Examples_of_yellowface

Examples of yellowface

Examples of yellowface

List of films and theater plays with white actors playing East Asian characters


Examples of yellowface mainly include the portrayal of East Asians in American film and theater, though this can also encompass other Western media. It used to be the norm in Hollywood that East Asian characters were played by white actors, often using makeup to approximate East Asian facial characteristics, a practice known as yellowface.

Actor Mickey Rooney did yellowface in the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany's.

American media portrayals of East Asians have reflected a dominant Americentric perception rather than realistic and authentic depictions of true cultures, customs and behaviors.[1] Yellowface relies on stereotypes of East Asians in the United States.

Fu Manchu, Charlie Chan, and Madame Butterfly

  • Fu Manchu and Charlie Chan were the most common East Asian characters in film and television of the mid-20th century, and they were almost always played by white actors in yellowface, although Asian actors did portray the Chan character in three silent film productions.[2] (Swedish actor Warner Oland, the first Charlie Chan in sound films, did not use yellowface. He was considered to look Asian, and was typecast in such roles from early in his career.) An updated film version of Charlie Chan was planned in the 1990s by Miramax; this new Charlie Chan was to be "hip, slim, cerebral, sexy and ... a martial-arts master",[3] but the film did not come to fruition.[3]
  • Madame Butterfly, an opera about a Japanese woman who falls in love with an American sailor who leaves her, and when he returns with an American wife, the devastated Cio-Cio San commits suicide. This immensely popular opera is often performed with a non-East Asian singer playing the role of Cio-Cio San.

Before the Civil Rights Movement

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After the Civil Rights Movement

Note: This is also after the anti-miscegenation laws were repealed in the United States of America that prevented East Asian actors from playing opposite white actors as love interests.

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21st century

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Yellowface worn by a character in a film

In some films, white characters, played by white actors, have played East Asians, often as a disguise.

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Books about yellowface

  • Made-Up Asians: Yellowface During the Exclusion Era (2022) by Esther Kim [45] - provides history and examples of yellowface

See also


References

  1. Kashiwabara, Amy, Vanishing Son: The Appearance, Disappearance, and Assimilation of the Asian-American Man in American Mainstream Media, UC Berkeley Media Resources Center, archived from the original on September 22, 2018
  2. Sengupta, Somini (January 5, 1997). "Charlie Chan, Retooled for the '90s". The New York Times. Retrieved May 21, 2009.
  3. "The Hatchet Man". Tcm.com. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  4. "Frisco Jenny". Tcm.com. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  5. Basinger, Jeanine (June 16, 2008). "Few female ensemble films". Variety.
  6. "Lost Horizon (1937)". Tcm.com. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  7. "The Letter". Variety. December 31, 1939. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  8. "Selective Filmography". Archived from the original on July 21, 2009. Retrieved January 30, 2014.
  9. Hal Erickson (2012). "Movies: About Little Tokyo, USA". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012.
  10. "At the Palace". The New York Times. August 7, 1942. Archived from the original on July 20, 2012.
  11. Dargis, Manohla (July 10, 2005). "'Lion of Hollywood': Mogul of Make-Believe". The New York Times.
  12. "NY Times: Anna and the King of Siam". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2010. Archived from the original on March 22, 2010. Retrieved December 20, 2008.
  13. "Blood Alley". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  14. W, A. (October 6, 1955). "In Formosa Strait". The New York Times.
  15. "Blood Alley (1955) – Releases". AllMovie. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  16. "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2008. Archived from the original on January 15, 2008. Retrieved December 22, 2008.
  17. "Yul Brynner". Biography. December 2, 2021.
  18. Robert B. Ito. "Bright Lights Film Journal :: "A Certain Slant": A Brief History of Hollywood Yellowface". Brightlightsfilm.com. Archived from the original on December 12, 2010. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  19. Durant, Yvonne (June 18, 2006). "Where Holly Hung Her Ever-So-Stylish Hat". The New York Times. Retrieved October 3, 2010.
  20. Bell, Robert (January 12, 2009). "DVD Review: Breakfast at Tiffany's – Centennial Collection". The Trades. Archived from the original on April 4, 2012. Retrieved September 24, 2011.
  21. "The Paul Lynde Show | TV Guide". TVGuide.com. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
  22. Deen, Sarah (March 9, 2020). "BritBox adds warning to Doctor Who episode with slurs and 'yellowface' amid racism row". Metro. Archived from the original on November 28, 2020. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  23. Chan, Jachinson (2001). Chinese American Masculinities: from Fu Manchu to Bruce Lee. Taylor & Francis. p. 58. ISBN 0-8153-4029-X.
  24. Pitts, Michael R. (1991). Famous Movie Detectives II. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 301. ISBN 0-8108-2345-4.
  25. Worrell, Denise; Clarke, Gerald (April 23, 1984). "The Night off the Great Prom". Time. Archived from the original on October 29, 2010. Retrieved July 7, 2009.
  26. "Japánok a Micukó azonnali letiltásáért". index.hu (in Hungarian). May 20, 2003. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  27. ""Det är ingen som känner igen mig"". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). May 29, 2003. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  28. "Hon rasar mot skämtshowen". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). September 7, 2003. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  29. "A Micuko műsor japán szemmel". Magyar Nemzet (in Hungarian). April 25, 2003. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  30. "A japánok tiltakoznak a Micuko miatt". index.hu (in Hungarian). April 19, 2003. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  31. "Gold Derby". Los Angeles Times. February 27, 2009.
  32. "Review of "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry"". afterelton.com. Archived from the original on August 26, 2007.
  33. "Karl Lagerfeld Talks Shanghai and Fashion – WWD Fashion Features". WWD.com. December 3, 2009. Retrieved February 10, 2014.
  34. Kang, Peter (January 30, 2013). "Walking Dead Porn Parody Actor's Interesting Makeup". iamkoream.com. KoreAm. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
  35. Morrissey, Tracie (January 31, 2013). "Walking Dead Porn Parody Relies on Yellowface". jezebel.com. Jezebel. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
  36. Botelho, Greg (January 16, 2014). "Asian-Americans up in arms over 'How I Met Your Mother' episode". CNN. Retrieved April 23, 2019.
  37. Bradshaw, Peter (February 22, 2008). "Be Kind Rewind". TheGuardian.com. Archived from the original on November 28, 2020. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  38. Lee, Esther Kim (July 11, 2022). Made-Up Asians. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-07543-0.

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