'Licorice Pizza' Director Responds to Backlash Over Character with Fake Asian Accent

Paul Thomas Anderson is addressing backlash to a character in his movie Licorice Pizza using a fake Asian accent, which prompted an Asian American activist group to call for a boycott.

Licorice Pizza is a coming-of-age story set in 1973 Hollywood, starring Cooper Hoffman and Alana Haim with an ensemble cast that includes Bradley Cooper, Sean Penn, Anderson's real-life partner Maya Rudolph, and more stars. The film is nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.

During an interview with IndieWire, writer/director Anderson, 51, was asked about the negative response to a scene played for laughs when a white restaurant owner (played by Pitch Perfect actor John Michael Higgins) uses an offensive Asian accent to talk to his Japanese wife, switching in and out of the accent.

"It's kind of like, 'Huh?' I don't know if it's a 'Huh' with a dot dot dot. It's funny because it's hard for me to relate to," Anderson said. "I don't know. I'm lost when it comes to that. To me, I'm not sure what they— you know, what is the problem? The problem is that he was an idiot saying stupid s---?"

When the interviewer said the character's "racism could give people permission to laugh at the stereotype, rather than his stupidity," Anderson replied, "Right. Well, I don't know, maybe that's a possibility. I'm certainly capable of missing the mark, but on the other hand, I guess I'm not sure how to separate what my intentions were from how they landed."

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In December, when Licorice Pizza hit theaters, the Media Action Network for Asian Americans called for an awards season boycott of the movie because the accolades could "normalize more egregious mocking of Asians in this country, sending the message that it's okay to make fun of them, even during a time when Asian Americans are afraid to go out on the streets because of the unprecedented levels of violence from fellow Americans blaming them for COVID-19."

MANAA called the particular scenes "cringeworthy" with "casual racism" that are "included simply for cheap laughs."

Anderson was asked about the scenes during a New York Times interview in December.

"I think it would be a mistake to tell a period film through the eyes of 2021. You can't have a crystal ball, you have to be honest to that time," he said at the time. "Not that it wouldn't happen right now, by the way. My mother-in-law's Japanese and my father-in-law is white, so seeing people speak English to her with a Japanese accent is something that happens all the time. I don't think they even know they're doing it."