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'It sounded like a good idea at the time: A Hollywood spy thriller, starring, for the first time in history, an Asian male lead. With an estimated $350 million production budget and up-and-coming Hong Kong actor JK Jr, who, let’s be honest, is not the sharpest tool in the shed, but probably the hottest, Brood Empire was basically a sure thing. Until it wasn’t.
'So how did it all fall apart? There were smart guys involved. So smart, so woke. So woke it hurts. There was top-notch talent across the board and the financial backing of a heavyweight Chinese studio. And yet, Brood Empire is remembered now not as a historical landmark of Asian representation that smashed the bamboo ceiling in Hollywood, but rather as a fiasco of seismic proportions.
'The Whitewash is the definitive oral history of the whole sordid mess. Unofficial. Unasked for. Only intermittently fact-checked, and featuring a fool’s gallery of actors, producers, directors, film historians and scummy click-bait journalists, to answer the question of how it all went so horribly, horribly wrong.' (Publication summary)
Notes
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Epigraph:
'No, I do not give you permission to interview me for your bullshit excuse of a "book".'
— Johnny Chao, Screen Legend, Founder of Shanzai Pictures.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
“The Whitewash” by Siang Lu
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: The Asian Review of Books 2022;
— Review of The Whitewash 2022 single work novel 'In a style similar to Charles Yu’s Interior Chinatown, Australian author Siang Lu has written a sobering and satirical novel, The Whitewash, to shed light on the ways Hollywood has misrepresented Asians in film, going back more than a century, all while he pays homage to the rich history of the Hong Kong film industry and how it and Hollywood have entwined over the decades.' (Introduction) -
Yellow Invisibility
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: Sydney Review of Books , November 2022;
— Review of The Whitewash 2022 single work novel -
The Whitewash Is a Scathing, Hilarious Satire of Asian Misrepresentation in Hollywood
2022
single work
essay
— Appears in: The Conversation , 14 September 2022; -
Dreams and Debris : Siang Lu’s Ambitious Début Novel
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , September no. 446 2022; (p. 28)
— Review of The Whitewash 2022 single work novel'Hong Kong’s hottest property, JK Jr, has it all: boyish charm, acting chops, and a set of ‘crazy ripped’ abs. He’s set to star in Brood Empire, a spy thriller backed by the financial might of Hollywood and China, and destined to smash box-office records in all markets. However, the new era of mainstream western films featuring hunky Asian male leads must wait, as the whole enterprise suddenly falls apart. Enter a not-so-humble web tabloid to piece together this sordid tale of hubris and unfulfilled dreams from the debris.' (Introduction)
-
Siang Lu The Whitewash
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 20-26 August 2022;
— Review of The Whitewash 2022 single work novel'Hollywood has a storied history of tapping white actors to play Asian roles, traditionally in yellowface and now by simply “reimagining” them as white. It hides behind the capitalist claim of “marketability” – the notion that people don’t pay to see movies with Asian leads or casts.' (Introduction)
-
Siang Lu The Whitewash
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 20-26 August 2022;
— Review of The Whitewash 2022 single work novel'Hollywood has a storied history of tapping white actors to play Asian roles, traditionally in yellowface and now by simply “reimagining” them as white. It hides behind the capitalist claim of “marketability” – the notion that people don’t pay to see movies with Asian leads or casts.' (Introduction)
-
Dreams and Debris : Siang Lu’s Ambitious Début Novel
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , September no. 446 2022; (p. 28)
— Review of The Whitewash 2022 single work novel'Hong Kong’s hottest property, JK Jr, has it all: boyish charm, acting chops, and a set of ‘crazy ripped’ abs. He’s set to star in Brood Empire, a spy thriller backed by the financial might of Hollywood and China, and destined to smash box-office records in all markets. However, the new era of mainstream western films featuring hunky Asian male leads must wait, as the whole enterprise suddenly falls apart. Enter a not-so-humble web tabloid to piece together this sordid tale of hubris and unfulfilled dreams from the debris.' (Introduction)
-
Yellow Invisibility
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: Sydney Review of Books , November 2022;
— Review of The Whitewash 2022 single work novel -
“The Whitewash” by Siang Lu
2022
single work
review
— Appears in: The Asian Review of Books 2022;
— Review of The Whitewash 2022 single work novel 'In a style similar to Charles Yu’s Interior Chinatown, Australian author Siang Lu has written a sobering and satirical novel, The Whitewash, to shed light on the ways Hollywood has misrepresented Asians in film, going back more than a century, all while he pays homage to the rich history of the Hong Kong film industry and how it and Hollywood have entwined over the decades.' (Introduction) -
The Whitewash Is a Scathing, Hilarious Satire of Asian Misrepresentation in Hollywood
2022
single work
essay
— Appears in: The Conversation , 14 September 2022;
