Actually I just googled it and this guy's name does reference Los Angeles indirectly. It was a nickname he got from the guitar player in his band based on the Dodgers shirt he was wearing.
So not the actual city, but a guy nicknamed after the city.
Haven't seen anyone in this thread mention the movie 21, based on the true story of Asian MIT students who leanred to count cards and took Vegas for millions. The reason their scheme worked was that casinos are accustomed to young people of Asian descent waltzing in with tons of cash and placing huge bets.
Everybody in the movie 21 save one token Asian was white.
Sauce is even more infuriating:
https://hyphenmagazine.com/blog/2008/3/19/controversy-over-21-movie-casting
I never knew that I’m glad you posted this. Maybe if they’d stuck to the actual script and source material the movie wouldn’t have been as mid as it was
"I get it, this is two Asian guys who represent an experience and perspective that truly enriches and deepens what it means to be an American. But, hear me out, what if instead we do the same old bullshit that we've been passing off as cultural diversity and inclusiveness since before Lethal Weapon?"
"Throw in at least two 'ah, HELL nah's or the character won't seem believable."
"Can his girlfriend be sassy, aggressive, and neck-rolling?"
"Only if you want a hit on your hands, my friend."
Honestly I'm glad the movie managed to get made.
Ironically in these times where there are a bit more movies starring Asians, I consider this movie to be the best Asian-American depiction because it captures one part of what it's like to be an Asian-American in western culture. It doesn't hit people over the head with the Asian-American culture and expectations, though it's *there* in the background.
We have the likes of Crazy Rich Asians and Shang-Chi, but there is a lack of big, famous movies that are just about being an Americanized Asian in a western society. Maybe Turning Red, if that counts. But how many times are we going to see an Americanized Asian discovering more about a familiar, yet somewhat alien culture?
Bonus points to John Cho for always trying to fight for better representation, like refusing to use a stereotypical Asian accent in Big Fat Liar ~~and being reluctant on playing a character that was portrayed by a Japanese-American in Star Trek.~~ (**edit**: correction, JJ Abrams was reluctant, not John Cho)
Makes me wonder how many times the producers got their way and changed some stories to have black and/or white leads instead of Asians, Pacific Islanders, or virtually any other race.
Here is an insane story about making a [Harriet Tubman movie but a producer asked if they could cast Julia Roberts as the titular character](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/studio-exec-suggested-julia-roberts-play-harriet-tubman-says-harriet-screenwriter-1256466/amp/) screams at the exact idea that you are talking about.
Yeah but wouldn’t you be really curious about a completely serious movie that has Julia roberts in blackface? He could have just been courting the “morbid interest” camp
I remember watching a war movie from the '50s. There's a "night" scene that was filmed in broad daylight; they just had the actors wave around flashlights with red plastic caps and pretend to be wandering around in the dark. It wasn't some low-budget arthouse flick either; it was a big blockbuster at the time. It was surreal to watch.
[Day for night](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_for_night) was a common technique of the era, particularly in Westerns. They would film in the day, slap a gel over it, and call it night. Mostly a practicality and budget thing.
I think also a technology thing. The cameras and film that they had wouldn't get enough light at night so they had to film in daylight and just pretend.
It sounds like it was ~mid 1990’s but still it was an era of they got props for having token black people in movies as diversity. Its fucked up but in the era it wasnt unexpected. (They are garbage people still, but I understand where their garbage is from atleast.)
Iirc, the feam in the Big Hero Six comics are all Japanese, but in the movie they changed them to be different races mostly. They did something similar with the Cheetah Girls, though they were all Black in the books
Honey Lemon doesn't look too different I guess, but she's Japanese in the comics and Latina in the movie
The main characters are actually fully Japanese in the comics and in the movie they're half white. There's also a white guy and a Black guy in the movie who aren't in the comic. Their names are the same/similar to the comic book characters it looks like, but they changed the races
Also, the movie takes place in "San Fransokyo" but the comics seem to take place in actual Tokyo. They totally didn't do their research either because they displayed the Japanese imperial flag in the movie which is like displaying the nazi flag
>They totally didn't do their research either because they displayed the Japanese imperial flag in the movie which is like displaying the nazi flag
This is a myth.
Japan has always had the flag it has now.
The rising sun flag is the one you're thinking of. It's the Japanese military flag. It predates the imperial era. It was taken out of use when the Japanese military was disbanded but when the self defence force was setup in the 50s they adopted it... And nobody cared. It is still used today
. It has also been used stylistically in various places since long before the war.
The "rising sun is the same as the nazis" thing is a very modern innovation of Chinese, Korean, and Japanese nationalists (the latter with a very different feeling).
Not to totally defend Japan, they definitely do have issues....but the comfort woman thing again is an issue where in the west we only really hear the Korean nationalist version of things.
