Asian American Perspective On Mickey Rooney’s Yellow-Face Portrayal on “Breakfast At Tiffany’s”
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- Опубликовано: 6 фев 2025
- Commentary from MANAA members Guy Aoki, Jeffery Mio, and Phil Lee and East West Players’ Marilyn Tokuda. Includes the history of the practice of white actors putting on prosthetic make-up to play Asian people, discrimination against Asian Americans, “The World Of Suzie Wong,” and the importance of George Takei’s participation in the “Star Trek” television series and motion pictures.
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Formed in 1992, Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA) is the only group solely dedicated to monitoring the media and advocating for balanced, sensitive, and positive depiction and coverage of Asian Americans. Since 1999, the non-profit/all-volunteer organization has been a founding member of the Asian Pacific American Media Coalition (APAMC), which meets regularly with the top four television networks-ABC, CBS, NBC & Fox--and pushes for better inclusion of Asian Americans in front of and behind the camera.
As an Asian I'm legit not even mad but honestly his character just didn't fit in with the movie's atmosphere. All his scenes were a slap in the face.
Not asian, but 100% agree. Aside from the racism, his scenes are just so unfunny, unrealistic, forced, overdramatic, adding absolutely nothing to the movie....
It’s true. He would’ve fit well in a comedy but it feels like he should’ve been in another movie. Airplane or police academy would’ve been a perfect place for this character
agreed, and it seems fake, also when he trips and stumbles. Why not just play himself
then you don't know NYC.
NYC is full of oddballs from all over the world. NYC is not wall to wall white people.
@@u235u235u235 Obviously but this type of oddball was really unrealistic. No Japanese person like that exists.
Star Trek has a really good history with portraying nonstereotypical Asian characters.
But it has a terrible record of portraying stereotypical Russian characters.
@@marcparella And boy, do they stereotype those Vulcans!
Not to mention stereotypical kardashians, i mean cardasians.
They also portrayed American Indians badly.
@@zuppoblitz6627 You mean Native Americans.
In fairness, it was Gilbert Gotfried's first role.
Hehe. You made me actually look up to see if Gilbert was in this.
they forgot about Bruce Lee. he is probably the single most influential factor in lifting the asian stereotype. (unfortunately he gave birth to a few like "do you know kungfu" shit)
Yet he was a victim, when his Kung Fu was cast with David Carradine.
The thing is people talk about Bruce Lee. The other thing is Bruce Lee has been dead nearly 50 years. The very fact that we have to go back nearly 50 years to find a lead role in films or a role model is rather telling right?
(For pete's sake - his nickname was even "The Dragon".............. >_< )
Agreed! This perspective showed clips from World of Suzie Wong and Star Trek, which were made by Paramount, the studio behind Breakfast at Tiffany's.
@Ryan Wiley If you associate Bruce Lee with that, it's your problem. Bruce Lee was a man who revolutionated martial arts with his phylosophy, and worked very hard to share his knowledge through his teachings and his movies.
Paramount is pretty redeemable for allowing the racially insensitive moments in their movies to be shown to the public, at least for educational purposes. Unlike Disney that pretends they were never racist, like in Fantasia they cut out a character in black face, which ironically makes it more racist.
Don't forget the racist film they made "Song of the South," on top of Walter Disney being a huge neo-nazi.
It makes it more racist to remove insensitive content apparently lol
i mean it's a bad idea to remove offensive material in historical films, but it doesn't make it more racist lmao
Im not Asian, and Mickey Rooney's performance totally spoils that film for me, when I first saw the film as a child on TV his scenes made me cringe and I never quite understood why, he was just grotesque and painfully unfunny, as a kid I didn't know what he was supposed to be, I had no idea he was being Japanese, when I grew up and saw the film as an adult I just found his performance utterly disgusting, I just wished the movie could be edited without him in it, I think it could be possible with todays technology, even the film's director has expressed regret at the character being included, Mickey Rooney thought he was being funny but this was the 1960s, what the hell were they thinking to present this depiction? It is so misplaced and distasteful , and as I said, it totally spoils that movie for me, I enjoy seeing the clips with Audrey and George but I cannot watch the whole film , I end up switching off when Mr Rooney appears on screen with his stupid grotesque racist performance.
Emil Jansson that was funny as shit though lol. He was almost identical in every way to this character.
4:27 It's Simple Jack from Tropic Thunder 🤣
It is!!! lol
Yuuuup
Lon Chaney is the Lead Belly of this shit. He's had a huge influence in film history but today, a lot of it has just been lost.
It's good that this is a part of the DVD set.
to skip over
@@timburr4453 Wow, check out Mr. Edgeboomer, so cool
The fact that we are having this conversation showed that racial stereotypes and parodies will never affect Whites as they will other races...because White people have no problem with being White.
