How Michelle Yeoh Went from Bond Girl to Best Actress Oscar Winner in the American Media
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 28 июн 2024
- Get a whole month of great cinema FREE on MUBI: mubi.com/bekindrewind
In this video I take a look at Michelle Yeoh's career from Tomorrow Never Dies to Everything Everywhere All at Once and think about the significance of her Best Actress Oscar win.
Follow Nancy Wang Yuen here: / nancywyuen
Buy her book: www.rutgersuniversitypress.or...
If you’d like to support me on Patreon, click here: / bkrewind
Music by Epidemic Sound
Find me on social at:
TikTok: bkrewind
IG: bk_rewind
Twitter: bkrewind
I remember Halle Berry holding her breath when Michelle was announced as the winner and you can tell Halle was bursting with pride presenting Michelle with her Oscar. Halle is not alone FINALLY!
alone?
@@jusletursoulglobaby what I mean is that Halle isn’t alone as Michelle joins her as women of color to win best actress
@@alpe1987 okay, I understand a little better now. and that's why you interpreted her emotion as "pride"? you see a kinship between Halle and Michelle?
@@saurabhvashist4051 oh, halle said she was bursting with pride presenting?
@@jusletursoulglobaby definitely saw kinship. After Michelle’s speech, when they left the stage together, the three Best Actress winners (Michelle along with the presenters/past winners Halle Berry and Jessica Chastain) looked like a sisterhood, with Halle Berry and Jessica Chastain looking incredibly proud and supportive of Michelle.
I thought it was such a cool moment that Halle Berry was right there for Michelle’s win
Strange coincidence that the two non-white actresses to win the Best Actress Oscar were both in fact Bond girls.
All about that range and commercial value
It happens
The fetisihization of colored people as these exotic asskicking goddesses. Halle Berry is half white though. She probably more white than black in fact, considering her mom is fully white, and her dad is African American, which most African Americans carry some level of European ancestry due to unfortunate slave rape.
@@jonfreeman9682
Kim Basinger is the only other bond girl to win an Oscar so no, it doesn't happen often.
@@benjamintillema3572 That's true. She has best supporting actress in LA confidential. Good movie. I think Halle Berry is the only one to do a Bond movie after winning an Oscar.
I knew Michelle Yeoh's Oscar win have been one of the most satisfying wins in recent times. Looking at her career full of hardwork and resilience is awe-inspiring.
but even someone as talented as her got that far through her family money and connections, her father was an important politician and her uncle is/was a billionaire. If you're Malaysian, you can't help but think about how underfunded the arts are in our country, and how so many people here as talented as her will never get to pursue a career as amazing as Michelle Yeoh's because that social mobility ladder is just not there for them. She is far from just a rich girl with good opportunities, and really is insanely talented...
😂😂😂
Yeoh's win would have been more satisfying if she didn't had to campaign harder than a presidential candidate to win that award. She went on every broadcast morning show, weekday/end edition, 60 Minutes, BBC Global news, Graham Norton, Ampour, the late night circuit, all the popular magazines Time, People, Vanity Fair, women periodicals, industry publications, the Variety/THR circuit, almost every critics and televised award, etc. It's insane what a women of color has to do to get that damn award while Meryl Streep, Frances Mcdormand, and Cate Blanchett can just show up and win.
@@gabelogan5877 I’m not entirely sure she had to do that. Do you have examples of her PR team (does she even have one) lobbing for this? I mean, I remember when Gwyneth Paltrow won the best actress Oscar, it was *very* well known at the time that there were strings pulling the academy and her PR people making no bones about what they were doing.
I haven’t seen anything that made me think that Michelle’s team was pulling strings behind the curtain, but I’m also not as much invested or aware of Oscar campaigns in the last decade.
She deserved it 💯 though, so I’m not mad, unlike miss Goop’s win for her ok but bland acting.
@@gabelogan5877 Because even after the all Oscar so White, nothing as changed.
Off Screen Hollywood is still white and male dominated and they're gonna be the one making all the decision and hold the power.
Fun fact: In addition to being the only women of color and Bond Girls to have won Best Actress, both Halle Berry and Michelle Yeoh competed at Miss World. Michelle competed in 1983 and Halle competed in 1986.
Wow, I did not know they both competed in Miss World! Incredible! I just love them both.
@@cgill914 yup, Halle also competed at Miss USA in 1986, she was Miss Ohio USA and finished as 1st Runner-Up.
@@stevennieves3327 in the 1980s to 1991, Miss USA runner ups get to go to Miss World.
Yup, that is true. From 1981 to 1991, then Miss World revoked Miss USA’s license to Miss World because MUO would not announce at any point during the pageant that the 1st Runner-Up would get to compete at Miss World.
Interesting how she, Halle Berry, and Vanessa Williams managed to transition from beauty pageants to ultimately become respected actresses.
That's not uncommon in South Asia. Aishwariya Rai and Priyanka Chopra were both Miss World winners.
She was in a beauty pageant ??????????????????????????
@@fairamir1 yeah, she won miss malaysia
It's almost like men created stupid categories for female beauty, talent and intelligence that have nothing to do with reality
@@maytabangin5349 Why does that not surprise me? After all these years, she is still a beautiful woman and A person that I would still like to sit down and talk with.
Stephanie Hsu needs lead roles in movies asap. She’s just so fantastic.
After seeing her in EEAO, I think she'd be a terrific Cassandra Cain.
She's got a film coming out soon/now called Joy ride
I hope she gets her own BKR video someday. She blew me away in this film.
I've loved her since the fledgling days of "Be More Chill" please, someone tell me I'm not alone.
