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zombiewhacker
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1475 Posts |
 Posted - 01/11/2007 : 12:52:46 PM
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James Earl Jones as Thulsa Doom in Conan the Barbarian.
He's the only black actor in the cast, yet he dons blue contact lenses and a flowing light auburn wig more befitting a Charlie's Angel. Was his character even intended to be black, or were the producers doing a rare thing in films by casting the film colorblind?
(An alternative theory is that Ben Davidson's character was meant to be black.)
Tony Shalhoub as Kwan/Chen in Galaxy Quest.
Okay, his character's name is Kwan, the character Kwan plays on the Galaxy Quest TV show is named Chen, and the actor playing both parts is... Tony Shalhoub?
I'm sure there's an interesting story behind this confusion. Please regale me.
Rebecca Rojjin as Mystique in X-Men.
Just kidding.
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Prankster
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Canada
727 Posts |
Posted - 01/11/2007 : 2:19:49 PM
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I'm assuming that the Kwan/Chen is a joke based on the fact that a lot of old TV shows cast non-Asians as Asians. Though the only one that pops to mind is David Carradine. But you'll note he wears lousy "Asian" makeup in the clips of the original Galaxy Quest TV show.
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Check out my online comics at [URL]http://www.phantasmictales.com[/URL]! |
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Ambrose Bierce
Diocesan Ecclesiarch of the Sacred Order of Jabootu
USA
53 Posts |
Posted - 01/11/2007 : 3:29:43 PM
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James Earl Jones's wig and contacts were a deliberate choice by the director, John Milius. He wanted Thulsa Doom to belong to no currently known ethnic group. I believe his backstory is that he's the last survivor of Atlantis.
Nature makes mistakes. It's proven every day. |
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zombiewhacker
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1475 Posts |
Posted - 01/11/2007 : 6:52:28 PM
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Yes, Shalhoub certainly looked like he was wearing bad Asian makeup in the old TV clips... excuse me, the (ahem) historical records.
There's no description of Kwan/Chen's ethnicity in the draft of the screenplay I've read. It's possible Shalhoub's character was rewritten so many times that by the time principal photography began on the movie even the filmmakers weren't sure what his character was supposed to be.
By the same token, note this dialogue exchange early on that was either cut from the movie or else changed in a later draft:
GWEN: "Nothing I did was ever taking seriously!"
TOMMY: "Excuse me. I'm an African American playing a nine year old
Malaysian named Laredo. HELLO!"
So Tommy "Pedal to the Medal" Webber's character was supposed to be Malaysian? Malaysian?!! How's that for confusing?
BTW, thanks to A.B. for the info on Thulsa Doom.
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Edited by - zombiewhacker on 01/11/2007 6:53:10 PM |
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Sardu
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
1126 Posts |
Posted - 01/11/2007 : 8:15:33 PM
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And then there's always Buckaroo Banzai... *g*
"Meeting you makes me want to be a real noodle cook"
--Tampopo |
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Terrahawk
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
644 Posts |
Posted - 01/14/2007 : 10:46:28 AM
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At one point in the film Shaloub states that his name isn't even Kwan. So, it appears that it was a name change to "sell" the part.
- While science has societal benefits, science is not a social virtue. - |
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zombiewhacker
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1475 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2007 : 12:07:21 PM
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| Again, though, even that was the intended running gag (Shalhoub impersonating an Asian, or whatever) it was certainly a joke that got buried in the film. Jabootubes, movie fanatics that we are, we pick up on these little things, but I'm sure if you asked the average moviegoer coming out of Galaxy Quest, "Were you offended that one of the characters was a white guy passing himself off as an Asian?" that audience member would likely respond: "Huh?" |
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jackspencerjr
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
262 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2007 : 4:00:35 PM
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| A better example would be Jenette Goldstein playing a Latina in Aliens or Cattherine Zeta-Jones doing likewise in Mask of Zorro. Was Selma Hayek busy or something? |
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brandywine
Diocesan Ecclesiarch of the Sacred Order of Jabootu
56 Posts |
Posted - 01/16/2007 : 8:29:58 PM
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quote:
but I'm sure if you asked the average moviegoer coming out of Galaxy Quest, "Were you offended that one of the characters was a white guy passing himself off as an Asian?" that audience member would likely respond: "Huh?"
Tony Shaloub is actually Lebanese-descended, though for a while I assumed he was Italian because of Wings. I'm REALLY bad at this game.
Though even *I* don't buy Naveen Andrews on Lost as an Iraqi.
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Edited by - brandywine on 01/16/2007 8:32:15 PM |
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zombiewhacker
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1475 Posts |
Posted - 01/17/2007 : 1:21:41 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by jackspencerjr
A better example would be Jenette Goldstein playing a Latina in Aliens or Cattherine Zeta-Jones doing likewise in Mask of Zorro. Was Selma Hayek busy or something?
No, not really, because a) there was never any question that both Vasquez and Elena were supposed to be Latinas, and b) both Goldstein and Zeta-Jones (Goldstein in particular) pulled their roles off with flair.
What we're really talking about is movie characters whose ethnicity is so confused we don't even know what they are.
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