MANAA Blasts Schneider For Offensive Racial Caricature
Sunday, July 29, 2007

Actor portrays Japanese Canadian minister in new Adam Sandler movie.

Associated Press
“The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” host Jay Leno, right, interviews Rob Schneider, dressed as Lindsay Lohan, in Burbank Tuesday.

The media watchdog group MANAA (the Media Action Network for Asian Americans) issued a statement saying it is offended by Rob Schneider’s “yellow face” portrayal of a Japanese man in the current #1 movie in the country, “INow Pronounce You Chuck & Larry” starring Adam Sandler and Kevin James.

In a scene where the main characters journey to Canada to get married, Sch­neider plays a minister who makes their union official, donning prosthetic make up (slanted eyes, bigger nose, darker skin color, etc.) to play a stereotypical Japanese nerd with thick eye-glasses and a bowl-style hair cut who speaks in broken English with missing “r”s.

Entertainment Weekly’s Lisa Schwar­zbaum wrote, “felt victimized by the stereotype shtick of … Schneider.” And Emmy-nominated actor Masi Oka (“Heroes”) told USA Today he was also offended by the yellow-face portrayal.

Guy Aoki, MANAA founding presi­dent, said, “In August of 2006, shortly after Mel Gibson’s tirade against Jews, Schneider, pointing out he was half Jewish, took out a full page ad in Daily Variety promising to never work with the writer/director/actor. We wish Rob had the same pride about being part-Asian. Somehow, we don’t think he’d make the same assertion against someone who spouted anti-Asian hatred because the actor has himself done quite a good job of putting down people of Asian descent.”

Schneider also repeatedly perpetuated the stereotype that Asian men have small penises in a 2005 movie he co-wrote, “Deuce Bigalo: European Gigolo,” MANAA stated.

A veteran of “Saturday Night Live,” Schneider was seen most recently on Tuesday night on “The Tonight Show” lampooning actress Lindsey Lohan.