Caucasian or Asian Invasion?

I have a been an avid fan of the Asian community on YouTube, from the classic works of Nigahiga to the hilarity of KevJumba,  and of course the innovative Wong Fu Productions. Earlier this week, I was once again procrastinating and wasting away many more precious hours on YouTube. That is when I stumbled upon a recent post by Wong Fu Productions, “Saved by the Bell: The Movie.”

This short had me shockingly, yet genuinely pondering about the faults in our society.

The video features almost a complete Asian cast in a movie based on the most iconic cult favorite of the 1990’s, “Saved by the Bell.” Known to be one of the most beloved series apart of the lives of mainly Caucasian adolescents of the time, Wong Fu Productions certainly proposed a staggering statement by supposedly enlisting an almost all Asian cast to play the roles of these greatly admired characters.

The YouTube skit pokes fun at how North American movie companies have exploited many of the most cherished Asian sources of entertainment of our generation. For example, Dragon Ball Z, or as the American film studios franchised

it, Dragonball:Evolution. The protagonist of the story, Goku, was acted out by a Caucasian actor in the Hollywood rendition. This was much to public dismay of fans of the original Dragonball series; I think we all can remember how the so-called ‘movie’ version turned out. To provide another exemplar of how Asian fan favorites were exploited by Caucasian entertainers, let us remember Speed Racer. Originally a Japanese manga, the story was again manipulated to suit a Caucasian actor as the main character.

But there are not just the negatives to Hollywood’s recreations of original Asian plots. The mafia cop film, The Departed originated from China, but was remade by the much acclaimed director Martin Scorsese. The Departed, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon is now arguably one of the best cop films of our time.

Is there not a much greater issue behind whether these Caucasian renditions of Asian stories are successful or not?

Nowadays it simply feels as if all of these Hollywood film studios are purposefully casting Caucasians to replace formerly Asian roles. The casino thriller, 21 was originally based around Asian-Americans, but the film cast a mainly ‘white’ actors in the main roles. Cloud Atlas also was defiled for casting a Caucasian and allotting the use of makeup to fulfill the actor as an Asian character. With such controversy resulting from the public, why would these large transnationals refrain from casting an Asian entertainer to fill the part?

That is the main inquiry to be asked. Perhaps, directors are not finding the exact ‘je ne sais quoi’ from the Asian acting community for their acclaimed casting roles. Or maybe Hollywood truly desires to totally transform Asian series to suit the culture and audience of Caucasians. But it is no question that the Asians have arrived and whether it is just for their plots or fan favourites, are conquering the entertainment realm of Hollywood, one way or another.