Asians (who are sidekicks)

The Green Hornet is set to be released in January 2011. I hadn’t read the comic when the first news about it came out (and I haven’t read it yet, even now), so at first I thought Jay Chou was the Green Hornet. The first article I read discussed the controversy and issues raised by the fact that Jay Chou, who is Taiwanese, is playing a Japanese character. My first thought was, “Oh, how cool! The Green Hornet is an Asian American super hero!” …but not orz. As I found out when I watched the trailer, the Green Hornet is, in fact, played by Seth Rogen. Jay Chou plays the hero’s chauffeur. …oh. Okay.

I guess I should wait and see how The Green Hornet plays out this relationship (is Jay Chou simply an exotic accessory, or is he an equal to the Green Hornet?), or grab some issues of the comics and start reading, before I say anything else. Judging from this trailer, though, it would seem as if Jay Chou is doing most of the work. Also: isn’t Kato pronounced more like Kah-to, and not Kay-to? This is… rather similar to how half the characters in Inception pronounced Saito’s name Say-to.

Here is a flattering rundown of portrayals of Asians in comic covers from every decade, from the 1930s to the 2000s.