The upcoming blockbuster film The Devil Wears Prada 2 has sparked a racism furore in China over its ‘nerdy “Chin Chou”‘ character.
As part of the promotion of the film, a sequel to the original that was released in 2006, a short clip was shared online in which an Asian assistant character introduces herself as ‘Jin Chao.’
Jin, played by Helen J. Shen, is portrayed to be a ‘nerdy’ woman and describes herself as a graduate of Yale University with a grade point average (GPA) of 3.86.
And her name was mistakenly believed to have been ‘Chin Chou’, which many online believed to have sounded similar to ‘Ching Chong’, a derogatory and racist slur against Chinese people that has been used since the 19th century.
One social media user said: ‘Another racist Hollywood stereotype of Chinese [people]. They called this woman “Chin Chou”. Nobody is called that in China.’
Another wrote in a post seemingly aimed at the movie’s director: ‘Are you really clueless or just doing it on purpose?’
A third said: ‘What kind of name is Chin Chou?’
‘I have lived in the US for over a decade and cannot find any excuse for that name. I planned to watch the film but now I will not,’ another online observer commented.
Jin, played by Helen J. Shen (pictured, left), is portrayed to be a ‘nerdy’ woman in the film
Her name was mistakenly believed to have been ‘Chin Chou’, which many online believed to have sounded similar to a derogatory and racist slur against Chinese people
One internet user questioned the film’s styling of the character, writing: ‘I can rarely see anyone dressing like this in a second-tier Chinese city, and you are telling me a Chinese girl working in fashion industry looks like this.’
‘It’s 2026 already and they can’t even come up with a normal Chinese name,’ another said.
But many hit back at the criticism, saying it was unfounded. One person wrote that it was ‘a bit far-fetched to link “Jin Chao”’ to a slur for Chinese people.
Another bluntly said: ‘Nobody discriminates against you. It is only you feeling low self-esteem.’
So far, the film’s producers, directors and stars, including Shen, have yet commented on the matter.
The film is set to be released in China on April 30. The original film hit China’s silver screens in 2007, taking in £1.1million in its first week.
Since then, it has reportedly become a cult classic in the nation. The South China Morning Post reported that on a Chinese film rating site, 800,000 fans gave it an average score of 8.2 out of 10.
Many said the film ‘enlightened them about career attitude’ and ‘Cured them whenever they felt exhausted.’
And nearly 40,000 people put the sequel in their watch lists.
The Devil Wears Prada 2 is not the first Hollywood film to spark uproar in China for the way directors have chosen to portray East Asian characters on screen.
Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, and Margot Robbie – was scheduled for release in China in October 2019, but was abruptly halted without explanation.
Some believed the Chinese decision stemmed from Tarantino’s depiction of the late martial arts star Bruce Lee, whose family and friends alleged was wrongly portrayed like a caricature.
In July that year, Lee’s daughter Shannon told the Wrap her father ‘comes across as an arrogant asshole who was full of hot air, and not someone who had to fight triple as hard as any of those people did to accomplish what was naturally given to so many others’.
Emma Stone’s casting as Allison Ng, a character of Hawaiian and Chinese heritage, in Cameron Crowe’s 2015 romantic comedy Aloha was also widely criticised.
Responding to the backlash and allegations of whitewashing, Crowe went so far as to apologise ‘to all who felt this was an odd or misguided casting choice’ in a blog post.
Stone also spoke out following the anger, telling an Australian news site: ‘I’ve become the butt of many jokes.’
She continued: ‘I’ve learned on a macro level about the insane history of whitewashing in Hollywood and how prevalent the problem truly is. It’s ignited a conversation that’s very important.’
In defence of her casting, the two-time Oscar winner said: ‘The character was not supposed to look like her background which was a quarter Hawaiian and a quarter Chinese.’
