Is Hollywood just ignorant about the Japanese-American Internment?


  • I am going to be slightly political about this by stating an obvious fact. Liberals and SJWs dominate Hollywood. The only reason I mention it is because with so many movies that have a left leaning agenda I am mystified that a movie about the Nisei has never been done. It has all the elements that Hollywood would love to push. A racist America that threw Americans into internment camps based off of their race, but the brave minority loves America so much that they fight for her anyway. They eventually become the most highly decorated Americans in US history.

    Why has this movie not been made? You can’t watch a mainstream movie any more w/o not so subtle left wing politics coming into it. This story line matches that agenda, and has the added benefit of being true; so why has it not been written? Are they just plain ignorant that it ever happened?

    Other than ignorance the only thing I can come up with is that the Nisei didn’t ‘fight the system’, they adapted to it and that is where their heroism comes in. A story on Rosa Parks or Malcolm X is about how they had to fight the system and that is what makes them historic figures. Hell, Joe Frasier was a better boxer than Cashus Clay… but he was called an Uncle Tom, and Mohamad Ali was ‘the greatest of all time’ for evading the draft. They call him a hero for refusing to fight for his country.

    I would love to see a movie made about the Nisei, and I think it is an injustice that their story is not better known. Outside boards like this I would guess 99% of Americans don’t even know who they were, and that is tragic when you consider those were the finest Americans this country has ever produced.


  • Go for Broke! (1951)
    The story of Japanese-American soldiers who fought in Europe during World War II.
    Director: Robert Pirosh
    Writer: Robert Pirosh
    Stars: Van Johnson, Lane Nakano, George Miki
    Produced by: Dore Schary
    Distributed by: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

  • Founder TripleA Admin

    @Zooey72 This is a good topic but you made it a little too political and flamey :fire:. Can you remove the Liberals and SJWs dominate Hollywood stuff to come into compliance with the forum rules?

    Also, a reason why it hasn’t been done is because Hollywood isn’t as liberal as you think. Actors and director tend to be liberal but there are high profile examples of very conservative Hollywood folks. They can be as racist and sexist as any other industry.

    I made recommendations on how to bring it into compliance with the rules.


  • @Zooey72 To clarify, the Japanese Internment wasn’t exclusively Nisei, which refers specifically to second generation Japanese-Americans. All people of Japanese decent 1st, 2nd, 3rd generation and residents, were all imprisoned.

    And yes, it is a subject matter that has largely been ignored in Hollywood. Snow Falling on Cedars does address the Japanese Internment but the movie isn’t necessarily, specifically about the Internment. It would be more educational if there was a treatment of the subject like Empire of the Sun.

    Other than ignorance the only thing I can come up with is that the Nisei didn’t ‘fight the system’, they adapted to it and that is where their heroism comes in.

    Sorry to be blunt But that’s a bit of a sweeping generalization, and not really accurate. Part of the problem is that you can’t fight the system when you’re imprisoned but some folks did try to fight it. Watch To Be Takei, he goes over the Japanese Interment. What such imprisonment does to the collective consciousness of a community is devastating. Also, there were Japanese-Americans involved in the civil rights movement.

    Outside boards like this I would guess 99% of Americans don’t even know who they were, and that is tragic when you consider those were the finest Americans this country has ever produced.

    True.

  • Founder TripleA Admin

    Come See the Paradise
    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099291/

    American Pastime
    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0825225/

    Snow Falling on Cedars
    It’s more about the aftermath and the thing itself.
    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120834/

    The Karate Kid
    Miyagi-sensei’s wife and unborn child died in the camps while he was serving with the 442nd (remember Pat Morita was nominated for an Oscar for this role).
    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087538/


  • People are ignorant to it for the same reason why people can’t understand that Italian and German Americans were also in camps.

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