I mean you're right but only in the microcosm of the US. We have the most popular entertainment industry in the world. If asian countries made movies with Americans as fat dumb idiots, I'm sure we wouldnt care.
Not saying that's an excuse to be a douche bag, but just look at the bigger picture
j carr but the thing is, if they make movies with white Americans, they hire actual white American actors, not make an asian look like a white American. But in this case they made a white American into an Asian man. They have a lot of white Americans in Bollywood movies and they seem normal, never made fun of
😂 boo hoo
I'm Scandinavian and I have no problem with an American football team named Vikings. But we had a hockey team here called Indians and they had an Indian chief as their logo. The had to change the name and logo because Americans got offended.
Explain that to me.
What about the Asian Americans at the time that only saw Mikey Rooney’s character as a comedic role? People find drag today perfectly acceptable. I find it an offensive stereotype. I know for a fact I’m in the minority in the gay community with that opinion. Almost every gay character portrayed in media a stereotype. Butch/fem Leather/drag or a psychopathic killer. Is the gay community up in arms about that? My point? You cant judge the past through modern lenses.
Keep in mind too that this was made at a time when we had just fought a war with Japan. I'm sure some of you have grandparents that wouldn't buy a Japanese car, well this was when those same grandparents were running Hollywood.
I think the historical context is important, but the film was made 16 years after the war ended. 16 years ago isn't "just". I didn't "just graduate from highschool" if it happened 16 years ago. Also, 9/11 happened 18 years ago and we don't accept racist stereotypical Arab characters. I think it is more important to recognise that this film was made a time when racism was acceptable in everyday society. The civil rights movement was still happening, etc.
@@htown11465 Say it again louder for the people in the back :)
htown11465 WW2 was in fact, just 16 years prior to that film. This video was released in 2015, yet it references a movie made 54 YEARS ago...
Meanwhile, VW Bugs were the coolest things on the road.
I think that's an aspect of why this character seemed like a good idea to some people. 16 years sounds like a long time on the one hand; on the other hand, 9/11 for example was 19 years ago and I think that to anybody who was an adult at that time, especially in NY, it's not in the dim past.
People who fought in WWII were in their 40s in the 60s. Not that this makes the stereotype all right, it does not, but I think this observation is correct as to understanding how it even got put on the screen --- for some people the war-time stereotype permitted permitted this kind of thing I suppose.
On the other hand, I was a young adult when this movie came out -- young enough to love it for the Audrey character without totally understanding what she was up to! -- and I thought the Mickey Rooney thing was awful , really like something from another movie or from vaudeville.
When you're judging something over 50 years old using today's standards it's important to have perspective. This was barely 15 years removed from the end of WWII - about the same amount of time we're removed from 9-11. In the years since there have been all sorts of racially insensitive portrayals of Middle Eastern people that for the most part we accept. There's a carryover effect that sometimes takes decades to truly get over.
I don't think that I can agree with you that we mostly accept stereotypical portrayals of Middle Easterners on television and in the movies. I feel that most audience members would agree that if a character is evil or a buffoon, we accept it if those traits are specifically descriptive of that particular individual. If, on the other hand, it is suggested that those traits are racial characteristics, only a minority of the audience will not find that character to be offensive.
I don't think that I can agree with you that we mostly accept stereotypical portrayals of Middle Easterners on television and in the movies. I feel that most audience members would agree that if a character is evil or a buffoon, we accept it if those traits are specifically descriptive of that particular individual. If, on the other hand, it is suggested that those traits are racial characteristics, only a minority of the audience will not find that character to be offensive.
Geez... get a proper prospective, will you? You said it yourself: "terror suspects". If a parody on Saturday Night Live is the WORST thing that murderous radical fundamentalist Muslims can expect from America, than we're all going "down the tubes".
Seems like a little less time could be spent by Asian-American media critics on representation of Asians and Asian-Americans, and a little more time by Asian-American artists on creating films about Asian and Asian-American characters. Wouldn't this go a long way to solving a lot of the problems we see?
except that Asians have been in this country since the 1700s.
That one asian absolutely reminds me of Randy Marsh
lol holy shit
👏
Lmao
What’s this I hear about a math test?
Mickey Rooney was so good in that movie. Most orientals connected with his character but watching these very few who gets offended is cause to even more laughter. 😂
Who didn't shout FINALLY! when Sulu was shown as captain of the Excelsior!?? He was and continues to be GREAT.
I am so glad Asian Americans are speaking-out against this.
You are not a victim class. Grow the fuck up.
Remember that Asians are the most racist people in the world.