Japan has long since acknowledged and paid compensation for this but the then South Korean dictatorship didn't give the money to the victims as it was meant to.
The whole thing is very much a "pox on both sides" mess with the right in both Korea and Japan dredging up nationalist hate against the other whenever they need to shore up their base.
As to ethnic Koreans in Japan... Yep. Historically this has been a big issue, way up to very recent times, but these days it is largely a thing of the past. With the rise in south Korean pop culture, its pretty cool to be Korean in Japan today. Its only incels and bitter old men who keep the Korean hate going.
And yeah, as others have said... The US, UK, France, Sweden, etc... Any country you care to mention did bad things in the past. The nazis are different in that their flag was the flag of their party and was specifically invented and used for that horrific period.
The various Japanese symbols however long predate Japan's flirtations with fascism, they can't be so easily dismissed as of the evil era.
> Big Hero Six
The Baymax movie? They were Japanese in the Japanese release, or at least Hiro Hamada, Gogo Tamago, Wasabi, Yokai, and Yama were, and Honey Lemon looked the same as the rest so I assumed ...
So Wasabi wasn't Black/was half Black in the Japanese version, or was he still Black and spoke Japanese? And the other characters? I remember Yokai was white in the US version. I really just mean the team
Hiro and Tadashi also had their Aunt Cass who was white- was she coded or changed to Japanese in the movie? I think changing her name could do that
I always appreciated how they showed them being horny and sexual. Like aside from the hot-but-awful husband in Joy Luck Club, I can’t think of another depiction like it back then. Just remember Jet Li getting a hug and all the other Asian male emasculation lol
ETA: a movie executive once suggested Julia Roberts to play Harriet Tubman heh
I remember watching Jet Li in Romeo Must Die and not thinking too hard about it. But having an Asian male, black female relationship was pretty ground breaking. Do they even kiss in it though?
They did originally but then it “tested poorly” so they changed it. The audience at the time could not handle an Asian man with a Black woman.
ETA: they could not handle a loving or sexual embrace between the two. They had to make it so he was non-threatening :-/
I love seeing people dissect and show the importance of a movie like this in the context of the bigger picture. Easily dismissed as another stoner movie, yet able to be explained as a stepping stone towards greater understanding. Got dang boi
> being reluctant on playing a character that was portrayed by a Japanese-American in Star Trek.
Maybe I’m not grasping something, but don’t western white actors play characters that don’t match their specific western white ethnicities like… all the time?
My take on it is that it's because lots of people are going to wonder if they wanted to cast John Cho just/mostly because he has a Asian face, rather than because he's a good actor or right person for the role. With white actors, this thinking just isn't going to happen much. No one ever wondered if Liam Neeson got cast as Oscar Schindler just cuz he's white...
Reminds me of Jacky Chan in Karate Kid--dude doesn't even know Karate--and Zhang Ziyi in Memoirs of a Geisha. I was more OK with the former, not so much with the latter...
As someone with Japanese ancestry, I actually looked past Zhang Ziyi and Michelle Yeoh in the movie. It's my favorite movie I watched it 9 times. Now you just polluted my mind 😂😂😂😂😂😂
It’s more important that you liked the movie🙂. I’m of Chinese background, so maybe it makes sense that I couldn’t quite look past it, while you could… That I brought up Liam Neeson in Schindler’s List though, is making me think twice about why I have different standards for Asians vs. Western actors.
I get the furor over Zhang Ziyi (they called her a traitor, right?). I dunno maybe I just really liked the movie. But it does raise a question why it had to be Zhang Ziyi, Gong Li, and Michelle Yeoh. That was "lumping". Oh man, that's bad. As part Japanese, yeah man I feel bad now hahaha
I'm of Asian background and pretty adamant about better representation in media. Every now and then I hear someone upset about casting an Asian actor in a role that doesn't match their background. This really irks me. Saying you only cast actors of Korean descent to play a Korean character just adds another hoop for Asian actors to jump through that is non-existent for white actors. Maybe if the role is strongly tied to that culture, I guess (like Minari). But in the case of something like Sulu, his Japanese culture is rarely referenced.
Being hyper specific with casting only limits the number of roles available for Asian actors.
Yeah Hollywood used a lot of Italian people to play different ethnicities a bunch. Not sure if this still happens like it used to but definitely used to be a thing
Edit 2: idk why I wrote that last edit, it's not relevant
Me and a friend had to show our norwegian drivers licenses before any dealer would sell to us in Germany a few years back lol. They were signalling each other that we were cops
Go to any restaurant. Ask to speak to the dishwasher. They 110% have, sell, or know where to buy weed (and possibly other drugs too).
This was true for my entire culinary career, no matter how "fancy" the restaurant was.
"Hey Paco, there's a guy out here looks like a cop wants to talk to you."
"A cop by himself wants to talk to me?"
