Hello World, Meet the Racist Torrance Park Lady

And Other Things to Know From Angry Asian America.



"Go back to whatever fucking Asian country you belong in."
Wednesday morning in Torrance, California. An Asian American woman exercising at the park has a run-in with a surly woman who tells her, among other things, "Go back to whatever fucking Asian country you belong in." The altercation was apparently set off over the use of a public staircase, when the woman in the hat got a little too close -- purposely, it seems -- to the exercising woman's personal space. The woman proceeds to vomit an entitled racist rant that will surely launch her into internet infamy. Do your thing.

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ASIAN EXCELLENCE!!!!!

don't let white racists in flip flops get away with their bullshit! WE BASICALLY INVENTED FLIP FLOPS!

i do not love a physical fist fight but i gotta say that KO was...satisfying. pic.twitter.com/piibxISdAY

— Jenny Yang (@jennyyangtv) June 10, 2020

Proof That Asians Are Not Inherently Good at Martial Arts
Here's proof that Asians are not inherently good at martial arts. In this video, a racist dude picks a fight with an Asian man on the street. It's worth noting that the Asian guy is not up for the confrontation and valiantly tries to get the fuck away from this guy, the aggressor. But at some point he has no choice and puts up his dukes. What ensues is the least impressive street fight ever captured on video... except for the stunning, deeply satisfying conclusion, where Asian man lands his swing and knocks out the dude. Cold. In the middle of the crosswalk. Even then, the fight decisively over, Asian guy is polite as hell, and attempts to move his vanquished adversary's limp body to safety. It ain't gung fu, but we will still knock a racist the fuck out. And be decent about it.

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Opera In The Rock Presents Madama Butterfly -- in Yellowface!
For real? How is this still okay? The Arkansas-based opera company will be streaming a recorded version of its production of Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly -- featuring white actors in what appears to be full-ass yellowface makeup and regalia. And get this: Opera in the Rock originally presented Madama Butterfly in May 2019 in celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month "to showcase the struggle and contribution of Asian Americans in our society." It seems this celebration, however, did not extend to anyone going out of their way to find actual Asian actors for this production. This is some bullshit. No, thank you.

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Black lives matter. Thoughts and wishes from one small business.
I found this statement on Black Lives Matter from New York City's Pearl River Mart to be particularly eloquent and thoughtful. It's nice to hear these introspective sentiments from an Asian American small business.

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Karma
HBO Max's Karma takes sixteen contestants, ranging in age from 12 to 15, completely off the grid, away from parents and the normal comforts of home, to solve puzzles and overcome physical challenges, with the laws of karma setting the rules. Hosted by Michelle Khare, this adventure competition series will test the mental and physical stamina of its young contestants as they unravel how their social actions impact their success in the game. Focus, giving, humility, growth, connection, change, and patience are the path to becoming the "Karma Champion." Karma premieres June 18 on HBO Max.

Yellowface is a really awful way to celebrate "diversity."

Vogue photo shoot features Karlie Kloss doing stereotypical geisha shit.



For real, Vogue? A photo shoot featuring a white model as a geisha? In the so-called "diversity" issue, no less.

The much-hyped March issue of Vogue features supermodel Karlie Kloss in a Japanese-themed spread, titled "Spirited Away." Okay, can we just stop right there? Red flags, so many red flags going up everywhere. Let's be real: there was no fucking way that Vogue was going to handle this right.

The spread, photographed in Japan by Mikael Jansson and styled by Phyllis Posnick, features Kloss in what is pretty much yellowface, going full geisha in various photos shot around Japan's Ise-Shima National Park. They've got Kloss in thick black hair, pale skin and kimono-like attire, posed in various Japanese-y backgrounds. There's even a friggin' sumo wrestler for bonus stereotypical Japanese-ness.

Starring Scarlett Johansson as Super Asian Robot Lady

Look at all the Cool Asian Shit in the 'Ghost in the Shell' trailer



Oh yeah, I forgot this was happening.

In case you missed it, Paramount recently dropped the first official full-length trailer for the live action Ghost in the Shell adaptation. Based on the classic sci-fi anime/manga, Scarlett Johansson stars as the human-cyborg Major -- otherwise known as Major Motoko Kusanagi in the original source material. But you knew that. Yes, for the uninitiated, this is that movie where Scarlett plays a Japanese robot lady.