Broke my heart in EEAO honestly. At the end when she asks her mom to please let her go; the motivation behind it, the sense of pain, is something so relatable to me it makes me tear up just thinking about it. It echoed my relationship to my own parents and it was so so poignant and perfectly played an ugh. Like Nancy here says, I hope Stephanie Hsu has Cate Blanchett’s career
I remember reading a Tweet long ago and it’s still in my mind which was something along the lines of “Why is the Chosen One always young and hip? Why can’t it be a mom?”
Well, the Daniels, the Producers of EEAAO and Michelle Yeoh answered that question.
It was actually first answered years ago by the British series Yonderland (which I haven't seen, only clips on RUclips), but that's an utterly silly comedy so it probably does not count.
Secret of Nim gave us that too but it's such an old movie now
It may be all jokes and fun, but she does have to truly save Yonderland and the council at times. :)
My mother was a cinephile, and made a point to take me to Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon when it came out (this involved a long trip to the city), I wish she had been alive to see Everything, Everywhere, All At Once, and see Yeoh win the Oscar. I know she would have loved the movie and been trilled to see Michelle take home an Oscar :)
🌷
Last year, around October, after seeing EEAAO on my own, I insisted that my mom see it with me. I felt it was that important for our relationship. A few weeks ago she starts telling me about a movie she recently saw that just did not make any sense to her. It was EEAAO. 🤭 Your mom sounds like an amazing woman. Thanks for sharing.
This is a lovely anecdote.
I say this as a big Buffy fan - there's something very sad about Crouching Tiger being compared to Buffy. It just...really speaks to the scarcity of cultural reference points for stories with significant action elements where female characters have prominent, active roles, having a significant amount of screentime and development while also joining in the fighting, rather than getting, at most, one of those two things. They're otherwise *very* different.
Maybe today it would be compared to "Legend of Korra," or "She-Ra," or Rey from Star Wars, but people seem hell-bent on letting those characters remain in a second-tier "niche interest" class as opposed to "Mainstream Pop Culture."
@@1000huzzahs In my opinion, comparing Crouching tiger to those movies is like comparing Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet to Leave It To Beaver and Father Knows Best. Three are mature explorations of serious ethical problems while the others are childish studies of easily resolved situations.
The talk show hosts and reporters were catering to older, more racist demographics and lacked the perspective to treat the material with respect. It was painfully cringey to watch back in the day.
@@1000huzzahs Even then, Korra, Buffy, Crouching Tiger and the Star Wars sequels have so little that links them all together. I've never seen She-Ra but I assume the same is true there. Their common denominator is having physically capable female leads that are the focus of the story. It'd be like if reviews of The Matrix compared it to Die Hard to explain how it could appeal to men.
More people should watch Yes Madam and Police Story 3: Supercop.
Honestly there should be a category for stunt people to win Oscars. Michelle Yeoh getting an Oscar feels like an overdue recognition for the amazing feats she performed throughout her career.
The only issue is that editing makes it difficult to distinguish what a lead actor does and what a double does (so few Hollywood stars do ALL of the stunts without a double).
Perhaps a solution is just make it a joint award if there’s a double doing part of the stunts: make it so that both performers get recognition. Otherwise, since. it’s hard to decipher who did what, it’d be hard to have such an awards category.
Also, stunt choreography/ coordination would be an easy category to have, and should already be a category.
@@tylerkochman1007 The fact that its not a category is frankly so flagrantly dumb. The level of athleticism, artistic vision and even life risk involved should make it one of the foremost technical categories.
Quentin Tarantino has long vouched for such a category
she won the most awards for best actress during the whole race, more than cate
And her acting requires a lot of range, her film is studied in universities already
It was clear she got the oscar after the sag win
@@halfabeet Then somebody dies trying to win the Oscar.
An hour long video about Michelle Yeoh? Oh my god yes
Michelle Yeoh winning the Oscar made me tear up and the fact that the award was presented to her by Halle Berry... it was truly a special moment.
I feel like there's many folks like me who were perhaps fully onboard the Tár train, especially with Cate. But don't feel cheated by Michelle Yeoh winning for many reasons. Representation of course is huge, but most of all, the role felt like the encapsulation of her entire career in a spectacular way. It felt like something years in the making, leading to a powerhouse lead performance where she could be badass but also soft natured, strong yet vulnerable
I still need to see Tar. I hear really good things about that movie.
I’d’ve rather preferred Todd Field upset in Best Director for _Tár_ and for Martin McDonagh to take Best Original Screenplay for _The Banshees of Inisherin._
Happy for _EEAAO’s_ Best Picture victory, but those 2 films leaving the night empty-handed will forever suck. :(
Although I think that Cate Blanchett’s performance in Tar was nothing short of spectacular and I can understand why some people are upset with her not winning. I predicted Cate to win but was rooting for Michelle. But, I’m confident to say that Cate will always have another chance to win her third Oscar, not only she’s one of the greatest actresses in the post modern era, there will always be Oscar caliber roles for waiting for her, if she chooses them. As for Michelle, unfortunately, I’m not confident enough of the movie industry to create another role as good as Evelyn Wang in EEAAO. She waited over 40 years for a role like that and it’s very possible she won’t get another great role like that in decades. I’m just happy to witness Michelle winning right now rather than much later in her career or possibly never at all.
@@reikun86To be honest, it's 3 hours of Cate Blanchett trying to make sense out of a script written to be "conceptual". I wanted to like the movie so bad but understanding its intention doesn't make it better.
also cultural impact and relevancy wise, eeaao was alot more in it
I vividly remember the first time I watched Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon as a kid as just became consumed with Michelle Yeoh’s ability in that film- from her empathy to heartbreak to her raw strength. Her performance led me to discovering so much more Asian cinema that I genuinely don’t think I would have sought out without her. Her class, empathy, and poise are unmatched and I am so incredibly happy that she will forever be immortalized for her historic win. I don’t think anyone else is more deserving. Bravo, Michelle!