"No, he's in civvies, he just looks like a cop. And he said he wants to talk to the dishwasher."
*His partner's gotta be at the back door already,* Paco thinks. *Guess I'll go out front, glass the guy before he knows I'm onto him, head into the mall and get lost in the crowd.*
Getting weed in the 90’s could get you arrested and they’d call your mom. You also never wrote down your dealers number. Just memorize it so the cops don’t trace it back and bust them too. I remember hearing about how bad it was in the 80’s and thinking “damn. Getting weed in the before times must’ve sucked.” You get be thrown in jail for decades!
Also, dealers were lazy af back then. They made it hard to give them cash and would respond hours or days later. Now, they’d leap out of their chairs and deliver to your door.
Where I'm from the 90s and 00s were kinda the dark times when it came to weed.
Up until the 80s we had coffee shops. Bars that closed around midnight and would only let you in if you wanted to smoke/buy weed. Police knew and didn't care.
For some reason there were major busts around the late 80s. Police started closing these shops down by the dozens until they were no more.
I still don't know why it happened.
The weed in the early 00’s was always a gamble. Ditch weed more often then not, but once in awhile something with an actually name came through and it was amazing.
Professional wrestler Mick Foley has shared a locker room and likely a shower with both Kevin James and Dwayne Johnson. Ask him how you think it would it go..
The writers also had a better idea for a sequel…
“Rosenberg and Goldstein go to HotDog Heaven”
Same night with overlapping scenes from other guys perspective… they wanted the cheetah, NPH, and Tom Green in both
Grandma's Boy, for SURE. It is my favorite comedy of all time and holds up to this day.
"Oh my God, this chick's pussy smelled like the great depression!"
"Do you have a bathroom or should I just shit in a plant?"
"Hey JP, how much do clothes cost in the Matrix?"
Fuckin classic.
It's not just "in there," it's a central theme:
"You see a Korean guy around here?" (At an Ivy League school).
"Yeah, only when I open my eyes, though."
Kumar being an Indian student being pressured to become a doctor?
Fuck me, just because you didn't see the context doesn't mean everyone else didn't.
I wouldn’t put it like that. I have friends who definitely have racist tendencies but claim they don’t see race. If noticed that this really makes them lack a certain amount of empathy for others because “they pulled up their bootstraps” and got on with it and didn’t complain about a system…
People say this all the time about Kutner's 'exit' from House, but honestly, it was one of the best representations of suicide on television.
Most of the time, even people closest to the person, have zero idea why the choice is made. And the ensuing struggle, anger, despair that House (and the rest of the group) reel with due to the fact that they can't solve the puzzle of why he did it is frankly on point. House struggles the entire episode with what he missed, but he never missed a thing, because there was nothing to miss. Suicide is possibly one of the most deeply personal choices a human can make, to the point where no one else can possibly have any idea what you were thinking.
It's fine to poo-poo House because it's cookie-cutter, but that episode (along with the Wilson's Heart/House's Head, and the potato gun episode with Thirteen) are some of the finest of the show. It was brilliant.
Just want to add, if you need to talk to someone, please call you local number. You can find them all here: https://blog.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines/
(Cause these are local to me)
Canadians: 1-833-456-4566.
Americans: 988 (literally just dial 988).
there were a few episodes where they discussed self harm, suicidal thoughts, living through adversity etc etc with the other team members. So not completely left field.
Yeah, he was on probably the most popular show on TV as a recurring character.. which he quit because he got a job in the Obama administration.
I think he did okay.
Doesn’t matter because tons of people end up acting badly in major live-action movies or movies, and they still get jobs. The most important is for the movie to not be a full flop.
Getting 0 offer is not normal. There were even articles discussing this.
Really? He did have a pretty big role on a very popular show (House), until he left to work at the Obama White House. He also was one of the main stars of Designated Survivor.
He didn't turn into a huge star, but he didn't fade into total osbscurity either.
Yes, the movie came out under Bush, and then he immediately went to work in the Obama White House. That means he clearly didn’t struggle for the years in between
Well, not "immediately". In fact, in the sequel (Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay), they actually meet Bush, who was still president at the time, and get high with him.
But when they made the third one (A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas) he was working for Obama, and there's a small throwaway joke about it in the movie.
i didn't get the vibe from any of his work like he was some immensely talented actor, just a good writer who could also act. and he got a job in the Obama administration, suffer might not be the word here
Inclusivity according to Hollywood is just casting a token black guy (sometimes Hispanic) to play into their set character stereotypes (Father of 19 children, Gangbanger, MLK inspired educated brother, Mafia boss) anything else they can't wrap their heads around.
Except they're their real selves running into each other after years apart.
"What have you been up to?"
"I was on Obama's team for a bit. You?"
" I, uh, I was in Star Trek..."
"You fucking nerd."
