[ SECRET POST #5706 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #5706 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 04 pages, 87 secrets from Secret Submission Post #817 .
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

06. https://i.imgur.com/0F7llXr.png

[tabaqui]

You're probably very right, and it's so baffling. Who cares if an actor has an accent? So long as the accent isn't so strong that it's hard to understand them, it's just...irrelevant!

Meh.

[(Anonymous)]

I think that one of the issues with mainstream American audiences is that they're not very used to unfamiliar accents and it doesn't need to be particularly strong before a significant number of people can't understand it. And Hollywood is very averse to things that might affect the broad appeal they're aiming for, unfortunately.

[tabaqui]

I"m so fucking sick of mainstream America.

+1

[(Anonymous)]

IAWTC

[(Anonymous)]

Ironic coming from the poster child for it.

[tabaqui]

Uh huh. Whatever you say, Anon.

[(Anonymous)]

Case in point really. Total lack of self awareness. Ugh.

[(Anonymous)]

Didn't we all miss the troll anon! (nope)

[tabaqui]

Right? Yeesh.

[(Anonymous)]

Why does everyone always assume there's just one anon who's a troll, when 50% of people on the internet are trolling? (I usually figure it's 20% for F!S, but at least 50% on social media.)

[(Anonymous)]

Don't be a wankgoblin.

[(Anonymous)]

I could see concern about playing into some insulting Asian stereotypes being an issue as well, depending on the nature of the accent.

[tabaqui]

Maybe, depending on the role, I think. If the character isn't a caricature or a stereotype, just having an accent wouldn't be insulting, and the story itself was written by a person born in Singapore....

[(Anonymous)]

... how? I mean, actors from mainland China would naturally have that accent, and they'd be playing characters who are from mainland China.

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah no.

[(Anonymous)]

Care to elaborate?

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah no

[meadowphoenix]

hmm, I think I would have agreed with you before EEAAO, but only two main characters had american accented english there, and people loved it.

[(Anonymous)]

That's not really a good comparison, though. First, EEAAO was a small budget movie that was never intended to be a big blockbuster. The market is niche. It's meant to be niche, and it succeeded beyond that goal. I loved it, BTW! But Crazy Rich Asians is meant to be a rom com, which means they're hoping it'll be small budget and big box office, relatively speaking. That means that a wider audience is the goal.

Second, Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan speak with accents, that's true. But Yeoh has a proven track record in the U.S. (which is important to Hollywood) and neither of them has a strong accent the way many actors who live and work primarily in China do.

Last but not least, those films are two different genres and I don't think it's accurate to say that what applies to one will automatically apply to the other in terms of audience.

[meadowphoenix]

the parts OP is talking are all secondary. they're not main parts (although they are relevant, so not background). all the main parts have been cast, because they were in the first movie. They simply wouldn't take up most of the movie. That's why I used EEAAO because most of the movie is accented english, compared to crazy rich asians, which I agree wants broad appeal, but also is going to have significantly less accented english (I should also say Michelle already has accented English in CRA itself).

second, the fact that EEAAO got bigger than it should, especially rated R, says something about what audiences are willing to tolerate. I also forgot about both parasite and squid game and the fact that not just netflix is augmenting it's Asian fare (and I sincerely doubt any hollywood studio thinks there's a difference between whether audiences tolerate korean stuff and chinese stuff).

Lastly, CRA is meant to have a fantasy type of authenticity, and the audience it's meant to attract is actually not as broad as you'd think. That's why they have some mainland chinese and a good deal of singaporean actors in those significant-ish roles in it in the first place (thought I can't remember how Lisa Lu spoke).

mind you, I think the preference is for western-acclimated actors regardless of accent, because part of the conceit is that these people are so rich they've been educated in the west or in the western style, but I do think that us audiences that saw the first and still want to see the second would be fine with it, and I don't think it's as big of a concern as the OP thinks.