@Gaben Can everyone please stop playing the victim card altogether? I'm getting really sick of hearing all of this whining. Every single race has hurtful stereotypes surrounding them. Asian people, white people, black people, all have negative stereotypes. Grow the fuck up and stop whining.
Me too! I'm not Asian but it is good for people to voice their opinion if something is crude and offensive.
"asians are the most racist people in the world"
-Joey Suggs the white guy
Signing the bill making official the apology to asian Americans is the 1 thing Reagan got right
Being of Japanese decent and Hispanic Decent I see so many films making fun of both sides of my race.like when the movie The Last Air Bender.. had white main actors when they were supposed to be asians.. I asked my mother why are they white? I was young at the time and she said. White people here are seen as more beautiful
I can understand why Hollywood would have done this in 1941, like with Abbott and Costello and the Three Stooges, but by 1961, all that crap should have blown over.
WWII was still fresh in people's minds
@@thebunnyfoofoo this came out 20 years after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1961
How awesome that Paramount got a few Asians to make their observations about a clearly racist trope that Rooney plays…and the “experts” spend half the time basically defending the producer, director and actors involved due to “the attitude of the time” defense.
The reality is that the role was cringy and acknowledged as racist the moment it came out…and the more than two decades later, Hollywood felt guilty about it all by creating Long Dong Duc in 16 Candles.
This was such a wonderful video. Thank you so much for sharing such personal accounts. 💕
when i was little i wouldn’t care if it was a racist character, i just loved seeing them because they “look like me” and it was the only representation i got
when you were little, you were not thinking like racist, most people in comments do. This movie is not racist, it is just making fun of stuff.
@@TheMaverickq idk how to explain to you that yellow face is, in fact, a racist action
@@TheMaverickq "This movie is not racist, it is just making fun of stuff." That stuff being east asians. Which are a race. It's definitely racist.
The ironic thing here is that these stereotypes continue on up to this day... and many Asians still immigrate to America.
Bruce Lee dont like this movie based on his biography movie
+obet06 Oh I didn't realize this was a Bruce Lee biography.
+obet06 About the only thing I care about that comes out of Bruce Lee's mouth is anything to do with Jeet Kune Do and the philosophy behind it. Also, keep in mind that Lee CREATED a new stereotype.
Sofia Vegera is 100% playing a ridiculous over the top stereotype Latina woman in _Modern Family_ and she wins Emmys.
Well she’s actually latina rooney is wearing makeup
You say that, but if you watch her in interviews her character isn't that far off from how she really is, lol
I never believed Charlie Chan was actually Asian.
I'm an Asian-American, I prefer to refer to myself as an American first but as a person of Asian descent I found his performance absolutely hilarious. I have no issue with it at all and if anything it should be as celebrated as the movie itself. If we can't laugh at our differences what's the point of comedy? there's nothing wrong with jokes like these as long as they're not coming from a hateful place.
But racists would probably use this character to fuel their anger though, I’ve known lots of people that do that
This is so ignorant... It's one thing to exist in a white washed world, but for you to be HAPPY, is unreal to me.
Growing up in Africa I was a huge fan of Martial Arts movies. I'm still a fan but it does make me sad that these movies have sort of become associated negative stereotypes. I remember watching Big Boss and thinking this guy is so cool, Snake in the monkeys shadow etc. Its a shame as well because there as definitely been a decline in MA movies through the years. I guess my point is its a shame that the art is dying.
I remember watching it and being really grossed out at the caricaturization and I wondered who was playing the role assuming they were genuinely asian and now years later finding out they weren’t is even more disturbing
you must be a true american then...
yeah its sad
Makes it even funnier honestly.
Micky rooney was an actor for YEARS and this is literally the only thing I know about him. He's been dead for years now and this is still the one thing I know about.
Obviously wrong but the caricature is as low as It is obnoxiously stupid. Different time and not anything to take seriously 60 years later.
Today this movie would be cancelled immediately
You know, it would be "funny" IF they didn't specifically say the character was Japanese. What purpose does a white man playing a Japanese man do? It just makes that actor look ignorant and foolish.
I think money. They didn't want to pay the Asians, they had their stable of actors, actresses and they tried to keep them busy. :(
What about Lucian msamati playing Antonio Salieri in Amadeus? Historically inaccurate and not even a comedy.. When a White person who's native language is English decides to put on a German accent or Italian accent... they're not racist. As soon a White person puts on a Japanese accent, they're evil racists. So strange.
Ranbrent - That's not strange at all. "German" is a nationality, not a "race", so nothing based on a person being German can be "racist". ;-) (However, technically speaking, "Japanese" is also a "nationality" so, for all we know, Mr. Yunioshi could have been a "white" person who was born in Japan... ^-^ ) Furthermore - I don't know the people who hang around with, but I've never met a Japanese person who spoke with the "accent" Mr. Rooney used in that movie.......
