A Quality of Mercy - Twilight-Tober Zone
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- Опубликовано: 7 сен 2024
- "A Quality of Mercy" has some familiar and recognizable faces show up in a pretty straight-forward script with a clear moral; however, there is a pretty big aspect to the episode that let's just say, doesn't hold up well. Join Walter as he continues his deep dive into The Twilight Zone.
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"A Quality of Mercy" is episode 80 of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone, which originally aired on December 29, 1961. The title is taken from a notable speech in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, quoted in Serling's closing narration at the end of the episode.
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Thoughts on "A Quality of Mercy"?
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As an avid Dean Stockwell fan, how can I hate this episode? Dean portrayed his arc as Lt. Katell perfectly!
Not surprising, since he began as a Child Actor at age six, his career spans over seven decades and he has over 250 credits to his name!
From an arrogant, wet-behind-the-ears-pup Army Officer who hadn’t seen combat and couldn’t understand the exhaustion of his men to the realization of what it was like to walk in the shoes of “the enemy” as Japanese Lt. Yamuri, Dean took the swap seriously and portrayed Yamuri with dignity.
He also injected a bit of humor into Katell when he rose his binoculars and hit his own helmet.
Anyone who’s ever watched him in anything knows that was pure Dean!
I was heartbroken when Dean died on November 7th of last year! Mostly because I don’t think he’s ever been given enough credit for everything he did during his lifelong career.
Channel Awesome’s review of the admittedly laughable _The Langoliers_ remains my only dislike (not that anyone else can see those anymore), because Doug dared to mock him without even acknowledging who he was!
Okay, Walter. Two dislikes. I still love you, though.
😭😭😭😭
The only problem I have with this episode is that it loosely inspired "Time Out"; John Landis' first
and infamous episodic segment of "Twilight Zone: The Movie"
I'm glad you removed my comment of this being a narrow view of where america was and how stories like this helped shape post-war perceptions who grew up on propaganda; was actually helpful and shouldn't be ignored or ashamed of. Ending my statement with it being like a mountain climber looking to the base being ashamed of where he started rather than feeling accomplished in how far they have come. Ya'll are a real class act, maybe learn a lesson or two in the Twilight Zone. It'd suggest the obsolete man.
I liked it, plus it had decent performances from Leonard Nimoy and Dean Stockwell.
When you get the opportunity to put yourself in someone else's shoes it makes you better understand things from the other person's pov.
We have both Leonard Nimoy and Dean Stockwell guest starring in this episode, who'd have guessed that they'd become the stars of their own TV shows in the future?
The latter playing second fiddle to What's His Name on Quantum Leap.
@@williamcrowe2576 Well, it's true. However, Stockwell played in several roles like that. My most favorite, because he topped his performance in Quantum Leap by miles, was Battle Star Galactica.
Fun fact:
Michael Pataki, best known for "Rocky IV" as Drago's manager Nikoli Koloff and "HALLOWEEN 4: The Return of Michael Myers" as the cold-hearted Dr. Hoffman; also makes an uncredited appearance in "A Quality of Mercy" as the U.S. Jeep Driver.
@@williamcrowe2576 I think you mean Dean costarred with whatshisname as Real Admiral (Upper Half) Al Calavicci!
Yes, I know that was Scott Bakula.
I had no idea who Scott was, because my six year old self (in 1980) fell utterly in love with Dean when I saw a TV airing of _Anchors Aweigh (1945)._ So I started watching _Quantum Leap_ for Dean.
It really bugs me how people usually only mention Al or both Cavils from the _Battlestar Galactica_ remake. Not that I don’t love both those rolls, but Dean’s film and television career spans over seven decades!
I was heartbroken when he died last November. 😭
What if Sam had quantum leapt into Kirk for one episode (The Enemy Within)? Just askin'.
I honestly don't think this particular bit is offensive. It isn't miscasting, or insulting, or anything. The character is literally supposed to be transformed. If this upsets someone I think they are being too sensitive. (I'm currently living in Japan if that matters.) but hey that's just my opinion.
I think it’s less of a problem outside the us. The fact that it was done here for so long and for mostly racist reasons has kind of tarnished the whole concept in America.
Basically it’s not bad in a vacuum but the historical context makes it troubling. Like how using the term oriental to describe East Asian people is frowned on now.
Precisely, they definitely couldn't include that aspect nowadays. The 60's were truly an entirely different era.
generally speaking, only white people are offended by things like this.
White people and race baiters looking for attention.
Its getting tiring very quickly because so many channels stop their videos dead in their tracks to make a 10 minute point about the offensiveness of everything.
I think is quite stupid to have him speak with a bad japanese accent, when he should speak japanese. Or make them speak japanese and put subtitles, or let them speak normal english.
Kinda reminds me of people getting mad at Cloud Atlas for race bending an actor in the trailer even though the movie itself had all of it's main actors of every race and gender playing a different race and gender multiple times for it's themes of reincarnation and how outward differences don't mater.
i actually dont think the use of " yellow face " was wrong here since it was supposed to be him and really shouldnt be compared to breakfast at tiffanys
Agree totally.
It's such a waste of time to keep up on what is supposed to be wrong.
Is it always wrong when an Asian plays a caucasion character?
it aged poorly here in America but in other countries it's a different story.
but to be honest he pulled it off quite well.
That’s what I’m saying!
