Paramount Pictures & Asian Americans: Tarnished Legacy
December 12th, 2009 | Published in Background | 28 Comments
Hollywood credits white viewers with the ability to identify and sympathize with kung-fu pandas, transforming robots, commando penguins, and space aliens, but not with fellow human beings with a different melanin content.”
-Racebending.com supporter
Racebending.com has focused our advocacy efforts on Paramount Pictures, the studio producing The Last Airbender. By casting lead protagonists of color with white actors, Paramount deliberately denied opportunities to actors of color. These casting decisions did not exist in a vacuum.
In a November 2009 meeting, Adam Goodman – current President of Paramount Film Group – told a coalition of Asian American leaders that “diversity is paramount to Paramount.” Yet Paramount’s recent films have not offered much by way of opportunity for actors of color, including Asian American actors.
Fifty, seventy, one hundred years ago, Paramount told another story. While Paramount is the studio responsible for culturally insensitive yellowface films, such as Breakfast at Tiffany’s and My Geisha, Paramount was also the studio responsible for shaping the careers of several famous Asian American actors. Years ago, Paramount offered Asian American actors opportunities they no longer offer today.
Sessue Hayakawa: the first Asian American leading man
“My one ambition is to play a hero.” -Japanese American actor Sessue Hayakawa, 1949
Sessue Hayakawa was Hollywood’s first Asian American movie star and leading man. After his debut in the silent movie The Typhoon, young Japanese American actor Sessue Hayakawa was discovered by Jesse L. Lasky and offered a contract to act for the Famous Players-Lasky. Today, the Famous Players-Lasky is known as Paramount Pictures.
Hayakawa’s films with Famous Players-Lasky made him a Hollywood sex symbol. Between the 1910s and 1920s Hayakawa was as famous as Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks, and one of the highest paid stars of his time. The founder of Paramount Pictures recognized his talent and Hayakawa was able to leverage his work with the studio to become the first Asian American movie star.
While Hayakawa’s work with the future Paramount Pictures shot him to stardom, he still faced discrimination and racism in casting typical for the time period. Hayakawa did not renew his contract in 1918 because he was disappointed that, as an actor of color, he was only being offered roles as the “exotic villain” or the “exotic lover” and heroic roles were only given to white actors.
100 Years Ago: Sessue Hayakawa wanted to play a leading man and hero of color, but because of racism and discrimination, no studio would give him a chance. Back then, actors of color had to settle for playing the villain opposite white heroes.
Today: Nearly a hundred years later, the casting of Paramount’s The Last Airbender still continues the practice of casting actors of color as antagonists and white actors as protagonists.
100 Years Ago: In 1914, Paramount was willing to give an unestablished Asian American actor named Sessue Hayakawa a break. Hayakawa became a household name.
Today: A century later, Paramount was not willing to offer that same chance to actors of color interested in playing the roles of Aang, Sokka, and Katara.
Anna May Wong
“You’re asking me – with Chinese blood – to do the only unsympathetic role in the picture featuring an all-American cast portraying Chinese characters.” – Chinese American actress Anna May Wong in 1935
Chinese American actress Anna May Wong shot to international stardom in the 1920s and 1930s. While she was often forced to play stereotypical, supporting roles as dragon ladies and butterfly ladies, she became a fashion icon and a household name. Paramount Pictures cast Wong in her most famous role, as Hui Fei in 1932’s Shanghai Express.
In 1935, when MGM Studios was looking to make the Pearl Buck’s The Good Earth into a movie, Anna May Wong was considered a top contender for the role of O-lan, the Chinese heroine of the novel. Instead–as typical of the time–MGM gave the role of O-lan to a white actress and offered Wong the role of Lotus, the story’s villain. Wong turned them down.
Frustrated by the lack of opportunities in the United States, Wong decided to seek a career in Europe. Paramount Pictures asked her to come back to finish her contract with them, offering her roles that would depict Chinese Americans in a positive light. Paramount hired Anna May Wong to play the lead role in several B-movies, and even wrote a movie specifically for her–Daughter of Shanghai.
While promoting Daughter of Shanghai, Wong excitedly told Hollywood Magazine: “I like my part in this picture better than any I’ve had before, because this picture gives Chinese a break – we have sympathetic parts for a change! To me that means a great deal.”
