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[Ed. - this entry was crossposted to Racialicious as well.]
David Carradine was found dead today in a hotel room in Bangkok. The circumstances of his death are outrageously sensationalistic. I won't go into any detail other than to remark that these circumstances have helped ensure a steady barrage of media coverage. Just now, tuning into NPR in my car, I heard part of a David Carradine interview, replayed to commemorate the occasion of his death.
He was a famous and much-loved actor. Tributes to Carradine are pouring in. In discussion threads devoted to Carradine, you'll find many nostalgic accounts of childhood evenings spent watching his TV show, Kung Fu.
Some Asian-Americans, such as myself, may find these tributes quite upsetting.
I remind myself that David Carradine was an actor. He was doing a job for money. It's difficult to draw a work/life dividing line when it comes to celebrity actors, but the line does exist. And I cannot presume to judge the moral worth of David Carradine's life. He was a human being whose life is just as worthy of respect, just as precious, as the life of any other human being.
But I can judge his career. Fuck David Carradine's godawful racist career!
For many Asian-Americans, tributes to Carradine's careeer feel like a cold and bitter insult. Bruce Lee was originally considered for the lead in Kung Fu, but the producers decided America was not ready for an Asian man as a heroic lead. David Carradine was chosen instead. His character, Kwai Chang Caine, was supposed to be half-Chinese and half-white. All the rest of the characters reacted to him as if he were Asian, when he was quite obviously 100% white. This confused the hell out of me when I first saw the show. Once I realized he was supposed to be Asian, it made me angry.
Why did I watch it in the first place? Well, Kung Fu was a pretty good show. It was plotted and shot and edited skillfully. It touched on important philosophical and cultural themes. It was ground-breaking, unique, and had some of the only respectful depictions of Asian culture available on American television in the 1970s. What were the alternatives? The servile, scraping, Hop Sing on Bonanza? Minor characters on M.A.S.H.? A scattered assortment of cackling Fu Manchu-type villains? It would be hard for Asian-Americans not to want to watch Kung Fu. But every time we watched it, we were reminded that it was possible for white people to take the best of what they wanted from Asian culture. Asian culture was mysterious and cool, but real Asian people were unwanted and superfluous. They could easily be replaced by the right kind of white man. And nobody remarked about it, nobody complained... at least it seemed that way.
I was very young when I saw reruns of Kung Fu, but I caught on quickly, and began to dread the sight of David Carradine's face. I still have some fond memories of sequences that didn't involve Carradine, such as the training sequences set in China. Then I stopped watching the reruns because the experience became too painful. Sitting there and watching was like... offering your body up to be erased. It's hard to explain.
Anyway, it was an ignominious start to a career, and it went downhill from there. Carradine milked Kung Fu for as long as possible, and when the milk ran dry, he just squeezed harder, until blood dripped out of the metaphorical udders. He even did a series of Kung Fu workout videos. Quentin Tarantino capitalized on Kung Fu nostalgia by casting Carradine in that pretentious faux-ironic Asiaphile crapfest, Kill Bill. And a few years ago, Carradine did a series of Kung Fu-inspired Yellowbook.com commercials. Get it? Yellow Book? Wink wink, nudge nudge, vomit. In 2009, the the heavily yellowfaced Carradine had a role in Crank 2 as a lecherous Chinese gangster named "Poon Dong". Wink wink... and so on.
I don't blame David Carradine for all the anti-Asian racism in America. But he had an important and highly visible role in a vicious feedback loop. Audiences identified with his performance of a calm, detached, self-important masculinity seemingly grounded in an exotic Asian tradition. He satisfied certain urges of the audience in that regard, and as he performed, he innovated, and created new and more refined stereotypes with extra layers of self-awareness and sophistication. His performances also worked to naturalize the desire of white people to appropriate the aspects of Asian culture they happened to find most appealing.
In a better world, Bruce Lee would have gotten the lead role in Kung Fu. It would have been a truly great show, not a merely good one. David Carradine would have gone on to other projects, and perhaps he would have become a great and versatile actor, meeting new challenges and truly acting instead of being frozen in the same stale role for decades. He was a man of many diverse talents and could have found fulfillment and success in other realms as well. If I continue much longer in this morbid vein I'll write a full-fledged alternate history obituary, so I'll stop… although I would have liked to say more good things about David Carradine's impact on the world. But in all honesty, the way his choices affected my life turned out to be very negative, and I wish it didn't have to end like that.