I'm American and I find it quite convincing. I'm tired of people getting offended over small things
America so deeply racist, they not only have skeletons int heir closet but strawmen of "minorities" in their closet. It is the ACTUAL white man's burden brought back to life. Channel Awesome repeating this line is embarrassing on them and offensive of them.
From countries with actual culture and not melting pot mush, Commedia dell'arte was stolen to make blackface, Noh theater was stolen to make ninja masks, and actual human beigns were stolen so slavery of thousands could be outlawed and replaced with forced labor of millions, just NIMBY outlawed within US borders, because Nestle gets MORE from outside those borders.
@@Agent_3141 saying how they could have done it different isn't over sensetivety
You age poorly
This is like an ep of Quantum Leap. But rather than the leaper changing the time line they leap into, it is infact the leaper who is changed.
To be fair, they did him up in a tasteful way, with a good message behind the episode. You cannot equate this to Mickey Rooney's performance at all. He not only looked like someone you might actually be able to find in Japan today. Is it not acceptable by todays standard? yes. But to be fair, what is ok anymore with all the outrage people have about anything.
The only thing stupid is the fake japanese accent, even more when japanese captain doesn't see to have it.
Agreed...and I'm a half Japanese Filipino. This is nothing like Breakfast At Tiffany's.
@@fabiovarra3698 i agree. the make-up job kind of reminded me of cloud atlus where they were literally taking someone and putting them in someone else's shoes to connect the stories through the actors. cloud atlus used it for 6 different stories so it was a bit more crucial to keeping things straight than this story, but i think the idea still works just the accent is too far
@@fabiovarra3698 I completely agree that he should have done the accent better, its like Dick Van Dyke's British accent in Marry Poppins.
@@PrizeJ Half Japanese, and half Filipino?! I bet you are gorgeous! :)
Considering Nimoy was part of the Pike cast (obviously) and thus part of an earlier part of production, he’s probably about as close to Trek here as Shatner was when Nightmare aired
They're not the only ones we'll see (wait for the season 5 episode they mentioned.)
The usual problem with yellow face is that it’s taking jobs from asian actors. But they had asian actors. His transformation is important for the story and it’s important that it’s the same guy. It’s like complaining about the episode of MASH where the racist soldier refuses a blood transfusion from a black man, so they put shoe polish on him while he’s knocked out - LITERAL BLACKFACE - to give him a taste of his own medicine (and again, they had several black actors in that episode and throughout the series). It’s important that it is him, not some other actor.
It's not that, it's that he acts it out horrendous. His "accent" is terrible and stereotypical, especially while there are Japanese Actors there that show that they do not talk like that. Yet the actor still went ahead with it. It's quite bad.
@@DehnusNorder what's wrong with using an accent to convey soldiers? They weren't over the top or asking for egg fried rice or anything
Exactly this. Walter is way off for this. His accent is pretty bad. But you can tell that he's trying with it, and your right. It's absolutely important that we have the same person and underneath we can tell it's the same person in both characters. His accent is what needed worked on or dropped. Not the fact that he's made up to look asian, which is illustrating a key part of the story and can't easily be done by just casting another actor for those parts. It visually confuses the narrative of it being the same person inside.
Possibly could have gotten around this by making the main character a pre-war Japanese American immigrant to begin with, so that the faction swap scene would appear more believable. It probably would not have been realistic, but it would solve that problem.
@@troywright359 The accent of the actor was very stereotypical. To an extreme. He really just could have watched the Japanese Americans or asked them "what is the accent actually like? Could you help me study". But nope.. he choose not to.
It shows a lack of respect really.
I think this is justifiable “yellow face” because it’s not offensive at all. It’s trying to respect the culture and not make fun of it. I actually thought it was a different actor because of it. They were very respectful.
Dean Stockwell was a lifelong LEGEND! It’s a shame most people only associate him with _Married To The Mob, Quantum Leap_ and _Battlestar Galactica._
Not that I didn’t adore him in all three. But the man acted from age six (first in a play, then he was contracted by MGM) to his mid seventies!
@@Lesley_RedRhody Im not sure if it was his first role, but he played Nick and Nora's kid in the Thin Man series in the 1930's
Yeah I'm getting strong Virtue Signaling vibes from this review.
@@nooctip It wasn’t. Dean’s first cinematic role was Donald Martin in _Anchor’s Aweigh (1945)._ Little Dean was seven when filming began, but nine when it premiered due to the delay of the infamous animated scene with Gene Kelly and Jerry.
Dean hated being a Child Actor. He starred in twenty-one movies, including _Song of the Thin Man (1947),_ and was basically deprived of having an actual childhood.
Which is why he ensured the same wouldn’t happen to his own children, Austin and Sophia.
@@carm3d Or maybe people have opinions formed out of their own personal values ¯\_(シ)_/¯
I honestly thought they DID cast an Asian actor to play Stockwell's Asian counterpart of the character. Not to sound offensive but that was impressive makeup and acting to make me think they were two different people as I knew he was supposed to be the same character but it was two different actors playing him and putting their different approaches into him much like in Doctor Who's Doctor.
If you had said to me he was in yellowface, I would have been expecting something like Breakfast at Tiffany's or James Bond in You Only Live Twice. Yeah they could have gotten an Asian actor to do the role. But credit to the actor on fooling me there.
