All Asians Are Alike: Difference between revisions

== Films -- Live Action ==

* ''[[Seven Faces of Dr. Lao]]'':

'''Toothless Cowboy:''' 'Cause I ain't stupid! }}

* Mentioned in ''[[Falling Down]]'', when a police officer snarks that he is Japanese, unlike the robbed store owner who is Korean.

* In Christopher Lambert's ''J.F. Lawton's The Hunted'' (not to be mistaken for [[The Hunted|the more popular film of the same name]]) the very Chinese [[M. Butterfly|John Lone]] plays uber-ninja Kinjo. It isn't so bad at first, unless you can tell the difference between Hong Kong and Japanese accented English; but when the script calls for him to exchange dialogue with actual Japanese actors in Nihonggo, his [[Faux Fluency|lack of fluency]] becomes painfully obvious even to someone who only knows 3 words of Japanese.

* In ''[[Bend It Like Beckham]]'', Indian lead Jess gets yellow-carded when she reacts to being called a "Paki," which is a considered a horrific racial slur. Also, when her father complains about not being allowed to play cricket in his youth on racial grounds, she points out that Nasser Hussain is (at the time the film was made) captain of England. Her father says "He's a Muslim. They're different" -- a line which there is an [[Ironic Echo]] of later in the film in an inversion of the trope, when her father disapproves of Jess having an English boyfriend:

'''Jess' father''': It's the same thing! }}

* In a DVD commentary for ''[[House of Flying Daggers]],'' director Zhang Yimou admitted that he added in a new introduction scene for Andy Lau's character, who was originally supposed to be introduced already on an undercover mission, so that Western audiences wouldn't think he was two different characters. He and costar Zhang Ziyi then stated that they sometimes had trouble telling Western movie stars apart. In a separate commentary, he mentioned that he also had Lau eat peanuts in all his initial scenes in order to help audiences subconsciously identify him in his different roles.

== Live Action TV ==

* In a season two episode of ''[[M*A*S*H|Mash]]'', the Korean liaison officer semi-sarcastically explains the difficulty in finding the father of a half-American baby as, "You all look alike to us." There's also several episodes that deal with or make reference to the difficulty in people being able to tell the difference between Japanese, Chinese and Korean people. An Asian blackmarket salesmen posing as a general even uses the trope to deflect suspicion away from himself, claiming, "We all look the same." The show often reused actors as [[Fake Nationality|multiple races]]. Japanese-American Pat Morita appears as a South Korean officer, while Japanese actor Mako appears as a Chinese doctor and a South Korean interrogator.

* Parodied (but played straight) in ''[[Glee]]''. In "Throwdown," Sue splits the glee club in two and takes the minority students. [[Refuge in Audacity|Being Sue]], she calls African-American members Mercedes and Matt "Aretha" and "Shaft" respectively, before moving on to Asian-American Tina (Korean) and Mike (Chinese): "Asian" and "Other Asian." This gets carried forward where, in the later episode "Ballads," when the club take names out of a hat to find their partners for ballads Tina picks "Other Asian." When [[Token Minority Couple|they eventually become a couple]] everything they do, from dating to family meetings, is prefaced with the adjective "Asian," including "Asian Couples Therapy." Tina [[Lampshade Hanging|wonders why the couples therapy needs to be Asian]]. Later, when Sunshine Corazon (Filipino) considers joining the team, only to be mistreated by Rachel, Tina and Mike confront her and, when they are asked how they even heard about the situation, explain that the Asian community is very close.

* Subverted in an episode of ''[[Touched By an Angel]]''. An Asian woman is asked to act as a Chinese translator on a business trip to China, only for her to become offended and assert that she is Korean. Turns out, she really is Chinese, but was forced to flee the country after the Cultural Revolution.

* ''[[Eastenders]]'': The Fereiras. (Granted they were South Asian but still). One member of the family had a Hindu name, another had a Muslim one. This would be the equivalent of Ross and Monica from Friends having a brother named Jamal.

* In the American version of ''[[The Office]]'' episode ''A Benihana Christmas'', Michael Scott (after several drinks) was confused as to which of the two Asian waitresses brought back from the episode's eponymous restaurant was with him. They even switch actresses when the waitresses come to the office. Michael goes as far as to mark the arm of the correct waitress with a sharpie.

* ''[[The Pacific]]'': episode nine features angry confrontations over the rights of the Okinawan civilians versus the Imperial Japanese soldiers ("A Jap's a Jap!" one Marine protests).

* ''[[Lost]]'': Happens in-story several times to Sun and Jin, who are Korean. Hurley refers to them as "the Chinese people" before he learns their true nationality. A flashback to the airport reveals a white couple making a reference to ''[[Memoirs of a Geisha]]'' (Japanese) in relation to them. Also, in "This Place is Death," when Jin asks Charlotte to translate, knowing that she speaks Korean, Sawyer assumes he means Miles (Chinese) and encourages him to help, to which [[Deadpan Snarker|Miles]] replies "Dude, he's Korean, I'm from Encino."

* ''[[Get Smart]]''

** Inverted in an episode when an Asian villain, The Craw ([[Japanese Ranguage|no, not the Craw, the ]]''[[Japanese Ranguage|Craw!]]''), and his henchmen try repeatedly to kidnap a visiting [[Norse by Norsewest|Scandinavian]] [[Everything's Better with Princesses|princess]], but keep getting the wrong woman because all white people look alike.

'''The Craw:''' Unfortunately, Mr. Smart, all Americans look alike to us. }}

** Played straight in another episode where CONTROL's computer was not able to identify the KAOS agent, who was from a fictional East Asian country, because apparently the computer can't tell the difference between people from there.

* Many a Sickipedia joke, such as [http://www.sickipedia.org/joke/view/116270 this one]. However, [[For the Evulz|they actively try to be offensive.]]

* In [[The Rap Critic]]'s review of [[The Black Eyed Peas|"Just Can't Get Enough"]], just after Fergie says "I love you long time so you know the meanin'" and the Critic points out the line was originally used by [[Full Metal Jacket|a Vietnamese prostitute offering herself]]:

'''Girl''': Who cares? All Asians are the same! }}

 

== Western Animation ==

* In ''[[Family Guy]]'', Peter says "Oh my God, it's [[Jackie Chan]]!" to various Asian people. He only gets it correct by the 3rd or 4th try. Inverted when Jackie Chan himself confuses the Griffins for white celebrities.

'''Jackie Chan:''' Oh yes you are! }}

* ''[[Code Lyoko]]'': In the prequel "XANA Awakens," Yumi Ishiyama yells a few times at people that she is Japanese when they mistake her for being Chinese.

* ''[[King of the Hill]]'':

** Hank Hill and his friends can't wrap their head around their neighbor Khan Souphanousinphone not being either Chinese or Japanese, even after he corrects them.

'''Hank''': ''(long pause)'' So are you [[False Dichotomy|Chinese or Japanese]]?<br />

'''Kahn''': D'oh! }}