Thanks for making the point I just made... It's a bad accent, so what? my Irish accent is shit.. I don't hear the Irish complaining.
I don't understand why Mickey Rooney wanted to play that part. It makes him come across as a moron. What did he get out of it? He was a big enough star by 1961 so he didn't need to do it.
Too bad the faux-progressive critics and cinephiles still haven't actually learned from it. Every year, they celebrate the film's anniversary and usually gloss over the yellowface to quickly jump into their lengthy paragraphs waxing poetic about how "iconic" and "stylish" the film and Audrey Hepburn are, and all the romanticized memories they have of the film from their childhood. "But it was just a part of the time's context!" they say....would they be so quick to jettison the issue or continue celebrating the film if it featured blackface?
oversensitive people sucks, its funny, just because makes you feel like an idiot does´nt make it racist, as a Mexican I saw in a japanese commercial with a mexican stereotype character, you know the sombrero, moustache and funny walk, was funny, GET OVER races of the world, socially is a way to join races all together.
+EvanKing
Meh, it's just a socially accepted way to make fun of the "other" without getting called out. Comedians who practice racial humor, live off of this stuff.
1:20 there is no way she says "the Pictures we Mentioned" all i hear is "the Spitches Me Menchen"
It is rather sloppy.
Show this to any chinese or korean and they will laugh their ass off because this exactly how they think of Japan.
+1337BananaL33TVostok Damn right. Show it to anyone, they will laugh their ass off!
Wasn't Charlie Chan a positive Asian character from the 1930s? He was the smart one who always figured thing out.
Yeah, but the other side to that was the fact that Charlie Chan’s son (Lee) was played by an Asian actor (Keye Luke) who was always being subservient & being corrected by an onscreen father in yellow face.
It was funny. Get over it
They Don't have African, Asian Actors in Old Movies.
It's hilarious how we're expected to take this so deathly seriously. Imagine they made a 'White Chicks' mini documentary like this.
So basically he did a bad representation of an oriental character. At least he was a professional in the movie and not working in the laundry.
In Old Days, Asians Were the Enemies to the Europeans, But In Modern Years Respect Them.
Lot of comments about George Takei. But keep in mind: he was NOT the first Asian American actor to be a regular in a TV series. Before Star Trek, there was Sammee Tong (Bachelor Father) & Poncie Ponce (Hawaiian Eye). And in my opinion, neither were crude racial caricatures.
The only reason I watch this movie is for Audrey and the cat of course. 🐈
The Yellowface is profoundly offensive...just as the portrayal of black and white people in Asian movies is always profoundly offensive.
Doesn't excuse the 'blackface' for Asians, now does it? You would go buck wild if it was blackface, but who gives a shit about those *insert east Asian pejorative*. Yeah, let's go enjoy a sitting of 'Birth of a Nation' because its an American classic without criticizing any aspect of its portrayal of African Americans, right?
In addition, you don't seem to distinguish between Asians and Asian-Americans, as in Asian Americans sure as hell don't produce our own independent 'Asian' films in the US. Films produced in Asia should not be used as an excuse to portray a particular racial cohort, especially when there are Americans with ethnically Asian backgrounds.
I’m African American and probably saw this movie when I was 8 or 9 and from a black child’s perspective i really wasn’t processing this at the time and I didn’t know any Asians or Whites until a few years later, but I think on some deeper level I knew this wasn’t an asian. But now I revisit these films and you see just how racist the US was and is now to some lesser extent but back then there were no movements like now and minorities just laid low and took the abuse sadly. This is a great 👍🏾 upload
As a black person i completely agree , the us was so racist and how they used a white man to portray an Asian man is just horrible. Also the stereotypes are just horrible and so false.
What a ridiculous comment. You ought to move to Africa if you think your civil rights would be better protected there. All your commentary does (as well as the commentary in this video) is prove that diversity is not a strength but a source of mistrust, conflict and destruction.
@@kraken138 Dude why the hostility??? Man was just voicing his opinion and you’re over here tripping over some racist bullshit. Like seriously, if you can’t control your racist emotions than it’s better to not say anything. “Go back to Africa” seriously, like that makes you argument any better 🤦🏿♂️🤦🏿♂️🤦🏿♂️
@@thecraplordsell4575 That is not argument against anything I wrote. It is logical to tell somebody to go back to the place of their origin if they really believe where they are is such a terrible place. There is nothing racist about the Rooney but it is fashionable to sow discontent and conflict by brainwashing people into taking umbrage against innocuous things like this. There is nothing more hostel, racist, and contemptable than that.
@@kraken138 Telling someone to go back is not logical. Why not acknowledge that their are problems. America was built by slaves and immigrants. They have as much rights to be here.
