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Ken Jeong and Charles Napier in "The Goods"
Several Asian American media advocacy groups, including The Japanese American Citizens League, Imada Wong Communications Group, and Media Action Network for Asian Americans are planning to protest at Paramount Pictures in Los Angeles on Friday August 21.
According to protest organizers, they are "infuriated by 'The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard,' a new Paramount movie which features Asian actor Ken Jeong (aka Dr. Ken) getting attacked by co-workers for looking Japanese. (See previous article: "The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard draws criticism from Asian Americans")
In "The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard", moviegoers see Dr. Ken as Teddy Dang getting stomped on by a group of angry co-workers after Jeremy Piven's character incites violence by giving a supposed pep talk to his sales team.
The sequence seems to have been an attempt at making fun of "hate crimes" but has drawn criticism from Asian Americans outraged by the Piven character's use of a "racial slur."
To read MANAA's statement about the film click here.
The advocacy group Racebending also points out that Paramount Pictures is responsible for the production and casting of 'The Last Airbender," which generated controversy over the choice to cast two white actors in roles that were clearly of Asian or Native Inuit descent. (See story: "Should Asian actors have been cast as the leads in The Last Airbender"?)
The scene in "The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard" also prompted Asian writer Soji Kashiwagi to pen the following letter to the head of Viacom:
August 19, 2009Mr. Sumner M. Redstone
Executive Chairman of the Board & Founder
Viacom, Inc.
1515 Broadway
New York, NY 10036Dear Mr. Redstone:
As an American of Japanese ancestry, I am writing to express my extreme outrage over a scene in Paramount Vantage’s comedy “The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard” depicting the use of a racially offensive slur followed by a physical attack against an Asian American character in the film.
The scene in question, broadcast across the country in the film’s trailer and now playing nationwide, shows the character, played by Jeremy Piven, giving his used-car sales team a pep talk. The Piven character then says, “Don’t get me started on Pearl Harbor—the Japs flying in low and fast. We are Americans and they are the enemy! Never again!”
A man looks at the Asian American character and says, “Let’s get him!” which results in a mob of men beating the Asian man. Piven’s character then says, “All right, stop! We have all just participated in a hate crime. Let’s get our stories straight. Dang came at us with a samurai sword, fire extinguisher and Chinese throwing stars.”
This is supposed to be funny? Ask the family of Vincent Chin, who was brutally beaten to death by two out-of-work auto workers who mistook him for being Japanese during the height of “Japan bashing” during the early 1980s. Ask them if this is funny. Ask the thousands of Americans of Japanese ancestry who were called “Japs” all their lives growing up, and were later unjustly racially-profiled and incarcerated after the bombing of Pearl Harbor into American concentration camps for up to four years during WWII. Ask them if this is funny.
Using the word “Jap” is equivalent to the use of the “N-Word” when referring to African Americans. The use of the word alone is offensive enough. To combine it with the beating of an Asian character is absolutely outrageous and unacceptable in today’s media. Imagine if this scene were to take place against an African American. The African American community would not stand for it. And neither should we.
Earlier this week, the National Office of the Japanese American Citizens League voiced its strong objection to this scene, and called on Paramount Pictures to apologize to the Japanese American and Asian American communities nationwide.
Paramount has responded by saying “The Goods satirizes and exaggerates the extremes of the sales and celebrity culture" and "is in no way meant to be mean-spirited, disparaging or hurtful to any individuals and we regret any offense taken. We understand that when presented out of context, jokes and situations in the movie about a variety of topics might be offensive to some people."
This does not sound like an apology to me. In fact, it fits conveniently into the category of “You people need to get over yourselves—can’t you take a joke?”
As Chairman and Founder of an international media conglomerate which includes Paramount Vantage, you are well aware of the power of both the written and spoken word, and how words can uplift, move and literally change the world, and the people in it. You also know that words, when used in a negative, mocking way, have the same power to insult, denigrate, and can cause unthinkable damage to our psyche, our spirits, and the world we live in.
I grew up in San Francisco, California and when I was in junior high school I heard words and phrases such as “Ching Chong Chinaman,” “Jap” and the like from fellow classmates who took great joy in taunting me. And I can tell you, as I stood by and took this verbal abuse, I also remember other kids standing by and laughing at me, pointing at me, and saying things like “Why are your eyes so tight? Why don’t you open your eyes?” Unless you stand in my shoes, and feel the humiliation of being singled out and ridiculed solely because of my race, you cannot understand what I—and people of Asian ancestry have gone through in this country since we first came here over 150 years ago. I can tell you this: It hurt me deeply, and it’s a pain that I carry with me to this day.
