kenny) are very comfortable referring to my Lebanese cousin Cheryl and her kids (Billy and Dana) as Asian family relations. A couple of guys from my old baseball team, Nikki Patel (who is Indian-American) and Jimmy Wong (who is Chinese-American) regularly shot pool in my basement (pre-covid times). At least when they were around me, they referred to each other as Asian. Although when they were with their own peers, it might have been a different story. I'm pretty sure my doctor, Syed Hassan (from Pakistan and a fellow theatre enthusiast) uses the term Asian in my presence when talking about his family. A couple of years ago when he took his wife and kids to New York, I gave him and his daughter inside tips on getting affordable Harry Potter tickets. When I'm talking politics with some old college buddies and it's mostly in the abstract, we are more likely to say things like "dealing with the Arabs", "handling the Kurds", and (in reference to China and North Korea) "the Asian problems". So in that kind of situation, I agree with what you are saying (although I never really analyzed why my terminology was different depending on the context). |
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