[Las Vegas Dave]

WHAT??? Ban Charlie Chan Movies?

What is next, Sherlock Holmes?
(No, he's OK, he was just addicted to the 7% solution. The LIBS will give him a pass.)

[TLI]

Lawyers trying to out PC each other. The banana-broccoli shakes are next. How PATHETIC!

[Flyer]

the character was "one of the most offensive Asian caricatures of America's cinematic past."

The next time a Burt Reynolds film fest comes up I hope they have the same sensitivity because his characters were "one of the most offensive good old boy caricatures of America's cinematic past."

[TN4Liberty]

Charlie Chan's shuffling, subservient manner and exaggerated accent and fortune-cookie chatter did not resemble my parents, friends or any Chinese person I knew.

Kinda like Jed Clampett doesn't resemble my parents, friends, or anyone I know?

What a pity.

[Right_in_Virginia]

We are really living in A Brave New World.

[NYer]

The television program Amos n' Andy has been absent from television for decades, and certain cartoons featuring Bugs Bunny and Tom and Jerry have been pulled or edited by the Cartoon Network because of concern over the portrayals of Japanese characters, Native Americans and other minorities.

Alvin Childress as Amos Jones

Tim Moore as George "The Kingfish" Stevens

Ernestine Wade as Sapphire Stevens

AFTER AMOS & ANDY

Where did they go after Amos and Andy went off the air.

From "The Adventures of Amos'N' Andy
by Melvin Patrick Ely
Available on the internet

It would have been hard to convince many black actors--especially those who had appeared on Amos ‘n’ Andy--that the aftermath of the protest of 1951 represented a victory at all. Like the show’s producers and the management of CBS, the cast had expected a long and profitable network run for the series. The actors received only limited residual payments from the syndication of the shows but not, apparently, because of racial discrimination. Rather, the precedent for paying substantial residuals had not been firmly established in the new business of TV syndication when they signed their contracts. At least twice after production of Amos ‘n’ Andy ceased, former cast members made personal appearance tours in their old TV roles--but by their own account, CBS stepped in to halt these.

Still, there was little truth in the popular legend of later years that pictured the former stars of the series living out their lives broken-hearted and impoverished. Spencer Williams had come out of retirement to play the role of Andy; when the show was cancelled, he lived on income from Social Security and a Military pension. Amanda Randolph (Mama) went on to play the maid in Danny Thomas’s long-running situation comedy series. Ernestine Wade (Sapphire) played the organ in funeral parlors, worked as a legal secretary and bookkeeper, and occasionally appeared on radio and television. Jester Hairston, who had filled the minor role of Henry Van Porter, a self-styled socialite, continued his principal career as a well-known director of black choral groups; years later, he provided music for Robert Schuller, the television minister, and returned to series TV in the mid-1980s as a supporting actor in the popular all-black sitcom, Amen! Alvin Childress (Amos) worked as a civil servant and sometime actor in movies and TV. Nick Stewart (Lightning), with his wife Edna, ran a theater in Los Angeles which they had founded earlier; plays were still being produced there in the 1980s.

Tim Moore (Kingfish), Amos ‘n’ Andy best-know alumnus, appeared several times on Jack Parr’s Tonight show and served as master of ceremonies in a Los Angeles nightclub. To his friends and to the world, he had become almost inseparable from his role in Amos ‘n’ Andy . He made headlines in 1958 when, having remarried after the death of his first wife, he fired a gun during an argument with members of his new spouse’s family, whom he accused of eating a beef roast he had left in his refrigerator. The local papers had a field day, with the prize for punning doubtless going to the worthy who headlined the story, “Police Hook Kingfish for Beef Over Roast.” “I’m the old Kingfish,” Moore reportedly told the police when they reached the scene. “You should have seen the in-laws scatter when I fired that gun.” Eleven months later, Moore was dead of tuberculosis. At his funeral, the church overflowed with “thousands of his friends and fans.” Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll served as honorary pallbearers, but it was Moore’s black colleagues, including Alvin Childress, Johnny Lee (lawyer Calhoun), Spencer Williams, and Flournoy Miller, who carried his remains to their final destination.