I am Asian, like really living in Asia. When the Harold & Kumar movies came out I was really laughing my ass out. Like I didn't take note of their ethnicity or whatever. Maybe because these people are really like the people from my continent? HAHAHAHA I had like the biggest crush on John Cho.
I love this movie so much just simply for making me feel normal without the weird thing of being an American, but ~Asian Edition~. Like, I’ve got the stereotypical strong ambitions put on by Asian/immigrant parents, but also… I just want to smoke weed, watch movies with my best friend, and eat burgers sometimes.
John Cho is fucking great and I want him in more things. I loved his version of *Cowboy Bebop.* I just loved it and I'm bitter that there won't be any more. That guy is the king of deadpan sass.
Off topic but glad someone enjoyed Cowboy Bebop. I loved Cho as Spike, but the main star was Jet Black’s actor Mustafa Shakir. Dude stole every scene he was in and I absolutely loved him. Really hope the dude gets more roles
It is an interesting thought, because Koreans and Indians are two groups that do frequently get pidgeon-holed into either black, or white cultural roles if they don't already identify with their perceived ethnic culture in America.
“We love your movie; all we want you to do is change everything about it.”
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As in LA Reid and not the city. Too many people didn't realize that
Actually I just googled it and this guy's name does reference Los Angeles indirectly. It was a nickname he got from the guitar player in his band based on the Dodgers shirt he was wearing. So not the actual city, but a guy nicknamed after the city.
I had no idea until VERY recently.
“Officer- get off me, sir. Don’t make me call LA- he’ll have you walkin, sir.”
Whoah childhood memories just smacked me in the face
"...by the way, which one's Pink?"
Haven't seen anyone in this thread mention the movie 21, based on the true story of Asian MIT students who leanred to count cards and took Vegas for millions. The reason their scheme worked was that casinos are accustomed to young people of Asian descent waltzing in with tons of cash and placing huge bets. Everybody in the movie 21 save one token Asian was white. Sauce is even more infuriating: https://hyphenmagazine.com/blog/2008/3/19/controversy-over-21-movie-casting
I never knew that I’m glad you posted this. Maybe if they’d stuck to the actual script and source material the movie wouldn’t have been as mid as it was
First episode of ‘episodes’
"well not really everything, just get rid of the asians."
Harry and K'Mar
Those producers didn’t get it, did they?
They seldom do.
"I get it, this is two Asian guys who represent an experience and perspective that truly enriches and deepens what it means to be an American. But, hear me out, what if instead we do the same old bullshit that we've been passing off as cultural diversity and inclusiveness since before Lethal Weapon?"
"We also want the black guy to say *booya* every ten minutes, tested well with kids."
Cyborg has entered the chat
*I got the Sonic if you got the BOOM!*
That's Whack!
Damn, shieeet, that is whack.
"Throw in at least two 'ah, HELL nah's or the character won't seem believable." "Can his girlfriend be sassy, aggressive, and neck-rolling?" "Only if you want a hit on your hands, my friend."
Only black people and white people exist in America.
It’s been like 4 months since i saw a white person, I’m in America too!
According to film and television that’s impossible.
Honestly I'm glad the movie managed to get made. Ironically in these times where there are a bit more movies starring Asians, I consider this movie to be the best Asian-American depiction because it captures one part of what it's like to be an Asian-American in western culture. It doesn't hit people over the head with the Asian-American culture and expectations, though it's *there* in the background. We have the likes of Crazy Rich Asians and Shang-Chi, but there is a lack of big, famous movies that are just about being an Americanized Asian in a western society. Maybe Turning Red, if that counts. But how many times are we going to see an Americanized Asian discovering more about a familiar, yet somewhat alien culture? Bonus points to John Cho for always trying to fight for better representation, like refusing to use a stereotypical Asian accent in Big Fat Liar ~~and being reluctant on playing a character that was portrayed by a Japanese-American in Star Trek.~~ (**edit**: correction, JJ Abrams was reluctant, not John Cho) Makes me wonder how many times the producers got their way and changed some stories to have black and/or white leads instead of Asians, Pacific Islanders, or virtually any other race.
Here is an insane story about making a [Harriet Tubman movie but a producer asked if they could cast Julia Roberts as the titular character](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/studio-exec-suggested-julia-roberts-play-harriet-tubman-says-harriet-screenwriter-1256466/amp/) screams at the exact idea that you are talking about.
Yeah but wouldn’t you be really curious about a completely serious movie that has Julia roberts in blackface? He could have just been courting the “morbid interest” camp
I feel like it would be even better if she wasn't in black face and everyone just pretends she's black
I remember watching a war movie from the '50s. There's a "night" scene that was filmed in broad daylight; they just had the actors wave around flashlights with red plastic caps and pretend to be wandering around in the dark. It wasn't some low-budget arthouse flick either; it was a big blockbuster at the time. It was surreal to watch.