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You hit the nail right on the head. I agree 100% with your sentiments...and I'm not even Asian.
I have to agree, it's hard to feel sympathy for him. Kung Fu was one thing, but his subsequent work got more and more racist as whatever little acting talents he had dissapeared.
In spite of his many movies, the role im going to remember him by is his most recent one, Poon Dong. A very telling sign on how he choose to build his career
I'm personally glad Bruce Lee did not get the lead role in Kung Fu, which led to his return to Hong Kong to do The Big Boss with all the magic that followed. There is no point to hating on Carradine, he's just the bloke who got picked by the studio (Warner Bros) to play the role in Kung Fu.
So what if his whole career is based on playing yellowface? If anything, blame it on Warner Bros who cast Carradine over Lee. Blame it on American society (or human beings) for having racist stereotypes. Hell, blame it on capitalism and free enterprise for allowing people to sell and buy these types of stereotypes. I understand your frustration and rant, but hating on a dead man who simply took a role as an actor, is a futile exercise.
Rather, consider how Bruce Lee responded to being rejected for the role; he said fuck it and rather than trying to fit in - he made his own lane, used Hong Kong studios and media instead of American ones and became a legend without having to luv some stupid Warner Bros studio executive long time. This isn't directed personally at you, but this lesson needs to be better understood by many progressives, who often rant without any ideas on solutions. Like Lee once said, "Be like water, my friend."
In my case, Kung Fu was WAY before my time. What I do remember, are the ridiculous yellowbook ads, his role in Kill Bill and his most recent work in Crank 2. I think that defines Davic Carradine to my generation. A tired of actor that got rich off of yellowface without any genuine respect for Asians or Asian culture.
Hmm...I don't think anyone is hating on Carradine. I think people are pointing out the racist choices he made as an actor. To play a half-Chinese/half-white man was disgraceful as well as morally and ethically wrong. The long-term psychological effects on Asian/Asian-American children watching a white man parading around as an "Asian" is sickening.
...and people wonder why double eye lid surgery is in high demand in the Asian community. No offense sir but you sound like the typical white who simply doesn't get it. Thank God I get it.Hilarious. I'm getting called out for sounding "like the typical white who simply doesn't get it," by someone who apparently does.
Pray tell, what is it exactly that I don't get, Anonymous Bison? That Carradine made "racist choices" in playing half-Chinese/half-white roles? Imagine the nerve of that "actor", portray something that he's not. I'm sure you were busily loading the cartridge to start the revolution when Gong Li, Zhang Zhi Yi and Michelle Yeoh played "Japanface" in the white man penned Memoirs of a Geisha. Oh wait, they were at least playing "Asian". So did you call them out for being disgraceful, as well as morally and ethically wrong for taking away acting opportunities in Hollywood for Japanese actresses?
Since you apparently "get it" - let's break it down so my humble "white-sounding" ass can get it too:
Actors and actresses play roles. Some of them are fucked up. Some of them portray rapists and serial killers. Some of them portray gays being played by straight actors/actresses. Some of the roles are Asian and end up going to non-Asian actors. With your infallible got-it logic, you apparently blame the actors playing stereotypical racist roles that someone else wrote and chose them to play. So what about the casting director and the writers who wrote the character and stories? Oh wait, they're getting paid to do that shit from someone too. Gee, they're all employed by the studio who pays them to produce a television show or film, so that the studio can get paid as well. So who's paying the studio? Well, either the broadcasters who buy the rights to the show, who are paid by advertisers. Who pays the advertisers? Why it's the businesses trying to advertise their products or services? So who pays the businesses? Well, that would be you and me, the consumer.
Shit, so where does all of that leave us? Well, my "typical white-sounding" understanding is that Hollywood is simply a microcosm of the greater American society. American society is abhorrently racist - currently waging two racist and imperialist wars based on lies, where Iraqi and Afghani peasants are captured as prisoners of war (but called 'enemy combatants' so they can be held indefinitely without charge or evidence) and tortured through water boarding, dismemberment and other disturbing tactics that have yet to fully be revealed.
This same society uses law enforcement to do suspicion less profiling of American citizens based on their race and/or religion, spying on the likes of peaceful religious groups justified by "preventing terrorism," ever expanding the military-prison-security-industrial complex.
Question: Do you blame the front line soldier fighting in Afghanistan or Iraq for this mess? Just curious, since you "get it".
