Killer whale tries to drown her keeper

Scary footage of killer whale trying to drown one of her keepers.

Iron Man 3: yellowface casting of Ben Kingsley as the Mandarin or do we really want another Chinese villain?

What have I and the Mandarin, big bad in the upcoming Iron Man 3, got in common? Both of us have Chinese fathers and English mothers. Plus we both look like the giant Sphinx mounted over the Morlocks' lair in The Time Machine ... at least first thing in the morning. Does that make me the Mandarina?


But enough about me.

There's a fuss brewing regarding a brazen example of mainstream yellowface in the pipeline. One of the biggest Chinese roles to arise in a Hollywood blockbuster has gone to an actor perceived as quintessentially English: Sir Ben Kingsley.

The Mandarin was created as Iron Man's arch-nemesis in the 1960s, when Chinese villainy was the norm. Okay, it still is, but Stan Lee had the excuse that he was birthing his characters in more innocent times, when fewer people were aware of the ramifications of cutting out ethnic minorities except to use them as villain-fodder.

While a howl of protest builds and lets the leviathans of the entertainment industry know we're fed up with our constant exclusion, it might be worth asking why a movie part-financed by and shot in China would not gift such a humungous a starring role to a Chinese actor.

China is sensitive about how it's portrayed in the west. There's a history of Yellow Peril hysteria dating from the mid-19th century complete with anti-Chinese riots and lynchings and the 1888 Exclusion Act, specifically aimed at Chinese even if they were American citizens. That's all ramping up again now that modern China is on the rise.

The holder of the purse-strings is now calling the shots. Chow Yun Fat's scenes in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End were cut from screenings in China by the authorities because they claimed the role "vilifies and humiliates the Chinese" (reminiscent of the treatment the nationalist government gave Hollywood screen legend Anna May Wong who they accused of not wearing enough clothes and disgracing China). It's difficult to see how such editing could be achieved without the entire plot collapsing. Besides, Chow's character arc ended with him siding squarely with the heroes. But no-one's taking any chances with millions of bucks and the fate of the Iron Man franchise at stake.

Rumour has it that the movie Mandarin plans to conquer the world through a deadly nanobot virus — shades of Bird Flu and SARS. That could explain the need to cast this as far away from actual Chinese as possible. He may even be relegated to a background role as Guy Pearce's uber-villain Aldrich Killian drives the story. (Why they had to resurrect a now-ancient cold-war scenario in the 21st century is anyone's guess, but hardcore comic book geeks will want the canon, if not the Chinese, respected.)

Talk about caught between a rock and hard place. Damed if you do, damned if you don't.

It's actually a pretty shrewd bit of casting. Kingsley is, like me and the Mandarin, half Asian with a white English mother — he was born Krishna Pandit Bhanji in 1943. Yes, India's the wrong end of Asia and on the near side of the Himalayas but, from a eurocentric viewpoint, for western audiences who can't tell the difference, it's close enough. It defuses a little of the anger surrounding the continued use of yellowface and the near-invisibility of Chinese in western society, while placating the massive Chinese audience with a villain who is not of their ethnicity.

So, in his red-white-and-blue patriot armour, looking halfway morphed into Captain America, Tony Stark (Iron Man, once again played by Robert Downey Jr) can safely enact the slug-fest between the old superpower and the new usurper without everyone getting their knickers in a twist. America will win the battle of the titans in Iron Man 3, proving that life may not imitate art, after all.

Iron Man 3 is due for release May 2013.

China In Britain at Westminster Uni: Anna and Charles Shaar Murray on the bill

I'm performing this afternoon at the China In Britain event at Westminster University, 4.45pm. It's a talk with performance extracts from my shows and a bit of poetry. The wonderful Charles Shaar Murray is my musical accompanist, playing guitar.

I'll be referring to various topics so here are the links for you to explore further.

Anna May Wong Must Die! here

Suzy Wrong — Human Cannon here

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon row with the Guardian here

Foot and Mouth Disease campaign here

The Copenhagen Climate Change Summit gamesmanship here

Sherlock — The Blind Banker review here

Niall Ferguson Civilisation review here

Review of Julia Lovell's The Opium War here

The Steampunk Opium Wars here

Anna's arts website here

Anna's YouTube

Translating China website
The Old Cinema, 309 Regent Street, London W1B 2UW
Wednesday 18th July 2012

Anna's Olympics Experience 2012: Stratford site and torch in Ipswich

View of the London Olympics site less than a month before the games, passing through on the train. Plus the day the Olympic Torch arrived in Ipswich.

This is as much of the live stuff that I want to see of the Dystopian Olympics. The rest will be enjoyed from my sofa where I can eat all the non-McDonalds chips I want, and drink any bottled stuff without having the Games fash on my tail.

