A Canadian-Chinese Work of Orientalist White-Worshipping Glory
Orientalists–you people are everywhere. Here I am, getting set in writing my piece for the Thymos Book Project, and you Orientalist Mofo’s have to lob another one in my direction. I guess the upside is that you’re providing a good lead-in to my introduction of the Thymos Book Project–which will come as soon as I’m done with my first draft. I’m sorry, but I’m not going to let your issues interfere with my work.
So I saw the picture above on another Asian site which was promoting this movie, which is apparently showing in Vancouver this week. I was interested, thinking that it was a historical drama about the Chinese building of the railroads. And since the White guys are in the background, I assumed that the story was about the Chinese woman and the Chinese man–which logically makes sense, since the Chinese railroads are a story about Chinese people. Since the movie was promoted on the website as a collaboration between the Chinese and Canadians, I also assumed that they would be true to both sides involved. I thought they would focus on the history.
Let me just say this–you people did some clever marketing by putting the Asian people in the foreground and putting Chinese han zi on the front. You had me tricked. Unfortunately for you immoral turds, I read the fine print. I went to your site and saw:
When James arrives, he’s accosted by a street urchin nicknamed ‘Little Tiger’, whose fierce ambition is to get to North America, where his father died mysteriously, working on the railroad.
In a fight with a Chinese gang lord, Little Tiger saves James’s life. James is grateful and agrees to hire the kid on his crew sailing to the new world.
He never suspects the truth: that Little Tiger is actually a beautiful young woman who has disguised herself to work in a man’s world … and that she’s falling in love with him!
You people actually took the story of the predominantly male Chinese American railroad story, where thousands of us died from the torturous and dangerous work, and you turned it into yet another WM/AF movie? You needed to do the Chinese version of the Hollywood Japanese American internment? Let me get this straight–your ancestors invite cheap, unregulated labor that kills thousands of men, they stick Japanese American citizens in prisons that destroy families and spirits, and you so-called artists have the racist audacity to turn these terrible abuses of human rights into romances between Asian women and a White guys?
I was talking to Anna about Rice Chasers and how they drag down Asian American organizations if you let them, and this illustrates exactly what I’m talking about. How do you take Asian American history seriously when the main point all the Asian American movies is just to glorify the masculinity of White men? And the media–when it comes to interracial relationships, you bury the bad when it suits the majority. Good God, how do we get a dialogue going when everything is designed to make one race look better than another?
What’s so sad about this one is that some Asian people co-opted us in order to sell this movie. I was dismissive of Dogs of Chinatown, but at least the director and producer have an excuse in that they’re from North Carolina. (And the producer Blake listened with an open ear–I think he’s a nice guy.) This one is even worse–their #$%$^ director is a Chinese guy, who should know better. This is a guy who knows what racist Hollywood asks for, a guy who has probably read interviews with Bruce and Jet, a guy named “David Wu,” a guy who no doubt sees what Hollywood does to minorities. He’s got the same name as my Congressman, and he should change it. Fucker.
Seriously, when are these scumbags going to stop hurling their monkey crap?
If you can tell, I am particularly angry at the Chinese people behind this. I remember reading the Philosophy of History by Georg Friedrich Hegel. Brilliant thinker that Hegel. Racist–like all other Germans of his time–but brilliant. He talks about how Chinese history stays in one place and doesn’t progress, and while that’s obviously not true, I can see where he gets it after reading about guys like “David Wu.” Talk about repeating history ad nauseum.
These people make me sick. I have no problem with them producing this stuff, but call it what it is–racial propaganda. This way we can at least all be honest. Hell, if the director claimed that White people were oppressed and needed some yellow lovin’, at least I could respect him for his honesty, even if I disagreed with his premise. To market this as some kind of cross-collaborative celebration of history when it’s only there to perpetuate the supposed masculine superiority of one race over another, however, is nothing more than a complete lie. And I’m tired of it. I’m tired of these smiling, Asian Step-n-Fetchit Charlies who sell their souls to the Man at the drop of a hat. I’ve had enough, and I need a vacation from you people. My next post will be on the Thymos writing project.
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I also wanted more rice than what could fit inside the wrap....
Hahaha. You’re finally getting it.