Maybe I have a bad sense of awareness, but I couldn't tell that was make up to make him look japanese. He honestly reminded me of a friend of mine who was half Asian and American. You could have told me he was another actor and I'd probably believe it.
I liked this one--it's always been one of my fave episodes.
We need to stop judging past art by current sensibilities. In fact, it might do us a service to see what was achieved under the sensibilities of the past as far as art goes to reassess whether we are losing something ourselves. At no pint did I feel the actor was mocking the Japanese. At no point did I think that it was offensive. I think it was important for the viewer to connect through the eyes of the same actor in both roles. I think using two actors would have lost some of the impact.
...are you Japanese?
Agreed💯💯
@@johnthemachine are you?
@@johnthemachine I would venture to guess that the Japanese, especially during the time of this episode’s release, would not have a problem at all. People need to stop being offended for others who aren’t offended themselves. And when people ARE offended it needs to be met with a measured response as opposed to automatic cancellation and attack. If someone wants to remake this episode with a “Quantum Leap” special effect…have at it. Otherwise, just accept this as a pretty damn good episode used to humanize the inhumanity of both sides.
@@johnthemachine I would venture to guess that the Japanese, especially during the time of this episode’s release, would not have a problem at all. People need to stop being offended for others who aren’t offended themselves. And when people ARE offended it needs to be met with a measured response as opposed to automatic cancellation and attack. If someone wants to remake this episode with a “Quantum Leap” special effect…have at it. Otherwise, just accept this as a pretty damn good episode used to humanize the inhumanity of both sides.
This is one of my favorite TZ episodes. You didn't have to focus so much on the raceswap. Really ahead of its time portraying war in a realistic way for American cinema. If you compare it to all other (aside from AQotWF) movies of the time period it really stands out as one a vet wrote.
Tf is aqotwf
All Quiet on the Western Front
@@GunBreaux how is anyone supposed to know that just by looking at it? Why must the internet have this incessant need to abbreviate everything?
@@goldenfiberwheat238Faster to type.
@@terrytaylor1732 yeah but people don’t know what you’re talking about
Why does everything have to be called “offensive” or “controversial” when it just isn’t.
Because we need to put the woke to sleep.
Wow really?! An actor having makeup and acting! This is appalling. I’m flabbergasted! It really isn’t a big deal dude. This was done very tastefully. The accent was a bit cartoony but that’s about it. Edit: Just asked one of my Japanese friends on his thoughts on this. He said that this was completely fine and didn’t see anything wrong with it. He’s tired of people not from his culture telling him that he should be offended over stuff.
Funny how it’s angry white people are the only ones that find it offensive
Ask any Latino/Latina whether they are offended by those terms; yet, we have this entire movement to change the term to Latinx - despite nearly the entirety of the Hispanic community rejecting it. This push to insert modern wokeism to everything is, honestly, more of an annoyance than the actual material. People are complaining that the race of a voice actor doesn't match the race of a character in a cartoon - irrespective of how well the show or the character is liked. It's simply ridiculous.
for reals. Only racists care about race. Actors ACT. It is a role to be someone or something you are not. Stockwell (RIP) did a fine job here.
this honestly reminds me of how annoyed and irritated Japanese fans were when Fallout 3 removed the Fatman Launcher from their version of the game and alot publicly criticized Bethesda for babying them on a topic that future generations no longer hold a grudge over.
I know - SHOCKING! Next someone will start a scurrilous rumour that William Shatner WEARS A WIG! Plus certain other 'accessories' - where will it end? WHERE WILL IT ALL END? Donald Trump actually does have a massive (tick-tock, tick-tock......) eh, brain? Oh the Humanity......
They remade parts of this episode for the segment of Twilight Zone The Movie, Time Out, where a racist businessman, having had enough of the Jewish, Black and Asian communities taking his job and money, gets a taste of his own medicine as he seen through the eyes of those that see him as these ethnicities.
The makeup job wasn't that bad I always thought it was a different actor.
I don't see it as a problem at all. Intent means everything, and with hindsight we can "yeah cast another actor" but what they did worked, and served its purpose. It was literally an episode about tolerance and compassion.
This episode's most notable for being an inspiration for the infamous first main segment of the Twilight Zone Movie. The one directed by John Landis, where three actors were killed in an onset helicopter accident.
Yup. The inspiration of a man becoming the people he resented. Wonder if they'll ever cover the movie
I find the makeup impressive (my god, the accents, though!). I actually thought they’d switched actors in the reveal shot where the Lieutenant turns toward the camera for the first time, which supports your statement they could’ve Actually switched actors and got the point across. I always wonder how actors feel when they’re acting with people who are faking accents they really have.
I didn't know that was Dean Stockwell but I think this episode is actually pretty good a simple active mercy is always good
Disagree heavily that this is offensive. Shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence as Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's. It's done respectfully here. Should we admonish all of Cloud Atlas because of the racial fluidity used by every actor throughout the film? Are the transgender Wachowskis being insensitive? No, they were making an artistic statement, and even though the effects didn't always hold up visually, I understood the intentions. That is exactly the case we have here, and I actually find it slightly racist in itself to look for racial "insensitivities" in every aspect of culture, even when they don't exist. This isn't doing blackface or yellowface... This an artistic point, and I think it's done quite well. And also respectfully.
Having Dean Stockwell appear in a reflection like you suggested would've aged *really* well.
