I can't separate Audrey Hepburn from Mickey Rooney's "Mr. Yunioshi"

I'm reposting this link from a great old post on Gather.com about the horrifically racist Mr. Yunioshi character in Breakfast at Tiffany's. It was posted a few years ago by a very insightful writer (Gil Asakawa) and, in light of the much-ballyhooed 50th anniversary of the Breakfast at Tiffany's film now being released on Blu-ray in a few months, it definitely still hits the mark. I remember going to see this film with a friend (who happened to be Chinese) when we were in our late teens/early college years. We were so curious to see it after hearing all of the fawning and chatter about Hepburn's character and the New York setting. And when we were finally there, amidst the illuminated pale faces gazing up at the screen, we looked at each other in horror as people all around us began to laugh at the antics of Rooney's portrayal of Mr. Yunioshi. It was just as bad as watching Gone With the Wind and Butterfly McQueen's stereotyped maid role...or the slew of other buffoonish minstrel roles played by blacks in old and present day Hollywood. My friend wanted to disappear and crawl from the theatre. It was a very painful night. And it worsened when a number of asshole guys we knew mimicked Yunioshi at her -- bad teeth, glasses and all -- and did stereotypical "ching-chongy" routines day after day after day. 

I was in a conversation with several people recently and this film came up. All of them, several white women and one white male, cooed and glowed about the movie sharing their favorite scenes, dialogue and especially snickering about Rooney's Yunioshi. When I looked at them utterly baffled and asked the question of whether or not they'd consider the fact that his portrayal was a glaring racist stereotype, can you guess the phrase they tossed back at me?? It wasn't racist, it was a comedy -- you're being too politically correct. Seriously??? Since when is having cultural sensitivity and compassion a BAD thing???? Why is it lately whenever I run into white/anglo folks tossing the politically correct label around, it's always about issues like multicultural studies in schools, objections to racist stereotypes and attention being called to accepting ethnic/religious/sexual/etc. diversity??

Click for the insightful post from Gather.com:

I can't separate Audrey Hepburn from "Mr. Yunioshi"