Hey, folks! I'm on vacation, taking a much-needed blog break. Some batteries need recharging. But don't worry -- I've enlisted the generous help of some great guest bloggers to keep things fresh around here while I'm gone. Here's Tak Toyoshima, aka Secret Asian Man, on race, casting and Hollywood indifference.
For years, Hollywood has been a target for the Asian American community to fire off wave upon wave of wrath-filled petitioning and highly organized protests. Occasionally Hollywood rears its swollen head and notices and offers up a luke warm apology beginning with the words "We apologize to anyone who was offended. It was not our intention." Translation: "We're sorry you have a problem with it."
But after watching controversies come and go, from the flaccid hug between Jet Li and Aaliyah in Romeo Must Die, to the whitewashing of The Last Airbender, from the proposed all white cast of the hopefully doomed live-action Akira movie to the sadly soon-to-arrive remake of Oldboy by Spike Lee, I've come to the conclusion that Hollywood is actually not racist against Asians. It's indifferent. You know, the opposite of love.
