Acceptable in today's world?

[Agamemnon]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3035078.stm

The above is a report on Fox movie channel pulling the whole series of 'Charlie Chan' films. This is because, as stated;
"The actors were white Americans and the films have been increasingly considered demeaning to ethnic minorities."

Is this now going that little bit too far? Or is it acceptable in todays world of equal ethnic rights?
How about old westerns where 'whitey' played the native Indian?
Should we ban 'Fou Manchou' played by Christopher Lee?

Your thoughts please.

[Mikko]

This is not a case of banning anything. It's just a matter of a (commercial) TV channel deciding that they don't want to show the movies after all. I don't really see anything wrong with that.

[VacuousZounds]

It's not Chan's fault that the American actors could play the chinese roles better than the Chinese actors. For some reason, i think the Chinese have no question about using Chinese actors in Chinese movies(yes, even the American roles...).

[Dragon Phoenix]

I beg your pardon?

[Beartalon]

Personally, I opt for the in-your-face approach. Perhaps, instead of denying the movies to intelligent people who can distinguish when a movie was made and realize that ideas were different then, there should jsut be a message saying:

"These movies, made in the past, may not reflect the current sensitivity and tolerance of today's society to politically correctness. Please watch at your own ethical risk."

[Digglu]

Originally posted by http://www.sun-times.com/output/quicktakes/cst-nws-qt06.html:

---

"Asian-Americans feel that Charlie Chan is a demeaning portrayal that is culturally inaccurate and 'entertaining' at our expense."

To repeat:

Whenever you see someone who is brilliant, tough, hard-working, a good father and, while thinking circles around everyone else present, is able to create aphorisms that Ben Franklin might have enjoyed, you must keep in mind that none of these traits, repeat, none of them, is in any way representative of any Asian American you might meet.

It is good to have that finally straight.

---

[Logain]

Jeez, why does everything have to be so ethnically sensitive nowadays? The shows were made in a different generation to begin with. Pretty soon I'm going to watch PCU (college comedy movie for those who never saw it), and I won't laugh because all the jokes about political correctness will be underexaggerated someday.

If SNL still knew what they were doing, they'd make a sketch about this news item where it's the year 2135 and we now have relations with a newly realized species on Mars. FOX broadcasting pulls all sci-fi shows because the Martians portrayed do not reflect their true nature.