'She had no issue taking off her clothes in Suits': Meghan Markle trolled for slamming Tarantino amd Mike Myers
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Meghan Markle was excoriated on social media after she accused Hollywood for promoting "Asian stereotypes," criticizing Mike Myers' 'Austin Powers' and Quentin Tatantino's Kill Bill for "caricaturing" women of Asian descent as "oversexualized or aggressive" in her first Archetypes podcast following Queen Elizabeth II's demise.
The Duchess of Sussex called out the two 20-year-old films for "presenting caricatures of women of Asian descent" in a new episode exploring the 'Dragon Lady' stereotype with journalist Lisa Ling and comedian Margaret Cho. The 2002 Austin Powers film Goldmember featured Japanese women Fook Mi and Fook Yu, played by Diane Mizota and Carrie Ann Inaba respectively. Their characters were criticized for "sexually tokenizing" Asian women. Meanwhile, Tarantino's 2003 blockbuster Kill Bill saw Lucy Liu portray the violent Yakuza leader O-Ren Ishii – a character that was described by writer India Roby as a stereotypical Dragon Lady who "uses her sexuality as a powerful tool of manipulation, but often is emotionally and sexually cold and threatens masculinity."
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Meghan began the podcast by talking about her experience growing up in Los Angeles, which she said was "full of culture that you could see, feel, hear and taste on a daily basis." She said she had a "real love" of learning about other cultures and had no idea about the stigmas faced by women of Asian descent until many years later. She then played brief clips from 'Austin Powers' and 'Kill Bill' to illustrate her point.
The 'Kill Bill' character O-Ren Ishii was heard in one of the clips beheading Japanese crime boss Tanaka with a a samurai sword. "The price you pay for either bringing up either my Chinese or American heritage as a negative is: I collect your f****** head," Ishii says.
Meanwhile, another snippet from Austin Powers shows Fook Mi asking him for an autograph. When she tells him her name, he replies, "Oh behave baby."
"Movies like Austin Powers and Kill Bill presented these characters of Asian women as oftentimes over sexualized or aggressive," Meghan declared. "And it's not just those two examples, there's so many more." She expanded on the concept later in the podcast, "The Dragon Lady, the East Asian temptress whose mysterious foreign allure is scripted as both tantalising and deadly. This has seeped into a lot of our entertainment. But this toxic stereotyping of women of Asian descent, it doesn't just end once the credits roll."
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It wasn't long before the Duchess was accused of hypocrisy for ranting against so-called "caricatures" of Asian women "as over sexualised or aggressive" in Tarantino's movies. "Well she was a caricature of a woman lawyer ... over sexualised, aggressive and deceptive... yet she promoted the series and basked in the role," one critic wrote on Twitter, referencing Meghan's role in 'Suits'. "I didn't notice that anyone was particularly kind or friendly what ever the race or sex in Kill Bill films. All characters were exaggerated as is normal for Tarrantino," another offered.
"She would have killed to be cast in Kill Bill!! Or in Austin Powers. She reeks of sour grapes," a comment read. "She’s never had a problem taking her underwear off on TV though has she," someone else quipped. "Oh. Thank God Meghan is on board here. I've been lying awake nights for decades waiting for her to take a position on this," yet another joked.
Well she was a caricature of a woman lawyer ... over sexualised, aggressive and deceptive... yet she promoted the series and basked in the role ...
— Funny Face (@Noboundary) October 4, 2022
I didn't notice that anyone was particularly kind or friendly what ever the race or sex in Kill Bill films. All characters were exaggerated as is normal for Tarrantino
— Andy Tewkes 🇬🇧 🇺🇦 (@andy11575245) October 4, 2022
She would have killed to be cast in Kill Bill!! Or in Austin Powers. She reeks of sour grapes.
— DivaLolaB_reloaded (@makerofthings22) October 4, 2022
She’s never had a problem taking her underwear off on TV though has she
— According2Taz (@according2_taz) October 4, 2022
"Meghan Markle shames Austin Powers and Kill Bill for ‘presenting caricatures' of Asian women 'as over sexualised or aggressive' https://t.co/oJjUk95OIt"
— Shane Sweet LLC (@shanesweet) October 4, 2022
Oh. Thank God Meghan is on board here. I've been lying awake nights for decades waiting for her to take a position on this. pic.twitter.com/y2Hknlz1ZH