Why Paul Thomas Anderson included the racist joke in ‘Licorice Pizza’
The filmography of Paul Thomas Anderson is littered with quality, so much so that it can sometimes feel like he is somewhat impervious to criticism. However, after his 2021 romantic comedy-drama Licorice Pizza was released, there was a slight uproar about a racist joke at one point in the movie, with the Asian community feeling the full force.
Anderson’s movie sees Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman make their film debuts alongside the likes of Sean Penn, Tom Waits and Bradley Cooper. It tells of a blossoming relationship that occurs in 1973 between a teenage actor and a woman in her twenties who is going through the early part of adulthood without direction.
While the film was well received critically, it was a box office bomb and did not make good against its $40million budget. The film’s finances were the least of Anderson’s worries at one point, though, because several figures were surprised by the inclusion of a racist joke in the movie, which was out of character for the director.
The moment in question sees John Michael Higgins play a Japanese restaurant owner who ignores the wise suggestions of his Japanese wife and then speaks to her in a condescending and stereotypical Japanese accent. There were a few laughs at the first press screenings of the film, but there were a few shocked faces, too.
In an interview with The New York Times, Anderson referred to the joke and how he never intended any of the film to be provocative, even the wide age gap between Alana and Gary. Still, the interviewer was adamant that the racist joke was itself subversive, but Anderson remained defiant on its inclusion.
“Well, that’s different,” Anderson said. “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. Not that it wouldn’t happen right now, by the way.” Anderson went on to explain he has personal experience of Asian racism through his own family.
“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,” he said. “I don’t think they even know they’re doing it.” Evidently, Anderson wanted to portray 1970s Southern California in the way he remembered it rather than sugar-coat it with today’s moral and social expectations.