Remember when I did that podcast with you and my boss kept screaming at me to “stop being a stupid fuckin’ chinaman!”
Now you know where it comes from. He wants me to go out there, kick ass, and take shit from no one. He even told me the following: “Listen, I’d give you more respect if you go out there and beat up a white guy. However, you’re still getting pushed around some times and taking whatever reasons they give to you.”
By the way, my boss is a white guy.
This is more proof that some of the greatest oppressors of Asians are Asians themselves. This demographic has the largest concentration of sellouts that I’ve yet seen and I’ve noticed that Asians are far more likely to attack me from behind.
I’m just way ahead of the curve except you just don’t like what I have to say. That’s fine. Live and don’t learn.
Great post…
its the “producers” that ultimately control the financing and casting choices, not the “director” so my guess is that the producers and money behind its release in the U.S are Caucasian. Just like Dragonball Z, the director was Chinese, but the financing and producers were Caucasian, lol, and this movie sure looks like crap, haha no way i’ll pay money to watch it, definitely gonna pirate this for free from this from watch-movies.net, then write a sh*t review of it on rottentomatoes and imdb.com, lol.
Thanks, Anna.
Two of the three producers are Chinese guys.
Two more guys whom I need to ask, “How do you people sleep at night?”
URB4N:
“He even told me the following: “Listen, I’d give you more respect if you go out there and beat up a white guy. However, you’re still getting pushed around some times and taking whatever reasons they give to you.””
The conversation should’ve continued as follows:
URB4N: Really? Would you give me $100 if I beat up a white guy?
Boss: That’s right.
URB4N: And if you see me do it, you promise not to call the cops? Or do or say anything that affects my job here?
Boss: Promise!
URB4N: Okay. Hey, boss, quick, look behind you!!!
Boss (turns around): What?
At that point you should’ve sucker punched him right in the jaw. Then you should’ve hit him with a left hook on the side of the head for good measure. Then you should’ve grabbed him by the throat, slammed him against the wall, rushed in, and slammed your knee into his face.
After he woke up, you should’ve been like, “Boss, you owe me a hundred bucks.”
What I wrote here and what you’re talking about are two different things. Sure, we’ve got sellouts in our community, maybe we even have more sellouts per 1000 than other communities, but it’s incorrect to label the entire community as your boss did. As I’ve mentioned before, he has zero experience dealing with Chinese people, and for him to label the entire race with a demeaning epithet is nothing more than a false stereotype. It’s simply not true. Asian people even have a stereotype for being greedy and aggressive salespeople.
I agree that we Asian Americans to an extent haven’t thought about race as much as other minorities, but if you want to think about it, imagine you were black. Imagine you were black, and your boss said, “URB4N, quit acting like a dumb n****.” Or if you were Jewish, and he said, “Quit being a slimy k#$%.” You’d be mad, and if anyone heard him say that, he’d find his ass without a job.
I’m sure deep down inside he’s a nice guy, but I really think you should set him straight. If you just let him demean your ethnicity like that, he’s just going to become more confident in his incorrect view of the world. He’ll think to himself, “Man, these chinamen are weak. I called URB4N a chinaman to his face and he just took it.” Like I said, I’m sure he’s a good guy; he just needs someone to set him straight.
Now I probably–well, not probably–I agree that we have a greater concentration of sellouts than other communities. Fuck those two producers, fuck the director, and fuck all the tools who put this garbage together. Why do our people keep doing this? I just don’t think all of us Asians are sellouts, nor do I think that it’s a defining part of who we are. It’s something we have to change, and those who don’t change…well, fuck ‘em.
I think I know what Asian site that’s promoting this movie you are talking about. Whether it’s lack of research or something else, the guy has disappointed me over the years, promoting anything and everything that’s remotely Asian or Asian American related without giving it a second thought.
Getting more angry by the post. I like. Good observation. Now all you gotta do is use his name and all hell will break loose.
Minority Militant, is that you? Oh wait a minute, it’s Big WoWo!
Seriously, B, I could not have articulated our collective anger over this repetitive BS any better than how you just did. You see this WM/AF propaganda injected into every F-in piece of media crap.
Thanks, guys!
