"The mediocre movie explains
everything twice and always means exactly what it says. It waves its sincerity
aloft like a truce flag. It leaves no questions unanswered. It tells you
exactly where you should stand in relation to its characters and its subject
matter. It is frequently soothing because it tells you that you are right.
Then, too, it can be like an unrelenting host who holds you captive until
you finish every last morsel on the plate. But it tends not to stick in
the memory because there’s nothing there to wonder about."

 - Vincent Canby, Film Critic for the New York Times -

Watching previews before Rent last week, I saw a trailer for Memoirs
of a Geisha, the newest runaway bestseller novel-to-screen adaptation.
Having lived very near to Kyoto and having strolled through the Gion
district many times, and having walking past several real-life geishas
myself, I’m definitely looking forward to the movie. My wife read the
book, and said it was excellent. 

I was, however, startled that
their choice of actress to play the leading role is … well, Chinese.
Not Japanese. Not a big deal to many western audiences, I’m sure, but a
quick perusal of the newspapers a few days later confirmed that
Japanese folks are in a bit of an uproar about it. I personally would
have preferred a Japanese woman for the part. But the way I see it, you
can look at it two ways:

Way 1: Hollywood has an embarassing legacy of having people play outside their race.

Even
outside of the obvious black minstrel tradition, many big-name stars in
the 30s and 40s played roles that, from modern standards, border on
offensive racial stereotype. Audiences of yesteryear seemed to have no
problem with having white guys play Asians. Warner Oland, a
Swede, played detective Charlie Chan, as did Sidney Toler, a native of
Warrensburg, Missouri — the small town where I went to high school –
and Roland Winters, also a white guy. Actually, no Asian person ever
played Charlie Chan on screen or radio.

There’s Mickey Rooney as Mr. Yunioshi in Breakfast at
Tiffany’s, Hungarian Peter Lorre as Mr. Moto, Siamese king Yul Brynner
in The King and I, and Boris Karloff as Fu Manchu, to name a few. David
Carradine was chosen over Bruce Lee for TV’s Kung Fu, for crying out
loud.

So what we have here is the latest iteration: Asian actors
playing Asians outside their race, since they must all look the same
anyway. Never mind that Ziyi Zhang
looks distinctly Chinese. Beyond looks, however, is the unique
understanding that a Japanese woman would have brought to the role.
Japan is, to this day, an incredibly closed society, brimming with
complicated social hierarchy and etiquette. Most of this passes under
the radar of those of us on the outside looking in. Having lived in
Japan for three years, I honestly believe that you can only be Japanese
to hope to understandthese things. In other words, this was a lost opportunity.

Way 2: Currently, there are no bankable female Japanese stars.

Let’s
face it. Ziyi Zhang is going to draw crowds like no other Asian actress
outside of Lucy Liu. When moviemaking is a business, not art, these
sorts of regrettable choices are to be expected. When will a young,
talented, beautiful Japanese actress rise to prominence in Hollywood?
Only time will tell. I can only mention that, in Japan, filmmaking
nowadays comes in a low second-fiddle to TV — and the best acting
you’ll find on Japanese TV is still over-the-top. 

I might be biased, but if you want to see a terrific performance by a Japanese actress, you’ll definitely want to check out Rock Paper Scissors…

Note: For more info on the history of yellowface in Hollywood, you might start with this excellent essay.