Ghost in the Shell follows the Major, a special ops, one-of-a-kind human-cyborg hybrid, who leads the elite task force Section 9. Devoted to stopping the most dangerous criminals and extremists, Section 9 is faced with an enemy whose singular goal is to wipe out Hanka Robotic's advancements in cyber technology. And if they get around to it, Section 9 might just crack the baffling case of why the Major is played by a white woman.

Take a look:

Photo project "corrects" Hollywood yellowface

Michelle Villemaire photographed herself as Asian film characters historically performed in yellowface.



With recent high-profile examples like Ghost in the Shell and Dr. Strange drawing the ire of movie fans, the ugly practice of Hollywood whitewashing and yellowface has received renewed scrutiny. But the plain fact is, Asian performers have been regularly scrubbed out of the picture since the beginnings of cinema.

For blogger/actor Michelle Villemaire, enough was enough. Inspired and provoked by "a fit of frustration over the history of Hollywood whitewashing," she recently created her own do-it-yourself photography project to subvert historical Hollywood yellowface and reclaim the image of Asian women in movies.

"Growing up, I didn't see many faces like mine on television and film," Villemaire writes on her blog. "And because I wanted to be an actor it was really hard to believe that I could ever be one. Only women who had a certain skin color and eye shape were really allowed on screen, right? To this day white people are cast as Asians, deepening the message that Asians just aren't wanted."

Villemaire shares a series of photos she took of herself as various Asian characters that were played by non-Asian women in film, from The Good Earth to The King and I to Aloha. As she puts it, these photos are her own unique way of correcting the yellowface. "And it felt sooooo good," she admits.

Take a look:

How to Make Scarlett Johansson "More Asian"

An exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the visual effects for 'Ghost in the Shell,' courtesy of RocketJump.



Sometimes the situation is so pathetically ridiculous, you just have to shake your head and laugh. In response to the widely-decried casting of Scarlett Johansson in the live-action remake of Ghost in the Shell, here's a funny video from the folks at RocketJump, in which they imagine the behind-the-scenes special effects tinkering it takes to turn the movie's white star into a Asian robot cyborg.

Yellowface in 'Ghost in the Shell': There's an app for that.

Studio reportedly ordered visual effects tests to make Scarlett Johansson look "more Asian."



So the first image of Scarlett Johansson as Major Motoko Kusanagi in Ghost in the Shell was released the other day, and a large portion of the internet responded with a collective "OH HELL NO." As most of us have been saying for a very long time, a whitewashed live-action remake of the manga/anime classic is a fantastically bad idea. Is it hard to believe that producers were considering using yellowface? Nope.

It's amazing what those darn computers can do these days. Paramount and DreamWorks apparently foresaw the pesky issue of casting white actors in an inherently Japanese story. The solution: computer-enhanced yellowface. Screencrush reports that the studio commissioned screen tests for several of the movie's non-Asian actors to try using CGI effects to "shift [their] ethnicity" and make them appear more "Asian."

Oh Hell No: Yellowface in the 'Absolutely Fabulous' movie

White actress Janette Tough plays a Japanese character named "Huki Muki."



Oh hell no. The year is 20-f*cking-15. Is there any legit reason for a movie to put a performer in yellowface? No. That shit is racist. But that's what the upcoming Absolutely Fabulous movie is doing. They've got a white actor playing an Asian character -- makeup and everything. Who thought this was a good idea?

Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie under fire for casting Janette Tough as Japanese fashion designer

The big-screen adaptation of Ab Fab, based on the popular British sitcom, feature Scottish comedian Janette Tough in a cameo as a fictional male Japanese fashion designer called "Huki Muki." The character's appearance and styling appear to be inspired by the look of real-life Japanese artist and writer Yayoi Kusama.

This is yellowface, straight up. White actor playing an Asian person. It's a fairly simple, racist concept.

The casting has drawn the ire of comedian/actress Margaret Cho, who professes to be an Ab Fab fan, but is definitely not down with the racist mockery happening in this movie.

She took to Twitter to put that shit on blast:

New York City production of 'The Mikado' canceled

Because yellowface made everybody really angry.



Well. In response to immense criticism and backlash from the Asian American theatre community, the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players has announced that it is canceling its upcoming production of The Mikado.

W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan's 1885 comic opera, set in Japan, has endured mounting criticism over the years for its painfully outdated orientalism and stagings that regularly put performers in "yellowface" makeup. NYGASP's production was the latest, set to run this winter at the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts.

