Current Events > Do you believe that hollywood "is still very racist?"

(+) Yeah! (+)

marvel agents of shield star chloe bennett said this before , saying that she had to change her last name from wong, to find work in hollywood. Some article writers said they thought it was wrong for her to change her last name. What do you think?

https://www.cnn.com/2017/08/31/entertainment/chloe-bennet-hollywood-racist/index.html
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Only against Asians and gingers

why do you say that?
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DarthAragorn posted...

Only against Asians and gingers

CedarPointcp posted...

why do you say that?

asians because like you said, Chloe "Bennet" had to change her name just to get work. and it's well known that asians get fewer opportunities in hollywood. and most of the work they do get is stereotypical asian stuff. that's why the movie Crazy Rich Asians was such a huge deal when it came out

for gingers, it's a joke about how in comic book movies, just about every redhead character almost always gets turned into a non redhead in adaptations. if they are female, for some reason they always become black in the movie or show. redhead female actors are becoming rare in hollywood

It's racist against white people now.

CedarPointcp posted...

Some article writers said they thought it was wrong for her to change her last name.

The most common group of Hollywood stars to change their last names are Jews, who are generally considered white, so this doesn't square with any claims of racism. It's more about creating a marketable, branded name.

Examples:
Natalie Portman's real name is Natalie Hershlag
Alison Brie's real name is Alison Schermerhorn
Lea Michele's real name is Lea Sarfati
Etc.

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The name thing isn't exclusive to Asians or to Hollywood. I had a Hmong friend who changed his name from Doua to Nick so he would have a better chance of finding a job. When people see a resume and see's the name is like 5 syllables long and not Western it's a turn off for them. Is it racist? Yes it is. My friend Nick says it's not something that will change anytime soon so he just has to conform to the system which made me very sad.
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No. Hollywood used to be legitimately racist back in the day. But nowadays Hollywood is much more of a business and the forms of racism that Hollywood gets blamed for is actually a reflection of the racism of the general public. Yeah sure movies get whitewashed, but that's because whitewashing movies will typically cause the movie to make more money. It's all about the bottom line people.
So do me a favor and quit trying to stir the pot
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It's ran by a bunch of rich old white people so most definitely yes

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Blue_Inigo posted...

It's ran by a bunch of rich old white people so most definitely yes

Nice casual racism.

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I think hollywood makes a lot of assumptions about the common american people too though. I think the public is more willing to watch foreign or non white people than hollywood thinks. otherwise movies like Get Out, and Crazy Rich Asians would not have been successful

Zikten posted...

I think the public is more willing to watch foreign or non white people than hollywood thinks.

Very much so. Movies like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Hero and Slumdog Millionaire were all great movies and were hugely successful in America.

And it's a lot about star power too. For some reason Hollywood thinks using someone like Brad Pit or Tom Cruise or any Oscar winner will auto make the movie good and make a shit ton of money.
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Veggeta_MAX posted...

Very much so. Movies like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Hero and Slumdog Millionaire were all great movies and were hugely successful in America.

I feel like those movies all played on Western perceptions/stereotypes of Asians though (kung fu, poor) and essentially turned what people expected into a movie. Crazy Rich Asians is playing on a 'new' stereotype of 'new money' but if you think about all the possible movie themes/plots/etc out there eg romantic comedies, space exploration, etc..., how many of those which are not based on a racial/cultural stereotype would actually have such diverse casting?

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The Admiral posted...

Nice casual racism.

It's more of a judgment call of morality based on the income and age of the people we're talking about, but hey you would know more about racism than me considering you praise racial and ethnic profiling.


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Blue_Inigo posted...

It's more of a judgment call of morality based on the income and age of the people we're talking about, but hey you would know more about racism than me considering you praise racial and ethnic profiling.

Apparently you're quite well versed yourself, and also quite oblivious, given that you think it's okay to make generalizations based on a group's race and economic status.

Let's say I flipped your sentence and said:
"It's ran by a bunch of poor young black people so most definitely yes"

Would you be defending that statement as "not racist?"

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of course it is

anything run by old people is racist
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gloBal enemy posted...

Veggeta_MAX posted...

Very much so. Movies like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Hero and Slumdog Millionaire were all great movies and were hugely successful in America.

