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Originally Posted by Giccin
Anyways, since you didn't respond to me and after reading this entire thread (up to 11th page as of this moment) I still think you don't get what I'm trying to say, or you have misunderstood what I was trying to get at.
YES. Han is portrayed as Japanese IN THE MOVIE.
If you read my post I said IN REAL LIFE. He is actually Korean. As a person. Not an actor.
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Was I supposed to reply? I didn't know it bothered you that much.
Anyway, it's very clear that the actor himself is Korean in real life... no argument there, never said otherwise. But he is also Korean in Tokyo Drift, not Japanese, unless you have proof stating otherwise, even though you seemed to ignore what I said.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chanomatik
It's always kind of bothered me, but now that I think about it... I don't think he's ever stated that he IS Japanese. Does he even speak Japanese in Tokyo Drift? In the other movies he just talks about wanting to go to Japan, like his version of riding into the sunset.
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Exactly. He's never officially recognized as anything in particular, but again, his name is HAN (typically not a Japanese name, usually Korean), and his last name in Fast Five was SEOUL-OH (also very likely Korean, but definitely not Japanese). He does speak a line or two in Japanese, but that doesn't mean he's Japanese -- Sean, Neela and Twinkie all speak a little Japanese as well in the film. Additionally, why does every other Japanese character in Tokyo Drift speak with an accent but Han doesn't have an accent at all? There's far more evidence siding with him not being portrayed as a Japanese character as much just being a guy who happens to being of Asian descent but ended up in Japan. It's not an impossible scenario.
As you mentioned, when asked about Japan in Tokyo Drift, he explains to Sean that Japan is his "Mexico," which is typically where the anti-hero (at least in American films) flees to when on the run from the law. So obviously he's not from Japan, plus in Fast & Furious when parting ways with Dom, he talks about wanting to go to Tokyo in a manner that insinuated that he had never been there, and likely not to Japan at all.
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Originally Posted by mangostick
I own all 5 movies because its just another part of my "car" movie collection... but what that franchise did to the car enthusiast world is unforgivable.
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But at the same time, it wasn't clear what impact the movie (and eventually entire franchise) would have. The movie wasn't expected to be as successful as it was at the box office, let alone in influencing culture and expanding it to a broader audience. But that happens with A LOT of things that are exposed in a mainstream fashion.
I don't know how old you are, but look at Karate Kid. Karate studios were booming with business from the mid-80s onward, and it prompted a lot of other people to open their own studios as well. All of a sudden everyone knew karate and wanted to fight. Same thing with The Mighty Ducks. It wasn't a huge huge sport amongst the youth, but A LOT of people took interest in it afterward. Same thing with rap and hip-hop culture. You had a lot of people who had zero street in them wearing baggy jeans, oversized jerseys, etc., and then then with the varying waves of gangsta rap from the mid-90s onward, you had people learning how to Crip walk when Snoop, Kurupt, WC, etc. were doing it, and then in more recent years you have people wearing red and sporting red bandannas just because they see people like The Game and Lil Wayne doing it.
So yes, the culture gets overexposed and diluted when taken on by a new crowd not part of it naturally, but that happens when it's brought to the forefront. But it is allowed to happen since the people behind it will make a killing on it, despite what disapproval the "enthusiasts" or "originators" of each of those cultures feels before and/or after.