The Martial Artist
Pacific Rim (2013)
Due to the whitewashing trend (Lowrey n.d.), in which only white people were casted for main roles, Asian people in general or Asian women specifically rarely played leading roles in Western movies. Or else, most of Asian women’s leading roles would likely to fall into some limited categories. In the case of Pacific Rim – a movie that was packed with dense fighting scenes, Mako Mori, the main female character, also lied under the category of “All Asian knows martial arts” (World Heritage Encyclopedia n.d.) stereotype and was portrayed as if she was the “descendent” of Bruce Lee. Without a sign of fear on her face, she managed to strike down skillfully a tall masculine white man and received recognition from her comrades as a righteous hero.
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