Liese, BE that Asian casting commenting woman!

I still suck at being social.

My new filing cabinet was delivered today, and they left it on the porch. I got home, and I tried several times, but I couldn't lift it over the step into the house. I noticed my neighbor outside smoking, and after several times of stepping over toward him and then stepping back, I finally asked him if he'd help me. He said sure, no problem. He brought it in, and I thanked him. I realized that this would be the time when normal people introduce themselves, but somehow, I just couldn't get, "Hi, I'm Hillary, I just moved in here" to come out of my mouth, so I just said thanks a few more times and he went home.

Liese, BE that Asian casting commenting woman!

Oh fuck off. I'm more interested in her thoughts as a LotR fan.

She can't do both?

I recognize that my objections are probably along the lines of ita's wrong music objections in that no one else cares, but who am I, if not the person who comments on Asian casting?

Not just you Liese, though I was willing to let the cranes go - I'm a half-Irish Protestant Christian with a small Ganesh on her desk - people adopt others' traditions. But the idea last night that two Koreans (who could pass for Chinese in a pinch) were both related to a Samoan bugged me.

And thinking further about the topic in general, I was sort of glad that the 1st identifier for DDK in my head is Gavin (from AtS). Gavin could have been played by any ethnicity - DDK just got the job because they liked him, not because they needed an "Asian" look.

Yeah, I popped over.

I have no problem commenting. I'll be happy to let you (general you) know if I'm having activist fatigue and don't want to be Asian Representative. But you guys know me, and I'm talky meat.

Oh fuck off.

The hell?

But the idea last night that two Koreans (who could pass for Chinese in a pinch) were both related to a Samoan bugged me.

Huh. And see here was me (only having seen the first ep) a little impressed that when they cast two actors as related, they were both actually Korean.

Are there many Koreans in Hawaii? Are there a lot of people who are "inter-Asian" to completely make up a term? I know so little about it that it might have pinged me as odd but I wouldn't have known how egregious it was. Sounds like it was way on that side of the line.

We like talky meat around here!

Yes, there are a ton. And at this point, Hawaii is seriously multicultural. In the generation before mine, there was lots of Asian segregation, Japanese racism against Filipinos, etc. But at this point, there is lots and lots of intermingling.

HOWEVER! If they wanted to cast the actors as related, they should have changed the characters. Right now it's either Korean characters with bizarrely Chinese & Hawaiian names (and possibly backstory, I'm too young to remember much other than a warm benevolent feeling about the first show.) or Chinese & Hawaiian character being played by people of Korean ethnic heritage.

And probably more importantly, by actors who are not from Hawaii and are talking all wrong!

This just as easily could have been the Talky Meat Thread, really.

Screwing with traditions of stated nationalities is, of course, fucked. I think about casting people who are the "wrong" Asian ethnicity in roles, however, and I wonder when and how that can be done reasonably, you know? At what point are we saying "yeah, any Asian guy can look Chinese" and at what point is it, "Sure, he could look Chinese".

But mostly I want Chin Ho to take his shirt off and ride his Harley even though that is very very unsafe.