She is arguably the most successful Asian actress to cross over into Hollywood. The other girl in crouching tiger Zhang kinda faded but Michelle kept plying her craft. She normally plays bit part supporting characters so it's great to see her win best actress as the lead.
You took the words out of my mouth, Rebekah P.: I saw CROUCHING TIGER fourteen times, such an amazing film by Ang Lee, and I would have to say the main reason is the powerful & SUBTLE acting of Michelle Yeoh. I have rarely felt more satisfied than having learned of her Academy Award win this year!
@@markwhitman9542YES!!! It’s a fantastic film and she is just phenomenal in it!
Same, Crouching Tiger was my first exposure to Michelle Yeoh and I've loved watching her ever since
It's still insane that "Parasite" didn't get a single acting nod.
Yes, good observation
When Michelle won her Oscar, my first thought was, "How amazing was this moment?" and my second was, "I can't wait for the BKR video about it."
One of the things I love about Michelle Yeoh is that even when it is not called for, she always adds these little subtle but dramatic moments for all her characters. Even in the most action heavy badass role, she adds a subtle emotional resonance. However, what has surprised me most about EEAAO is her brilliant comic timing.
Also amazing: how there was compelling emotion in some of the funniest side moments
Spoiler alert (so only read below if you finished the film)
Like the last moment of the Raccaconie side story was so compellingly-acted, despite also being a hysterical side-joke
@@tylerkochman1007 That was hardly her first comedy. Her first two film appearances were in comedies. When it comes to starring vehicles, YES, MADAM! (1985) was 75% slapstick comedy. MAGNIFICENT WARRIORS (1987) is 67% slapstick comedy. EASY MONEY (1987) was 100% comedy. The original Hong Kong release of POLICE STORY 3: SUPERCOP (1992) was almost 30 minutes longer than the US cut and none of the parts cut had Michelle, which made her seem more of a co-star than a guest-star in the US cut, which has 25% less comedy. Her 1990s output leaned heavily into comedy. Six of her next 10 films after SUPERCOP were action-comedies. It is only with AH KAM: THE STUNTWOMAN (1996) that "Michelle Yeoh", the drama queen first emerges. It was an unmitigated box-office disaster. However, it is undoubtedly a superbly crafted film by famed director Ann Hui with a main character whose narrative arc parallels that of the actress playing her. Yeoh's remaining 20th Century films including CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (2000) were all of a dramatic lean, which informed the ill-researched observations of the above video.
@@superlive98 I never said it was her first comedy
@@tylerkochman1007 Yes...and?
I meant to post that as a direct response to Sayak Choudhury and hit the wrong "Reply".
I'm deeply ashamed to say I didn't know she was from Malaysia and based on her acting career I assumed certain things about her nationality. This shows why videos like this need to exist.
“This is something I’ve been waiting for a long time…” it’s so nice to watch the interview she had one year ago and know now how it ended up… with an Oscar win! Michelle Yeoh is such a legend.
What a journey! What a range of abilities! What an actress!
That part made me smile a lot. I need to see that interview whenever I get a chance :)
Trivia: Michelle Yeoh and Maggie Cheung (another legend from the Hong Kong movie industry) didn't just share the movie screen in 3 of the movies mentioned in this video (The Heroic Trios 東方三俠, The Executioner 現代豪俠傳, and The Soong Sisters 宋家皇朝), they also shared the same stage at the 1983 Miss World pageant, representing Malaysia and Hong Kong respectively.
This win by Yeoh has given so much joy for a lot of Hong Kong movie fans who grew up with her on the silver screen. Much needed joy in today’s Hong Kong’s heavily censored environment where films and books are banned in the name of ‘national security’.
And in Police Story 3: Supercop (警察故事3: 超級警察). But that's amazing about the Miss World pageant!
Maggie Cheung was amazing. Arguably nobody has topped her in Hong Kong cinema. Such a shame she retired from acting so early. I keep thinking how many performances from her we missed out on.
Woah! I did not know that about Maggie Cheung!
But damn, she is another actress I wish had a larger global following. She’s fantastic in everything I’ve seen with her.
Cheung made the semi-finals while I heard Yeoh ended up somewhere in the top 20.
@@adriancarlpescador2587 yes Maggie Cheung man-yuk was a Miss Hong Kong back in the early 80s. Agree, shes a brilliant actor too.
A whole analysis of several Bond girls and their careers would be interesting. Analyzing what stages the role came in their careers, and how it impacted their career trajectory.
Obviously, since Michelle and Halle Berry have had their own videos, you can be more brief in summarizing their careers. Other Bond girls that might be interesting to discuss in such a video might be Naomie Harris, Grace Jones, and Kim Basinger.
Bonus Bond girl (who already had a video): Deborah Kerr appeared in one of the parody movies
Casino Royale! I watched it repeatedly as a teen.
Rosamund Pike went from Bond Girl to Gone Girl!
@@guardianofthegalaxy2051 another good actress for such a video. Hadn’t recalled that she was a Bond girl
There are some absolutely incredible actresses who’ve played Bond girls and added so much to their characters it makes me sad when people disregard how challenging some of those roles can be. Eva Green and Diana Rigg were amazing in their roles.
Don't forget Jane Seymour, aka Dr Quinn Medicine Woman
That's such a great point about how foreign actors are often not nominated even when their films are widely acclaimed. I couldn't, for the life of me understand why Song Kang Ho wasn't nominated that year.
It probably helps if you can campaign in English.
@@BuenoSuertes agreed.
I'll never forget how touching it was to see the GQ interview where Michelle Yeoh teared up talking about her role as Evelyn, about how excited she is to be seen for all her abilities, range, depth...