I’m actually going to be taking time off from that other Asian blog. I’ve got a whole bunch of Asian blogs on my blog reader, but I just unsubscribed from his–not because I dislike the blog, but because there’s too much stuff, some of which is not healthy (for the reasons that mT mentions). Has anyone read “The Four Hour Work Week” by Tim Ferriss? I don’t buy into the lifestyle he recommends, but I think his “low information diet” is a great concept. I’m going to try to incorporate that into my life a bit more.
One more thing (sorry, even I’m amazed at how much these Asian Toms ticked me off), I think this movie illustrates the need for Asian American Studies and Asian American history classes. I remember reading Takaki’s book which noted at one point there were around 3,000 Chinese men working on the railroad, accompanied by something like 10 women. That’s history.
It just never seems to go out of style, does it? The ugly truth is that in the West, Orientalism sells and there will always be Asians willing to profit from it. The other thing is there are probably a large number of gay Asians in the arts so a WM/AF theme wouldn’t really bother them.
How do these guys sleep at night? Probably on a pile of money, next to a couple blonde hookers. Seriously, we’re talking about HOLLYWOOD here. This has nothing to do with “stupid Chinamen” and everything to do with the fact that we’re talking about an industry where souls are cheap and sell by the dozen, and nepotism runs wild. Non-sellouts, and socially-aware people who refuse to conform probably exist in Hollywood, but they probably don’t get many jobs simply because they refuse to suck white cock. Asian Americans do not corner the sellout market any more than us holding a monopoly to common weaknesses (also known as human nature). It’s just that, like I’ve said, only those who suck white cock gets anywhere in that industry.
uRB4N, seriously, you think you’re ahead of the curve? You’re the only Asian I know who takes so much shit from his white boss and proudly calls it educational. That guy’s got you trained like a pit bull. You think you’re tougher and meaner than the rest of the dogs in the pack, but you’re still on someone else’s leash.
…er….Jaehwan,….are you sure 2/3 producers are Asian? coz i got this from imdb
Produced by
Peter Bien …. co-producer
Christopher Chen …. co-producer
Cheryl-Lee Fast …. associate producer (2008)
Cheryl-Lee Fast …. development producer (2008)
Sanping Han …. executive producer
Tiger Hu …. executive producer
Junfang Lee …. line producer: China
Raymond Massey …. executive producer
Raymond Massey …. producer
Binky Mendez …. associate producer
Barry Pearson …. producer
Barbara Ann Schoemaker …. line producer
Anne Tait …. producer
Hai Cheng Zhao …. producer
Arnie Zipursky …. executive producer
Casting by
Susan Taylor Brouse
Lynne Carrow
“Associate Producer”
An individual who performs a limited number of producing functions delegated to her/him by a producer, under the direct supervision and control of that producer. The term may also refer to a person who would qualify as an executive producer of a project, but for the fact that (s)he acts on behalf of a production company which is subordinate to another one on that project. See also co-producer and line producer.
“Co-Producer”
A producer who performs a substantial portion of a creative producing function, or who is primarily responsible for one or more managerial producing functions. A co-producer has less responsibility than a producer for the completion of a project. Note that if a project has more than one producer, it doesn’t mean that these individuals are “co-producers” in the technical sense of that term. See also executive producer, associate producer, line producer.
“Producer”
AKA: Prod
The chief of staff of a movie production in all matters save the creative efforts of the director, who is head of the line. A producer is responsible for raising funding, hiring key personnel, and arranging for distributors. See also associate producer, co-producer, executive producer, line producer,
So the movie has four producer responsible for financing/funding and ultimate casting control, who are
Raymond Massey …. producer
Barry Pearson …. producer
Anne Tait …. producer
Hai Cheng Zhao …. producer
seems like Caucasian majority…..
Anna,
I was going off the Executive Producer list from their site, where 2/3 are Chinese. I think these are the people in charge of all the others. According to wiki and encarta, executive producers supervise producers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Producer
http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861689931/executive_producer.html
So I think majority control still lies in the hands of our peop…well, people who look like us.
That does start some interesting questions about who does what. According to wiki, these days creative control is in the hands of the director–who is another one of US.
My goodness.
