As you know, I have always remembered Rosalind Chao in The Joy Luck Club sitting proudly in the rain with the memory of her ancestors (see previous post).
As depressing as the movie was to me as a child, this scene remains inspirational.
I ask the world: Is it so hard to create more strong Asian characters like Rose?
Then I saw Freaky Friday and the world answered “…Yes, it’s totes very hard. Obvi”
I’m referring to the 2003 Lindsay Lohan/Jamie Lee Curtis Freaky Friday (If you’re thinking of the Jodie Foster version, bless your heart).
I’m a fan of the movie actually. Lohan is great.
But
Do you recall the Chinese restaurant? It’s where the whole switcharoo is set in motion via very ancient Chinese fortune cookie. Do you remember the hostess? Well it’s Rosalind Chao! The actress that played Rose in The Joy Luck Club!
Chao is in full blown “ah so” Asian lady stereotype. Let us count the ways in which this Asian character offends.
1. She works in a Chinese restaurant (The only places Asians work are Chinese or Sushi restaurants, dry cleaners, corner grocery stores, and nail salons)
2. She constantly grins (She is always happy).
3. She constantly ingratiates (She just wants to please you).
4. She has an outrageous Chinese accent (Me love you long time).
5. She has an ancient Chinese secret (Slanty eyes = sneaky).
5. She is snappy, impatient, and embarrassed by her crazy old Chinese mother. They babble angrily in Cantonese confusing a frightened Lindsay Lohan (When foreign people get angry they can’t control themselves. They lapse into their native tongue a la Ricky Ricardo).
As I saw Freaky Friday just a few days after re-watching The Joy Luck Club these caricatures seemed all the more gruesome.
It seems little has changed since Mickey Rooney’s buck toothed Japanese man in Breakfast at Tiffany’s
…Except now an actual Japanese actor can play Mr. Yunioshi. I guess that’s something.
***
Did they really need to mess with this?
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