Or just have him in the Japanese gear and ultimately unchanged
@@mullerpotgieter
Sure, but that wouldn't be retroactively funny when Quantum Leap started.
I think your criticism on the casting is more of a modern criticism and shouldn't be taken seriously. What they did in this episode and the message they brought to the script is amazing. Never bring modern politics into the past. it'll make your criticism look shallow
If the show had been criticized *at the time* for the casting, then your criticisms would hold some validity, but to criticize a 1960s portrayal by _today's_ sentiment regarding casting makes no sense. Next, we're going to see a video criticizing The Bone Collector because Denzel Washington wasn't an _actual_ quadriplegic. I mean, seriously, your complaint is that they didn't cast an actual Japanese person to play the role of the Lieutenant? The point was, if things were reversed, would _you_ still make the same decisions? And they pulled this off by showing him as being Japanese with the IJA. It would not have had the same impact had they switched the actor with a Japanese actor, as it would not have been _him_ . Plus, the episode was handled tastefully, with no overly exaggerated caricatures of the Japanese. They were, simply, men under a different flag - which was the point!
This is stupid he literally becomes another race/culture/side to learn to understand their viewpoint and have compassion for them. That's the opposite of racism.
The past is a foreign country, they do things different there. We really need to get past this bad habit of downgrading everything, because movies or tv didn‘t have proper rEpReSeNtAtIon.
It aged poorly in America but in many other countries actors portraying characters of other races is still a perfectly normal thing (As long as it's done in a respectful manner, of course)
I didn't find this offensive. It was tastefully done makeup and fits the narrative they are trying to paint. Shouldn't the actual portral be the key point here? Plenty of actors portray characters outside of their own enthnic group tastfully and most wouldn't bate an eye unless it's done by a white actor
can you give any examples? I can;t think of any off the top of my head
@@dustyrose192 Chadwick Boseman playing an african.
That is because white people have a history of excluding minorities from roles they should be in, and instead using other white people. Black face is offensive not simply because it uses heavily exaggerated stereotypical features, but also because it takes both the voice and role away from an actual person of color. Intention is moot when a story would have changed in NO way had they either changed actors or simply put no makeup on Dean at all. The problem isn't that Dean isn't japanese, it's that they used a white man to REPLACE a Japanese man, and I mean that in the context of real life, not the story, because as I said the make up (and the accent for that matter) have little impact on the story at all.
@@memesarekeem Following this logic. Isn't also racist that Ariel is being played by a Black actress?
@@fittzie That's a different can of worms. Race-swapping characters isn't the same as using yellow-face to "become" an Asian person in a role. Like wise, is Black ariel a white person in blackface? No.
Race has little to do with the story of Little Mermaid, so frankly race-swapping honestly isn't that big of a deal. My whole point with the original comment was that there was no need for Dean in the yellowface, had they gotten another actor or simply kept the makeup off; the actors themselves weren't the problem. In the case of Ariel, the actress is not replacing a white woman in the role, as we've known for a couple years now Disney was going to remake it with a black actress. White people were out of the question to begin with.
For all I care, Ariel could be any race, asian, black, white. She lives under the sea, what do race conventions matter to her at all? She's a mermaid, she should have scales and gills too.
The bigger problem with race-swapping is that A: it needs to happen at all, and B: It creates issues such as thing, we're people start to think "forced" diversity is taking over media, whatever the hell that means. In a perfect world, we could play any character of any race and no one would bat an eye outside of keeping true to characters from say, books or TV where race is important.
If the text doesn't explicitly say someone is of a certain race, make them whatever color you want.
Im going to disagree on just about every point made in this. The makeup is outstanding. If you didnt tell me it was the same actor, I wouldnt have known. It also wasnt done as a joke, or in any way disrespectful. I also think the reviewer let this one single aspect of the episode cloud judgement on the rest of it. It had an outstanding message, and didnt paint any one race as superior to another. Stop with this woke supersensativity and enjoy the art.
Dean was playing a character, and it is very effective to see him transformed into a Japanese soldier. Switching actors would lose the impact of seeing a man turned into an enemy.
They did a similar thing in the third Twilight Zone series, with the 2002 episode "Shades of Guilt." Vincent Ventresca plays a white man who doesn't stop to help a black man in trouble, and then later, starts turning black (the actor is in blackface) until he eventually becomes the one being denied help. The concept is the same, and the only real difference in changing from a war setting to a city street. I think the whole "shoe on the other foot" life lesson is a good one, even if it does require bending the rules of political correctness in order to make its point.
I'm of Korean descent. The way the main actor talks is quite literally how my grandma talks. This is how East Asians speak. The folded eyes is how East Asians look. Only pointing out that they sound and look different is not offensive to me. The Mickey Rooney bit in Tiffany, yes, that's dehumanizing and wrong, and it's obvious why. But this?
Ultimately, wartime atrocities big and small committed by both sides (Japan's human experiments, sexual slavery, genocide, etc., America's internment policy, civilian bombing, etc.), THAT'S the stuff that should offend people...!
Sir Henry Morgan: No. You Have to be outraged. It's a Requirement of All minorities, women, and people who don't fit in the supposed, unrealistic ideas of The Norm, to be offended and angry at everything, everywhere, at any time. Slacker. Traitor.
haha.