I just noticed that IMDB and the Iron Road website have different lists. According to the IR website (hahahahahah…IR!), these are the executive producers:
Executive Producers
ARNIE ZIPURSKY
TIGER HU
HAN SANPING
Just wanted to point out that those Chinese producers in addition to David Wu do not appear to be Asian Americans. Prior to this TV mini-series it looked like they were involved in mostly Hong Kong productions. David Wu’s career also looks more or less based in Hong Kong, then Canada, and some U.S. productions. I imagine that they are not as privvy to the issue of WM/AF that plauges Asian Americans. Perhaps, they just thought it was a typical “Hollywood” job for U.S. television aimed primarily at U.S. audiences. Perhaps it might not be too difficult to find an email for David Wu and see if you can get an interview/email QA going?
p.s. And although cross-dressing was a popular story mechanic even for Europeans (Shakespeare), it does seem pretty lame that a Chinese woman could pass themselves off as a man to gain passage to U.S. One could look at it as bad story mechanic or further emasculation of the Asian male.
I think I know what Asian site that’s promoting this movie you are talking about. Whether it’s lack of research or something else, the guy has disappointed me over the years, promoting anything and everything that’s remotely Asian or Asian American related without giving it a second thought.
Just curious, which Asian site is promoting this movie? Angry Asian Man?
There are some Asian American sites that uncritically promote any Asian person or work that has “made it” no matter how Whitewashed it may be.
oh…well okay…the definitions i got for producers and executive producers came from imdb.com too. Maybe imdb.com has incorrect information….
I’m waiting for John Cho to make it on the big screen with someone like Megan Fox.
Sulu got to fight in the new Star Trek movie, let’s see John Cho get chased by female rice chasers!!!
Wasn’t there something going on between the Korean pop star Rain and Megan Fox? Or was that just talk?
I’m waiting for John Cho to make it on the big screen with someone like Megan Fox.
Sulu got to fight in the new Star Trek movie, let’s see John Cho get chased by female rice chasers!!!
That would truly be a Zarathustra moment.
Or green alien chicks. Something. Anything.
Boldly go where no Asian man on screen has gone before.
American Girl,
John Cho getting chased by female rice chasers? What about me getting chased by female rice chasers??? (that’s just a joke!)
Larry and TMM,
I’ll let y’all know by e-mail the identity of the other site.
Ed,
If you read about Anna May Wong and the treatment she received when returning to China, it would seem that peoples’ knowledge of the issues are the same. Of course they don’t feel it on the same visceral level that we in America do, but they’re aware of it.
I couldn’t do an interview with with Wu fellow. Honestly, I just think he did a terrible thing. Absolutely despicable behavior.
Jaehwan, hope you dont mind, but would it be possible to share site with me too? i been checking out heaps of AA sites, even HK film, and stuff but i can find any mention of this movie its really buggin me….
Done!
FYI, Han Sanping is essentially where the buck stops for foreign movies getting green-lit in China. He is the de facto top dog in SARFT (State Administration of Radio Film and Television), which Americans otherwise know as the censorship bureau.
…which is all the more depressing, since he’s supposed to be responsible for making sure Chinese don’t get poorly represented.
I just came across this post even though its a bit old but still very relevant. Oddly enough my blood isn’t boiling like magma underneath a volcano that’s on the brink of eruption. Perhaps because I already did a couple of days ago while blogging but now I’m just crestfallen.
This is precisely the kind of bullshit Asian men get obliterated with so often to the point where it has become the norm. We must fight it from every angle through Action and Voice loud and clear. What Hollywhite is doing is a surreptitious form of hypnosis. It betrays our confidence into thinking we cannot compete for women in the dating world against non-Asian men; white men even more so. Therefore, I’m not the least bit surprised that Asian women have fallen into the social spell that white is right. Look what its done to us. Even though its become blatantly obvious for the average Asian male to see through the bullshit like x-ray vision, many of us (including myself at times) fall victim to it unconsciously. I know I’m preaching to the choir but thank you for reading anyway.
I say keep fighting, keep rejecting, keep ridiculing and keep exposing such covert racism. Even our Asian sisters can talk about how much we complain and whine about things that reflect our insecurities but its not without a legitimate cause. Its not without warrant. And its definitely something that’s been missing since Asians once roamed free before the pilgrims killed ‘em.
Enough is enough.
“Behind every powerful man, stands a more powerful woman.”
Now, if Asian men are weak, it says a whole lot about the women, doesn’t it?