Cho Chang!

[sarea]

Yay, Cho!

I'm just glad she's East Asian, since that's what I assumed she'd be with a name like Cho Chang. (I'd heard they were calling for Southeast Asian and was like WTF??) Possibly she could have been Korean rather than Chinese, both would have worked. Anyway, this Katie Leung girl is definitely Chinese with a name like Leung and since her dad's from Hong Kong. Yay!

Very interesting that she hails from Scotland. Always thought of Cho as having an English accent ... but then I thought the same of Oliver Wood, too. Cho/Oliver!! My new OTP. <g>

There are two things I really hope for:

1) That she speak perfect English, because I am tired of seeing the bullshit stereotype that Asian people have must have Asian accents. That's been waning in recent times, but it still happens often enough to piss me off. Not that many Asian people don't, of course, but in this particular case, Cho is British born and bred, so there ought to be no question of her fluency.

2) That she be attractive, because in the books, really only she, Cedric, and I think Fleur have been deliberately called out as being physically attractive. It's part of who they are as characters. Harry, Hermione, Draco, and the rest of them could technically be butt ugly/completely average and it wouldn't matter wrt canon, but the first three I named are supposed to be good looking. What worries me in this regard is that as an Asian person, I often have differing taste from casting directors as to what a pretty Chinese girl ought to look like. Sometimes I see people who are cast and go, "WTF? You couldn't find someone more attractive than that? I KNOW they're out there." Did they even bother to look? This time they had 4,000 people to choose from, so I'm hoping I can live w/ their choice.

Comments

[kstanley.livejournal.com]

I often have differing taste from casting directors as to what a pretty Chinese girl ought to look like.

Well show me some pictures of what you think looks attractive.

[sarea-okelani.livejournal.com]

Ming Na (http://imdb.com/name/nm0001840/): attractive

Lucy Liu (http://imdb.com/name/nm0005154/): not so attractive

Ziyi Zhang (http://imdb.com/name/nm0955471/): attractive

Michelle Yeoh (http://imdb.com/name/nm0000706/): not so attractive

Not that pictures at the IMDB can be trusted; much more reliable to see them in action. Ziyi, probably the least well known of the bunch, played "Jen" in Crouching Tiger.

[kstanley.livejournal.com]

Well they all seem attractive to me. Is there a specific facial feature that you like one way vs. another? I notice that the girls you like have smaller noses than the ones you consider less attractive (who have pointy anglo-type noses).

[sarea-okelani.livejournal.com]

They're all attractive enough to be actresses, so yeah, compared to regular gal on the street, none of them are unattractive. Not to mention this is my own personal taste. Your mileage may vary.

I actually don't agree re: the noses, though. Michelle does have a more Anglo-ish nose, but Lucy's nose is pretty small. I also think mixed girls like Kelly Hu and Kristin Kreuk are absolutely gorgeous, and they have more Anglo-type features as well.

It just comes down to a matter of personal preference. Obviously, whatever this Katie Leung looks like, there are going to be people who think she's beautiful and others who don't. I just hope to count myself of the former group, since I like(d) Cho as a character and think that if she has to live w/ being turned into a twit in OotP, she ought to at least have her looks. <g>

[ceilidh]

I get what you mean but I can't think of how to put it in words, how to describe why those two are less attractive than the other two. I'm with you as far as attractive/not attractive in that list!

[sarea-okelani.livejournal.com]

I know, it's totally intangible, I have no idea exactly why I think some are more attractive than others. But nice to know we have the same taste in girls. HAHAHHAHAHAHAA ;)

[ceilidh]

Hee! ;)

[sydney-lynne.livejournal.com]

Oh hee. I agree with you. I can never understand why Lucy Liu is considered attractive (I think she was one of People's 50 most beautiful this year) because I"m like, no just no. Zhang Ziyi is gorgeous. Ming Na I used to think was pretty in her Joy Luck Club days but ER has made her such a bitch that it's hard for me to like her anymore. Michelle Yeoh is ordinary looking, IMO. My mom says that something that makes people attractive is "chi zhi" but there's no English translation for it, natural grace is the closest translation I can think of.

Re: Oliver/Cho. Well, anything that gets you away from the evils of Draco/Cho and Oliver/Ginny. *G*

[sarea-okelani.livejournal.com]

I mean, I'm proud of Lucy and all for making an impact where so many Asian women have failed, but you know, she's basically been the same character in all her movies, because that's actually what people like -- Lucy Liu in bitch mode. I have yet to see a well-rounded Asian actress become successful. There are scenes in Kill Bill where I actually think she looks beautiful, though normally I don't think she's all that attractive.

Haha, I think most people agree about Zhang Ziyi. ITA re: Michelle. It's not that I don't like her, it's more that, if we're talking about looks, she's not all that. Like, I love Michelle Kwan and I think she's pretty, but what actually makes her stupendously appealing is her talent and her attitude. Re: Ming Na, I haven't seen ER in forever, certainly not before she came on board, so I don't have that influencing me. I saw her on 'The Single Guy,' though.

[seldon.livejournal.com]

It's scary, we have the same taste in asian girls :P Ziyi Zhang is one of the most beautiful females I've seen in movies, IMHO, while I've never understood why people refer to Lucy Liu as good looking. I've thought Ming Na is very attractive since I first saw her in "The Single Guy", while Michelle Yeoh has always left me cold when it comes to her looks (her fighting scenes are entirely another matter).

I can't tell you what makes them attractive, though. But then again I'm male - we classify girls in "good looking" and "not good looking" instinctively and in a blink. Note, though, that good or bad looks are not the only nor the most important factor that dictates if a woman is "hot" ;) Michelle Yeoh could be considered as hot, while Ziyi Zhang is so hot she might spontaneously combust at any given moment.

I wouldn't worry about Cho Chang, though. In a movie series where even Hermione looks beautiful, I'm fairly sure they chose a stunning Cho. That won't keep me from disliking her preemptively in GoF, though :p

[sarea-okelani.livejournal.com]

It's not scary -- what you mean is that we have the same impeccable taste in physical beauty. Bwahahahaha.

we classify girls in "good looking" and "not good looking" instinctively and in a blink

D00d, girls do that too. Don't let anyone fool you otherwise. It's true re: looks. There is an indefinable something. I was just saying to sydney_lynne that I think Michelle Kwan is really pretty, but I think mostly that comes from her talent and her attitude. Otherwise I'd probably say she was average.

I'm fairly sure they chose a stunning Cho.

But you see, did they choose a Zhang Ziyi-stunning, or did they choose a Lucy Liu-stunning? That's what worries me. ;)