That left a mark on my heart
As Asian and Malaysian myself, thank you for the in depth and respectful take on Michelle Yeoh's career. This is a historic win and I do hope it will pave the way for more poc at the Oscars. More importantly however, I hope that the industry will take note on how Asians/non whites inclusion is rightfully done moving forward: by telling original, authentic and moving stories, instead of slapping a person's of color's face on their IP and call it a day (Disney I'm looking at you 😒)
This is literally the first time I’ve ever heard that Michelle has always done her own stunts and while I love it I think it’s fucked up that no one gives her credit for it. Meanwhile Tom Cruise is constantly praised for doing his own stunts
Well, actually, one of the things she was well-known for was the fact she did her own stunts. Of course, that's if you'd heard her at all - you're right she certainly never got the Tom Cruise level of publicity until literally now.
Her along with all of the Hong Kong actors are all famous for doing their own stunts.
It's on you for not knowing
@@rowan631 Yes.
@@rowan631 No. It isn't "on someone" for not knowing something and being delighted to learn it. You have no idea what their background is, or what they have been learning in place of that information - none of us will ever get to know everything. There are plenty of things about my culture that I can almost guarantee you that you don't know, despite the fact that there is plenty of opportunity to learn about it. I wouldn't call you out for "not knowing" it - only for disregarding it. Don't confuse self-aggrandization for a virtue - it isn't.
@@sachmo6864 calling this person out because they're under the impression no one is giving her credit and that it's fucked up, when in fact people are giving her credit
It's like someone finding out slavery happened then being on a high horse about how it's fucked up no one ever talks about it.
This is why nuanced and diversified representation of POC characters in movies matter. A character like Evelyn came to Michelle at this stage in her life after working decades in the movie industry being portrayed as one stereotype, and to her it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. For people like Meryl Streep or Audrey Hepburn, they don’t have to wait till they’re in their fifties or sixties to play such nuanced characters.
Or Cate Blanchett. Or Michelle Williams. Or even Andrea Riseboroigh. Just to name some of her fellow nominees this year.
@@darrenlockenheart I am sure Yeoh would have a harder time succeeding in Bollywood or Nollywood.
I disagree, we have had Poc lead films and even in Supporting roles and I never felt the need to have myself be “validated” by Hollywood, ever.
I’m secure any myself but nor did I feel like Hollywood was actively trying to discriminate against Poc either.
Evey movie and set has a story and not all are the same so you can’t say “Hollywood don’t represent us” when they did
@@sharpaycutie2 I’m not talking about nuanced representation for the POC audiences, but nuanced representation for POC actors and actresses, especially Asian actors. In an interview for either Vanity Fair or Rolling Stone (I’ll find the magazine that interviewee her) Michelle stated that she cried when she got the role of Evelyn because she had been trying for the longest time to play characters like that instead of karate or martial arts female fighter. It’s as BKR said, it’s the fact that it took so long for her to break away from that Asian stereotype in Hollywood as compared to her other white counterparts. Tony Leung (Shang-Chi) stated that he never ventured into Hollywood because he didn’t want to play those Asian stereotypes.
It has gotten better though because we are now seeing more varied Asian-led movies instead of martial arts movies. Form Crazy Rich Asians to Burning and Parasite, and the rise of Koop and kdrama, Hollywood is slowly giving more opportunities to Asian actors.
Michelle's performance in EEAAO can credibly be called one of the best, most unique, most exciting, and most worthy performances ever to be recognized by the Academy. Obviously the range of her performance is remarkable as she acts in multiple genres and languages simultaneously and switches between nuanced variations of the same character in a moment's time, but the thing that stays with me most is the depth of emotion that she carries in her eyes throughout the film. In some of her best scenes she conveys a lifetime of love, grief, empathy, regret, and/or realization without ever having to utter a word. It's an all-timer.
EEAAO's entire awards run was unprecedented, and will no doubt be studied by awards observers for ages to come. The fact that the film was released in March and managed to outlast all of the prestige fare with prime release dates and festival runs and whatever else. The fact that the film was simultaneously an underdog and the biggest above-the-line sweeper in Oscar history, building strength as awards season went on whereas early favorites usually lose steam the deeper we get into the season. The fact that it perfectly married the original and exciting high-concept type of film that performs well in Picture, Director, and Screenplay with 3 beloved veteran actors who each had their own unique narrative behind them who ALSO managed to position themselves as a package deal, resulting in a historic sweep. As relates to this video: the fact that Michelle Yeoh was everybody's favorite thing about the film and her early press tour was a driving force behind the film's commercial success-and the fact that every EEAAO fan I know would say “I don't care if it loses every award, as long as SHE wins”-and yet the common perception was that she was runner-up until the final surge in the last two weeks of the season. (Considering how strongly the industry backed the film, and the Academy's general bias against highbrow fare and unsympathetic characters, I'm not entirely convinced Blanchett was ever going to beat Yeoh, who probably did win by quite a decent margin). I doubt we'll ever see a phenomenon quite like this ever again. It simply can't be replicated.
Thank you, as always, for your dedication and care in the making of this video. It's a superb career retrospective that not only explains how and why she became the first Asian actress to win Lead Actress (and the first woman of color to play the lead role in a Best Picture winner!!), but also demonstrates how Everything Everywhere is a role that she's been waiting for-and preparing for-for decades. Truly the role of a lifetime.
YES I completely agree. That moment when she and Ke Huy Quan are looking at each other during the flashbacks of their marriage, and you see her laughing and crying and experiencing just such a reawakening of her heart... It's so beautiful. This is my new favourite movie of all time. I love it.
Michelle Yeoh and Jamie Lee Curtis in the Hot Dog Finger Universe was the definition of Sapphic Energy. I was thoroughly invested in their life as ‘roommates’.
Never thought I'd read sapphic and hot dogs in the same sentence. :p
@@reikun86HAHAHA neither did I
@@reikun86 I'm Gay but that means nothing racially except I identified with Stephanie Hsu
A True Icon in my eyes.
