Finally an Asian hero. - The Maze Runner (2014) Discussion

[–] Elliot1976 10 years ago

In all these decades not many Asian actors have been heroes besides the martial arts stereotype.

That was my immediate thought. I've been criticizing for years that Asians are never lead characters unless it's a martial arts flick but Hollywood is black and white, meaning only blacks or whites exist in their movies. You hardly have an Asian in a supporting role unless he is some stereotype.
The teenager TV show Pretty Little Liars has actually quite a few leading Asians in their cast which is totally unique. Maybe things are changing now.

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[–] Danzence 10 years ago

Why would an American company make a film set in America etc where they falsely represent the actual proportions of the people from Asia etc? Of course they're going to be primarily Black / White, that's what most of America is made up of.

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[–] Elliot1976 10 years ago

There are almost 20 million Asians so it's not like there are hardly any. I had several Asians in my class. Also, I'm speaking about Asians as an ethnicity not as a nationality. An Asian American is just as American as a European or African American. They're all descendants of immigrants.

Why shouldn't Hollywood movies have much more Asians? There are 3-4 times more Asians than Jews in the US. According to your logic there should be way more Asians than Jews in movies and on TV but you have Jews in EVERY production while Asians are mostly non-existent. There are also way more Latinos than Blacks. Why are there more blacks in movies/TV shows if we go with your logic? Shouldn't there be much more Latinos than Blacks.

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[–] Danzence 10 years ago

There are almost 20 million Asians so it's not like there are hardly any. I had several Asians in my class. Also, I'm speaking about Asians as an ethnicity not as a nationality. An Asian American is just as American as a European or African American. They're all descendants of immigrants.

Why shouldn't Hollywood movies have much more Asians? There are 3-4 times more Asians than Jews in the US. According to your logic there should be way more Asians than Jews in movies and on TV but you have Jews in EVERY production while Asians are mostly non-existent. There are also way more Latinos than Blacks. Why are there more blacks in movies/TV shows if we go with your logic? Shouldn't there be much more Latinos than Blacks.

Jews are not comparable to Asians. Totally different classifications. One is a member of a religion the other is an ethnicity.

The proportions of different ethnicities in each country differs, the likelihood of there being lots and lots of survivors to put in the maze in a country where they were proportionally lower (non-white) is less likely than those with more (white).

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[–] hovaoc149 10 years ago

Not full asian. Half

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[–] felineastronauts 10 years ago

...and he was annoying Korean teenager without charisma. Only good kid with some balls was the fat one but they killed him off

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[–] lovedarcy 10 years ago

Actually, the set of characters reminds me a lot of The Goonies, I'd say it almost pays tribute to that movie:

Mikey = Thomas
Data = Minho
Chunk = Chuck
Andy = Theresa
Brand = Gally

To me, Data in the Goonies was one of the more memorable asian guys on the screen, along with his character of Short Round in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. Also, some asian actors have made a difference as Yun-Fat Chow (not very present lately), Ken Jeong or Lucy Liu.

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[–] junk_Email76 10 years ago

doesn't matter at the end the protagonist/hero will always be a caucasian male... that's hollywood

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[–] JasonAnder 10 years ago

Thomas would be dead without Minho saving his ass in the sequels.

THE SCORCH TRIALS 09-18-15

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[–] npanou 10 years ago

Do you get pissy when all Bollywood's protagonists are native Indians? How about how every south Korean movie in the past 10 years had south Korean protagonists (not to mention frequently racist depictions of westerners as buffoons or psychopaths)? I'm not american or Caucasian, but i don't understand why Hollywood is automatically expected to fulfil some sort of diversity quota. They can make whatever *beep* films they want that people will pay for, deal with it.

"World needs bad men. We keep the other bad men from the door"

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[–] do-arellano-mayra 9 years ago

I'm guessing you live somewhere in the bible belt? Go to LA, Chicago o NY or use the internet wisely to look up videos of korea and india. You'll see that in India and Korea the majority of people are for the most part very homogeneous in their ethnicities. That's not the case in america, or Europe specially in big cities.

Also in the future there will be even more racial mixing. It's good that there are movies like maze runner that present overweight people, asian and african american leaders and include actors like Giancarlo Esposito who is evidently Mixed. That's how future will look like.

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[–] npanou 9 years ago

The US is still mostly white, at about 75%. That's a super majority, and the audience they want to market their products to whether you like it or not. Quit being a hypocrite and just deal with it.

To your first question.
Not even close.
Not american. Not "white". Not religious. I'm just not a naive hypocrite with by head buried in the sand.

"World needs bad men. We keep the other bad men from the door"

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[–] do-arellano-mayra 9 years ago

75% LOL

Demographics of the United States
White (non-Hispanic): 63.7% [197 million]
Black (non-Hispanic): 12.2% [38 million]
Asian: 4.7% [14 million]
Native American: .7% [2 million]
Pacific Islander: .2% [500k]
Other: 6.2% [19 million]
Multiracial: 3% [9 million]
Hispanic/Latino: 16.4% [50 million]

Demographics of China
Han Chinese: 91.6% [1.2 billion]
Other Asian ethnicities: 8% [111 million]
Foreign/Unrecognized: .5% [641k]

Anyway the future will look less white honey and maze runner is a futuristic flick.

Go to Chicago New york and LA. Use your internet if you can't afford travelling. Open your eyes.

There are not worse blinded people that the ones who refuse to see. Asian cinema doesn't need to present diversity but Hollywood cinema does if they want to stay in the market and be believable.

Anyway american cinema has become more diverse and will become even more if they want to survive. They have to reflect the reality of the country.