These are the power of words, and how when they are abused—especially in film and television—can perpetuate hate, which can lead to more hateful words and mocking of Japanese and other Asian Americans, which can lead to hateful acts of violence and going one step further, murder.
As you can see, this is no laughing matter. May I remind you of Viacom’s Global Business Practices, which on pages 23-24, states to your employees: “Therefore, you may not: Make inappropriate statements concerning a person’s race, religion, color, sexual orientation, nationality, ethnic origin, disability, age, gender, sex, gender expression, etc.”
I’m assuming these practices extend to the products your company produces, and I’m assuming these words mean more to you than mere words on a piece of paper. Therefore, I am asking you to do all in your power to edit or remove this scene from the film, and see to it that scenes such as these—that denigrate any racial group—do not happen again in the future.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Soji Kashiwagi
Comments
This kind of racist crap is utterly ridiculous. I've been arguing with the many ignorant individuals who litter the Internet, trying to find any ounce of common sense in their brains to try to get them to understand how wrong the scene is.
And I receive the typically ignorant responses -- I'm being too sensitive, it is funny and I need to get over it, stop whining, etc. etc. I don't know at what point that whites, Hollywood and others deemed it perfectly OK to mock, dehumanize and humiliate Asians in movies, and also use racist, hateful terms to describe them.
They already steer clear of using racist terms against other minority groups, so why is it OK to use them against people of Asian descent?
Blacks, Latinos and other minorities in America have found more roles, and more well-rounded human roles, but Asians are still relegated to stereotypes.
I was born and raised in China and moved to the United States a few years ago. I saw this movie and i found it hilarious. My step brother is Hispanic and he has gotten more crap over the years then I have and still finds the fact that people make jokes about race entertaining. Take offense if you like but I just say why spend so much effort trying to sensor what people say when you'll never win. If there is one thing I have learned being here it's that freedom of speech always wins out.
people need to lighten up, its just a movie. i don't see the big deal. what's next? people are going to complain because in GI Joe stormshadow (CLEARLY AN ASIAN CHARACTER) dies? and i barely managed to get over that pathetic letter. boring and ineffectual. i hope everyone goes to see this movie- it looks hilarious ktxbai
I definitely understand where you're coming from, the problem is that many asian americans have been teased growing up, and films like this making fun of Japanese is not the same as making fun of G.I. Joe's stormshadow. How was stormshadow made fun of when he dies because of his ethnicity?
There are many comedies in which racism bluntly occurs. Although personally I do not condone these "jokes" nor do I find them funny, I think censoring them out of all future R-rated comedies like this one is not the answer. Screen-writers usually place Racism into movies not to be Racist, but to make some kind of other statement. Drawing the line between satirical, historically accurate, and straight out Racism will be too hard a task for anyone to take on. I think that instead, Hollywood should balance out the offensive scenes and characters such as the one in this movie with normal, heroic, loving Asian characters in other movies. I think it is because Asians are rarely put in a good light in film that it is so offensive and controversial to some when they are put in a bad light. This may be why while people are protesting against the, "The Goods" they are also protesting against the white-washing of the could-have-been heroic Asian characters of "The Last Airbender."
To those here justifying the anti-Japanese sentiments in The Goods movie, if it's OK to mock and dehumanize Asians, then I want to see the same treatment of all racial groups. I want to see trailers with racially derogatory terms against all racial/ethnic groups then -- Jews, Blacks, Whites, Latinos, etc. I can guarantee you, if it weren't Japanese people being the subject of this unfunny hate crime scene, and it were Jews or Blacks instead, for example, you wouldn’t have seen the K or N words used in the trailers. I can guarantee you, no such anti-Jewish scene ever would have made it past the script approval stage. No such anti-Black scene would have made it either. Now, with blacks, there may have been a more tame version of it, but not a straight imitation at the level of racism seen in The Goods.
White people can't dance. Red Strip commercial you don't see me writing a letter. Crybaby
I'm glad to see that the protest is getting at least some news coverage. Usually, when the racial issue is Asians, the local networks don't give it any time. But if the same racial issues were to be against blacks, for example, it would get nationwide coverage.
Are you some whitewashed Asian woman married to a white guy who is blind to the prejudice in that film?
Protest something that matters. How many white people get beaten in films in the name of comedy? A LOT!! You don't see white people getting together and protesting. We would be protesting at nearly every comedy release!
As for casting.... this is a movie. Not a documentary. Who ever they choose for the part ultimetly does not matter. Just like your wife does not look like a porn star when you are in the bedroom, there is a difference between actuality and film making.