Even in films I don't like, Michelle Yeoh is always a consistent highlight.
'Everything, Everywhere at Once' is a true testament to her versatility as a performer.
Michelle Yeoh’s win was beyond satisfying and I’m glad that not only the academy recognized her performance, but also awarded it to a middle aged woman of color
I hope we see more wins like Michelle’s in the future-as well as stories like EEAAO
She's actually sixty, not that she looks it
"woman of color" what does that mean? the term "people of colour" is used to describe people who doesn't have fair skin. yeoh have very fair skin. most East Asians are white skinned. i don't see how that term applies to them.
18:39 My favourite thing about Michelle Yeoh is that given the opportunity, she can absolutely nail the classical and romantic style of storytelling in her acting.
Michelle Yeoh and Halle Berry, being not only the two Women of color best actress winners, but also only two bond girls, only two Ms. world pagent contestants, and beat a respected veteran frontrunner in a Todd Field's movie for their oscar.
Cate was better, she was robbed as always
She was named Time magazine’s icon of the year- nothing can beat that kind of exposure. The stars were aligned for her and we’re all here for it.
While I do think Michelle’s role in EEAAO definitely was the most nuanced and complex and refreshing role she’s got to have, and certainly the role she’s been waiting for, I do also wanna say that her 3 seasons on Star Trek Discovery also was a showing of Michelle’s acting talent in creating a character with depth and range, there is subtlety to her performance, her characters got to have variety and growth, and she got to do drama and comedy and shine in both action moments and emotional moments. In a way, I like to think Discovery was a stepping stone for EEAAO.
I think her most underrated performance was the role of Aung Sang Su Ki in the film The Lady. She transformed into the character. The line between reality and fiction was blurred. Spectacular performance! The Oscars truly missed out!
The Asian experience in Hollywood has been heartbreaking. Years ago while attending drama class, I became friends with an another student who was a U.S. born Chinese American woman. She would cry when describing the outright discrimination she would face. Countless times during an audition she would be told "we're not looking for an "Asian girl" in that role," or "we're looking for an 'American' for this part." Keep in mind neither the race nor ethnicity was ever a plot point in any of the parts she auditioned for - they just made that assumption by default. It became clear to her that they would only consider casting a White woman for ANY female role, unless, of course, the character fit a stereotypically "Asian role," e.g., someone born in Asia, usually associated with a gang who also had martial arts skills, a prostitute or Chinatown resident with "broken English," or maybe an occupation that required she wear a white lab coat!
It's so ridiculous that this keeps happening in these times. I listened to Kal Penn's audiobook a few months ago and the same things were happening 20 years ago when he was starting out. More recently he was part of a new show with a nearly all POC cast and the network sent it out to die. Changed the time slot and barely did any advertising compared to the other 5 new shows with white leads. 😢 Then they used that as proof that people don't want to watch diverse casts even though they were the ones that sabotaged it🤨
“…neither the race nor ethnicity was ever a plot point in any of the parts she auditioned for…”
The default normative race or ethnicity for a role (where race or ethnicity is unspecified) remains white, which speaks volumes about the implicit bias in Hollywood.
@@jeff__w , there are racial and ethnic realities in any country. I am sure a Chinese woman will have trouble looking for roles in Bollywood.
i wish people would also focus on other sides of Asia as well. Asia is not just china, japan and korea (big shocker i know). Indian subcontinent is also part of Asia as well. there is the arab world. jews too. central asians as well. Siberian. they all face discrimination too. focusing on one part of Asia is not inclusive.
The same with us latinas...
I went to go see Everything, Everywhere all at Once in the theater and I knew that she would win the Oscar for best Actress because no one else's performance last year even came close to hers.
Yeah I loved Cate Blanchette's performance but I think Yeoh's performance had the greatest emotional draw of the year. Its a performance that just feels "BIG" in a way fitting for best actress.
@@HeelPower200 Especially from a Versatility standpoint.
@@eamonndeane587 Yeah this was the thing for me. I liked Tar but it felt so safe and predictable for Blanchett. Like it almost looked like oscar bait for best ctress. Prestigeous white woman? check. Actress has to learn some classical music stuff for her role? Check. Some dramatic meltdown to show a flashy outburst of emotion? check. A huge part of why she was captivating in that role is because everybody else is rather dull, almost on purpose to make her shine. In EEAAO, the main three actors are all very captivating, i wouldn't fault anyone if they got out of this movie thinking more about Waymond or Joy than Evelyn. But to be thinking more about whatshisname than Lydia in Tar? yeah nah. It's just the classic Oscar thing.
Movies like EEAAO, sound nothing like the kind of pictures the academy rewards or even cares about enough to watch. And the rollercoaster of emotions, the genuinely unique representation this movie has, from asian representation of all ages to the subversion of typical gender roles in a very natural fashion, to the fantastic acting from the 3 main characters without whom this movie falls apart ... that was a lot.
In my opinion awards in arts exist to highlight things like this. Not just to tell who was the objectively best artist cause that is impossible to say, art is subjective, but to highlight the pieces that have something meaningful and important to add to the culture, to say about that culture. Like becoming irrelevant is the biggest failure of an award show like the Oscars cause it's a sign they are disconnected from the culture. For a while people have been saying that they need to please the MCU fans to be relevant but EEAAO shows that people are watching or are capable of caring about a bunch of stuff that are not marvel superhero nonsense nor Oscar bait. same with Parasite's wild success with the public. It was fresh to american audiences and jut a genuinely incredibly well made movie.
Michelle Yeoh served a very fresh and cultrally significant performance in EEAAO, that's why people care more than ever about her win, not just cause she's asian. Far less people would've cared about Cate's win cause although she's a phenomenal actress, her role and the context it was in, is simply not as significant...