Movie is amazing but god damn the role Is cringeworthy as f**k and why I can’t rewatch the movie as much as I wish I could.
Rooney looks ridiculous and not funny!
MrSwarai he’s hilarious
John Bryan r u racist and do u support trump?
its emotional seeing this as it rings true very true as asian born and who grew up in australia. in the 80s and 90s here racism was an everyday fact of me as a child and teenager.
@Anony Mus lmao damn dude
Do you think Australia has gotten less racist now? I visited Sydney a while ago and the entire city was all Chinese people! So it looked like things have changed now😊
Charlie Chan was played by a Swedish actor.
Yellow face as a phrase seems more racist
So sick of people say " I am Asian and I find this funny" as if that make it ok. Never care for Mickey but this seals it.
bruh look at it like this, now we can see how far weve gone from stereotypes and we know that not all asians are like that now. so who cares about mickeys role it happened at that time in our society when we werent open minded. so take his role for what it is just a white guy trying to act asian so horribly thats its hilarious. u shouldnt be offended cause thats what it was back then atleast now asians are taken way more seriously so be happy we progressed. btw im asian and it may not be funny but u shouldnt be offended either.
@kjfpFTW, yes Asian has made some progress, but in Hollywood...hmmm not so much. My problem is when Asian people see these kind of shows and said something along those line like "I am Asian and I am not offended by this" it sort of give permission for others who are not Asian to mock us. Mr. Yunioshi -just one of the example-was not even remotely funny, he was obnoxious and hideous looking. The audience are laughing at him, not with him. The reality is people do judge others base on the media perception. Why do you think advertising spends $$$$ to endorse their products... Because it works, the public will buy into it. Anyway, I do appreciates your feedback.
You no rike Mickey Rooney?
+Khammouane Khantikone This country needs a real crisis so people will remember what real issues are. In the absence of real issues, we create our own.
We are talking about a movie made 55 fucking years ago.
+Khammouane Khantikone Why is not ok? Why should people adhere to your sensibilities when it comes to what is "ok".
I can’t even understand what he’s fucking saying.
Besides being racist, it really doesn’t fit in with the rest of the movie
Rooney’s performance made me laugh and cringe at the same time 😂
That entire novella was racist as hell. Holly slammed the N word down a lot and said the most homophobic things. Yikes.
8:01 That girl looks like Jennifer Lopez? no mistake people that native americans are actually not native to America, like amazon people,eskimos, Aztecs, incas, all kinds of them around the world, their ancestors came from Asia. so they are Asians. Mexicans are a mix race so their is no Mexican but they have mix races from their ancestors
Why do all the Asian Americans in this video look like caricatures or Asian Americans? Is this some sort of meta joke?
It’s only ok when anime does it…
woke power. let's go brandon.
It is what it was....Hollywood is the first to bring this to everyones attention. But it's also Hollywood that does it in the first place. Enough.
Thank you for sharing this!
This is one case that I can say Blake Edwards, himself, regretted, casting Mickey Rooney in the part and I can’t blame him
Nowhere do I see the mention of tihe "Breakfast at Tiffany's" director Blake Edwards, who did the Pink Panther films. Remember the action-packed Clouseau-Cato fights? This failed Japanese depiction by Rooney is all about the over-the-top Blake Edwards.
All these 'Chans' and 'Lus' in the comments section are pathetic excuses for east Asian persons. I'd go as far as to expunge them from our great racial cohort - there is absolutely NO conceivable deference for such subhuman mentalities. An individual who exhibits self-contempt deserves no respect, simple as that ladies and germs.
The yellow/brown background and lighting aren't doing your message any favors.
Are people getting their panties in a twist by a move from the 60`s? Shit, people have to remember that the entertainment world hadn`t gotten that far back then. Racial stereotypes was still common. Sure it`s cringy and offensive in our modern times, but I honestly don`t think people made such a big deal out of it at the time. Also the actor said he wouldn`t have taken the role if he knew he was being offensive to a bunch of people.
For Mr. Yunioshi, the extreme exaggeration and inaccuracies is why it is obviously fake and should be more a joke and less offensive, right? He's like a parody on the old Disney cartoons rather than a joke on a real Asian.
Oh my gosh, the part in your video when you said, "It's probably easier to name Asian bad guys than good guys." the first name that came to mind was Ming the Merciless. It's like you read my mind.
This is a really thought provoking video and comes from a perspective that needs to be spoken more. The experience of Asian Americans is sorta drowned out and they need to speak up more.
I thought Ming was from another planet.
Ming's an alien, you buffoon.