I feel like those movies all played on Western perceptions/stereotypes of Asians though (kung fu, poor) and essentially turned what people expected into a movie. Crazy Rich Asians is playing on a 'new' stereotype of 'new money' but if you think about all the possible movie themes/plots/etc out there eg romantic comedies, space exploration, etc..., how many of those which are not based on a racial/cultural stereotype would actually have such diverse casting?

Crouching tiger hidden Dragon was based on a series of novels written by a Chinese author nearly a century before. It isn't dealing with Chinese "stereotypes". It's literally dealing with authentic Chinese culture. It was written, directed, and starred Chinese people, was filmed in China, and had a Chinese crew. So the casting and hiring was definitely not "diverse" lol, you seem to think that word means "not solely white people.".

Then you go on to argue that any movie about rich Asians is racist, and any movie about poor Asians is racist.... Lol forget the fact that they were accurate representations of Indian and Chinese culture, you will literally say any movie is racist because you're a virtue signaling PC vulture who is incapable of having an honest discussion because you always have an agenda. It's really embarrassing and something you should try to grow out of.
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nicklebro posted...

Crouching tiger hidden Dragon was based on a series of novels written by a Chinese author nearly a century before. It isn't dealing with Chinese "stereotypes". It's literally dealing with authentic Chinese culture. It was written, directed, and starred Chinese people, was filmed in China, and had a Chinese crew. So the casting and hiring was definitely not "diverse" lol, you seem to think that word means "not solely white people.".

Then you go on to argue that any movie about rich Asians is racist, and any movie about poor Asians is racist.... Lol forget the fact that they were accurate representations of Indian and Chinese culture, you will literally say any movie is racist because you're a virtue signaling PC vulture who is incapable of having an honest discussion because you always have an agenda. It's really embarrassing and something you should try to grow out of.

I don't dispute the source of the material, but merely calling out that the only movies which make it to Western screens are those which play to some kind of preexisting notion of what movies from that region/culture should address. As someone who lived in Asia (and I'm Chinese), there's a whole film industry which is largely unnoticed by most Westerners and there are plenty of other themes/genres whether it be comedy, thriller, horror, etc... but the ones which get the big budget release in the West are the ones which are defined by those stereotypes.

I don't argue that any movie about rich or poor Asians is racist - I'm arguing that the core themes in those is rooted in what are common Western perceptions which are only reinforced by these films.

EDIT: Changed lives to lived to be accurate since I recently moved back to Australia after living in Singapore for a couple of years.

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gloBal enemy posted...

nicklebro posted...

Crouching tiger hidden Dragon was based on a series of novels written by a Chinese author nearly a century before. It isn't dealing with Chinese "stereotypes". It's literally dealing with authentic Chinese culture. It was written, directed, and starred Chinese people, was filmed in China, and had a Chinese crew. So the casting and hiring was definitely not "diverse" lol, you seem to think that word means "not solely white people.".

Then you go on to argue that any movie about rich Asians is racist, and any movie about poor Asians is racist.... Lol forget the fact that they were accurate representations of Indian and Chinese culture, you will literally say any movie is racist because you're a virtue signaling PC vulture who is incapable of having an honest discussion because you always have an agenda. It's really embarrassing and something you should try to grow out of.

I don't dispute the source of the material, but merely calling out that the only movies which make it to Western screens are those which play to some kind of preexisting notion of what movies from that region/culture should address. As someone who lived in Asia (and I'm Chinese), there's a whole film industry which is largely unnoticed by most Westerners and there are plenty of other themes/genres whether it be comedy, thriller, horror, etc... but the ones which get the big budget release in the West are the ones which are defined by those stereotypes.

I don't argue that any movie about rich or poor Asians is racist - I'm arguing that the core themes in those is rooted in what are common Western perceptions which are only reinforced by these films.

EDIT: Changed lives to lived to be accurate since I recently moved back to Australia after living in Singapore for a couple of years.

yeah i completely agree, global
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gloBal enemy posted...

I don't dispute the source of the material, but merely calling out that the only movies which make it to Western screens are those which play to some kind of preexisting notion of what movies from that region/culture should address. As someone who lived in Asia (and I'm Chinese), there's a whole film industry which is largely unnoticed by most Westerners and there are plenty of other themes/genres whether it be comedy, thriller, horror, etc... but the ones which get the big budget release in the West are the ones which are defined by those stereotypes.

