So I haven't seen the new one yet, and I really would like to despite the terrible reviews, but anyway I'm watching the old one with my little cousins and there's lot of bullshit that was pulled over my younger eyes. Take for example, the character Punjab. Yeah, that's his actual name in the movie. He barely has any speaking roles, he just pulls exotic moves out of thin air such as combat and "mystic Oriental healing" such as instant pain-healing massage techniques. He's basically meant to be a bodyguard and servant all in one, as he knocks out potential threats with his elbow and can magically levitate a things with his mind. So basically, terrible caricature of vaguely South and Southeast Asian origin with a short leitmotif with stereotypical South/Southeast Asian Orientalist music. Another character is called "the asp." Yeah, his name is the name of a European viper and sometimes an Egyptian cobra. He's East Asian, (it's not important enough to say where he's from in the movie) and again, no speaking roles other than the stereotypical Kung-Fu-esque noises that are paired with vaguely East Asian martial arts moves. So he is also a servant who occasionally pulls out the moves to his own Orientalist music track just for him. It's a movie made in 1982, (set in 1932 though) but still, I would've expected more than that. I don't think people get to claim that the new "Annie" movie is "black-washed" (yes this is actually being said on forums and such) when the original movie employed such terrible stereotypes as well. One side note to mention is that though these were stereotypical roles and the two actors cast for them, Geoffrey Holder and Roger Minami are incredibly talented actors. Geoffrey Holder, may he rest in peace, (I swear to god if he isn't honored posthumously in the next Oscars ceremony) was born in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, and went on to excel in dancing, painting, acting, and even made a few cookbooks! Roger Minami is also a triple-threat, acting and performing in television, producing shows and painting! He currently lives in California and was born in Hawai'i in 1945. Here are a couple of imdb links for further info. http://m.imdb.com/name/nm0390305/?ref_=m_tt_cl_t7 http://m.imdb.com/name/nm0590924/?ref_=m_tt_cl_t8