That's not happening. NYGASP Executive Director David Wannen announced on Facebook that they were yanking The Mikado, and will instead run The Pirates of Penzance in its place:

'The Mikado' in Yellowface Is Coming to The Skirball Center of the Performing Arts and We Should Talk About It

By Leah Nanako Winkler



I'm biracial. Which means that people from two opposite cultures (Japan and America in my case) have freely been talking to me about race in two languages with no filter before I knew what the words meant. So before you dismiss these thoughts as "angry" or a product of a creepy "PC Culture" know that it's an impetuous sense of comfort that drives me to talk and write about these issues in my daily life as they come up because, well, race has been a part of my daily life since I was born. So when this flyer for The New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players production of The Mikado at the NYU Skirball Center For The Performing Arts was delivered to my office on a peaceful Monday morning, I felt totally comfortable calling them directly to ask questions.

Asians React to Yellowface

In this BuzzFeed video, we offer some thoughts on Hollywood's greatest racist hits.



Not that we needed a reminder of how friggin' racist Hollywood can be.... In this BuzzFeed video, Asians react to yellowface. They recently got some Asian American folks, including me and my pal Jenny Yang, to sit down, watch and react to various movie and TV clips in which white actors were made up to look like some form of "Asian," like Marlon Brando in Teahouse of the August Moon, Mickey Rooney in Breakfast and Tiffany's and more. I think we reacted pretty much as expected.

Take a look:

No, seriously. What is up with the yellow skin emoji?

Apple introduces new "racially diverse" emoji, including a gross shade of yellow.


In a new beta version of its operating system, Apple recently revealed a new set of "racial diverse" emoji, featuring faces in a variety of skin tones. So I join the chorus and ask: what is up with that awful sickly shade of yellow? Is that supposed to be an Asian face? Because those faces do not look healthy.

These are Apple's new, diverse emoji

There's been a demand for more inclusive emoji that reflects the diversity of the world's skin tones. Or at least some options other than the limited set of lily-white icons currently featured in iOS. So I applaud the effort.

But dude. That yellow is gross.

Who wants to see a white guy as the King of Siam?

Dallas Summer Musicals' 'The King and I' casts white actor in the role of King Mongkut.



[UPDATE: Dallas Summer Musicals has responded to the casting outcry. See below.]

Yet another theater production is accused of rocking the yellowface. Dallas Summer Musicals' upcoming production of The King and I is drawing criticism for casting a Caucasian actor in the role of King Mongkut.

Dallas Summer Musicals' THE KING AND I Casting Causes Controversy

Rodgers and Hammerstein's popular musical tells the story of Anna Leonowens, a British schoolteacher who is hired as a live-in governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the early 1860s. Despite their many differences, Anna and the King eventually grow to understand and respect one another.

In case you were wondering, the king of Siam was not a white guy.

Yet another 'SNL' sketch about Asians... with no actual Asians

NBC's sketch comedy show skewers North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un



Really, Saturday Night Live? Yellowface again? Mm, nobody was rocking grotesque skin makeup or had their eyes pulled back, but over the weekend, NBC's perennial sketch comedy show kicked off its latest episode with a sketch about North Korea. So, of course, it included a bunch of white actors playing Asians.

The sketch features Bobby Moynihan as North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un, who has been out of the public eye for more than a month, setting off international speculation about his health and/or the state of the North Korea leadership. SNL saw it as a good opportunity for some comedy. Sure, why not?

But as you can see, as usual, not an actual Asian face in sight:

Real-life yellowface! Now playing in Seattle.

"It's a fun show. I personally have never heard any complaints."



Take a good, long look at the photo. Does any of that feel right to you?

The Bagley Wright Theatre in Seattle is currently staging Gilbert & Sullivan's "classic" comic opera The Mikado, which has historically required actors to perform roles in yellowface, and a bunch of shitty made up stereotypes for comic effect. This version is no different, with all forty Japanese characters played by white actors.

The year is 2014, my friends.

Baz Luhrmann in talks to direct movie adaptation of 'Kung Fu'

But who will play Kwai Chang Caine?



Dude. No. Australian filmmaker Baz Luhrmann, the guy behind The Great Gatsby and Moulin Rouge, is reportedly in talks to direct a big screen adaptation of the 1970s martial arts western television show Kung Fu.

Baz Luhrmann in Talks to Direct 'Kung Fu' for Legendary

The hit show, which aired on ABC from 1972 to 1975, followed the adventures of Kwai Chang Chaine, a biracial Shaolin monk who roamed the American west in search of his half brother, righting wrongs along the way.