Thank you for speaking on this, though the people who complain and virtue signal won't like it.
But, I applaud you
Speaking as a Japanese American, and a soldier, this really didn’t seem that bad. The “yellow face,” honestly I didn’t really see it as much of a hindrance, didn’t really look all that bad. He’s no Mickey Rooney. The voice and accent, yeah it was bad but nowhere near the worst I’ve ever heard. As for the subject, I can see what Rod was going for here. I’ve had overeager lieutenants ready to jump into pointless/over complicated plans. It takes a lot for someone in combat to have compassion for their enemy, especially someone new.
I dunno, maybe it’s meant for a niche audience.
I'm sorry but... this is actuaöly quiet some impressive make up skill here. Like if yu would not have told me its the same actor I might would have believed it was another person. Like okay, I can see why someone would see it as offensive (specially in todays over offensive cultur) but damn, that sort of craftmanship deserves at least some form of respect. I think in some cases it's better to see certain show and movies as a product of it's time instead of how they would not fit in todays standards.
So a Twilight Zone episode where a U.S. soldier 🪖 for a brief period ends up being an enemy soldier, AKA a Japanese soldier for the time setting. This episode feels very similar to segment one, “Time Out” of the Twilight Zone movie about a grumpy middle age white man who believes he’s not succeeding in life because society is giving more opportunities to Jews, black peoples & Asian people and so he ends up in predicaments that they been in being seen as the ethnic people he oppressive
if somebody's offended by this I wont call them thin skinned over it, but this performance wasn't done in any major offense way (though if you argued the speaking performance was a bit to stereotypical, id give credit to that) it was done with an intention of walking a mile in someone elses shoes and the effect made a Japanese man for the part, not a Japanese caricature that demonized a race.
Japanese American here. The episode is fine and not offensive. Stop tripping yourself up over with this apologetic hand wringing, it's embarrassing.
It's always easy to point to films of the past & say, "it's not a good look." One of the most overused millennial phrases. But if you're able to see things through the lens of the past, it isn't offensive at all... unless of course, you feel the need to point it out because you're worried about the woke mob coming for you. I'd say it's always best to speak to the more intelligent side of your audience instead of trying to pander to those who would destroy you. But I suppose it's very trendy to some. To others, it's mind-numbingly boring & unsophisticated.
I like your suggestion of hiring a Japanese actor and seeing Stockwell in a mirror. Basically it’d be a reverse quantum leap
That suggestion falls apart very quickly with just one question. Where do you get a mirror in the middle of a jungle in an eminent battlefield between two forces of worn and weary troops planning their final assaults. It can be done but it doesn't make sense and it takes time and attention away from the story to do it and try to clarify that point when having the same actor underneath it all visibly recognizable as such and see his confusion and that he doesn't look quite himself anymore does the same thing with much less confusion. This is a key point of the story that is being told.
This isn't Rooney's farcical comedy bit that wouldn't have become any less insulting if you'd put an asian person in place of Rooney even though you can use the same exact arguments against that portrayal, comedy or not. In fact you could argue that because Rooney's was done for that kind of comedy that it's actually far worse than anything in this episode could hope to be. But it's given a pass, even by Walter, because it was for comedy.
@@Quandry1 he could see his reflection in a puddle of water, for instance. or in the reflection of the surface of a bayonet. and so on
@@weixiangwong2227 that still requires extra setup and clarification. Just like the mirror.
Well, you're sitting at home, hating Buzz Kulik, and he doesn't know; he's out dancing, having a good time.
You forgot to mention that this episode served as a loose inspiration for the first segment in the Twilight Zone movie. It was changed quite much and had a much darker tone.
I'll take this over Once Upon A Time any day
Be fair, the japanese were pretty brutal back in the day
They were basically the Nazis of Asia, yet their atrocities dont get nearly enough attention
@@raymondwatt9773 I know, history lessons have been leaving that part out, as if only white people are the only ones with dark pasts
I understand humanizing the Japanese I really do, but what about the Chinese, Koreans, Filipinos, etc?
@@raymondwatt9773 How do you mean?
Historical fact or entertainment?
@@antcow1239 Louder for the people in the back! I'm of Korean descent, damn the Japanese colonists just the same as you would all others! Almost everybody's colonized someone else before, not just Europeans:
-Aztecs colonized other tribes and took human sacrifices as tribute, skinning them alive and ripping out their hearts, etc.
-Ottomans colonized Southeast Europe and the Caucasus, committing genocide against the Greeks, Armenians, Assyrians, etc.
-Japanese colonized Asia and the Pacific, sexually enslaving women across the land (Soviets, Koreans, Chinese, Mongolians, Filipinas, Dutch Indonesians, etc.).
-The Mongols built the single largest contiguous land empire the world has ever seen. For all their colonizing, NONE of the European powers could achieve the sheer level of conquest and devastation the Mongols brought to the world!
Etc.
Europeans even colonized each other, like when Rome colonized Gaul/France and exterminated the natives, when England colonized their Celtic neighbors (many times attempting to exterminate the Irish), when Russia colonized Finland, when Germany invaded Poland, when Italy tried to take Greece, etc.
Colonizing isn't something that just white people do to just non-white people, it's something that EVERYBODY tries to do to their neighbors...!