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[–] !!!deleted!!! (6960062) 10 years ago

You're obviously not a Star Trek fan!

http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/images/7/7c/Sulu2266.j pg/revision/latest?cb=20110417163244&path-prefix=en
http://trekcore.com/gallery/albums/hikaru_sulu09/sulu_pb02.jpg
http://trekcore.com/gallery/albums/harrykim/caretaker_0248.jpg
http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120409224834/memoryalpha/en/image s/thumb/7/77/Hoshi_Sato,_2154.jpg/500px-Hoshi_Sato,_2154.jpg

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[–] wjwoe 10 years ago

You have a point here, but they were still not totally hero like, more a part of the team and therefore they had no leading parts in the movies. The Maze Runner is different in that sense. Star Trek has always been ahead of the time though.

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[–] !!!deleted!!! (6960062) 10 years ago

You have a point here, but they were still not totally hero like, more a part of the team and therefore they had no leading parts in the movies. The Maze Runner is different in that sense. Star Trek has always been ahead of the time though.

How is the Maze Runner different? It's still the white kid who is the hero. 

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[–] keyvenx 10 years ago

It's sad that America gets so much flak for having less non-white characters while the rest of the world continue populating all their movies with primarily their own race.

How many Indian movies with Caucasian leads or secondary roles?
How many China/HK/Taiwanese movies with Caucasian or secondary roles?
How many Indonesian movies with Caucasian or secondary roles?
etc etc

Give anyone an inch and they demand a foot. America should stick with all-whites and tell the whiners to shut up.

Want a diverse crew of actors? Fund your own damn movie.

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[–] Phoenix_07 10 years ago

It's sad that America gets so much flak for having less non-white characters while the rest of the world continue populating all their movies with primarily their own race.

How many Indian movies with Caucasian leads or secondary roles?
How many China/HK/Taiwanese movies with Caucasian or secondary roles?
How many Indonesian movies with Caucasian or secondary roles?
etc etc

Uh...that's because America is a melting pot of different races and cultures, which is why people want diversity in movies. Whites are no longer the majority.

All those countries you listed are obviously not going to have a Caucasian lead, because for one thing, there is no need to. The population in China consists of predominantly Chinese people, and their culture/rules is strictly Chinese.

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[–] keyvenx 10 years ago

According to a quick google, roughly 84% are whites and blacks. So 16% are "others" of a relatively large number of races. I guess in LA the diversity would be more pronounced, so you do have a point.

However, I feel the amount of flak Hollywood gets is undeserved.

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[–] !!!deleted!!! (6960062) 10 years ago

According to a quick google, roughly 84% are whites and blacks.

And if you continue to do the math, I think you'll find that this equals TWO different races, not one majority! 

So 16% are "others" of a relatively large number of races.

Even if your math added up (which it doesn't), that would still be considered a large minority (large enough to warrant some recognition in Hollywood films). Or put negatively, one should expect some type of backlash by not having people in the 16% of your countries demographics represented.

I guess in LA the diversity would be more pronounced, so you do have a point.

However, I feel the amount of flak Hollywood gets is undeserved.

Your "feeling" doesn't seem to be justified by logic (or by the actual numbers). Comparing the demographics of the Unite States to a country like China makes no sense whatsoever! And such a comparison could only ever be made by A) an ignorant American, and B) a privileged member of the majority that has nothing to complain about other than minorities getting some type of recognition. You fail by every possible measure!

Demographics of the United States
White (non-Hispanic): 63.7% [197 million]
Black (non-Hispanic): 12.2% [38 million]
Asian: 4.7% [14 million]
Native American: .7% [2 million]
Pacific Islander: .2% [500k]
Other: 6.2% [19 million]
Multiracial: 3% [9 million]
Hispanic/Latino: 16.4% [50 million]

Demographics of China
Han Chinese: 91.6% [1.2 billion]
Other Asian ethnicities: 8% [111 million]
Foreign/Unrecognized: .5% [641k]

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[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] northbay28 10 years ago

Even though it seems like there's a lot of Asians in America, the reality is that they're only 6% of the population. Hispanics (Mexican) are the largest non-White minority group in the U.S, --17%, and Blacks (who get the most attention) comprise only 14%. Notice how there were no Hispanics in this movie? They're actually the race who usually gets shafted the most by Hollywood, which is ironic considering L.A. is mostly Hispanic.

East Indians are actually the fastest growing minority group in the U.S. and will soon overtake the "Orientals". Cold hard facts.

But back to the original point..

Yes, it's the Jews, who BTW are only 4% of the U.S population. However it all comes down to money. The Jewish moguls who run Hollywood are in it for the business, not to satisfy the 6% of Asians in American who want to see themselves as heroes on film.

So when they make films, they're going to cast whoever they think will sell the most tickets.

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[–] JasonAnder 10 years ago

The actor who plays Winston is Hispanic. The next film will feature 2 Hispanic leads who stay with the group until the end.

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[–] !!!deleted!!! (6960062) 10 years ago

Notice how there were no Hispanics in this movie? They're actually the race who usually gets shafted the most by Hollywood, which is ironic considering L.A. is mostly Hispanic.

Maybe that's because Hispanic isn't actually a "race". 

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[–] iheartentertainment 10 years ago

@wjwoe: I agree. that was a really good choice. I was thinking the same thing. We need to see more of other cultures on screen.

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[–] Livana_Faolan 10 years ago

Yeah. Minho is hardly the first Asian hero in a movie.

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[–] Mattfinbell 9 years ago

Livana_Faolan
Yeah. Minho is hardly the first Asian hero in a movie.

but he is the first that is not playing someone in Chinatown and such

all chinese Japanese and Koreans only play characters in either

Mortal combat or chinatown

brooklynzoo15
Im just amazed the guy who played him is 29 years old lol

why they have eternal youth

Look like Tarzan talk like Jane! HAHA

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