Thursday, June 19, 2008
Guru continues a racist filmmaking tradition
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Though Mike Myers plays an American in The Love Guru, gags related to his upbringing in an Indian ashram perpetuate Asian stereotypes popularized on the big screen, which TCM's Race and Hollywood series examines this month. This brought to mind other popular (if awful) ethnic caricatures.
5. The Jazz Singer (1927) The first of the talking pictures secured a place in history for its technical innovations, but its views on race lack originality. Blackface was so 1915.
4. You Don't Mess With The Zohan (2008) Combine a reduction of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in a blender with homophobia. Serve with pita. Feh.
3. The Party (1968) Following his performances as French detective Jacques Clousseau and Cold War-era U.S. President Merkin Muffley, British-born Peter Sellers plays a bumbling Indian, Hrundi V. Bakshi. This technologically-challenged character is juxtaposed with equally cartoonish Hollywood types.
2. Borat (2006) The first film featuring characters from Sacha Baron Cohen's Da Ali G Show prompted lawsuits not only from duped frat boys and genteel southerners who weren't in on the joke, but also lobbyists on behalf of an ethnic group no longer wishing to be called gypsies.
1. Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) In the classic film adaptation of Truman Capote's novel, Mickey Rooney is horribly miscast in the cameo role of Holly Golightly's landlord Mr. Yunioshi, because no self-respecting Asian actor would consider the part.
Related stories
- Asian Film Fest Dallas plans free screening of The Crimson Kimono (June 23, 2008)
- Pegasus News Week in View: Juneteenth edition (June 19, 2008)
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