For many, Kung Fu will likely be remembered as the show originally conceived as a star vehicle for Bruce Lee, only to see him replaced for a more audience-friendly Caucasian lead actor. How freaking cool would it have been to see Bruce in that role? Alas, all this show gave us was the bitter legacy of yellowface.

This movie script has apparently moved the story to China, with Caine in search of his father.

Was that yellowface on Saturday Night Live?

Everybody was kung faux fighting



If you tuned in to Saturday Night Live this weekend, you may have seen some of that good old-fashioned Asiansploitation in the form of an ill-conceived martial arts gag during the opening monologue.

To accentuate the joke, which involved host Melissa McCarthy kung faux fighting Bobby Moynihan while suspended on wires, they trotted out Taran Killam as a eastern-like fight narrator. It wasn't full-blown yellowface, but it was definitely veering as close as possible, gongs, wind flutes and all.

You can watch the "Battle of Lotus" here if you really have to:

How I Met Your Mother creators sorry for all the racism

Hit sitcom's latest "Slap Bet" episode went full faux-riental



Outrage over this week's How I Met Your Mother, which featured some lazy stereotypes and totally awesome yellowface, has picked up steam, thanks to some widely circulated screenshots and the catchy, clever Twitter hashtag #HowIMetYourRacism. In case you missed, the episode featured a clunky tale about one of the characters seeking to learn a faux-riental slap technique. Stereotypes ensued.

As someone who's watched and enjoyed How I Met Your Mother in the past, this was disappointing. But as someone who's watched a lot of television and movies, you know, in general, it wasn't surprising. Racist shit on the teevee? Seen a lot of it. That said, you did get the show's attention.

This afternoon, How I Met Your Mother co-creator Carter Bays took to Twitter to address the negative reaction to the episode, and offered an apology of sorts:

What's up with the yellowface on How I Met Your Mother?

CBS sitcom's latest "Slapsgiving" episode features lots of wind chimes and shit



Catch last night's episode of How I Met Your Mother? Then I gotta ask -- what was up with all the yellowface?

The hit CBS sitcom has had an ongoing seven-year joke about a series of allocated slaps that Marshall can "collect" from Barney -- payment for losing a now-infamous season two Slap Bet. On last night's show, in an attempt to deliver a devastating second-to-last slap to Barney, Marshall explains how he mastered the "Slap of a Million Exploding Suns." This ended up being an excuse for the show to do some yellowface kungfoolery.

To learn the powerful slap, Marshall must seek the wisdom of three great masters who can teach him mighty virtues of slapistry: speed, strength and accuracy. These Kill Bill-esque "masters," of course, are played by the show's stars, Colbie Smulders, Josh Radnor and Alyson Hannigan... rocking some mild yellowface looks, oriental orientalism and random background Asians. Lots of wind chimes and shit.

At least nobody had their eyes taped back.

Instant yellowface! Now available in a convenient tube.

Happy Halloween.



Before I say anything else, let me note that this post was inspired by the image accompanying Matthew Sallesses' excellent piece for The Good Men Project: Halloween Is for White People. I saw the photo on that post, said whaaaaaaaaaat, and immediately scoured the web to find that image.

This is Yellow Make-Up Cream, manufactured by Widmann srl. Yellowface in a tube! Pretty awesome right?

No, I shouldn't be surprised that this product exists. There are all sorts of bullshit racist, culturally insensitive costumes out there -- hell, why not make it easier for people to go full yellowface. Literally.

I suppose there are plenty of ways to apply yellow makeup. But the illustration on the packaging makes it pretty clear what "look" you should be going for. Need some more inspiration? Check it out:

who will play mr. yunioshi in broadway's new breakfast at tiffany's?

Oh hell nooooo. Broadway watchers know that a new stage version of Breakfast at Tiffany's is in the works, based on the novella by Truman Capote, with Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke as Holly Golightly, the role iconically played by Audrey Hepburn in the 1961 film.

Of course, when I hear about a new Breakfast at Tiffany's, I instantly have to wonder who is going to play Mr. Yunioshi? You know, the role infamously played by Mickey Rooney in yellowface -- hands down, one of the most racist caricatures in the history of cinema.

Will they update the character for the modern stage? Or will they not even bother messing with it, and write it out altogether? At this point, the character is so closely tied to Rooney's grotesque stereotype, it's like playing with fire.

I'd like to think the people in charge would be smart about it, but recent developments from the theater world have not been very reassuring. Casting news continues to roll out, so I guess we'll find out soon enough...