I don't argue that any movie about rich or poor Asians is racist - I'm arguing that the core themes in those is rooted in what are common Western perceptions which are only reinforced by these films.

EDIT: Changed lives to lived to be accurate since I recently moved back to Australia after living in Singapore for a couple of years.

You're literally calling authentic Chinese culture sourced from authentic Chinese literature "preexisting notions" and "stereotypes". It's no different than saying that the only reason the Chinese people spoke Chinese is because it was meant to "reinforce common Western perceptions"

Culture isn't a stereotypes or a perception, so you're wrong there.

And you're also ignoring the fact that the details you've cherry picked are just that, cherry picked details. Kung Fu isnt the core theme of CTHD, being poor isn't the core theme of slumdog millionaire. Sure they're aspects of those movies, but they aren't the core themes. It's be impossible to make a movie that didn't include a single thing that you couldn't twist into a stereotype.

I'm sure there's a booming film industry in Asia and other parts of the world as well, but only the absolute best movies from those places are going to have a chance of making it in Hollywood, which is the cinema mecca of the world. Again Hollywood is purely about the bottom line,they don't put nearly as much thought into perceived racism as you do.

Finally, you're also dead wrong about the last things you've said about these movies. They arent the only ones to hit Western screens, and both crouching tiger hidden Dragon and slumdog millionaire had paltry budgets of $15m.
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I know that hollywood is still very racist.

society in general is still very racist.

I don't know if hollywood, or the film industry in general, is more racist than any other industry -- it might just be more overt
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averagejoel posted...

I know that hollywood is still very racist.

society in general is still very racist.

I don't know if hollywood, or the film industry in general, is more racist than any other industry -- it might just be more overt

Very racist compared to what? It's all relative right? Are you actually saying its as racist as it was before?
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nicklebro posted...

You're literally calling authentic Chinese culture sourced from authentic Chinese literature "preexisting notions" and "stereotypes". It's no different than saying that the only reason the Chinese people spoke Chinese is because it was meant to "reinforce common Western perceptions"

Culture isn't a stereotypes or a perception, so you're wrong there.

And you're also ignoring the fact that the details you've cherry picked are just that, cherry picked details. Kung Fu isnt the core theme of CTHD, being poor isn't the core theme of slumdog millionaire. Sure they're aspects of those movies, but they aren't the core themes. It's be impossible to make a movie that didn't include a single thing that you couldn't twist into a stereotype.

I'm sure there's a booming film industry in Asia and other parts of the world as well, but only the absolute best movies from those places are going to have a chance of making it in Hollywood, which is the cinema mecca of the world. Again Hollywood is purely about the bottom line,they don't put nearly as much thought into perceived racism as you do.

Finally, you're also dead wrong about the last things you've said about these movies. They arent the only ones to hit Western screens, and both crouching tiger hidden Dragon and slumdog millionaire had paltry budgets of $15m.

Again I think you've misread or misinterpreted what I've described - the movies which actually make it to the West and get to be distributed broadly are largely plays on existing genres which are associated with those cultures whether it be kung fu, poverty, etc... Sure they may also be the 'very best' which the market has to offer and qualify for importing, but it doesn't change that if you ask the average Joe (not necessarily averagejoel lol) what they think of when you ask them about a Chinese movie, certain cultural associations get brought up.

Anyway, it looks like you have an agenda to try and convince everyone there isn't racism or whatever.. good luck with that. As an Asian brought up in the West, my values and beliefs are largely shaped by Western influences anyway so I'm probably not the best to describe what is or isn't racism beyond my own beliefs or where I have been treated differently as a result of my race... and unfortunately whether it is Hollywood, professional world, etc.. I see it and unconscious bias takes many forms.

Your point about Hollywood focus on the bottom line, I don't disagree - they'll do what it takes to make a buck and if that involves playing on those associations or stereotypes, then so be it. I don't think they go out of their way to be deliberately racist but rather, it's the unconscious bias or the indirect result of following their objectives which leads to outcomes which are not necessarily fair to all races/backgrounds.

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Blue_Inigo posted...

It's ran by a bunch of rich old white people so most definitely yes

Come on man you really need to lay off the anti semi- wait youre only hating on white people? Sorry, nevermind. Thats totally ok.
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tennisdude818 posted...

Come on man you really need to lay off the anti semi- wait youre only hating on white people? Sorry, nevermind. Thats totally ok.

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obviously
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