I personally loved Lucy Liu in Kill Bill. I mean who didn't?
Pics from Tumblr:
Looking fabulous! I've always thought she was really beautiful. Her freckles make her look unique.
Congrats to her playing the female Dr Watson but also for being the first woman of another race to play this role!
But this hasn't come without its complaints though. To some people it's a problem that she's a female... but to others it's also because she's Asian.
Dr John Watson is a friend, assistant and roommate of Sherlock Holmes. I suppose it's 'bromance'. I gathered that people like the fact that (traditionally) Holmes and Watson are both males and are able to be friends without sexual tension or anything like that (which I suspect may occur in Elementary because Dr Watson is now a female...). In this case I could completely understand why people would be uncomfortable with Liu playing Dr Watson.
However, this series is a modern adaptation. It's loosely based on the original story. Elements of the series have been changed to make it more relevant to the 21st century. There have been many different originals of Sherlock Holmes, as well as many different adaptations. If you don't like this particular one, you can still watch the other ones!
I believe that Liu can successfully execute her role as Dr Watson. She's always played sexy, tenacious characters... the good guys or the bad guys. She's played in Charlie's Angels so there is no doubt that she can play the role of a good guy.
I know there will be some awkward moments between her and Holmes (as expected) but Dr Watson and Mr Holmes will remain professional!
About Joan Watson being Asian..
I'm under the impression that white America is sometimes not ready for people of colour playing particular movie roles. I've already discussed this in this post. Racism in fandom is nothing new so I won't go over that. It shouldn't be an issue that an Asian is playing Joan Watson. It's a modern adaptation after all.
I believe that Hollywood needs to become more diverse and remain that way. Hollywood needs to reflect the diversity of the U.S. and the Western world in general. I'm not insinuating that Hollywood isn't diverse, but they could make some improvements when it comes to bigger movie/television roles.
There were other instances where people of other races should have been portrayed rather than white people (this is my personal opinion). There is nothing wrong with white people getting big movie roles, I just wish though that people of other races would be given the chance as well.
Archaeologists have discovered that Cleopatra's mother is African. This makes Cleopatra of mixed-ancestry. Despite this, Angelina Jolie is portraying Cleopatra in the new Cleopatra movie.
 |
| Angelina Jolie as Cleopatra |
 |
| Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra in 1963 |
In another movie, a Scandinavian biracial actress, Jacqueline Fleming, portrayed Harriet Tubman in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.
 |
| Jaqueline Fleming |
 |
| Harriet Tubman |
 |
| Uploaded on Jaqueline Fleming's Twitter. |
Of course it's impossible to get an actress/actor to portray someone to the tee but I was hoping for a more realistic portrayal. The directors must have thought 'let them be black but not too black'. This is all too real and it's nothing new.
There are more instances:
 |
| Cast of The Last Airbender |
This one takes the cake (I've always thought of Goku as Japanese...)
 |
| Dragonball Evolution |
| Goku from Dragonball Z |
Anime characters tend to be drawn racially ambiguous, but that shouldn't be a reason to portray almost everyone in a movie as white. I suppose the director/producer of Dragonball Evolution covered their back by casting some Asian women in the movie.
Don't give me that 'they want to portray actors/actresses that we know', I have never heard of Justin Chatwin (Goku in Dragonball Evolution) before. I doubt he's still (if he ever was) relevant.
Back to Elementary... I will watch it (as long as I don't get too caught up in school work). I'm excited to see how this will play out. It really shouldn't be too different from the original Sherlock Holmes series but I think an element of interest has been added by having a Dr Joan Watson, rather than a Dr John Watson. Here is the trailer:
Will you tune into Elementary?