Thank you. This is exactly the kind of video I was hoping somebody would make about Michelle Yeoh--and what her career and Oscar win mean for the Asian and Asian-American communities--combining detailed research, carefully chosen clips, interviews with people who can speak authentically about her impact, and a nuanced, empathetic grasp of what she and her community must have felt and experienced. There are hundreds of RUclips channels about movies out there, but yours is the only one (or at least one of the very few) that feels absolutely necessary to me, whose uploads are important contributions to the larger cultural discourse (as opposed to the self-absorbed and self-important fanboy monologues I see so often on RUclips).
Taiwanese American here, knew of Michelle Yeoh since her Hong Kong days, is very happy and proud of her Oscar win
Michelle is a contender. And it seems as though Michelle’s own agent/s talent agency, have not really been the most supportive or advocated fully for her. Which is problematic. I’m just so happy that Michelle’s acting talent/range is finally being recognised/acknowledged.
Jamie Lee Curtis campaigned really hard for Yeoh. JLC is one of the most well connected and respected figures in the industry.
I agree with you. Ms. Yeoh’s agents did not recognize her potential until now. I am not sure if she’s with the same team, but I do know they’re doing her justice.
I was so happy when she won best actress. I have been a Michelle Yeoh for years. I think the first movie I saw her in was a action movie in the last 80s where she played a cop with Cynthia Rothrock. She was also terrifying and intimidating in Crazy Rich Asians.
Michelle Yeoh deserved the oscar for both EEAAO and her career. I remember seeing her in police story as a kid, then as one of the best Bond girls in TND.
Thank you SO much for having Nancy Wang Yuen on to discuss EEAAO and Michelle Yeoh's career! She's one of my absolute favorite sociologists (I was assigned Reel Inequality as reading for a course in college and fell in love); I was dying for more of her commentary/analysis. Loved this video.
The mother/ daughter relationship aspect pf the movie just touched me so much. It feels like that is exactly what me and my mother are like. Has been a while since something has made me laugh out loud and cry as well.
I didn't know all of this about Michelle Yeoh. She's been through such a long treacherous journey in Hollywood. I cried watching this video because I am glad she is finally winning. Michelle Yeoh has always been a star but now she is truly being recognized as such. I am excited for her future projects !
The worst interview that Michelle had to endure during the promotion for Tomorrow Never Dies was w/ Howard Stern, and one can easily imagine why.
Terrific video. One note: early in "award season", Variety did their usual Actors on Actors pairings, and the very first one was Cate Blanchett and Michelle Yeoh. Fascinating, and what was clear was that Cate Blanchett had great respect for Michelle Yeoh's career (as Yeoh did for Blanchett). Stephanie Hsu has said that it was amazing to realize that, in her late 50s (EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE began preproduction in 2021), this was the first time Michelle Yeoh's name was first on the call sheet. Yes, Cate Blanchett gave a virtuoso performance in TAR, but so did Michelle Yeoh, and the physical demands of Yeoh's role were immense. (Physical acting is not recognized as impressive, even though the physical demands may be far greater: think of how often roles which involve dancing are overlooked, Fred Astaire was never nominated as Best Actor, and Cary Grant, also a highly physical actor, was never nominated for one of his comedy roles.) Once the nominations were announced, it was interesting to note how Cate Blanchett seemed to back away from campaigning, while Michelle Yeoh became ubiquitous on TV talk shows, interviews, etc. Cate Blanchett (who is quite a socially conscious person) acknowledged the historical significance of Yeoh's nomination (as the first "openly" Asian actress to be nominated in the category) and did not want to be the multiaward-winning spoiler. (Even Viola Davis is aware of how difficult it is to win in the category of Best Actress, that's why, when FENCES began its award campaign, Davis decided to put her nomination in as Best Supporting Actress, even though her part is a lead, and for which she won a Tony as Best Actress, because she wanted to finally win. Both times that Davis was nominated as Best Actress, the winner was a white actress, who was winning her third Oscar!) If Cate Blanchett had been more active in campaigning, the outcome would have been the same: white actress wins third Oscar, the "drought" for nonwhite actresses continues. And Halle Berry would still be the only nonwhite actress to ever win Best Actress.
Just a quick correction: EEAAO was shot between January and March 2020, right before the lockdown
cate had been campaigning… they both are…
@@chacha4281 Cate has been promoting the movie, not campaigning for herself. There is a difference. The entire season, Cate dedicated the attention she got to the movie she is in, praising the work of every person on the set - Todd Field, Nina Hoss, Noémie Merlant, Florian Hoffmeister, Monika WIlli etc. She has been gracious this entire season, dedicating each of her speeches to women in industry and many amazing female roles this year.
I definitely agree with you when it came to Cate Blanchett’s actions all throughout this years award season. She did an interview where she could not stop praising Michelle Yeoh’s performance in EEAAO and calling it one of her favorite performances this year. If Blanchett really wanted to win her third Oscar (and maybe she might have had wanted another win) she wouldn’t have openly supported her biggest competitor for the Oscar that year. Also what really helped Michelle’s chances at a win was the support she had from Jamie Lee Curtis, who has strong connects with people in Hollywood, and was also actively campaigning their movie and taking every opportunity to thank Michelle Yeoh as the main reason behind all of her own awards nominations and wins. SAG awards being the best example of that!
Also to add to your point about Viola Davis campaigning herself in the Supporting category despite her role in the movie actually being a leading role. I think from the very start, Viola had already felt the strong narrative support behind Emma Stone’s win for La La Land and the industry will most likely supported Emma’s awards campaign over hers. Also, I think both Emma and Viola had remained good friends with each other after working together on The Help and she also didn’t want to compete against a friend, especially when there’s a way where both actresses can win their Oscars.