I think you're being way too harsh on this episode. It would've been one thing if they were putting down the Japanese or if they were playing off of major stereotypes. But in my opinion, it was done tastefully, and taught a valuable message about understanding and compassion for your fellow man; AND THERE'S NOTHING OFFENSIVE ABOUT THAT.
I actually didn't realize that they had yellow faced him. I honestly thought it was another actor, cause all the other soliders seemed like genuine asain actors. Other than that uncomfortable aspect, this episode was really good and a great commentary on perspectives.
Wonderful performance by the late great Dean Stockwell.
Time Out the opening segment of Twilight Zone the Movie did the transformation better that he looked Jewish, black, and Vietnamese to the observer rather than he turned into them. Or Shades of Guilt in the 2000's version where he actually was played by an African-American actor.
Aside from the discomfort, I think it is a good episode and Stockwell carried the episode particularly in the beginning as the trigger happy soldier and the understanding human being at the end.
If you hadn't mentioned the yellowface, I would've thought it was a different actor, the make up was that good.
I think they should have got George Takei to play Dean Stockwell's soldier as a member of the Japanese army. Not only would it have avoided the yellowface controversy but it would have added another future Star Trek star to the episode, along with Leonard Nimoy.
I don't think the make up is that bad but the voice is a little tougher to swallow but since it doesn't come from a place of malice I can personally forgive it since I love what the episode as a whole is trying to say
Although... Lt. Katell... deduced that... what happenned... only happenned to him... but not to the world (... dear boy) he still ended being captured and fed a bowl of rice a day.
Rest in Peace, Dean. You were good.
Seeing that there are some people in the comment section that don't understand Walter's criticism, I thought (as a mixed race person) I'd weigh in and maybe make it clear what the actual issue is. The practice of "race face" (for lack of a better term) has a history of being used in performances where characters that are not in the predominant ethnic or racial group of the audience are shown in ways that are othering at best and dehumanizing at worst. More often than not these kinds of characters are subsets of clown-type characters. Clowns are meant to be laughed at for their appearance and behavior. The clown is an example of what we the viewers are not (or what we shouldn't be but are). A non-example. An aberration of the natural order of things. Hence the humor. When we make the clown out to portray a specific kind of person such as a member of an ethnic or a religious group more often than not it's to poke fun at characteristics of behaviors (alleged or otherwise) of that group. You are saying that an entire culture or creed is absurd. Now, it can be healthy for members of a group to laugh at themselves since it is certainly true that people of all walks of life have their absurd qualities about them. We're all clowns and sometimes we're all in on the joke. But when one group makes clowns out of another group it comes across as a purposeful slight. Mainly because there are many times it is exactly how it comes across. A slight. A slight that can inspire even worse actions. A joke is another way of being serious. If you treat an entire culture as absurd with absolutely no nuance then it isn't a stretch to imagine that eventually the joke will influence actions. Perhaps even policy. Then all of a sudden it's not just a joke anymore.
Does this episode have the most egregious use of yellow face? Absolutely not. The goal clearly was to get across a message of empathy and compassion for our fellow man. The Japanese man being portrayed by an American is not the clown of yesterday's minstrel shows but the method chosen by the creators of this episode to bring this character to life is guilty by association. It's a practice to be retired for its pedigree as its predecessors are not suitable for the multicultural world we find ourselves in. Should people be offended? Probably not. But we should be critical. We should always be critical in a constructive manner for the better of us all.
Why does it have to be guilty by association? We understand the context here, anyone with half a brain should understand the concept behind the casting choice. Why should we care about the opinions of the few, easily offended who refuse to understand?
@@Regfife You shouldn't. That's not what I'm talking about. What I'm saying is that the practice itself in general is wrong at worst and unnecessary at best. Again, as Walter pointed out, there was no need for a character in yellowface. Was this offensive? Not really. It was legitimately trying to be sympathetic. However, it's a practice that even when attempted in sincerity it can't avoid resembling more overtly insensitive instances. I mean, just listen to that accent. Do you know anyone in real life that sounds like that? Because I strongly doubt they had an accent coach on set and if they did then they should have gotten a refund because I damn near expected to hear the guy welcome his fellow soldiers to "Shitty Wok". Do not mistake my criticism for condemnation. I am not saying that anyone's head deserves to be on a pike over this. What I'm saying is that it was a misguided attempt that shouldn't be repeated.
@@WildMen4444 Trust me, he's part of that annoying conservative bandwagon that gets triggered whenever he points out something wrong with the past. You can't reason with those folks.
@@jlev1028 I'd like to think I'm a reasonable person, and to prove it I'll say I agree with the meat of Wild Men's points. If I was casting a character who found themselves' as a different race, I'd cast a person of the new race to play that character. I do think Walter spent a bit too much time dwelling on the casting choice, but if it really wrecked the episode that much for him, personally, he's entitled to express his opinion, just as the rest of us are entitled to express our opinions of disagreement.
With the massive amount of race swaps that are happening in TV shows and comics I'm surprised that anyone would have a problem with yellow face.
There's a difference between race swapping and putting on makeup to look like a person of color.