70 Years Ago: Despite yellow peril discrimination against Asian Americans in the 1930s, seventy years ago, Anna May Wong was at least able to find work with major movie studios and become a star and household name. Paramount even wrote a movie just for her.
Today: The modern day Paramount Pictures has not created any starring vehicles for Asian American actresses. Recently, the studio has not even given Asian American actresses top billing!
70 Years Ago: Unlike other studios at the time, Paramount supported Wong and offered her positive roles as a character of color. Other movie studios wanted Wong to play a Chinese villain, while white actors were cast to play Chinese heroes.
Today: Paramount could have given minority actors the opportunity to play established heroes of color in The Last Airbender, but they decided to cast white actors instead. Today, Paramount reserves positive roles for white actors, while actors of color are given negative or background roles.
Nancy Kwan
“I was under contract, and the studio began wanting me to do roles I wasn’t comfortable doing, so they would suspend me when I refused. But I wasn’t going to do something I felt was demeaning.” -actress Nancy Kwon reflects on working in Hollywood, in 2009
Nancy Kwan was a popular Chinese American actress from the 1960s and part of mainstream pop culture. In 1960, Asian film characters in major film roles were usually played by white actresses in yellowface makeup, but Paramount cast Kwan as the titular character in the film adaptation of The World of Susie Wong.
While the film has been criticized for creating negative stereotypes about exotic Asian women, The World of Suzie Wong built Kwan’s career and made her Hollywood’s most visible Asian American actress. Kwan won a Golden Globe for her role as Suzie Wong.
Kwan would go on to star with top billing as Linda Low in the film version of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Flower Drum Song for Universal Pictures. (Her character sings the famous song “I Enjoy Being a Girl.”) Flower Drum Song was the first major motion picture to feature an entirely Asian American lead cast, playing Asian American characters.
50 Years Ago: Paramount was expected to act like other studios and hire a white actress to play Suzie Wong in make up. Instead, Paramount rejected yellowface and chose to cast an unknown actress of Asian descent to play Suzie.
Today: Despite widespread condemnation for the casting of white actors to play characters of color, Paramount denied opportunities to burgeoning actors of color in casting The Last Airbender.
50 Years Ago: Nancy Kwan and other Asian American actors starred inFlower Drum Song, the first movie to feature an entirely Asian American leading cast.
Today: Flower Drum Song is still popular today and remembered for launching the careers of several Asian American actors decades ago. But today, while developing a movie based on an animated series with ethnically Asian characters, Paramount has decided that none of the heroic protagonists would be Asian.
Today: 21st Century Paramount Films
Paramount was not perfect. Films like The World of Suzie Wong, My Geisha, and particularly Breakfast at Tiffany’s have been criticized for its unfavorable depictions and stereotyping of people of Asian descent. Still, when the prevailing practice in Hollywood was to hire white actors to play Asian characters, the Paramount of the past chose not to do so and instead created opportunities for Asian American actors in lead roles.
Decades later, Paramount has regressed and no longer creates those opportunities for Asian American actors at all.
Paramount made & released over 100 films over the past decade, between 2000 and 2010. None of these films featured Asian American actors as the leading man or woman.
Reflecting Paramount’s recent culture of cultural incompetence, films set in ethnically diverse locations such as Orange County (2002) did not even include Asian American or Latino characters.
The Love Guru (2008), which featured actor Mike Myers in brownface as a Guru offended South Asian Americans for its mockery of Hindu culture and religion.
And critics panned Paramount’s most recent blockbuster, Transformers II (2009) for containing some of the most offensive racial charicatures in recent memory.
Young Asian American actor Brandon Soo Hoo has a working relationship with Paramount from playing a small role as young Storm Shadow in GI Joe: Rise of the Cobra (2009). Soo Hoo has built-in notoriety and adulation from his breakout performance in Tropic Thunder, is proficient in martial arts, and is the right age for the character of Aang, but there is no indication that he was ever considered for The Last Airbender.
The most recent Paramount film including an Asian American character is The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, featuring Ken Jeong in a small role as Teddy, a passive Asian American character who becomes a punchline for a joke about hate crimes. After public outcry, Paramount had to apologize to Asian American advocacy groups for the depiction of this character in The Goods.
Prominent Asian characters from Paramount films 2000-2010.