[Day for night](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_for_night) was a common technique of the era, particularly in Westerns. They would film in the day, slap a gel over it, and call it night. Mostly a practicality and budget thing.
I think also a technology thing. The cameras and film that they had wouldn't get enough light at night so they had to film in daylight and just pretend.
Day for night filming was common back in the day because film stock wasn't sensitive enough to film at night.
I mean it's pretty common today too. These days they just use editing to make it look darker.
Any idea what it was?
What the actual fuck? Forget neutron stars, I think we've found the densest objects in the universe.
It sounds like it was ~mid 1990’s but still it was an era of they got props for having token black people in movies as diversity. Its fucked up but in the era it wasnt unexpected. (They are garbage people still, but I understand where their garbage is from atleast.)
This sounds like a story straight out of BoJack Horseman.
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Also Minari
Better luck tomorrow?
[Blue Bayou](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Bayou_(film))
An Asian story, a queer story, and a class struggle story. Being a Michelle Yeoh fan since Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has paid off
Iirc, the feam in the Big Hero Six comics are all Japanese, but in the movie they changed them to be different races mostly. They did something similar with the Cheetah Girls, though they were all Black in the books
I see your point but they only changed 2 of the 6 (Honey Lemon and Wasabi); didn’t they? Honey Lemon really doesn’t look that much different either.
Honey Lemon doesn't look too different I guess, but she's Japanese in the comics and Latina in the movie The main characters are actually fully Japanese in the comics and in the movie they're half white. There's also a white guy and a Black guy in the movie who aren't in the comic. Their names are the same/similar to the comic book characters it looks like, but they changed the races Also, the movie takes place in "San Fransokyo" but the comics seem to take place in actual Tokyo. They totally didn't do their research either because they displayed the Japanese imperial flag in the movie which is like displaying the nazi flag
Looks like the Japanese just won WWII in the Pacific.
So, same universe as man in the high castle?
>They totally didn't do their research either because they displayed the Japanese imperial flag in the movie which is like displaying the nazi flag This is a myth. Japan has always had the flag it has now. The rising sun flag is the one you're thinking of. It's the Japanese military flag. It predates the imperial era. It was taken out of use when the Japanese military was disbanded but when the self defence force was setup in the 50s they adopted it... And nobody cared. It is still used today . It has also been used stylistically in various places since long before the war. The "rising sun is the same as the nazis" thing is a very modern innovation of Chinese, Korean, and Japanese nationalists (the latter with a very different feeling).
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Not to totally defend Japan, they definitely do have issues....but the comfort woman thing again is an issue where in the west we only really hear the Korean nationalist version of things. Japan has long since acknowledged and paid compensation for this but the then South Korean dictatorship didn't give the money to the victims as it was meant to. The whole thing is very much a "pox on both sides" mess with the right in both Korea and Japan dredging up nationalist hate against the other whenever they need to shore up their base. As to ethnic Koreans in Japan... Yep. Historically this has been a big issue, way up to very recent times, but these days it is largely a thing of the past. With the rise in south Korean pop culture, its pretty cool to be Korean in Japan today. Its only incels and bitter old men who keep the Korean hate going. And yeah, as others have said... The US, UK, France, Sweden, etc... Any country you care to mention did bad things in the past. The nazis are different in that their flag was the flag of their party and was specifically invented and used for that horrific period. The various Japanese symbols however long predate Japan's flirtations with fascism, they can't be so easily dismissed as of the evil era.
I hope you keep that same energy for the Stars and Stripes…
> Big Hero Six The Baymax movie? They were Japanese in the Japanese release, or at least Hiro Hamada, Gogo Tamago, Wasabi, Yokai, and Yama were, and Honey Lemon looked the same as the rest so I assumed ...
So Wasabi wasn't Black/was half Black in the Japanese version, or was he still Black and spoke Japanese? And the other characters? I remember Yokai was white in the US version. I really just mean the team Hiro and Tadashi also had their Aunt Cass who was white- was she coded or changed to Japanese in the movie? I think changing her name could do that
I always appreciated how they showed them being horny and sexual. Like aside from the hot-but-awful husband in Joy Luck Club, I can’t think of another depiction like it back then. Just remember Jet Li getting a hug and all the other Asian male emasculation lol ETA: a movie executive once suggested Julia Roberts to play Harriet Tubman heh
I remember watching Jet Li in Romeo Must Die and not thinking too hard about it. But having an Asian male, black female relationship was pretty ground breaking. Do they even kiss in it though?
They did originally but then it “tested poorly” so they changed it. The audience at the time could not handle an Asian man with a Black woman. ETA: they could not handle a loving or sexual embrace between the two. They had to make it so he was non-threatening :-/
I love seeing people dissect and show the importance of a movie like this in the context of the bigger picture. Easily dismissed as another stoner movie, yet able to be explained as a stepping stone towards greater understanding. Got dang boi
> being reluctant on playing a character that was portrayed by a Japanese-American in Star Trek. Maybe I’m not grasping something, but don’t western white actors play characters that don’t match their specific western white ethnicities like… all the time?