Getting worked up over David Carradine's irrelevant career is on par with getting upset over American Asian-themed porn. Sure it may be fucked up, but so is the dramatic increase of homelessness and the number of families who live below the poverty line now. Do what you like, I mean whatever floats your boat, little homie. In my humble opinion, there are far greater things to worry about.
Excellect points, devinestyler. I couldn't have said it better myself. But I'm guessing that for many here your words will simply go in one ear and right out of the other ear of those too hung up on blaming others (David Carradine in this instance) for their own particular insecurities. And as seen by the manner of his death, David Carradine had his own particular problems besides what some individuals may or may not think of him and his work.
To his naysayers, I always thought that David Carradine was the ideal actor to play the role of Caine, as the plot wouldn't have worked nearly as well to simply have an ass-kicking Bruce Lee roaming around the Old West. Not only did Carradine look half-asian in the series, he also aptly pointed out week after week that even subtle differences....like differences in belief or attitude, and not just 'looks' ....were enough to make some people hate others ....as we've all seen evidenced all too clearly these past 8 years under the Bush regime and its sycophants.
Be thankful that as other posters have pointed out, Carradine (and Kung Fu) came at a time when the USA was ready and willing to learn to be appreciative of the Asian peoples and their culture, and the important part that they played in the building of America.
And now hopefully, America is ready to learn to be appreciative of Muslim cultures as well.
And as for the 'YellowBook' ads...it's called 'humor' and 'parody', and if you can't learn to laugh at yourself first then you have no business casting stones at others. Grasshopper.
Many of you might be too young to remember this but the original Charlie Chan ( movie and tv character detective) was also a lo fan (sp) a white guy. Frankly I am disgusted on how the Asian, black and native people are portrayed by the entertainment industry. I was glad to hear Rosie get smacked down for her Chinese impression on tv. But realistically what can we do to insitute change in the entertainment industry.
ANy ideas?
some suggestions:
people can blog about their outrage over inappropriate portrayals of people of color.
stop watching tv shows depicting asians, blks, hispanics, n. americans in stereotypical roles.
don't spend $$ on racist movies. hitting hollywood in the pocket hurts like hell.
when friends make racist comments/jokes you can politely voice the comment/joke was not warranted.
and avoid falling into the trap of arguing with ignorant people. these folks simply don't get it and don't want to get it.
just my thoughts....
hapa behaving badly
It's called acting and you need to take a chiil pill. You must be over 50 to sound so crazed.
more like 'acting out.'
..and it's 'chill' pill. lol
naw, i'm in my early thirties...a generation x'er working on a phd who get's it.
Is it racist for any white country (Finland) to pay a Korean author for the right to put on his play that is set in Korea? Or is it racist for a white country (Finland) to ban Korean-made plays?
Actors and actresses are judged pretty much on their range. If a female from Wisconsin can convincingly portray a Japanese male Sumari swordsman, that is not called racism, it is called great acting. Or do you believe that women should stick to women's roles and not try to do a man's job?
Robert
Re: Robert
1) Point is moot. We're talking about America. The whole point of the enlightenment movement that this country was based upon was to eliminate things like racism. President George Washington understood this. So he died poor.
2) Only in high school. In real life, actors and actresses are chosen for how much money they can bring to the studio. So more dividends are distributed to the stockholders, etc.
No hard feelings, friend.
This whole subject is ludicrous and crazy. Growing up watching Kung Fu actually made me understand asian culture better and taught me how stupid and bad racism is. On the show racism was directed at Carradine's character and i felt bad that Americans would treat him like that just because he's Asian. Furthermore, how is he obviously a 100% white guy. I just recently found out that he wasn't half asian. I would be very surprised if he is 100% white. He definitely looks like he has a lot of native american or some other race in him. The thing is, when other races pretend that everything is racist, you are the one who ends up sounding the most racist. I know i'm not a racist, but the writer of this article is definitely a racist bigot. So sorry, white people aren't the only racists in the world. lol. Don't pretend that. The japanese during world war 2 were every bit as racist as the germans. They believed and probably a lot still do, that japanese are a superior race to all other asian races. Main thing is, u need to chill. Carradine wasn't a racist for playing a part that he was good at and people liked to see him in. He helped to open people's eyes about the asian culture and philosophies. So quit being a racist if u hate racists and racism so much, whoever wrote this stupid, racist article
The tragic irony about the David Carradine story is that he might have been killed by ninjas.