This honestly came out more like brow beathing lecturing and not at all in good faith, "ACCENTS = RACISTS, YOU GAIS"
He looked weird as a fake old Japanese boy; didn’t look right😡😡
I'm German, so let's talk about American/English actors playing Germans who are almost always the bad guys. Like in "Die Hard", or in "The Big Lebowski". Same thing? Do I have a right to be offended?
It is not the same thing because this offends a race of people not a nation of people like people from Germany.
+River The Don Its the same thing, Rooney plays a Japanese guy. Ridiculing your former enemy is an intentional and perpetuated aftereffect of war propaganda.
+thesundancekid333 I agree with you. It is the same thing.
exactly if people wanna see asians portayed properly watch a movie made in asia. its that simple, and why are we judging a super racist generation with todays point of view. people have no real problems to complain about so they start to nit pick like this movie
Do children go up to you and call you a nazi? Mock your race or say racial stereotypes? Race is totally different.
Wow.....this is horrible,what was the point of adding yellow face instead of an oriental actor...this is beyond spiteful and evil,I didn't even know that yellow face was such a big problem then :(
MadonnaSaigon It's comedy. It wouldn't have been funny if they had an Asian actor playing a serious character.
EasyThere Pilgrim wrong,comedy is actually funny.......dickhead
MadonnaSaigon I was laughing my ass off. It made it even more funny when these gloomy commentators said all these serious things during the Rooney highlights lol.
EasyThere Pilgrim so a Caucasian person finds an orientals misfortune amusing.......why aren't I surprised by that...
MadonnaSaigon Real-life misfortune is not funny. But this was comedy in a movie. There's a difference.
If I remember correctly this character was also in the book, but he wasn't a blatantly racist stereotype like he is in the film.
race baiting again mam?
You know its bad when they have Randy Marsh on the video
Caucasians are the only race that doesn't whine about a fricking movie character although they are most stereotyped in movies. FACT....... Lighten up and stop being so negative.
Seriously, there's so much shit about this. Those teeth go over the top but the accent is quite funny as long as it's not designed to JUST stereotype and cause offense to Asians, doing it for a laugh isn't really bad. I mean, look at Family Guy, if people think this is bad, they'd have a fuckin' heart attack if they saw some of those episodes.
People are just too easily wound up in general, probably because they take 'em selves too seriously, who knows, in the end, it's just messin' about.
I agree with one of the guys sayin' "if they wanted an Asian character, why not just cast an Asian man" but Hollywood have been stupid on a lot of times like that, not just Asians, but Germans and Russians in WWII films etc.
also why are people expecting a proper asian portrayal in a movie made by 60s white hollywood men, thats what doesnt make sense, did they not expect it to be utterly racist.
Its supposed to be an effing comedy! Pity orientals don't have a sense of humour. Today I watched the film on channel 5. I was expecting to see Mickey Rooney but 5 Cancelled him. No one turns hair when the British are lampooned on any foreign channel - but upset the Japanese - remember how they tortured, starved and executed British, American and other Allied soldiers in captivity - is that THEIR idea of comedy presumably? We didn't find that funny at all but we rarely go on about it. Everyone is stereotyped in comedy. The difference is we can laugh at ourselves. Those bitching here need to lighten up and acquire a sense of humour. If we go on cancelling comedy on the grounds that its bad taste or insulting or rude, there'll be nothing to laugh at. Most comedy is based on misfortune, parody or irony etc.. Then we become like some of the most hostile brutal countries in the world where laughter is based only on physical cruelty!
You know that it isn't a comedy, right?
@@pappy374 Well I always laugh when people make fun of our Britishness. It always makes us laugh when people try to impersonate us. We are secure in our own identity and it doesn't matter a jot if others send us up. We expect it! No one does that better than WE do as it happens. Its called having a sense of humour and not taking ones self too seriously! Its a pity more people in the world aren't like that. We are laid back and people have been taking the piss out of us for over 100 years! Sorry you are so touchy!
@@RogerDDog I never said that I was touchy about, but thanks for assuming. Mickey Rooney's portrayal of Mr Yunioshi doesn't fit in with the tone of the film at all, which is not in any way a comedy. It'd be akin to there being a sudden song and dance number in the middle of Zulu; it might be a great song and dance and it might be funny, but it would be completely at odds with the tone of the rest of the film.