Gosden and Correll themselves did not suffer greatly from the controversy over Amos ‘n’ Andy . Though by turns perplexed, hurt, and angered by the protest of 1951, they continued to appear on radio until 1960. In a concession to the now-dominant format in commercial radio, the team in their last few years on the air mostly played popular records, with Amos, Andy, and the Kingfish as virtual disc jockeys. In 1962, after the failure of Calvin and the Colonel,a TV cartoon series in which the two supplied voices for animal characters, Gosden and Correll retired for good. Now in their early sixties and seventies respectively, they were wealthier than ever and, by most accounts, far from preoccupied by the criticism they had received over Amos ‘n’ Andy. The pair’s network employers hardly qualified as pitiable victims of the controversy either. CBS had some unpleasant moments in 1951 and made a good deal less money from Amos ‘n’ Andy than it had expected to, but the company still earned a healthy income by syndicating the TV show for more than ten years.

[NYer]

CharlieChan net is running a poll! Click here to cast your opinion vote on the Fox Movie Channel's decision to cancel the chan films.

Charlie Chan

Fox Movie Channel will discontinue the broadcast of the Charlie Chan mystery films.

Originally restored to meet the requests of mystery fans and film preservation buffs, Fox Movie Channel scheduled these films in a showcase intended to illustrate the positive aspects of these movies such as the complex story lines/ characters and Charlie Chan's great intellect. Additionally, numerous subscribers to Fox Movie Channel, as well as film historians, have long requested that Fox Movie Channel broadcast these films.

However, Fox Movie Channel has been made aware that the Charlie Chan films may contain situations or depictions that are sensitive to some viewers. Fox Movie Channel realizes that these historic films were produced at a time where racial sensitivities were not as they are today. As a result of the public response to the airing of these films, Fox Movie Channel will remove them from the schedule.

In the hope that this action will evoke discussion about the progress made in our modern, multicultural society, we invite you to please click to send us your thoughts on the matter.

Contact Fox

[aardvark1]

With no apologies to the PC crowd, no matter what race, I love Charlie Chan movies, and interestingly, now in middle age, I host Asian children in my home so they can experience America and enjoy a US education (in private school, btw).

According the PC crowd, shouldn't I either hate Asians or at least pigeon hole them into stereotypes?

[rubofthebrush]

I'am A HUGE fan of the CC series. I have spent many many hours watching these over and over again. I have most of them on tape. The funny thing is that Charlie is ALWAYS portrayed as the intellectual superior to the "white" police-dectectives. They fawn over him for his help on a "case".
Strange- we USED to be a multicultural country. Now we are subject to the whims of various groups of whining minoities that want to impose their will on our culture based on "feeeelings". Maybe we should change our national anthem to Feel-lings WO WO WO -feel-a-LINGS.

ps- my grandpappy was a CHEN.

[mewzilla]

Oh, for pete's sake.

[MJM59]

Wow, political correctness strikes again. This is just freakin' stupid. Does anybody base their opinion of a different ethnic culture on a movie such as the Chan films? These movies were great! I cannot believe just how thin skinned people can be.

[trebb]

We are losing the country to the commies. When they take off Charlie Chan and when an 18 year old's parents sue a school because the teacher read offensive comments from a Mark twain novel, and these things are treated as legitimate gripes, there is a huge problem with the sanity of the nation.

[Clint N. Suhks]

"one of the most offensive Asian caricatures of America's cinematic past."

Hope they don't ban stupid "white boy" Jerry Lewis movies too.

[TomGuy]

Related post:
Political correctness run amok, Charlie Chan gets canned
about the group who did the complaining:
National Asian American Telecommunications Association [NAATA]

from their website, [definitely see last 2 lines of this FR post] the following:

The Terrible Return of Charlie Chan
In response to protests and criticism from NAATA and other groups, Fox Movie Channel has discontinued its broadcasts of one of the most offensive Asian caricatures of America's cinematic past.

If you get digital cable or DirecTV, you may have already run across "The Charlie Chan Mystery Tour" featured on the Fox Movie Channel. The films were scheduled to air on Monday nights in June, July and August. However, due to protests and negative public response, Fox Movie Channel has cancelled further broadcasts of the Charlie Chan mystery films.

Twenty years ago, NAATA joined with many other groups to protest the making of "Charlie Chan and the Dragon Queen" which featured Peter Ustinov in yellowface as Chan. Now, with Chan back in reruns, NAATA took up the campaign to urge Fox to stop airing hackneyed racist stereotypes. Here's the open letter we sent to Fox Movie Channel:

June 12, 2003

Mark Devitre
Senior Vice President and General Manager
The Fox Movie Channel, Inc.
10000 Santa Monica Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90067

Dear Mr.Devitre:

Last month, millions of Americans from many different ethnic backgrounds celebrated Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. There were essay contests, community arts fairs, and classroom activities. NAATA, a national non-profit organization, did its part by presenting over ten hours of television programming about Asian Americans on public television stations across the country.