Michelle's win is so richly deserved. It's also VERY SCARY how not so silly Tomorrow Never Dies story line feels these days.
It's because of Murdoch
I’ll never forget seeing “Crouching Tiger” in theaters and being totally consumed by the magic of watching Michelle and Zhang Ziyi on the big screen - it truly was movie magic, not because of her martial arts skills, but because of their skills as storytellers. Ever since, Michelle has been one of my biggest crushes, and I love seeing her finally getting the respect she deserves ❤
"Do you think she and Brendan Frasier would have guessed?" Did NOT see that line of observation coming, but goddamn, is it good.
As a Superfan of the channel, the video essay on this topic was not a question of *IF* but *WHEN* 😂
P.S. Only later did I realise the cultural reset that was Halle Berry giving Michelle Yeoh the award.
Nancy Wang Yuen's participation adds so much nuance to an already layered actor portrayal. Kudos to you both.
I'm overwhelmed by the joy I feel for her on her success. I've loved her since the 90s and just wanted good things for her. To see her finally be acknowledged for the absolute powerhouse that she is, words cannot describe. I truly hope Hollywood learns to break out of its ways and see the potential in casting a variety of people, to encourage roles where full human characters are the norm.
What an amazing Sunday treat! Michelle Yeoh is a terrific actress, and EEAAO is one of the most touching and great movies of all time. 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Her subtle yet nuanced portrayal of Evelyn was well-deserved. It proved that a performance does not necessarily need to be bombastic to be good.
Be Kind Rewind spending an hour on Michelle Yeoh? Must be my lucky day! Great job on the video as always. I so appreciate all the research and effort that must go into making this
If you would’ve told me five years ago that Michelle Yeoh would win an Oscar, I would’ve assumed I was dreaming! Love her!
And Ke Huy Quan, Jamie Lee Curtis and Brendan Fraser. Who would have thought
As a Malaysian who has followed her growing up from dancing in the ballet sequence of Flower Drum Song in St Michael's Inst, Ipoh to expressing her interest watching my sister Margaret Voon's foray in martial arts as her younger schoolmate; we are all in awe of how amazingly blessed an Ipoh lass she is. Anxious to see her home in a week's time to celebrate her Mum's birthday - with the Golden Man in hand.
As soon as She won the Oscar I was waiting for your video!!!
I was also obsessed with Cate Blanchet's performance in Tar, but after watching this video I am really happy that Yeoh got the award.
Definitely was snubbed for Crazy rich asians. It was an amazing supporting role. She just radiated intimidating power every time she was on screen.
Once Michelle Yeoh got nominated, I was so excited to see your discussion about Michelle. She’s my childhood hero and the first actor I’ve seen crossing from non-Western cinema. Thank you! Definitely encompassed all I wanted to tell other people how Michelle Yeoh is the tour de force
This video might be my favorite. Having Nancy Wang Yuen on as a guest was so great. I have a few friends who are Michelle Yeoh fans. I know they are going to love this video. Will send them the link. Bravo!
Michelle Yeoh has INCREDIBLE screen presence. Every time she is on screen your are obliged to turn your attention to her. I'm really happy she finally got the recognition she deserves.
As a queer woman, Michelle Yeoh inhabits characters in her early work that definitely catch my interest. I can't quite explain it- there's just something about that aesthetic that she inhabits. I'm thrilled about her Oscar win and the chance to finally "stretch" in more than a physical sense.
It's not just her early work for me - Star Trek discovery
I was hooked after I first saw her in Super Cop, like you said there was just something about & you could see that there was so much more to her that I just would see in future movies. Def have massive celebrity crush in the most respectful way, it's not just her looks it's just HER.
Yep. I tore my ACL back when I was in pro wrestling. Couldn't bend my knee for weeks. There's a wrestler Lisa Marie Varon (Victoria in WWE, Tara in TNA) who tore hers and rather than getting surgery, used a knee brace and trained her other leg to be stronger so that she could keep going. But even wrestling is doing one match a night and then at least getting to rest and heal in between shows (although the travel doesn't help). Cannot imagine how Michelle did fight scenes multiple times for 12+ hour filming days in that condition
Seeing her lifted off that horse on the set of CTHD at 23:53 due to her injury makes that movie all the more astonishing to me! Great work as ever, BKR!
I've been loving this Michelle Yeoh-nissance we've been having lately. About damn time western media realized how awesome she is.
Also, Yes Madam is hella fun and very much worth a watch
I followed Yeoh's career since her Hong Kong days. I was young and thought she was just a cool female action star like Jackie Chan. Then I saw her in Crouching Tiger and thought.... She can act like Chow Yun.... Then I saw her in Sunshine. And then I thought....oh shit. She is the real deal. I gain so much respect for after this. Before her recent award boom I have always called her a LEGEND
This is the video I was praying all season we’d get to see. She really did it!
I've been a fan of Michelle Yeoh since I saw Tai Chi Master in the early 2000's. It's now my favorite movie of all time, and that is in part to Yeoh getting to play comedy, drama, and action in it. It's so great to see her finally being recognized these days
Tai Chi was something special. She and Jet li had good chemistry.
Great video.
I am so happy she won the Oscar. I was rooting for her. Fully deserved.
The first time I saw Michelle Yeoh was in Crouching Tiger (she was my favorite actor in the movie!) And I loved her and her performance so much that whenever I saw her name in a western movie, I was *in*. Seeing her in Crazy Rich Asians, she was able to make a character that you wanted to hate not be hateable. You could always see in her face that she wanted to be open and kind, but had to be who she was because of how badly she was treated when she was little and how she wanted to maintain her family and approval for her MIL.
But seeing her in EEAAO, I was blown away and so so happy to see her in a role that really showed her gravitas. Like, within the first 15 mins of the movie, I knew this was going to be special, and I knew it was going to be *hers*. And it was and more.