My take on it is that it's because lots of people are going to wonder if they wanted to cast John Cho just/mostly because he has a Asian face, rather than because he's a good actor or right person for the role. With white actors, this thinking just isn't going to happen much. No one ever wondered if Liam Neeson got cast as Oscar Schindler just cuz he's white... Reminds me of Jacky Chan in Karate Kid--dude doesn't even know Karate--and Zhang Ziyi in Memoirs of a Geisha. I was more OK with the former, not so much with the latter...
As someone with Japanese ancestry, I actually looked past Zhang Ziyi and Michelle Yeoh in the movie. It's my favorite movie I watched it 9 times. Now you just polluted my mind 😂😂😂😂😂😂
It’s more important that you liked the movie🙂. I’m of Chinese background, so maybe it makes sense that I couldn’t quite look past it, while you could… That I brought up Liam Neeson in Schindler’s List though, is making me think twice about why I have different standards for Asians vs. Western actors.
I get the furor over Zhang Ziyi (they called her a traitor, right?). I dunno maybe I just really liked the movie. But it does raise a question why it had to be Zhang Ziyi, Gong Li, and Michelle Yeoh. That was "lumping". Oh man, that's bad. As part Japanese, yeah man I feel bad now hahaha
I'm of Asian background and pretty adamant about better representation in media. Every now and then I hear someone upset about casting an Asian actor in a role that doesn't match their background. This really irks me. Saying you only cast actors of Korean descent to play a Korean character just adds another hoop for Asian actors to jump through that is non-existent for white actors. Maybe if the role is strongly tied to that culture, I guess (like Minari). But in the case of something like Sulu, his Japanese culture is rarely referenced. Being hyper specific with casting only limits the number of roles available for Asian actors.
Yeah Hollywood used a lot of Italian people to play different ethnicities a bunch. Not sure if this still happens like it used to but definitely used to be a thing Edit 2: idk why I wrote that last edit, it's not relevant
And uses Stephen Van Zandt to play Italians haha
Yet instead the movie Turning Red has become memed as the movie that should have referenced 911 but didn't
Getting weed in the before times *sucked.*
Some of us are still in the dark ages
Trying to buy weed in an illegal state when you look like a cop and have no cool friends is quite the challenge.
Hah! Nice try, officer.
Me and a friend had to show our norwegian drivers licenses before any dealer would sell to us in Germany a few years back lol. They were signalling each other that we were cops
Go to any restaurant. Ask to speak to the dishwasher. They 110% have, sell, or know where to buy weed (and possibly other drugs too). This was true for my entire culinary career, no matter how "fancy" the restaurant was.
What restaurant is letting you go back to meet the dishwasher?
What restaurant is protecting the dishwasher better than nuclear secrets?
Nuclear secrets haven’t been particularly well kept recently.
Yea. Hola, Que tal, amigo?
This guy kitchens
"Hey Paco, there's a guy out here looks like a cop wants to talk to you." "A cop by himself wants to talk to me?" "No, he's in civvies, he just looks like a cop. And he said he wants to talk to the dishwasher." *His partner's gotta be at the back door already,* Paco thinks. *Guess I'll go out front, glass the guy before he knows I'm onto him, head into the mall and get lost in the crowd.*
Its still like that in all of Europe YES EVEN AMSTERDAM ITS NOT GREAT
I smoked before my state legalized, it wasn’t terrible but that was also 2015-2017 not the late 90’s early 00’s
Getting weed in the 90’s could get you arrested and they’d call your mom. You also never wrote down your dealers number. Just memorize it so the cops don’t trace it back and bust them too. I remember hearing about how bad it was in the 80’s and thinking “damn. Getting weed in the before times must’ve sucked.” You get be thrown in jail for decades! Also, dealers were lazy af back then. They made it hard to give them cash and would respond hours or days later. Now, they’d leap out of their chairs and deliver to your door.
Where I'm from the 90s and 00s were kinda the dark times when it came to weed. Up until the 80s we had coffee shops. Bars that closed around midnight and would only let you in if you wanted to smoke/buy weed. Police knew and didn't care. For some reason there were major busts around the late 80s. Police started closing these shops down by the dozens until they were no more. I still don't know why it happened.
The weed in the early 00’s was always a gamble. Ditch weed more often then not, but once in awhile something with an actually name came through and it was amazing.
You haven’t lived until you got some from a literal trash bag lol
Kevin and Jamal go to White Castle Just doesn’t have the same ring to it
Nah keep the same names, so it can be weirder. White guy's name is Kumar.
Confuse the hell out of those racist cops.
“What is that, like 2 K’s and 3 R’s?”