I have to be honest when I saw the film first time round that was the last thing on my mind. I was just watching a brand new film in its entirety and of course it didn't touch me in that way. I didn't go thinking it was a comedy but to western eyes it was, a light comedy if you like but a comedy none the less! As a child of the 1950s, we'd heard about all the atrocities of the Japanese in WWII, the butchering, the starving of prisoners and the brutal, callous cold blooded murder by Japanese who ran through Indonesia etc. slaughtering anyone who got in Japan's way, Men, women and children. Bayonetting practice using live prisoners for example and there is still much physical and photo and movie evidence of that bestiality available, not to mention graphic accounts by those who survived. So the least of my worries when watching Mickey Rooney, was that he was sending up the Japanese, and not realistically portraying them. In fact if anything he helped us look at the Japanese with a new perspective. Thank god for that!. He didn't cut a throats or impale bound victims on sharpened bamboo for a change. Apart from anything else the film WAS a light hearted comedy and Rooney provided some slapstick! I fully admire Kurosawa and have a copy of the Seven Samurai but when I have to endure criticism of a classic comedy because the WOKE have risen up and started picking to pieces my favourite memories because of their brainwashing in the class room, I will tell it... as I see it! 🙂
@@RogerDDog Yet Capote, when he wrote the book in 1958, didn't feel the need to write Mr Yunioshi with any negative characteristics at all, and in fact his character is responsible for two of the pivotal moments in the book.
As you are clearly older, what brainwashing do you believe that people of the current generation have been subjected to, in particular in regards to how people of different ethnicities should be portrayed on screen? Can I assume that you wouldn't call a black person the N word? If not, then why not? After all, if an Asian person shouldn't be offended by Mr Yunioshi, then why should a black person be offended by being called names?
I am Asian, and I find this hirariousry funny.
You do not speak for all of us.
Good lad. Funny is funny and its a caricature not an impersonation. The character is supposed to be funny and over the top.
bless you sir.
Then you're being completely honest. Good on yah! 👍😁
you are Asian-American, which is pretty different from being Asian
is the movie 'white chicks' also racist? black men dressed as white women
Stereotypes of white people don't have the same offensive quality as stereotypes of black people because white people were never slaves, segregated, etc
@@bunnybird9342 opinions are not facts.
offensive stereotypes is not acceptable; selective racism is not okay
No this nor white chicks are racist
I don't really understand how he even looks Asian. I would not have guessed that's what they were going for based on the make-up alone. It's the way he talks that makes it obvious that it's "yellow face".
People ain't mad because Caucasian took role as Asians, it's because the portrayal of the asian.. Caucasians do this kind of stereotyping and portrayal to them self too.. fair enough for me..
Asians are the most racist people in the world. So dont play victim.
Tbh as Filipino American, I know it was a different time since it was the 1960s, but they should have hired a Chinese or Japanese American to play Mickey Rooney's role to be the slap stick comedic but end of jokes cranky landlord for Audrey Hepburn. Mickey Rooney could've played a different role and still be funny
Leftist
Fellow Asian here and I want to explain why maybe we are viewing this in hindsight with too narrow a field of view.
The movie released in 1961. This is wasn’t even 20 years after the end of WW2… you know…. The war where Japan sided with Nazis…… So I get it, I can absolutely see exactly why the director would put a disparaging stereotype depiction of a Japanese person in the film. It’s leftover negative sentiment played up for laughs.
But here’s the thing, it didn’t add to negative sentiment at all. It actually did the opposite. It was so cringe that Americans easily identified it as problematic. I’m not going to sit here and tell people it was some grand healing moment for the two once enemies but it would be wrong to ignore that it made America examine itself.
Again, not going to sit here and act like it’s been smooth sailing from there. It certainly has not. But, personally, I don’t hate it. The next two decades would see a rising interest in eastern culture in America. Is that causality? Most likely no. Part of the healing process? Oh absolutely.
Just my two cents ❤️
I typed my thoughts before watching the video and I see they kinda said similar things 💪🏼
"I think in the old days, one of the reasons why directors got white actors to play Asian characters is because they didn't have as many Asian American actors around, or they're looking for the big name. Unless you give Asian American actors meaty roles other than just playing some one-dimensional villain, you won't develop any stars," this is SUCH a good quote & honestly something that happens to this day!!! You look at Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games, 2012), Motoko Kusanagi (Ghost in the Shell, 2017), Tiger Lily (Pan, 2015), Tony Mendez (Argo, 2012), Hae-Joo Chang (Cloud Atlas, 2012), etc... POC are STILL being whitewashed despite outrage, because big-name white stars make them more $$$ or just bcus of ignorance/racism... its gross and has to stop
Ghost in the Shell was a failure, even many western people thought it was dumb and it failed big time in Asia. The white washing nearly always fails, same with the Dragon Ball movies. It's either pure racism, or the American directors truly believe that the characters have to be mostly white people otherwise white people in Europe and America will have little relation and interest in it. Or maybe it's a mix of the two. Remember they had a white guy play as Genghis Khan also.
The biggest atrocity is if they made a Bruce Lee movies and had a white guy play him, in fact that would be hilarious to be honest.
I think it's part of the comedy he's a white guy??????
