Missed Opportunity: How “Blue Crush” Continues the Tradition of Cultural Theft by White Producers of Asian/Pacific Culture

by Jeff Park
posted 9/12/02

“Blue Crush” opened in August and made money. That should come as no surprise. What also comes as no surprise is that the movie is a surfing movie that is based in Hawaii, has a female blonde, blue-eyed lead, her love interest is a white quarterback, and the villains are island boys, here a hodge podge of “other” ethnicities – just not white. And of course the white star is a leading exponent of surfing as far as this movie goes.

It‘s no surprise, and nothing new. The hit film “The Fast and the Furious” also stole an Asian cultural phenomenon – import racing – dropped white leads (Vin Diesel, is self described as “multi-cultural” and reportedly African-American and white) into the story, and made up an Asian gang as the villains.

What should not go unmentioned here is that “Blue Crush” is “A Brian Grazer Production,” most notably because as one of the big wig producers behind the Oscar winning “A Beautiful Mind,” he also has shown a knack for cultural ignorance. Casting Jennifer Connelly as John Nash’s wife, a native Salvadoran, Connelly’s star would later shine as she picked up the “Best Supporting Actress” Oscar, a major slap in the face to the many hundreds if not thousands of struggling and able Latina actresses. Talk about insult as well as a missed opportunity.

Missed Opportunity 2: Appropriating Hawai'i

White Hawaii?