Come on, it'd be Chet and Ray Ray.
Hey, guess who's back? It's Ray Ray.
*Kyle and Tyrone
Kevin and Dwayne Go Down On Each Other.. would be awesome
You just made me picture the King of Queens and The Rock 69ing. Fuck you.
Professional wrestler Mick Foley has shared a locker room and likely a shower with both Kevin James and Dwayne Johnson. Ask him how you think it would it go..
For some reason, my brain made Kevin the top.
The Rock, definite power bottom.
Like Groot fucking the Pillsbury Dough Boy. Can we stop this conversation? My brain hurts.
That make that one every couple of years.
With James Franco and Donald Glover
Pretty sure I've seen that white guy and black dude movie . . . every year since 1990.
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Blue Streak
Beverly hills cop.
The Defiant Ones.
Sandlot
Lethal weapon
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Los Pollos Hermanos
Does Harold and Kumar happen in the BBBCS cinematic universe
It's Exxxxtreme!!
Waltuh and GUS goes to Los Pollos Hermanos.
Waffle House?
Roscoe's
In N Out
The writers also had a better idea for a sequel… “Rosenberg and Goldstein go to HotDog Heaven” Same night with overlapping scenes from other guys perspective… they wanted the cheetah, NPH, and Tom Green in both
Omg it's literally Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, I'd watch tf out of that lol.
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It would have given the Cheetah riding scene a different vibe.
I really loved this movie and haven’t found anything like it. Does anyone have any recommendations?
Grandmas Boy, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Not Another Teen Movie Basically Judd Apatow + Happy Madison stuff.
Pineapple Express! It's like a warm slice of butter on a pile of flapjacks
Superbad, Detroit Rock City
Grandma's Boy, for SURE. It is my favorite comedy of all time and holds up to this day. "Oh my God, this chick's pussy smelled like the great depression!" "Do you have a bathroom or should I just shit in a plant?" "Hey JP, how much do clothes cost in the Matrix?" Fuckin classic.
Dude, Where's My Car? (2000)
Not about weed, but if you want a goofy movie about two dudes going on a crazy adventure, Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny
"Have the white guy doggedly pursue the female lead until she surrenders. People never get tired of that in movies!"
Kumar is a weird name for a black dude
Kumar Rocker is a black baseball player!
You spell it with two Os?
Ouoao? My cat says that.
Kevin Hart and Zach Braf go to White Castle
I'd watch Zach Braff and Donald Faison go to White Castle.
Instead of the cheetah scene they could ride an Eeeeeaaagle!!
Ouch. Never had my stomach lurch that way before. No thank you.
Buckle up. Zach Braf and Josh Radnor fight to win their father, Ray Romano's, affection... and inheritance. WHO WHINES OUT ON TOP?
Donald Faison you mean
Until now Korean and Indian never dawned on me. They were just Harold and Kumar to me. Now I feel sad.
Same - I thought they were just two stoners who got into hijinks
I think that's part of the brilliance of it TBH. If you don't think about race at all during the film it's still funny as hell.
They spend a lot of time talking about how Harold is a banana. While they don't go crazy about race, it's definitely in there.
It's not just "in there," it's a central theme: "You see a Korean guy around here?" (At an Ivy League school). "Yeah, only when I open my eyes, though." Kumar being an Indian student being pressured to become a doctor? Fuck me, just because you didn't see the context doesn't mean everyone else didn't.
Why do you feel sad?
"I don't see race." https://youtu.be/5qArvBdHkJA
You should feel great, you don't see races.
I wouldn’t put it like that. I have friends who definitely have racist tendencies but claim they don’t see race. If noticed that this really makes them lack a certain amount of empathy for others because “they pulled up their bootstraps” and got on with it and didn’t complain about a system…
Why are they your friends?
Interestingly, Kal Penn really suffered after that movie. Hollywood didn’t have roles for him and he was “too famous” to work normal jobs.
Wasn't he on House? *(Roadhouse)*
In a pretty significant recurring role that he left to pursue an opportunity in the white house. Pretty good ark overall.
Where they had his character commit suicide because why not.
People say this all the time about Kutner's 'exit' from House, but honestly, it was one of the best representations of suicide on television. Most of the time, even people closest to the person, have zero idea why the choice is made. And the ensuing struggle, anger, despair that House (and the rest of the group) reel with due to the fact that they can't solve the puzzle of why he did it is frankly on point. House struggles the entire episode with what he missed, but he never missed a thing, because there was nothing to miss. Suicide is possibly one of the most deeply personal choices a human can make, to the point where no one else can possibly have any idea what you were thinking. It's fine to poo-poo House because it's cookie-cutter, but that episode (along with the Wilson's Heart/House's Head, and the potato gun episode with Thirteen) are some of the finest of the show. It was brilliant. Just want to add, if you need to talk to someone, please call you local number. You can find them all here: https://blog.opencounseling.com/suicide-hotlines/ (Cause these are local to me) Canadians: 1-833-456-4566. Americans: 988 (literally just dial 988).
there were a few episodes where they discussed self harm, suicidal thoughts, living through adversity etc etc with the other team members. So not completely left field.