Anna on the Dystopian Olympics in 2008.

Anna on the Dystopian Olympics last month.

3D pix of Olympic venues in an interesting virtual tour.

A Routemaster named Dystopia

Here's what I wrote in 2008 on where the London Olympics were headed.

And here's what I wrote last month.

Spooky, possums. Or maybe I was just paying attention.

But even I never guessed they'd stick major military hardware on people's homes (not the homes of the wealthy lining the Thames, note).

Protesters are having to get special legal training to know their rights. Heaven forfend that this should happen ...



Locog tries to take over the internet. Their rules here. Oh yeah ...?

British Chinese Richard III on national tour

David Lee-Jones as Richard III

Britain's first Chinese Richard III — David Lee-Jones — is currently on national tour from Scotland until 22nd August at the Penlee Park Open Air Theatre in Penzance.

I was part of a rehearsed reading of The Other Shore last year at the New Diorama where David's presence and gravitas stood out, so I'm really sorry to have missed the London performance at Peckham Rye last Sunday. Here's a great review by Avril Silk of the Somerset performance.

Event Venues & Times
29/07/12 only Newhailes | Newhailes Road, Musselburgh, Edinburgh, EH21 6RY
04/08/12 only Falkland Palace | Falkland, Cupar, Fife, KY15 7BU
03/08/12 only House Of Dun & Montrose Basin | Nature Reserve, Angus, DD10 9LQ
27/07/12 only Leighton Hall | Carnforth, Lancashire, LA5 9ST
finished New Inn | 16 Northgate Street, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, GL1 1SF
25/08/12 only Jewry Wall Museum | St. Nicholas Circle, Leicester, LE1 4LB
finished Chepstow Castle | Bridge Street, Chepstow, NP16 5EY
26/08/12 only Oakham Castle | Off Market Place, Oakham, LE15 6DX
finished Highcliffe Castle | Rothesay Drive, Highcliffe, Dorset, BH23 4LE
Showing until 19/08/12 Halls Croft | Old Town, Stratford-upon-Avon, CV37 6BG
08/08/12 only mac | Cannon Hill Park,, Birmingham, B12 9QH
finished Beaudesert Park School | Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire, GL6 9AF
finished The Gate Farmhouse | Itchington, Alveston, Bristol, BS35 3TA
10/08/12 only Cressing Temple | Witham Road, Braintree, CM77 8PD
finished Caerleon Roman Amphitheatre | Broadway, Caerleon, Newport, NP18 1AG
18/07/12 only Shaftesbury Abbey | Shaftesbury, Dorset, SP7 8JR
19/07/12 only Sand | Sidbury, Sidmouth, EX10 0QN
28/07/12 only Higham Hall | Bassenthwaite Lake, Cockermouth, Cumbria, CA13 9SH
01/08/12 only Pitmedden Garden | Ellon, Aberdeenshire, AB41 7PD
05/08/12 only Threave Garden | Castle Douglas, Dumfries & Galloway, DG7 1RX
12/08/12 only Langar Hall | Langar, Nottingham, NG13 9HG
20/07/12 only Poulton House | Poulton, Gloucester, Cirencester, GL7 5HW
14/08/12 only Raglan Castle | Raglan, Monmouthshire, NP15 2BT
finished The Royal Crescent & York Gardens | Clifton, Bristol, BS8 4LN
finished Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre ... | Bosworth, Sutton Cheney, CV13 0AD
finished The Mill House | Netherbury, Dorset, DT6 5LX
23/08/12 only The Swan Theatre | The Moors, Worcester, WR1 3ED
finished Wolvesey Gardens | Bishops Palace, Winchester, SO239NB
finished Sterts theatre | Upton cross, Liskeard, PL14 9AZ
finished Frampton Court Estate | , Frampton on Severn, GL2 7EP
finished The Manor House Museum | Hall Green Road, West Bromwich, B71 2EA
11/08/12 only The Chequers | High Street, Yelden, Bedford, MK44 1AW
24/08/12 only Woodchester Mansion | Woodchester Mansion, Nympsfield, GL10 3TS
22/08/12 only Penlee Park Open Air Theatre | Morrab Road, Penzance, TR18 4HE
finished Whittington Castle | Castle Street, Whittington, SY11 4DF
finished Cothay Manor | Greenham, Wellington, TA21 0JR
finished Little Chalfont Village Hall | Cokes Lane, Little Chalfont, HP8 4UD
finished Kingston & Dormston Village Hall | Cockshot Lane, Dormston, WR7 4LB
finished Pontefract Castle | Castle Chain, Pontefract, WF8 1QH
finished Bartons Mill | Bartons Lane, Old Basing, Basingstoke, RG24 8QE
finished Cafe on the Rye | Strakers Road, Peckham Rye Common, London, SE15 3UA