Yellowface is the practice in cinema, theatre, and television where East Asian characters are portrayed by predominantly white actors, often while wearing heavy makeup in order to approximate "Asian" or "Oriental" facial characteristics.

Yellowface was once a commonly accepted practice in the motion picture industry, with many legendary Hollywood actors launching their careers by playing yellowface roles. Remarkably, the use of yellowface makeup endured well past the point when blackface makeup was regarded as a taboo.

Robert Ito explains that job protection for caucasian actors was one reason yellowface persisted. "With the relatively small percentage of actors that support themselves by acting, it was only logical that they should try to limit the available talent pool as much as possible. One way of doing this was by placing restrictions on minority actors, which, in the case of Asian actors, meant that they could usually only get roles as houseboys, cooks, laundrymen, and crazed war enemies, with the rare "white hero's loyal sidekick" roles going to the big name actors. When the script called for a larger Asian role, it was almost inevitably given to a white actor."

In some cases, these Oriental characters are portrayed by partially Asian actors, and some may argue that in order to make them appear "more" Asian, yellowface would have to be utilized.[citation needed] Directors and film studios employed this practice for a variety of reasons, the most common being the lack of English-speaking Asian actors during the earlier decades of cinema. The most controversial reason was the desire to avoid onscreen romantic interaction between white and Asian actors in intimate contexts.[citation needed]

Notable examples

See also

Sources

  • "Yellowface: Asians on White Screens", by Yayoi Lena Winfrey, IM Diversity.com.
  • "A Certain Slant." by Robert B. Ito, Bright Lights Film Journal.
  • Wang, Yiman (2005). "The Art of Screen Passing: Anna May Wong's Yellow Yellowface Performance in the Art Deco Era", in Catherine Russell: Camera Obscura 60: New Women of the Silent Screen: China, Japan, Hollywood. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, pp.159-191. ISBN 0-8223-6624-X. 
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowface"


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