I’m not sure who “non-people” is a cute dehumanizing term for but that doesn’t matter. I’ll try to give some insight that could aid you in seeing more all-Asian or all-black films on a bigger scale, and reaching a bigger audience. It is up to you to decide whether to overtly fight the system from the get-go, or cleverly take over the game from the inside by first learning and following the rules, and later exploiting and overthrowing convention once you are in a position of power. Basically the age-old choice of pirates or ninjas.

(PS, I’m just messing with ya about ‘non-people.’ I assume that’s a typo.)

First, for profit’s sake producers want to sell films to all territories in the world (who’s censors will approve the film). So when it’s possible to get a diverse cast, they feel there’s a greater chance that a territory will find something familiar to latch onto, and a distributor will pick it up. For as much prejudice as you may find in the US, there’s some territories with far more extreme discrimination and far narrower cultural interests. I’m not saying it’s right – it ain’t – but that’s what you’re dealing with.

Secondly, action and sci-fi do the best world-wide. Comedies (excluding pure slapstick) have too many cultural and pop-culture in-jokes. Drama’s require too much “reading” subtitles for the lame audience members and too much expensive dubbing for willing import distributors. But blockbuster action is simple and visual and can mostly be understood without words. That’s why over here we only get Wuxia films in theaters instead of great Asian dramas. We do get some Stephen Chow because there’s more slapstick than in-jokes. Asia also gets American action and sci fi blockbusters in their theaters, but rarely ever dramas and comedies.

I am hoping that even though Slumdog Millionaire was a British writer and director it will encourage distributors to try more films based on merit and story and not skin tone or stardom of the leads.

Which leads to the third hurdle. Stardom. The first thing investors want to hear is who’s in it? Well, this is what it really comes down to as far as your struggle here. Because there’s something keeping Asian-American actors from getting a fraction of the limelight as white and even black actors. (Martial Arts guys are the ONLY filmmakers that have an equal amount of stardom for Asians (Bruce, Dacascas, Ernie Reyes, Jackie, Phillip Rhee, etc) and whites (Norris, Seagal, Van Dame, Eric Roberts, etc) in America. As an MA film guy, one of my interests is seeing how we can add more black MA stars to the roster of Snipes, Jim Kelly, Blank, Michael J. White, etc).
Anyway, sidetracked – how can we get more juicy unique leading roles for Asian Americans? We have to think about this. I fear there’s no easy answer, but it is inevitable. It will take a visionary filmmaker with a charismatic Asian lead to break the ice, or someone with interests in an Asian lead to infiltrate the decision making power, or society becoming more integrated and pluralistic. Those are some possible eventualities.

Making films is really expensive and time-consuming, and studios hide behind tried and proven formulas to minimize risk – especially when it comes to casting. Personally I don’t have that “whatever it takes to get by” mentality. I have a personal code of ethics and would be quick to off myself instead of getting over on other peoples misery. But I do have to be clever in finding ways that satisfy the suits desires with my own code and message. So think about that. What story can you tell that satisfies the formula but also upholds your message? Plenty exist for the creative, I’d imagine. But if you don’t write it and put forth the money and effort to market it, who will?

Lastly, it’s Hollywood. Do you understand how shielded people in Hollywood are from the real world? I had to babysit reality stars from vh1 and mtv recently who didn’t know you needed an ID to buy alcohol. They are handled, cut off from everyday experiences. They write a lot of ludicrous stuff, and don’t usually care about cultural representation and thoughtful messages as much as rehashing past formulas that made them rich.

On the other hand, Hollywood liberals are very progressive in their personal lives – many I’ve been around have abandoned any idea of culture and any deference to skin tones and sexualities. They may be more progressive than some viewpoints like Jaehwan’s with all respect. It’s easy for me to forget that anyone actually cares about mixed couples until I have to drive through certain locales, or read blogs like this. I’m one of those futurists that thinks maybe we’ll end up looking like Miami, with those fine fine ladies that are part black, asian, white, latino, and indigenous and finer with each ingredient. If people are all like that in the future, it’s kinda hard for racism to exist.

Point is, some people making these movies don’t give a second though to “mixed” couples; it’s just normal to them. Just two individuals that love each other based on individual interests and merits. And Hollywood isn’t really bothered by gay couples either, hence the blockbuster Brokeback Mountain and the acclaimed Milk.

