liu ticked, rightly, over criticism
"Tell me again I should only play Chinese women, sucka!
Musashi has an interesting post over at Destroy All Monsters noting actress Lucy Liu's ire over people reportedly dissing her for playing a Japanese assassin in the upcoming Quentin Tarantino flick Kill Bill.
The pretty Charlie's Angels star fumes, "It's insane. Obviously I can't play a WASP girl or a Catholic or an Italian. And now I'm being criticised by some inside and outside the Asian community for putting on a kimono and playing a Japanese woman.
"Am I only supposed to play Chinese-American women? Absolutely not. So I just tell myself to keep moving forward and not be held back by those kinds of attitudes."
Irate Lucy adds, "I'm an actress, this is the way I look, so do you think I can handle the role or not? That's what matters."
Liu's irritation is well justified. Musashi follows up with a spot-on comment: "I am completely unable to understand why anyone would have a problem with Ms. Liu's role in Kill Bill. This is no different from a Caucasian actor of Irish descent playing, say, a German. Seems pretty obvious to me..."
And to me too. As I mention in the comment thread to that post, Chinese actors have been known to play Japanese roles in movies made in Hong Kong; a quick IMDb check of just one -- Bruce Lee's awesome Fist of Fury/The Chinese Connection -- includes both the redoubtable Lam Ching-Ying (Mr. Vampire) and a young (and uncredited) Jackie Chan as Japanese fighters, and at least one Chinese actor in a Japanese role, although the film's main Japanese baddies are indeed played by Japanese actors.
As Musashi noted, it's as ridiculous to suggest Ms. Liu shouldn't play a Japanese woman as to imagine that Marlon Brando -- whom I assume isn't Polish -- shouldn't have played Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire.
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