- Kim Jong Il (Team America)
- Po (Kung Fu Panda)
- Guru Maurice Pitka (The Love Guru)
- Storm Shadow (GI Joe: Rise of the Cobra)
- Hikaru Sulu (Star Trek)
Paramount’s only recent memorable Asian characters are Kim Jong Il, a panda, an actor in brownface mocking Hinduism, a ninja, and Sulu from Star Trek.
Only two of these roles were actually played by Asian actors, only one of whom is an American actor. None of the characters are women. And aside from Hikaru Sulu and Storm Shadow–characters created decades ago–none of these characters are Asian American.
With The Last Airbender, Paramount had a chance to add to this otherwise lackluster recent track record. They could have cast actors of color to play three very positive, established heroes of color on the silver screen.
Currently, Paramount’s biggest “Asian” star is Po. He’s a Panda.
Closing Thoughts
A century ago, during a time when America was openly racist towards people of Asian descent, Paramount opened doors of opportunity for Asian American actors and cast them in their films. The casting decisions made for The Last Airbender indicate that those doors are now firmly closed. Paramount is no longer living up to its legacy or its claims that diversity is “paramount to Paramount.”
Today, while other studios are taking steps to create diverse heroes of color, Paramount is going the other way. Heroic lead roles of color in The Last Airbender were reserved for white actors, who are allowed to play Asian characters while actors of color languish in the background.
by Marissa Lee
very nice, very informative. Very sad. well done.
Fantastic article — I especially enjoyed the part about Anna May Wong, who demonstrated an amazing ability to negotiate studio bigotry and get better parts for Asian-descent actors.
One small note, though, re this quote:
Thanks! Change has been made.
I loved the article, very enlightening and engaging. As a film student whose double majoring in Asian/Pacific/American Studies, this is particularly helpful for me and definitely illustrates some of the boundaries that I’ll have to overcome to break into this industry in the coming years.
I find it amazingly sad that they were at their most progressive 100 years ago.
For what it’s worth, Paramount *did* distribute “Better Luck Tomorrow” through its MTV Films division in 2003.
asian and asian american actor don’t get the same respect in Paramount and hollywood,i understand how they feel about racism and hollywood.
Very nice article. The Dragon Ball and Street Fighter franchise also suffered the same fate as Avatar The Last Airbender. So I hope that big companies like Paramount & 20th Century Fox will stop their discrimination on Asian Actors and Actresses.
Bruce Lee, made himself into a leading man, albeit as one of the greatest marital artists in film, even kicking Chuck Norris’ butt in Enter the Dragon. And of course there is Jackie Chan and my hero Jett Li. As an African American with Native American and Asian American ancestors, I want more Asian Actors in any kind of role. (Recently found out that my mother’s father, was part Asian, his original last name was Toy, from the Mississipi Chinese.
As a writer who prominently features Chinese Canadian characters in my work and have found little resistance to it, shame on Paramount. A character does not have to be white for an audience to identify with them, and using that as an excuse is both unintelligent and grossly insulting to white people who happen to enjoy diverse and engaging films with actors and actresses of all ethnicities, languages, religions, etc.
Bruce Lee kicked Chuck Norris’ butt in Return of the Dragon. Asian American actors need a controversial director/filmmaker with a Spike Lee attitude to get them into the big leagues.
I do not understand where these producers and executives get the idea that movies will tank without White actors. I’m not sure… but didn’t Slumdog Millionaire do amazingly well in the US in 2008? These Corporate heads really need to get their heads out of their ass, and start worrying about the stories they are trying to sell. In the end, what makes a good movie is The script, and the characters, Not the color of their skin!
Nice article, but Storm Shadow from GI Joe is an Asian-American, at least he was in the comics. His real name was Thomas Arashikage and his place of birth is listed as San Francisco. While he was not played by an AA actor in the movie, at least he wasnt played by a white guy which would couldve been very possible.
Good point – fixed to reflect Storm Shadow’s nationality. Thanks for writing in.
Extremely frustrating… It’s insulting to consistently watch Asian-Americans shown as non-entities in Hollywood movies. I can’t think of ANY film with Asian-American leads outside of the “Harold and Kumar” comedies. There are too many talented performers being overlooked for lead roles even as the number of Asian-American cinematographers, directors and other technical craftspeople grow. This is the 21st Century?! We need to change this… NOW!