Now, if there were more mixed couples in the US, it would actually be way easier to get all-Asian and all-Black films off the ground, because investors and producers would feel there’s plenty of relationships where there’s at least one person that fits their demographic, but two ticket sales. So one thing you could do to help see these in-culture movies reach fruition is promoting tolerance of mixed couples, and encouraging people from other cultures who’d want to watch those films with open minds, thus supporting the filmmakers, and encouraging the investors. Personally I know there’s people out there who do appreciate cinema from other cultures, but Hollywood doesn’t quite get it, nor do distributors.

Now if you’re aiming at only a specific audience, and not encouraging a more diverse audience, then simple economics will mean you can either spend less on the film’s production and it’s marketing in order to create the product and not starve to death in the process, or someone with funds will actually have to willingly lose money to make a bigger more epic film. Can you make a culture-specific film that appeals beyond that culture? I think so, because there’s a universal human condition we all share. Things like hope, love, fear, revenge, etc. Broad stroke stuff that a larger audience can understand, and insider details for the chief demographic.

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So, the plan. Make your own.

I’ll tell you though, the biggest first thing is to get a charismatic Asian-American lead actor in an FX-heavy PG13 non-MA-specific action or sci fi flick that will bank around the world. Even if it has other cast with different skin tone, it will send a message that Hollywood will interpret as Asian lead = money and you can go from there.

The other message, going out to individuals, I already know. It’s the genre, story, and individual actors that matter, not skin tone, or where their grandparents lived.

As much as i find some elements on this blog knee-jerk and biased (hey, I’m biased and imperfect too), there’s no doubt that black Americans get a very small amount of story-telling time and Asian Americans even less around the American campfire of mass media. I’d love to see that change.

I choose a different approach than protest or focusing on ethnocentricity, but I have no problems with the groups struggling to be heard approaching it those ways. My group is big with people from all heritages. While I identify with no group of pre-established beliefs or expectations, if I can use my random skin tone to open the door for all my circle, knowing we’ll all get a turn to tell our story, yeah, I’ll go first if that’s the way we can all get ours respectively.

So if you’re ok with being sneaky maybe you can use the cultural diversity of your own circles to open the door to a narrow-minded industry, and pass the scepter once you’re inside and the decision-making power is within your grasp; that is if you think the ends justify the means. The means of having diverse friends and initially approaching something in a multi-ethnic pluralistic fashion, to justify the end result you desire, of having more high-profile all-Asian and all-black films.

Because Beyonce is the “star”. You can’t show another black woman as a “threat” to her character.

She (and her father) are basically saying that only other woman who can be a threat to Beyonce, in terms of coming between her and husband, is a white woman.

Thanks for tuning us into reality.

you’ll notice that the gay and lesbian community has fought to make images of them “normalized” and more accepted; it’s been happening with roles for black actors as well. i suspect that maybe it’s a struggle that all minority groups will have to endure in their fight to be non-stereotyped or caricatured by Hollywood? maybe the only thing we can control is the visions and works of art we do OURSELVES. I think of David Ren’s indie movie with Ken Leung “Shanghai Kiss” as a good start. That’s a movie that actually shows someone’s HUMANITY.

I think that since the heroes lady kind of leave the image of a slightly psychotic person around that she’ll just come across as psycho. But there may be a small chance of the BF putting on the angry BF image – which if it were good, or bad, I don’t know.

Maybe we should see if we can get some BF’s onboard?
was stuffwhitepeoplelike a group of BFs? i forgot who they were…

Hmm. I think it’s different though – a bit of a conundrum because I think that Beyonce has her own public image and quite detached from your standard BF.

while a black female isnt the lead female actor, the movie has a lot of underlying themes present which are positive in fighting racial stereotypes and subverting established culture! For example

Normal , loving Afro American family, where the wife is a well adjusted beautiful homemaker who cares for her children, and the husband is a hard working professional in a management position at work, while also being a loving family man. Just That wholesome portrayal of the Afro American family in itself is saying alot(considering all the negative stereotypes in US media about black people/black men/women)

Then, the psycho threat in the film is a white lady! who threatens a happy couple, a cute child, and beautiful black home! She is demented, and dangerous, she is the “other” who acts as an enemy for the films hero to fights against. (Already, the film is associating the bad with the white lady, and the good with the black couple.)

Finally at the end of the movie, the black female becomesa a strong hero, opens a can of whoopass and defends and protects her family from the evil white woman. Black heroism defeats white evilness, the end.

So i think when you break it down, the underlying themes make it a positive film for black women, black families, and to a lesser extent, black men.Even though beyonce isnt the main actress, when it comes down to it, most people would go watch the film just to see her anyway, so actually i think she has a more important role than the films lets on.And shes a hero. And shes black. Defending her loving family, husband and kid from a white person who is the threat.

anyone agree?