Comments on: Charlie Chan: A Hero of Sorts

By: G. E. Hahne

G. E. Hahne — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:49:25 +0000

Hi, I was in elementary school in WWII, and I listened
frequently to the Charlie Chan series on the radio.
I very much envied him an his family, probably because my
“honorable ancestors” (Germans) were taking a lot of heat
in those days.

By: anonymous

anonymous — Mon, 28 May 2007 00:54:22 +0000

I was fascinated to read Fletcher Chan’s interesting article. I am not Asian, and I was very curious what different people thought about the movies, especially Asian-Americans. I guess my unwanted opinion is that the movies probably did a bit more good than harm in their day. If the actor playing Chan were Asian, it would be easier to forgive the many flaws. I wouldn’t want children today to see them today without some careful discussion first. On the other hand Fox “News” is so destructive in my opinion that showing Charlie Chan movies seems a minor crime in comparison.

I am still curious as to what the writer and directors were thinking about race and stereotypes when making those movies, as well as what the Asian actors and Asian audience thought at the time. What a strange world this is.

By: anonymous

anonymous — Mon, 28 May 2007 00:53:11 +0000

Charlie Chan was a hero of mine as a young boy and still is. Look at the Sherlock Holmes films. Watson was portraied by Nigel Bruce mostly as a bumbling side Kick. Most of the early Chan films were done with care and showed Carlie Chan in a very positive way. He out smarted all the police and inspectors, always arresting the right criminal.

By: Mike Royer

Mike Royer — Mon, 28 May 2007 00:51:54 +0000

Basicaly a thoughtful and fair article. I have nothing but fond memories of the honorable Chinese detective Charlie Chan, having first been exposed to him as a preteen on late night TV in Oregon. Being non-Asian, I accepted the actors who played Mr. Chan at face value, never even noticing that they were non-Asians. They were mysteries and the honorable on screen Mr. Chan gave me as a youngster a great appreciation for what I perceived as the great wisdom and intelligence of the Chinese. Perhaps, being non-Asian, I might have given the matter more thought, but in my youth and as I matured I kept this respect for another race and have never felt that I was bigoted toward any Asians. Shoot, all around me I saw that Asians valued family and so many other values that I could see were slowly eroding in the non-Asian culture. So, I guess you could say I couldn’t understand why Asians could be so upset with movies that, IMHO, did more for my personal acceptance of another culture than anything else. Don’t mean to ramble, but you did give me the forum. Again, a fair article, IMHO.

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 28 May 2007 00:50:00 +0000

I cannot comment on the literary portrayals of Chan since I have never read any of Biggers’ novels, but I have seen several of the Charlie Chan films.
I have vague memories of seeing some of the Chan movies on TV when I was a kid. I hadn’t given them much thought until the Fox Movie Channel re-broadcast them a couple of years ago. Being a huge fan of classic films of the 30’s and 40’s, I made a point to watch as many of them as possible. I was surprised at how good they were. I was expecting a series of B-pictures with low production values, but was impressed by the storylines,acting, and the positive portrayals of Asians and Asian-Americans. I thought it was a shame that the Fox Movie Channel gave in to the demands of a small number of activists that are perpetually offended by one thing or another. I enjoyed the panel discussions the Fox Movie Channel broadcast in conjunction with the films and thought it was quite an appropriate response to the “controversy”. However,that apparently was not good enough for some and the movies were banished. However, Fox has recently started to issue the films on DVD. I have now had the opportunity to see several of them and think that the films were somewhat ahead of their time in the subversive way they overturn white stereotypes of Asians. Fox could have easily had Keye Luke portray “Number 1 son” with a broken accent. However, he speaks completely fluent English and is thoroughly “Americanized”. I work with many Asians (mostly Vietnamese-Americans) and this is a fairly accurate portrayal of the experiences of Asian (as well as other) immigrants. In “Charlie Chan at the Opera”, the William Demarest character is portrayed as slightly prejudiced against Chan, calling him “chop suey” in one scene. However, Chan outwits him during the entire movie and Demerast’s character is portrayed as somewhat of a buffoon. In “Charlie Chan at the Racetrack”, as part of a plan to expose the murderers, Keye Luke impersonates a Chinese laundryman, complete with stereotypical accent. Having the intelligent and articulate “Number 1 son” fool the caucasians with his Chinese laundry boy stereotype was a not so subtle dig at that very stereotype.
Is it the fact that Charlie Chan was invariably portrayed by white actors that has people so upset? Actors routinely portray characters that are nothing like them in real life. Is it so much of a sin to have an actor portray someone from another racial/ethnic group? The real issue is the fact that Asian-Americans had so little opportunity in Hollywood, then as well as now. Instead of spending time protesting a series of films made over 60 years ago, Asian-American groups should more profitably address issues that effect today’s Asian-American community. There is still real racism and prejudice out there. Thankfully, it is no where near the levels of 60 years ago. I don’t think any non-Asian is going to have a negative view of Asians just from watching an old movie.

By: Sophie Young

Sophie Young — Mon, 28 May 2007 00:47:51 +0000

Fletcher Chan writes thoughtfully and convincingly on a sensitive subject. As a Chinese-American, I’ve avoided Charlie Chan movies for most of my life. Then two weeks ago, I began to run out of good mystery movies at my local library, and ended up with a few Chan films featuring Warner Oland. I was pleasantly surprised: the clumsy stereotypes I expected were softened by the obviously positive aspects of the protagonist. I agree with Fletcher Chan: while it’s still important for Asian-Americans to maintain dialogue about racism, we should embrace positive PR where we find it — however flawed it may be. Not every hero can be Yo-yo Ma.