@@jlev1028 is there because I see no difference
At risk of being attacked for my opinion, I don't understand the issue with the way they did things in this episode. They got Japanese actors for the rest of the cast and gave the star the role because it was important to show who it was to an audience without flat out telling (show, dont' tell). Ontop of that, other than an attempt at an accent that wasn't done for laughs or insult (in my opinion, intent is everything) he plays it very seriously and proudly. The makeup, in black and white, actually is done pretty impressively too in my opinion. It's not like the Micky Rooney caricature you mentioned which was done just to make a joke out of asians and to play on stereotypes. Especially for the time and even a little now, I feel like the whole subject is something society has latched onto to pretend they're helping racism when, for instance, native american's have a LOT more important and dire problems than someone wearing a feather headdress in a movie.
Im not a historian, and I don't hold it against the modern day Japanese people, but the WW2 japan war crimes were... Well, lets just say that sending their your own people on suicide missions was not the worst thing they did...
Yeah the fake accents suck...but the makeup wasn't meant to be insulting, but the opposite. And back then when many Americans were still traumatised by both the war and Pear Harbor...this is not only progressive back then...it is the pure expression of forgiveness and love for your fellow man. No matter race, sex, creed, even what flag you wave we are all human. Honestly if we all learned that lesson instead of dividing into factions based on race, sex, creed, or nation of origins we wouldn't nearly as much evil as we do now.
"Show him in a reflection" That's exactly what I said man! They had shown on the twilight zone they were capable of this sort of thing before and ironically enough the effect would feature heavily on another Stockwell show, Quantum Leap.
I didn't find anything offensive about this episode. I think a lot of Americans are too sensitive nowadays, especially those who hold to "progressive" idealogies. I'm an American who lives in Japan.
I lean to the left, and even I, though I don't think it would be 'acceptable' really, isn't actually "bad" as such either. It is in the service of a very important message, that though reality is mean and vicious and we might sometimes have to do things we otherwise oughtn't want to to our fellow man, we ought never forget that they are, in fact, like us, and they are, in fact, our fellow man. Deserving just as much respect, dignity, mercy and grace as we, ourselves would like. That message is so important that little transgressions, if they help push through barriers of thought and feeling, can be forgiven.
Make up team did great job.
Not offensive, especially from Dean Stockwell. He spent a lot of his life studying and practicing martial arts and even made films involving Filipino Arnis. He was very involved in their culture. The makeup was fantastic and the mannerisms were not over the top.
I'm looking forward to hearing Twilight Tober-Zone's take on "Death's-Head Revisited."
I get that we're all supposed to be offended by everything, including this here. But doesn't changing the actor's appearance and his voice kind of add to the fact that something is out of place there? His body has been warped into something it wasn't supposed to genetically be! And to have all the Japanese soldiers around him acting like there's nothing wrong, doesn't that add another layer to it? Clearly, they don't see him as a yellow-faced white dude but as a normal Japanese person like them. And considering the entire theme of the movie is compassion for people who are different and, arguably, a case against racism, I kind of think all this post-modern habit of taking of offense to everything is missing the whole point! Okay, now that that's out of my system I'm sure you're all going to curse me out and tell me what an "ist" or "ism" I am...
There is ZERO wrong with making the American up to look Japanese. Absolutely fine.
Also, I'm surprised you didn't mention that the episode was technically remade in Twilight Zone: The Movie as "Time Out". Sure, it's about an angry out-of-work bigot who gets a taste in prejudice through various time warps, but it carries the same themes. Then again, it might've brought up memories of the infamous deaths of three actors in that sequence.
Whenever I see this episode all I can think of is the twilight zone movie from the first story RIP vic marrow and those two poor vietnamese children
Great video.
Ugg, him turning japanese is the main part of the story, don't jump on every bandwagon out there or you will never have any personal ideals, you'll just blend in and become part of the group think.
I just want you (whoever is reading this) to know that I went from being an avid Channel Awesome fan to vowing not to watch another video from this channel (for various reasons). But Lord knows when October comes this year, I will goddamn binge-watch every single episode of Twilight-tober repeatedly again and again. As someone who also grew up with the original Twilight Zone, I love this series so much. Thank you so much Walter ❤️❤️❤️
The one thing cool about this episode is it's ironic that Dean basically does a reverse Quantum Leap to learn a lesson, jumping into someone else's body briefly instead of someone jumping into his. But yeah, the yellow face, and...uh...did they give the Japanese Commander stereotypical teeth or were those his...
I'm sorry but I think you're being a bit delicate. there's absolutely nothing about this episode offensive. in my PERSONAL OPINION the makeup and accent makes this powerful. if they got 2 cast it would not be follow able. if they kept him white in a Japanese uniform I'd be corny freaky friday foolishness.
if art can't force you to feel it has no point.
Jeez, the grandstanding is ridiculous. Just enjoy it
An actor is an actor. Stop politicizing everything
Love your Twilight Zone stuff for October. Was such a great show. Until today I never noticed the Japanese uniforms have Mario M's on them or atleast very similar to them!
"A Quality of Mercy" is one of my favorite episodes.
I'm a person of color, so is sensitive to being stereotyped, but Stockwell was right to play the role of the Japanese soldier, where he was still recognizable as the character Lt. Cattel.
Having a Japanese who looked nothing like Stockwell play the role of Lt. Yamuri and making it known to the viewers that he was Lt. Cattel, could have been cumbersome in its execution, thereby confusing some viewers for a bit, even with cues given to show that he was the same person.
