Summary
Highlights
Hollywood has a long history of caricaturing ethnic minority groups, including Native Americans, African-Americans, and especially Japanese and Chinese Americans. Often, white actors were cast in Asian roles, a practice known as 'yellowface.' This limited opportunities for Asian American actors and perpetuated stereotypes, creating a cyclical problem where they couldn't achieve star power to secure leading roles.
White actors frequently top the Hollywood food chain, gaining access to lead roles and even playing characters of color. This often prevents actors of color, particularly Asian American actors, from playing even roles meant for their own ethnicity. Examples include Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One in 'Doctor Strange' and Scarlett Johansson in 'Ghost in the Shell,' where original Asian characters were controversially re-ethnicized or whitewashed.
The tradition of 'yellowface' and stereotypical portrayal can be traced back to minstrel shows, a popular form of entertainment where white actors used blackface, yellowface, and redface to portray characters of color in exaggerated and demeaning ways. This practice carried over into early Hollywood. The Hays Code, a production code, further complicated representation by prohibiting cross-racial romance, which ironically led to more white actors portraying Asian characters to navigate these restrictions while avoiding interracial relationships onscreen.
Hollywood’s internal codes were influenced by anti-miscegenation laws in the U.S. that banned marital or romantic relationships between whites and people of color. This institutionalized racism prevented Asian American actors from achieving stardom, as casting them in romantic lead roles, even with other Asian characters played by white actors, was seen as problematic by conservative audiences, particularly in the South.
Despite some critical acclaim, early films like Cecil B. DeMille's 'The Cheat' (1915) still perpetuated Japanese stereotypes, showing an Asian character branding a white woman. Frank Capra’s 'The Bitter Tea of General Yen' (1933) was daring for its time with interracial love, though the Chinese General was played by a Swedish actor, highlighting the lack of opportunities for actual Asian actors like Anna May Wong.
Series like 'Fu Manchu' and 'Charlie Chan' defined Asian Americans for a long time. These roles were often played by different white actors, with Fu Manchu often involving prosthetics for 'Asian' features, and Charlie Chan representing a 'model minority' stereotype – passive, unexpressive, and speaking in fortune cookie-like proverbs. This contributed to a casting director's perception of Asian actors as unexpressive.
During WWII, Hollywood produced propaganda films like 'Know Your Enemy: Japan' that depicted Japanese people as savages with caricatured physical traits, driven by a fanatical belief in divine destiny. Cartoons, such as 'Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips,' further dehumanized Japanese people by portraying them with exaggerated features and animalistic qualities, justifying the war effort by presenting them as an enemy to be killed.
During WWII, Japanese Americans, including two-thirds who were American citizens, were rounded up and placed in internment camps under the guise of national security. Despite no convictions for spying, their homes and farms were seized. The film recounts personal stories of deprivation and humiliation, including the lack of privacy in restrooms and the loss of family possessions. Many Japanese Americans stopped speaking Japanese to prove their loyalty.
After WWII, the U.S. pivoted to rebuilding relationships with Japan, turning former enemies into allies, partly influenced by the emerging Cold War and a desire to counter the Soviet Union. Films like 'Japanese Bride in America' (a propaganda film) aimed to depict a more positive image of Japanese people, though challenges in assimilation for Japanese women remained.
Post-war films romanticized Japanese culture and women. 'Sayonara' famously depicted interracial love, with Marlon Brando's character falling for a Japanese woman, yet it perpetuated the fantasy of delicate, subservient 'Geisha' women. This romanticization, while seemingly positive, often fell into new cliches and stereotypes, portraying Japanese women as delicate flowers or subservient wives, rather than complex individuals.
Mickey Rooney's portrayal of Mr. Yunioshi in 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' is cited as one of the most egregious examples of 'yellowface.' Rooney, a white actor, played a Japanese character with buck teeth, heavy glasses, and an exaggerated accent, presenting a bumbling, clumsy caricature that has since been widely condemned as offensive and embarrassing.
The Korean War era saw a slow global awakening and a push for more diverse stories. Samuel Fuller's 1958 film, 'The Crimson Kimono,' was a groundbreaking exception, featuring a Japanese American detective in a romantic relationship with a white woman, challenging racial taboos of its time. Fuller's liberal perspective and willingness to tackle social issues made his films refreshing and ahead of their time in Hollywood.
Alan Parker's 'Come See the Paradise' (1990) was significant as the only major film about Japanese American internment camps, telling a fictionalized story of a Japanese American family and an interracial romance. While it shed light on a horrific chapter of American history, it highlights the scarcity of such stories, emphasizing the need for more nuanced and accurate portrayals.
The limited number of films featuring Asian characters meant that audiences often formed their perceptions based on a few, often stereotypical, portrayals. This is problematic given the vast diversity within Asian cultures. The recent success of films like 'Crazy Rich Asians' (2018), which avoided whitewashing, demonstrates a growing demand for authentic representation. Asian Americans are increasingly organizing and using social media to challenge stereotypes and demand more truthful portrayals, proving that diverse casts can be commercially successful, contrary to Hollywood's long-held beliefs.