As Americans turn on their televisions in June, July and August on the Fox Movie Channel, they will be greeted not by humanistic, historically accurate, and empowering images but by a hoary stereotype that has dogged Asian Americans for decades: Charlie Chan. Even as a child growing up in the 1950s in Los Angeles, where television stations seem to run the Charlie Chan films endlessly, I could see that Charlie Chan’s shuffling, subservient manner and exaggerated accent and fortune-cookie chatter did not resemble my parents, friends or any Chinese person I knew.

By now, you have probably received several protest letters. In fact, a NAATA staff member wrote to the Fox Movie Channel via your website. The response he received was that the Monday night series was programmed "in response to popular demand." If you follow this logic, you would end up broadcasting the "Amos and Andy Show," which was a top rated show in its day and probably still has legions of fans as does Charlie Chan. However, it is highly unlikely that Fox would televise Amos and Andy because you know that African Americans, along with many other groups, would mount a vigorous protest. Just because something is popular doesn't make it right. Asian Americans feel that Charlie Chan is a demeaning portrayal that is culturally inaccurate and "entertaining" at our expense. Add to it the insult of "yellowface" and the ridiculous and hideous portrayal of African Americans via Mantan Moreland and you have a plethora of reasons to cancel "Charlie Chan's Mystery Tour."

Charlie Chan should have retired long ago to the Home for Socially Inappropriate Characters (SIC) where he would commiserate with Tonto, Butterfly McQueen, Stepin Fetchit, the Cisco Kid, and countless others. America is at a different place socially and politically than the 1930s. By running the Chan movies, the Fox Movie Channel reviving hurtful stereotypes instead of helping our society move towards harmony.

Upon behalf of NAATA's board and staff, I urge you to cancel Charlie Chan's Mystery Tour. I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Eddie Wong
Executive Director

cc: Misty Wilson, Senior Vice President of Diversity

Now, thanks to public protest, Fox Movie Channel has subsequently decided to cancel the "Charlie Chan Mystery Tour" -- no more Chan movies in July and August. This is the letter they've sent out in response (also posted at the Fox Movie Channel website):

Fox Movie Channel will discontinue the broadcast of the Charlie Chan mystery films.

Originally restored to meet the requests of mystery fans and film preservation buffs, Fox Movie Channel scheduled these films in a showcase intended to illustrate the positive aspects of these movies such as the complex story lines, interesting characters and Charlie Chan's great intellect. Additionally, numerous subscribers to Fox Movie Channel, as well as film historians, have long requested that Fox Movie Channel broadcast these films.

However, Fox Movie Channel has been made aware that the Charlie Chan films may contain situations or depictions that are sensitive to some viewers. Fox Movie Channel realizes that these historic films were produced at a time where racial sensitivities were not as they are today. As a result of the public response to the airing of these films, Fox Movie Channel will remove them from the schedule.

In the hope that this action will evoke discussion about the progress made in our modern, multicultural society, we invite you to please visit our website at www.foxmoviechannel.com to send us your thoughts on the matter.

Sincerely,

Fox Movie Channel

Consider it a victory. Your protests can and do impact these decisions!

NAATA is supported with major funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting

and receives additional funding from the California Arts Council.

[Tamzee]

So "Natural Born Killers" is okay because it is "freedom of expression" even though it leads directly to vicious random murders committed by copycats.

But Charlie Chan movies are banned because they might hurt someone's feelings.

/me has a headache

[Fishing-guy]

Personally, I find the Charlie Chan series stupid. Having a white guy playing Chinese with heavy accent, how believable is that? Now, if they had a Chinese guy playing the Chinese role, that would be more palatable.

[joesnuffy]

Whats next?
Tonto riding the Big White horse and the Lone Ranger on the little paint?
The next thing you know FOX will have CFR cheerleaders on....whoopsie
They Just Did!

[joesnuffy]

Whats next?
Tonto riding the Big White horse and the Lone Ranger on the little paint?
The next thing you know FOX will have CFR cheerleaders on....whoopsie
They Just Did!

[yankeedame]

Good grief! My mother-in-law is 100% Japanese, born in Japan, lived there through WWII, had a brother MIA during the war, the whole works.

So, like, when is Fox going to stop running WWII movies?

[NewCenturions]

Then they'd better ban Jackie Chan movies too. No white guy EVER beats him at Kung Fu and I find that quite insensitive!