I can't believe that people would waste their time to protest this. Obviously the actor playing the Asian character knew it was a comedy film and did not have a problem with the scene.
I understand where you're coming from, I think it's going a little overboard with complaints in a movie that's just a part of the story and not the whole film. The problem is that asian actors are rarely seen in hollywood films other than stereotypical characters. White people have not been reduced to just stereotypical caricatures nor are there hollywood films where an asian actor is dressed up as a white character in a leading role (you see plenty the other way). Just because the actor is playing a comedic role doesn't necessarily mean he is a fan of these crude humors, he has to make a living somehow, and if it means demeaning himself to pay his bills, or pay for his wife's cancer, yeah he is going to have to do it (even though he's a comedian).
@JenniferC, logic, hannah, kigan, anonymous (raised in China with the Hispanic step brother): It's so exhausting to read people posting the same sh1t line after line. Stop mistaking your ignorance for wisdom.
@mykalroze: It's heartbreaking to see sensible people entering the discussion hopeful to access the "individuals-who-litter-the-internet's ounce of sense" and retreating defeated. I would like to tell you to (in the words of JenniferC) save it for people that matter, but I'm glad to see someone trying to clean up the garbage.
How is it that no one seems to take Dr. Ken Jeong into consideration with this argument of "racism?" He has appeared in no less than three films summer alone, becoming one of the most visible character actors of the year. He agreed to portray the character in "The Goods," signing on with nary a gun to his head and very aware of the politically incorrect nature of the film. His performance in "The Hangover" was incomparably offensive to me, but the audience ate it up and it became one of the signature elements of its success.
The entire point of "The Goods" was to offend as many sensibilities as possible. The gay innuendo was just a juvenile and insensitive as the entire "hate crime" scene; the misogyny of having several female characters as strippers and pole dancers; the racist old fart; the black man incapable of "making love" and more. The fault doesn't lie with the film or the studio. Why can't the artists themselves held responsible? Or to be frank, pick a better target?
@ mykalroze
I agree with you.
Another whitey blind to white privilege.
@jenniferc
last I checked, there isn't a history of asian-americans lynching, beating, oppressing white people. There IS however a history of whites doing that to other races. We protest hate crimes in film because hate crimes are real to us. Hate crimes ACTUALLY HAPPEN EVERY SINGLE DAY.
White americans know they can watch a crappy movie with a ridiculous white character and meet no real live repercussion. Unfortunately, asian-americans don't get the same privilege. Every time something racist is portrayed in the media, u can bet your a--that the behavior is going to get repeated by non-asians against asians.
Thanks a lot for your false argument. You're lucky to be a part of the majority. If you were a citizen of a country in which you are a minority, then you would care a lot how whites are portrayed in movies.
There are a lot of people who claim they don't care and then take the time to read the article and write a comment.
What the hell is your point? You may think it's pointless for people to protest but guess what? I think it's pointless for you to post your comment.
Last I checked, this is still a free society, which means none of you get to dictate what is or isn't protest-worthy.
Personally, I always disregard such commenters because I've always believed they're trolls. They seek out blogs and post comments that are inflammatory. These sad pathetic humans would have no meaning to their life if not for the internet protecting their anonymity.
Does no one else find it really mind-boggling how there are comments from people who obviously know NOTHING about the subject? It's almost like these people spend their day looking for venues to post unpopular and frankly ridiculous comments. I don't purposefully seek out articles about topics I care nothing about just to say things that are stupid. Why do YOU?
@born in china
Whether or not you're born in China is an unknown factor. But I'm pretty sure you're not chinese, or even asian, because no self-respecting asian would have your point of view. Don't you just love how the internet allows people to become any race of their choice?
I saw the movie, for what it was, it was pretty much expected (for a will ferrel production). Was the scene offensive and racist? yeah, but no more offensive then the other subjects they touched up on like homophobia, sexism, pedophilia etc etc. So I don't see what the big deal was.. What I don't understand is why open the old wounds? Asians have contributed a great deal to the American landscape, so why are they still being hounded for past wars that are still deep in the American psyche? Japan, Korea, Vietnam, North Korea, China... Asians are the enemy. Despite 9/11 being the new Pearl Harbour .. wouldn't the new enemy to "pick on", be the middle eastern? hrm.. let's see .. you can't pick on Blacks because no one wants a Riot, can't talk about Jews because they're fronting up the money, and can't harrass the Middle Easterns because we're currently at war with them, and we don't want to agitate them any further else another 9/11 experience .... guess that leaves the Asian. it's a bum break.
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