11:45 am - 08/08/2012
Yellowface in Cloud Atlas
See Cloud Atlas stars in weird Asian makeup!
After viewing that crazy trailer for Cloud Atlas, we noted the strange occurrence of possible yellowface in the movie, which has actors playing different characters reincarnated through various storylines through time.
Like the photo above. If you head over to the official Cloud Atlas website right now, you'll see the movie's stars in some wild makeup -- including white dudes made up with Asian features. Here are a few more photos:
And in the trailer:
To throw a little more insult upon injury, you might remember that Jim Sturgess played the lead in 21, the movie that whitewashed most of the Asians out of the true life story behind Bringing Down the House.
Source 1 + 2
I hope this movie flops tbh.
After viewing that crazy trailer for Cloud Atlas, we noted the strange occurrence of possible yellowface in the movie, which has actors playing different characters reincarnated through various storylines through time.
Like the photo above. If you head over to the official Cloud Atlas website right now, you'll see the movie's stars in some wild makeup -- including white dudes made up with Asian features. Here are a few more photos:
And in the trailer:
To throw a little more insult upon injury, you might remember that Jim Sturgess played the lead in 21, the movie that whitewashed most of the Asians out of the true life story behind Bringing Down the House.
Source 1 + 2
I hope this movie flops tbh.
is it really so difficult to understand that people are reacting by saying "damn, maybe they should have rethought that makeup" because of the implications of doing up white actors in a bad ethnic parody? they could have used less or even no makeup; they could have cast more korean actors for just that story; they could have cast more korean actors and also used them outside of that story in place of the white actors...there are lots of possibilities. their repeated use of the same actors is intriguing, but the execution appears to be flawed.
I think it's perfectly reasonable for people to say more consideration should have been given to the approach used to get across the whole reincarnation angle. I've even used the word 'misguided' to describe the decision to go with it. Below, I say that it's quite possible the decision was taken to use practical make-up effects as that would - most likely - be more affordable that blending different actors faces with CGI. It's just that people in the comments, more often than not, are going 'OMFG so racist!!!' That's the reaction I'm trying to respond to.
Understanding why a decision was taken - and attempting to explain that decision to people who may not be familiar with the themes in the book, themes that the filmmakers are clearly also trying to get across - is not the same as proclaiming it was the best choice that could have been made. There are many other ways it could have been handled, and the use of 'yellowface' is clearly unwise as - no matter how well intentioned - it can't help but recall racist caricatures from the past.
With my posts I was trying to put things into perspective for people who might look at the photos of the actors in yellowface and have no sense of why that decision was taken. The trailer isn't clear and plot information about the film (and indeed the novel) is very vague at best, so I was trying to clarify the context of the images that are featured in the OP. As it stands, those photos are images of bad and insulting made-up actors that border on the racist. All I was doing was trying to explain why that make-up was used, which is to try and evoke the underlying themes of the book is a very visual and - quite possibly unnecessarily - literal way.
Edited at 2012-08-08 06:47 pm (UTC)
i'm just less willing to cut the filmmakers any slack despite understanding their motivations, especially considering some of the actors are playing completely different, non-reincarnated characters in the different timelines (including some of the yellowfaced actors), which makes the necessity of using them in such a problematic way negligible. and i still don't necessarily buy that it's okay for white actors to play POC just because POC are playing white characters in the same movie, especially in the context of not actually playing the same characters in each story.
people may be having knee-jerk reactions against the racism, but i think that's a testament to what a bad decision the filmmakers made.
I think a more intelligent, subtle film would have found a less blatant way of presenting the themes of the novel in a cinematic manner. Having said that, I imagine the filmmakers had to give at least some thought to making the film accessible to your average cinemagoer. Without the reuse of the same actors, the Cloud Atlas trailer - which is confusing as it stands unless you're familiar with the book - would have given the impression the film consists of six unconnected stories. The beauty of the book is that all of the stories stand alone but also depend on one another to make a whole - it's a very clever, well-executed idea and I think only a truly extraordinary director could get that across without resorting to 'crutches' such as the repeated use of the same few high profile actors.
Despite all that, I am still looking forward to the film. The trailer is exceptionally well put together and the film looks beautiful, for the most part. I don't want to judge it before I've seen it fully. I really love the book though, so hope it at least does it some justice.