[(Anonymous)]

...yeah. I really hate this rhetoric for Chinese artists in particular. It's just such a simplification of the issues here. It's really easy to point the finger at American audiences and chortle about how small minded they are, even after it keeps being proven wrong over and over again, but there are a lot of barriers of entry for Chinese actors into the Western market beyond English fluency. With all the crackdowns on Western (especially American) media, it is becoming a bigger political liability for Chinese artists to get involved. And frankly, mainland China pays bank for its stars in a way that they won't be offered from American producers.

Your example of Wang Yibo; He will not be offered a salary anywhere near what he would make for a Chinese film. He would also have to travel to set and given China's Covid travel policies that will not be as simple as hopping over to set (including not being able to travel as easily to Chinese appearances so he'd essentially take another paycut).
If a member of production says something or they go somewhere that the CCP finds offensive (which is easy to do and the list seems to grow everyday), he can catch flak for that. And the CCP doesn't mess around. There is a very real danger to the artist if they take exception to anything in the film or with any of the crew or locations.
And, let's be real, he would need a lot of work on his English. His English on Street Dance China is very cute but shows how limited it is. His accent isn't actually too bad but he would still need to put a lot of work in and why do all that preparation when he can go onto a Chinese film tomorrow and be set. Top that off with production having to get translators, it would be much more difficult than just getting an already fluent (native or not) speaker.

There's also loads of Asian-Americans/Aussies/Brits, etc, who would be great at the parts and just need the chance. It always surprises me how many Asian-Americans(etc) go back to their parents' home countries to make it in media because there are so many more opportunities there than in the US.

I only see a mainland Chinese actor joining in Western made media if they are looking into moving out of China. Otherwise, it just doesn't make much sense for them.

[(Anonymous)]

Every actor has an accent.

... except for possibly Russell Harvard. Has anyone heard him speak in a role?

[(Anonymous)]

Please. Saying "Holywood will likely refuse to cast" mainland Chinese actors is blatantly going against REALITY, where Hollywood actually loves to cast mainland actors in their movies to boost appeal in China. This is especially true if the movie is a US/China co-production like The Meg where the wholeass female lead is Li Bingbing who spoke perfect English without an American or British accent. If they want to (and they often do), they will get someone. If they can't get someone, they will cast the actor they want anyway in a role that requires little to no English dialogue. I've lost count how many times throughout the 10's where I'd be watching a random Hollywood blockbuster and suddenly see a famous face from Chinese language film/television popping up for some tenuous plot reason. MCU? X-Men? Transformers? Independence Day? It's a lot. All the major studios do it.

Honestly I was reading your secret thinking, "This doesn't make any sense. Where are they going with this? I hope they don't bring up Wang Yibo or someone like that..." and lo and behold. This tells me that you're riding into Chinese language media on the recent C-drama wave and are fixated on the handful of actors prevalent in that world. You've made up this entire casting narrative about "accented" Chinese actors without considering whether it's even true to the reality of the industry, or if it would make sense for someone to make the career jump from Chinese TV to Hollywood. The comment just above mine goes more into detail on that.

Finally, and this is just a minor point but it irked me anyway: the Chinese characters in the novel are high-society elites. Just like the family from the first film (and just members of Chinese high society IRL), they have extensive Western education and can speak English much better than most actors in C-drama. So no, those peeps are not getting cast for those roles either way.

[(Anonymous)]

TBH I think situations like this are more complicated than people may think. A lot of companies need to do an exchange of sorts. Factor in CCP's strong hands on mainland China's entertainment industry, who knows what sorts of stipulations and negotiations go into what they're allowed to exchange? Also, to be fair China, like most countries, are protective of traditionalist ways vs modernity and letting the two coexist.

Like, yeah, there are race related things there, xenophobia, and general American assholery but there are really deep nuances most of us probably aren't well versed enough to understand why some foreign talent might not want to just jump right into Hollywood/be given a "fair" chance. It really seems like it's about the Hollywood system, maybe nationalistic intervention, but also possibly private personal struggles related to tradition vs modernity and being true to one's artistic interests and growing a platform, etc etc etc. Chinese talent might not see "personal artistic intent" in the same ways an Asian American talent does too.