Stockwell would start appearing as Al in "Quantum Leap" in the late 80s
It AgEd PoOrLy
It just would of been weird if the lieutenant of a Vietnamese unit was caucasian. They did it for the right reasons, I don't think any hate came from it. There wouldn't of been much of an argument against it at that time. So it can be alarming but don't let that weigh this episode down. It's nice to watch a character like that turnaround and do what's right.
We are going to complain about the casting a white guy as a Japanese guy but no mention of all white actors playing Cuban characters in “The Mirror”
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba
Cuba is 64.1% White. The vast majority of "Hispanics and Latinos" are of White Spaniard and Portuguese descent, with some Native/African. If French Canadians/Americans made their own nation, they'd be considered Latino. If Italian and/or Romanian Americans had their own nation, they'd be considered Latino. Latin = Roman. SPQR
This pearl-clutching over the makeup just sounds like protesting too much to me. Can you verbalize what exactly is "offensive" about it? Come on. When you define "racism" so broadly it's no wonder we're backsliding on race relations these days
How is casting a white person in yellow face not racist to you?
@@jlev1028 The other comments outline very well how this is not offensive in this context. It seems majority of people have no problem with this episode's race-swapping.
@@jlev1028 It's just...not. I really think the burden would be on you to explain how it IS racist, and if you find you can't it may be worth reconsidering what you've been taught. No offense but seriously, do you want to live in a world where anything and everything is "racist"?
@@deadsirius3531 You sound like someone who wished this country turned the clock back 60 years just so you wouldn't have to be "burdened" over social justice in pop culture.
@@jlev1028 I dunno about 60 years but yeah. The "social justice in pop culture" today is shallow, patronizing, and as I alluded to before, counterproductive to actual equality. It is made to be easily digestible by children who see the world in black & white and are too young to remember what actual racism looks like. I'm sure you have good intentions but I don't think you understand that you're part of the problem, not the solution
Amazing
Yeah, kind of wonder how much of the controversy over the 'yellow face' and the accent is white people getting upset on the behalf of Japanese people. From what I have seen, Japanese get about as upset about 'yellow-face' as white people get upset about a black actor in white face, which is, not very. As far as the accent, well, people that don't speak English as a first language tend to have accents. Granted, in the episode they could have just used regular American accents, since, one assumes, in show, they were actually speaking Japanese, but I think the whole idea that foreign people speaking in accents is offensive is pretty silly. There is a very valid point that Asian parts have Hollywood tend to go to white actors historically, but from what I have seen, the Japanese in the episode were actual Asians, except for the character that was an American transformed into a Japanese soldier, which is a pretty good excuse to have the same actor playing the part.
Don't get me wrong, I don't deny prejudice against Asians is a thing in the US, just not sure this qualifies. Would actually kind of like to hear from Asians on the subject of this episode.
Thats Dean Stockwell? Damn...babyfaced.
It's a good episode with an important message. The root problem of racism is the inability to stand in the other person's shoes as it were.
Have you seen Tropic Thunder?
I honestly can't remember if I've ever seen this episode before? Was it removed from reairings? Did it just leave no impact on me?
I think his acting was hinging a little too much on the stereotypical portrail of japanese people of the time, but the makeup nailed it and I don't think it was distasteful at all, it's supposed to be a character who was transformed and they made it subtle enough to recognize the change while still seeing as the same character
if you see any episode of the twilite zone on tv now except holiday marathons you are lucky.
i love these specific reviews but hey they are the reviewers opinion these reveiws are still pretty great.
Albert Salmi playing a hero in this episode. In his other two TZ appearances, it was different story. In his most famous appearance in Execution, he was mostly an anti-hero, while Of Late I Think of Cliffordville he was the villain of the episode. He mostly made a name for himself outside of TZ by playing policemen and FBI agents.
You recommend watching the Purple Testament instead but then you DISS the Purple Testament as one of your weaker episodes. Get it together, Tober!
1:34 This is really confusing there supposed to be the same person (or at least know it's the same person's mind), it wouldn't make any sense if they were played by different actors because that would confuse people into possibly thinking it was different people, also it looks fairly convincing.
2:01 How exactly is that offensive.
2:41 Again that would be confusing since it wouldn't have looked like Stockwell, I'm not saying that this isn't dated I'm just saying that there was a purpose behind it that you failed to acknowledge, unlike Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's who it was played by an actually Asian wouldn't have affected anything except for the film being less dated, and comparing these two is like comparing (Fahrenheit) sub-zero temperatures to temperatures around in the (Fahrenheit) 50 range.
I feel like this is what the Vic Morrow segment of the Twilight movie would have been.
It would’ve been a nice homage to Vic’s role as Sergeant Saunders in the 60s TV show “Combat!”
I think it would have been more effective if Stockwell hadn't changed his accent and hadn't used any make up but the other soldiers just all treated him as a Japanese soldier they knew, not as an enemy white American.
Whatever the merits(or demerits) of this episode, I find myself quoting Salmi's line whenever someone talks glibly about war. "What be your pleasure?"
Not one of Twilight Zone's finest hours.
Maybe the accent was a bit much, but I find that the makeup was done quite well.
This episode is still better than several recent installments, it actually has a moral to teach younger audiences rather than just stating something. Honestly the worst thing about it is the stupid accent, not sure why they bothered with that
Agreed. I didn't get much out of this episode. Much preferred The Purple Testament. Dean Stockwell tried his best but the accent was a bit off at times. Albert Salmi had more to work with in Execution