@@lordofthebeltsthereturnoft1127 Both of those films were simply badly written and badly directed. Edge of Tomorrow which was also a Japanese story from Manga originally had a full white cast yet was an incredibly well directed and written action film. Both Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt were brilliant in it.
5:53 oh hey I remember him from Bill Mahr's show!
I’d been watching several old movies with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, just made me do a little of the wiki reading about Mickey Rooney. I’d forgotten he’d played this part in Breakfast at Tiffanies
There were a lot of the movies with Caucasian actors playing oriental or Asia Indians.
But there really was so many Asian actors available? Can’t quite understand it.
Hmm karma is a bitch. Mickey died with a frail mind and body and no money but a few scraps from which his family fought over. We have one planet so just get along.
Good grief, call me insensitive, but I look at this movie in the same light as I White Chicks. Comedy Genius!!
My wife is Japanese, born and raised. She has no problem with it, not her style of humor, nor mine. It's a parody, it's done all the time. Example, Sean Penn plays the role of Spicoli, a crazy surfer with a brain infected by stereotyped catchphrases of the surfing world. I'm a former pro surfer, I'm not offended, I loved it. I knew many guys just like that during the 60's and 70's surf culture. Get over it America, learn to laugh again, we need it.
Yunioshi was hardly racist in the book
He was 0% racist in the book. In the book he was just a man who happened to be Japanese and was literally in about 2 pages.
Makes me cringe too.
Regardless how politically incorrect it is the fact is Rooney was hysterical and everyone loved it. Nobody took it seriously, like "White Chicks" or SNL, it's not that deep.
If you're not asian, you don't get a say in this. Not "everyone" loved it. I, as an Asian woman, certainly didn't.
@@thedustwhisperedwhite people always think their opinion matters the most, they have never learnt to shut up in their lives, especially MEN
Is this from what creators of South Park took their character Tuong Lu Kim?
Asians and Asian Americans got George Takei for the best representation on a science fiction tv show and Shang-Chi and Everywhere all at once, Crazy Rich Asians and Disney animated movie Mulan. Also same with Africans and African Americans for Nichelle Nicole’s and The Marvel Cinematic Superhero movie Black Panther and it’s sequel and comedians like Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle and Kevin Hart and Tyler Perry.
I watched this film when I was 15 in 1970 at the local theater in my hometown in Japan. I was fascinated by the charming Audry, and never thought about the hilarious character of the apartment manager as offensive. Now I understand these Japanese Americans' point of view that Micky Rooney acting silly Japanese as stereotype so offensive. It must have been so degrading to have been sent to those isolated camps with terrible conditions. I saw Denis Quade and Tanlyn Tomita's "Come See the Paradise," and I got to know a little bit about their experiences during World War Two. Thank you for letting us know your views.
really loved this. I am writing a paper on similar problem in Hindi Cinema (Bollywood). Mr. Guy Aoki, thank you, you gave my inner feelings a loud voice.
ugh...I don't know why I find it so annoying when people look back at older films, project modern values onto them, then try and pretend that hollywood should've known better back then...how about this? maybe society wasn't ready to evolve past these things yet...maybe there was some propaganda holdover from ww2...maybe we should concentrate a little less on art and a little more on the fact that thousands of american citizens were herded into concentration camps for completely bogus reasons...which part of history should be REALLY focus on not repeating? goofy comedy or true evil?
How about both?
Ok so lets forgive the priests for molesting kids for centuries because we cant project modern values at it.
I wish the worst thing that happened to me on a given day was someone doing a racist joke at my expense. I would pause, say, "Huh, that's kinda racist," then go back to eating my lunch.
Awe booooo hooooo me so sollllyyyy me ruv this movie and me so sollly abrout it
Every time I see an Asian person I asked Don where is my automobile
The level of "wrongness" is ridiculously unreal. Thats whats funny about it.
Butthurt much?
Im a white girl and Asian men are literally the hottest type of men, but the way they portrayed an Asian man in Breakfast At Tiffanys really pisses me off......BUT---- maybe they werent trying to make fun of ALL Asian men, maybe it was just one specific Asian that they based him on? Like maybe they knew a guy like that in real life and based the character on him? Idk. I used to have a poster from this movie on my wall as a teenager, Im glad I dont have that anymore. I dont think I knew that that character was meant to be Asian, when I saw this movie when I was younger, I thought it was just meant to be a pervy goofy character, not anything racist or specific to Asians
American internment camps, brought tou you by FDR (Beloved Democrat President). Dark chapter for America.
GOP President would have set up extermination camps instead.
@@wrigleyman100 you show your ignorance of history for all to see. The GOP freed the slaves and is the true party of civil rights. Read a history book sometime.