'Flower Drum Song' blossoms anew

We saw Flower Drum Song last weekend and highly recommend it. Great singing and overall very very well done. An enjoyable evening of local theater that definitely exceeded my expectations. The entire cast was outstanding.

The classic film is streaming right now. It is still worth seeing despite the truly cringeworthy stereotyping, and hilarious casting of any-Asians-will-do with obviously not Chinese accents (like Japanese). Then there’s the Yellowface issue. But worth seeing if only for the views of the SF waterfront skyline in the 50’s.

It’s probably worth contrasting the two. It sounds like a clever update.

Flower Drum Song was quite good. The actors are fabulous.

> It is still worth seeing despite the truly cringeworthy stereotyping, and hilarious casting of any-Asians-will-do with obviously not Chinese accents (like Japanese). Then there’s the Yellowface issue.

Alec Guinness in 'A Majority of One' & Mickey Rooney in 'Breakfast At Tiffany's' were classic Hollywood misrepresentations of Asians/Japanese. Marlon Brando was OK playing an Okinawan in 'Teahouse of the August Moon'.

In the Flower Drum Song movie, Jack Soo had to change his professional acting name from Goro Suzuki because the producers thought that Chinese moviegoers would be offended by a Japanese actor playing a Chinese so recently after the end of World War Two. He later became well-known for his role in TV's 'Barney Miller'.

Anna May Wong coveted the role given to Louise Rainer in 'The Good Earth' and Paul Muni played her Chinese husband. Louise Rainer went on to receive the Academy Award for her portrayal.

And of course the famous detective Charlie Chan was played by Sidney Toler, Roland Winters and Warner Oland.

In the other hand, you don't see too many white actors playing African-Americans. They did for awhile in vaudeville and of course Al Jolson's movie rendition is well-known among classic movie buffs.

Geeze. Go back in time & countless Caucasians played Native American Indians in Hollywood westerns as well.

I suspect that much of this can be attributed to a lack of qualified actors and Hollywood racism of the time. On the other hand, with the proper make-up, a white actor can play just about anyone.

This cannot be said for certain ethnicities as a casting director probably would not suggest having James Earl Jones playing George Washington or the late Bruce Lee assuming the role of Michael Corleone in 'The Godfather'.

Actors like the late Charles Bronson & Anthony Quinn could seemingly play any ethnicity.

>> On the other hand, with the proper make-up, a white actor can play just about anyone.

Asians cannot play African-Americans (and vice-versa) no matter how good an actor they are. Viewing audiences would simply not buy into the presentation.

Asians and African-Americans cannot play white people either and inter-racial romances are still viewed with some apprehension in certain southern states and red voting regions.

A a result, many Hollywood studios do not want to spend mega-millions of dollars producing a movie that will not successfully sell to movie-goers if it is perceived as unrealistic or potentially controversial.

The Europeans might go for this kind of stuff but most American movie-goers are unacquainted with the avant-garde movies produced over there.

How well earthlings, with proper make-up, can portray aliens.

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from the PA Weekly account...
"In this iteration of the show, set in the 1950s, virtuous young maiden Mei-Li (Emily Song) flees China for San Francisco after her beloved musician father is killed by Mao's regime."

This storyline is dated as Deng Xiaoping converted the People's Republic of China into a socialist-capitalist country. As a result China's economy flourished.

The modern day Flower Drum Song should be about all of the wealthy Chinese factory owners moving to the SF Bay Area with their newly acquired wealth.

They don't resituate to San Francisco's Chinatown. They move to Crescent Park, Los Altos and Cupertino and shop at Nieman-Marcus and they motor around in Mercedes-Benzes, BMWs and Teslas.

from the PA Weekly account...
"In this iteration of the show, set in the 1950s, virtuous young maiden Mei-Li (Emily Song) flees China for San Francisco after her beloved musician father is killed by Mao's regime."

This storyline is dated as Deng Xiaoping converted the People's Republic of China into a socialist-capitalist country. As a result China's economy flourished.

The modern day Flower Drum Song should be about all of the wealthy Chinese factory owners moving to the SF Bay Area with their newly acquired wealth.

They don't resituate to San Francisco's Chinatown. They move to Crescent Park, Los Altos and Cupertino and shop at Nieman-Marcus and they motor around in Mercedes-Benzes, BMWs and Teslas.

And more power to them as there is a changing of the guard in some of the more affluent neighborhoods.