I am so happy for her and no one deserves all the awards as much as her and Ke Huy Quan. (Stephanie Hu was outstanding and also deserved all of the awards). I knew from the moment I saw her in Crouching that she should be recognized as one of the world finest actors.
But Jamie Lew Curtis was singled out
@@DavidStevenson-yh8sb well, true. I can’t change America.
Michelle is awesome, being awesome for decades. Glad Hollywood finally sees it. Her Oscar win is a big step for Asian actors in the western movie world. Bruce Lee was the first Asian male lead in a big Hollywood film and now Michelle Yeoh is the first to win an Oscar for a leading role. Well done and well deserved.
One of the most important Oscar Wins in recent memory
And hopefully this won't be a Novelty that never happens again.
Had first watched Michelle Yeoh in Far North when I was probably 15/16 yrs old and her performance had a lasting impression. Post that watched her in multiple movies which I loved.
So so happy that EEAAO finally brought her the acclaim that she always deserved. My most favourite performance of her still remains Far North and EEAAO, then Crouching Tiger.
Congratulations to her on her Best Actress Win 🎉👏 hoping to see her in more amazing roles.
This video is one I've been so excited for. Rightfully, you share lots of stories of women who got fucked over by Hollywood as they still often are today, as these stories are relevant and I'd argue nobody is better at telling them than you. And the video that got me invested in your channel - certainly one of the first I watched - was your video on Halle Berry. So to see you showing how someone can FINALLY overcome industry bullshit and get all her rightful flowers for her best performance yet is better than hearing it from anyone else, short of Yeoh herself.
Edit: And Nancy Wang Yuen, of course - thanks for having her on!
Glad to get the background on Yeoh's career - as usual, BKR, your thoroughness makes for another terrific video. That said, I do want to bring up something I think worth mention, namely, Chloé Zhao, the Chinese-born director who took the the 2020 Directing Oscar for Nomadland - and only the 2nd woman to take a Directing Oscar. Simply, I think Zhao's achievement was in some ways an even greater watershed moment than Yeoh's win. Yes, undoubtedly Yeoh had truly daunting obstacles to overcome to walk up on the Oscar stage and take the award - certainly a more emotionally satisfying win - but considering that Zhao, a young woman of color with little name recognition and a very short film resume, triumphed in a category that overwhelmingly favors men (and few women or individuals of color ever get the chance to enter) well, that's pretty damn big.
Shes amazing It just shows you that if you put the time into your craft, how good you can be, she's also stunning to boot and smart. dose not rest on sex appeal too even though she's like i said stunning. So much talent layers to her craft and skill.
I was waiting for you doing Michelle's Victory. I literally knew the second she won your next video would be about her and I was just wondering when it would come up.
The range of what Michelle did physically, emotionally and mentally makes her one of the best and most original best actress winners. I am so happy for her.
You've done a marvelous thing here.
Several times, this brought me to tears.
And thanks for not pretending to be an expert on asian cinema.
I learned a lot.
I was so happy she won. That whole movie was beautiful, absurd, funny and complex. And her performance was amazing. Top 5.
wow, i actually learned a lot about michelle yeoh from this video. she’s so freaking cool. she really commits to each role she has, and it shows. i LOVE her! she deserved that oscar.
I love how her never miss an oportunity to slam Jackie Chan for being a misoginist
I truly appreciate the effort dedicated into this video. There's some great narrative flow that really kept me engaged through the whole video. That newspaper with Michelle Yeoh in the health section, and then the reveal with Cate Blanchett on that same newspaper was *chef's kiss*
This feels like the best sequel possible to your Best Actress So White video about Asian women. I'm so glad she won
I was on my way home and said to myself, I better look up Be Kind Rewind. Got home and got the notification.
I was awed by Yeoh in CTHD. CRA was amazing and I remember her the Bond film. I liked her and only her in that. So happy to see her win for EEAAO.
I learned she won the next morning, talking about it with colleagues. The first thing I said was, well she is kind of overqualified for an oscar
Zing!
I'm so happy for her. She deserves all the praise she is getting.
Oh hell yes. So glad you decided to give us a primer on Michelle's career!
Michelle Yeoh is my boss's favorite actress and thanks to Accented Cinema, I understand why. She has had a very long-running acting career! I can't believe that even now the role is capable of making her cry.
‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ as the Asian version of ‘Buffy’ is quite an interesting comparison haha
P.S. ‘Sense and Sensibility’ with a higher body count is a great comparison though.
I’ve already seen my fare share of RUclips videos about Michelle Yeoh, EEAAO, and her/the movie’s oscar success. But, as always, leave it to BKR to have the most nuanced, detailed, well-researched, thoughtful and in-depth take. What a great video. Thank you, BKR 💚
so glad she mentioned the merle oberon situation. since michelle's nomination announcement a lot of people tried to villainize merle because of the white passing narrative without really acknowledging what hollywood was really like back then
I love this video so much. I'm so glad you had Nancy Wang Yuen on here and discussed how much interviewers would only ask Michelle Yeoh about her experience in action roles. I'd love to see her in more drama and comedy roles in the future. Again, great video.
michelle yeoh amazes me with her strong talent. I loved her in 'EEAAO', as well as 'crouching tiger, hidden dragon'; 'yes, madam' & 'crazy rich asians'. I look forward to watching her past & upcoming films. Also, I was so FREAKING HAPPY when she won her Oscar!!! 🎉🎉🎉
Thank you for this, I've been eagerly awaiting your deep dive into Michelle Yeoh and this episode didn't disappoint.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon doesn’t get enough love for its beautiful dramatic acting. She leads the rest of the incredible cast in a cinematic masterpiece (action or not)
I just started watching the video and I am already so emotional! This win is so monumental and meaningful. Can't wait the watch the rest