LA Times Blog
How well written! I thought of Bruce Lee each time that I seen "Kung Fu" with so many what if's and regrets. He (Lee) trully deserved the leading role and I had always felt that the role was taken right from under him due to his obvious Asian appearance, which is pretty ignorant in every sense of the word considering (Lee) was in fact Eurasian and the show was bassed upon this. Point is, I found justice if you will when the son rose (Brandon Lee). It was almost a "thumbs up" that you could sense from Bruce Lee and I know that he had to be smiling.
Its strange because to me Carridine did look part Asian maybe not as much as half Asian but he didn't look pure white.
its said he had some native American blood so maybe that explains it.
Anyway I am Asian American and I don't hate carridine.
He was an actor, he probably took the role in the same way actors played othello for years before , they didn't think about the politics of it and they don't see it as racist they just see it as a role.
In acting circles its often considered actors should be able to any role regardless of the race of the character and its not so different from when Asian or black actors play roles from shaksphere plays.
If anyone deserves to be hated on it should be the American public or the makers of the show who decided to play safe and make the character half white and cast a white actor in the role.
Even in their case it wasn't so much a a racist choice it was a pratical one.
They decided the American public were not able to identify with a Asian lead character or actor and that the show would flop if an Asian were cast in the role.
Sadly they are probably right ,had Bruce Lee gotten the role then the show would most likely have only gotten a short run rather than a long run, and be barely remembered now, and at least the show did provide work for some Asain actors and highlighted at least a character that wasn't white and a culture that wasn't white even if the actor playing the role was white.
Yes Bruce Lee went on to become a major star but in stereotypical martial arts movies and people should remember that Lee himself wasn't fully Asian either.
Its easier to cast non white actors in one off action movies because the level of required audience identification with the lead character is lesser and more short term than that which is required to create a long running tv series.
if any resentment is going to be felt then it should not be for Carridine who was just a actor happy to get work or even the producers of the show who made a pratical decision, even in this day and age shows with non white lead characters don't do that well other than one or two stand out black shows like the cosby show ect, even in this day and age one has to doubt that shows such as Buffy the vampire slayer or the X files would have run so long if non whites had been cast in the roles, even Jewish actors usualy play wasp characters because the majority of Americans will still only take to a WASP character so in a way the KUNG FU show took a risk just by making the character non WASP.
its hard enough to create a long running show period, let alone create a popular long running show with non whites in the roles.
So the producers were running something of a risk by even making the character half non white even if they ended up casting a white guy in the role
Its Americas mostly white viewing audience for still being so race minded that it can still only idenify with characters of the same race that should be resented for causing the "yellow face" nature of this old kung fu show not the actors or even the producers.
and remember America hasn't moved as far forward as people like to think it has.
not only is it still uncommon for shows to cast non whites in lead roles or for shows with non whites in the lead to become highly popular, but America is still racist enough to make tv show makers think twice about featuring inter racial relationships
Oh another thing.
Kung fu was before my time (I have seen reruns ) but from what I understand of early seventies America (and Europe which would have been the other main market for US tv shows) it was even more racist and the racial divisions were even stronger than they are today.
Which would mean the racism and racial divisions in America at that time were massive.
So looking at the message of the Kung fu show it preached very strongly against racism and race hate and against judging people by race .
so it would seem the show did a lot of good maybe it even helped to change some peoples attitudes .
so dispite the fact it can be accussed of some level of racism itself it should not be ignored that it preached a very anti racist message and may even have played a part in paving the way to creating more racial tolerance and a greater ability in whites to identify with non white characters.
Maybe they had to start out with a white guy playing that role so people could later accept a Asian in other roles.
certaintly carridine did not play the role in a typcally racist way as previous "yellow faced" actors had done(christopher Lee as fu manchu for example or mikey Rooney) .
it can even be claimed that dispite not being Asian carridines potrayal of an (part) Asian character put Asians in a more positve light than Bruce Lee,s roles ever did.
Carridine played a deep very thoughtful Asian (well hapa) character while Lee basically created a stereotype (Asians all do martial arts and don't have much to say).
Lee is very over rated.
As for the yellow book ads again blame the makers of the ads not carridine.
it seems the kung fu show did have a very good message and did create an image of Asians that was far more positive than the usual image that went around at the time (cold blooded martial artists or idiots or white slave traders) dispite its racism in not casting an Asian or part Asian in the role.
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