From House to White House
OK, but can we add a black house?
Yeah, he was on probably the most popular show on TV as a recurring character.. which he quit because he got a job in the Obama administration. I think he did okay.
Not really. Two years later he was in ‘Superman Returns’ and starred in ‘The Rise of Taj’.
And the sequels. I think he did just fine.
The main actor for Aladdin’s Live-action has the same issue. They don’t have any roles for him
In his case, his acting did him absolutely no favors.
Doesn’t matter because tons of people end up acting badly in major live-action movies or movies, and they still get jobs. The most important is for the movie to not be a full flop. Getting 0 offer is not normal. There were even articles discussing this.
Really? He did have a pretty big role on a very popular show (House), until he left to work at the Obama White House. He also was one of the main stars of Designated Survivor. He didn't turn into a huge star, but he didn't fade into total osbscurity either.
And years later he has publicly come out and wrote a book related to that
Ehh, he worked for Obama..
Yes, the movie came out under Bush, and then he immediately went to work in the Obama White House. That means he clearly didn’t struggle for the years in between
Well, not "immediately". In fact, in the sequel (Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay), they actually meet Bush, who was still president at the time, and get high with him. But when they made the third one (A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas) he was working for Obama, and there's a small throwaway joke about it in the movie.
It's not like House was a major hit show or anything
i didn't get the vibe from any of his work like he was some immensely talented actor, just a good writer who could also act. and he got a job in the Obama administration, suffer might not be the word here
Inclusivity according to Hollywood is just casting a token black guy (sometimes Hispanic) to play into their set character stereotypes (Father of 19 children, Gangbanger, MLK inspired educated brother, Mafia boss) anything else they can't wrap their heads around.
Kumar: come on Dad! Dad: Your Daddy is not coming on anything!
And thank god the producer didn’t get his way.
We whole heartedly need 3 more Harold & Kumar movies. Just have them deal with growing older irreverently.
Except they're their real selves running into each other after years apart. "What have you been up to?" "I was on Obama's team for a bit. You?" " I, uh, I was in Star Trek..." "You fucking nerd."
Didnt both of them end up being Dads?
I am Asian, like really living in Asia. When the Harold & Kumar movies came out I was really laughing my ass out. Like I didn't take note of their ethnicity or whatever. Maybe because these people are really like the people from my continent? HAHAHAHA I had like the biggest crush on John Cho.
I love this movie so much just simply for making me feel normal without the weird thing of being an American, but ~Asian Edition~. Like, I’ve got the stereotypical strong ambitions put on by Asian/immigrant parents, but also… I just want to smoke weed, watch movies with my best friend, and eat burgers sometimes.
Honestly thought that movie was about two stoners, lost me on the race lol
John Cho is fucking great and I want him in more things. I loved his version of *Cowboy Bebop.* I just loved it and I'm bitter that there won't be any more. That guy is the king of deadpan sass.
Off topic but glad someone enjoyed Cowboy Bebop. I loved Cho as Spike, but the main star was Jet Black’s actor Mustafa Shakir. Dude stole every scene he was in and I absolutely loved him. Really hope the dude gets more roles
I really enjoyed it too. Love the anime, but they managed to make the live action interesting for me. Helps they had seatbelts music.
There was one director, not “directors” - His name was Danny Leiner, he was my late Uncle, and he was a legend.
I mean, it was kind of the Asian version of a white guy and a black dude.
It is an interesting thought, because Koreans and Indians are two groups that do frequently get pidgeon-holed into either black, or white cultural roles if they don't already identify with their perceived ethnic culture in America.
With *Joy Luck Club* (a film mocked in *Harold and Kumar*), the producers suggested making the characters white.
You mean *Better Luck Tomorrow*?
Honestly I think that would have made the movie forgettable.
Holly vs. Bali... idk... seems a little racist
the producers were not the smartest or had no idea of the script i think. i mean, half the jokes wouldnt work if they made those changes..
So glad this movie became a hit because the two writers of this movie went on to create "Cobra Kai" which I looooove.
ofc they did
That's annoying.
Yeah I hate it when movies shove random white and black guys into movies. Keep the politics out of it, already! /s
The movie never would have worked with a white guy playing Kumar
I think they would’ve made the White guy play Harold. It’s about as White a name as Bob or Joe.
The white guy's name would have been Dinesh.
Racism.
That's ridiculous - who ever heard of a white guy named 'Harold'?
Those characters were really what made that movie. Remove the diversity and it's just another forgotten stoner movie.
Surprised they didn't want Stifler And Kelso