Very insightful commentary. I’m reminded that when J.K. Rowling signed away the movie rights for “Harry Potter,” she put in a stipulation that only British actors could play British roles, presumably because she felt that opportunities for British actors were being squashed by Americans with accents. Pretty brilliant on her part I think, since it launched the careers of so many bright new young actors from England.
It’s unfortunate that the writers of “Avatar: The Last Airbender” either didn’t have the same power or the same foresight.
Which is especially sad since the writer & director is M. Night Shamalan.
As an African-Chinese American who has worked in the film/TV business nearly 20 years, the only way to enlist change is to withhold your movie going dollars & be as vocal as possible on the blogs, industry sites, etc. The suits really pay attention to such things.
Unfortunately, currently the #’s are w/in their comfort zones (won’t get them fired) & there really hasn’t been enough public outcry so they do very little towards diversity.
Last week the stats for hiring minority writers/showrunners for TV pilots were released:
Women– 7
Latinos (male or female)– 1
Asians (m or f)– 3
African Americans– 0
http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/women-cant-create-and-white-men-cant-jump-worst-network-pilot-season-for-women-part-2/
& if that isn’t bad enough, read the accompanying comments justifying such bigotry.
As a writer & producer, I’ve been trying for years to get more lead minority presence in front of & behind the camera.
I was told (among other ridiculous reasons/excuses ), “Our audiences don’t want equality, they want Oprah.”
Thanks for an excellent article. It makes me feel @ least I’m not trying in a vacuum.
Thank you for writing – and for all your hard work in an industry that is not welcoming to those who are different.
You absolutely are not “trying in a vacuum.” There is a growing, vocal movement of consumers, fans, and professionals that are tired of whitewashing. A system of bias and complacency has held for a hundred years, but that does not mean it’s the right system – or even the most profitable one. We really, truly believe that the addition of more voices, of more faces, to Hollywood’s landscape will enrich us all.
Will Smith isn’t some rare diamond in the rough, a person of color who white Americans can mysteriously relate to. Consumers have moved into the 21st century and it’s time studios followed suit.
Couldn’t agree more!
Count me as 1 of your #’s.
BTW, the Hughes brothers (“The Book of Eli”) are in final negotiations to write & direct a live action version of “AKIRA”. If anyone can ensure diversity in a film, it’s them.
This is why my friends and I have stopped watching Hollywood films altogether.
We have a weekly film series now where we watch films from South Korea, China, and S. America. These films are so much better than anything Hollywood could offer, with more depth and unexpected plots.
Seri makes a good point – American films have not given anything new in decades. There is no longer a surprise ending or any depth or really any sort of depth in American films. I wonder, where do you find Asian films to watch?
It is especially sad to me that Last Airbender COULD have been such an amazing, incredible opportunity to promote Asian culture. What a wonderful, wonderful opportunity it could have been, especially given the popularity of the series. I think adults loved the series even more than the kids. The films could have been an opportunity to reach an even larger audience – people who never watched the series.
I recently watched Ninja Assassin with my brothers – half Filipino, fans of the game – and was disgusted by the fact that the protagonist is a white guy adopted by a martial arts dojo and the bad guy is Japanese. SERIOUSLY?!! At this point in time we still have to have a white guy somehow appear in Japan to be our good guy. Japan doesn’t even have ONE guy who could be a hero without immigrating there? Needless to say my brothers were disappointing – I don’t know the story in the videogame.
sorry to ramble on.
No need to apologize, we appreciate the support!
A little confused, though: are you talking about Ninja Assassin, starring Korean pop star Rain? He isn’t white (or Japanese).
i love watching GI Joe, both the cartoon series and the movie. I am hoping that they would make a sequel. ‘
Part of the problem is Asian actors are over represented by under performing managers and agents who are content to type cast their clients in roles that fit the stereotype. From time to time projects do crop up that requires an actor, or director to step up to the plate and what I have found is that on one hand the above article is very true, and the back of the bus or great wall of Hollywood is there but sometimes an actor or actress just has to step up and dare to take a seat at the front of the bus. As real as it is it is also an illusion that only exists as long as those kept out or roles and those keeping them out of roles agree that it exists. That is why CAA WMEE and ICM only have token Asian clients and few under 40. Asian talent needs less bad representation less over managed careers and better aggressive representation from the smaller boutique firms that hold them back as much as the larger ones keep them out. Micky as Gengas Khan? Somewhere an Asian actors agent is NOT DOING HIS JOB.