Is Ken Jeong's character Mr. Chow in The Hangover a racist stereotype?

Submitted by Edwin on Thu, 07/02/2009 - 19:07

Examiner.com - Doctor turned comedian turned actor, Ken Jeong, who first hit the big screen playing a short-tempered doctor in “Knocked Up,” can be seen portraying an angry Asian crime boss in the new comedy “The Hangover."

Those who have seen the movie will probably agree that Jeong's character Mr. Chow is quite possibly the most blatantly over-the-top racial stereotype of an Asian man since Mickey Rooney put on "Yellow Face" makeup to play a "crazy Jap in the upstairs apartment" for the movie "Breakfast at Tiffany's."

Granted "The Hangover" is a raunchy comedy that pokes fun at everybody, not just Asians, but nevertheless the fact that the movie has raked in a boat load of money at the box office, makes me wonder what are moviegoers thinking?
Has society become so anti-"Political Correctness" that now it's okay to make movies like this?

Are moviegoers that hard up for laughs that this is the only thing they can go to see?

And just what in the hell is Hollywood trying to say by making these kinds of movies?

I recently got an email from a friend who saw "The Hangover" and he was extremely upset at the way Jeong's Mr. Chow character is portrayed.

After reading my friend's email, I had to ask myself, has Hollywood gone backwards? Have movies de-evolved in the last 50 years?

For years, Asians struggled to create meaningful roles for themselves in Hollywood films and television. Asian actors like Keye Luke, who played the "Number One Son" in the Charlie Chan movies of the 1930-40s and later stars like Bruce Lee, Jet Li and Chow Yun Fat worked hard to break through the negative stereotypes to create heroic Asian male lead characters.

Asian American male actors made great strides in the 1990s and 2000s when actors like Daniel Dae Kim, Russell Wong, Jason Scott Lee and Chris Tashima came along to play leading roles in film and television.

Lee burst on the scene with his performance in "Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story", while Wong had a series lead role on "Vanishing Son" and Kim a co-starring role on "Lost". Tashima even won an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film for "Visas and Virtues" in which he portrays Holocaust rescuer Chiune "Sempo" Sugihara

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Shut up, haven't you ever

Submitted by Danny (not verified) on Wed, 07/15/2009 - 12:43.

Shut up, haven't you ever seen blazing saddles? I dunno if stereotyping is so bad, its quite funny... How many comedy acts have you seen in the past 15 years that are EXTREMELY racist and stereotyped, if it offends you, DONT WATCH IT.

His role is borderline racist

Submitted by wizzle (not verified) on Fri, 08/07/2009 - 20:59.

His role is borderline racist and 100 percent unfunny. This movie is just filled with dumb jokes. Danny your a douchebag. How would you know that it is offensive unless you watch it and become offended?

I have mixed feelings about

Submitted by Eurasian Sensation (not verified) on Thu, 08/27/2009 - 05:16.

I have mixed feelings about this. Personally, I didn't have a problem with the Mr Chow character for the most part. Sure, he's a stereotype, but stereotypes are funny and its not necessarily racist to laugh at them. However, given the wider context of Hollywood's reluctance to cast Asians in more positive roles, it's a problem. Mr Chow characters are fine as long as in the broader scheme of things, they are balanced out by other kinds of Asian characters. Unfortunately they are not.

Re: Is Ken Jeong's character Mr. Chow in The Hangover a ...

Submitted by dido (not verified) on Mon, 12/28/2009 - 06:21.

Very good post, thanks a lot.

Re: Is Ken Jeong's character Mr. Chow in The Hangover a ...

Submitted by kwiz (not verified) on Sun, 08/29/2010 - 20:49.

"Has society become so anti-"Political Correctness" that now it's okay to make movies like this?" Yes. This is what happens when society becomes pussified from over-politically-correct'ifying everything; you have the sensible portion of the population who wish to derail that sort of nonsense by utilizing stereotypes in a comedic and humorous manner. Would this movie be equally as hilarious with the omission of Mr. Chow? No, no it would not. Deal with it! There's a reason your blog only has eight followers.