The Politics of Racial Casting -- "Memoirs of a Geisha" and American movies on Asia By Andrew C.C. Huang Contributing Writer (This article originally appeared in Taiwan News on Friday, January 13, 2006) So, what’s race gotta do with it? Well, everything. And exactly how far is “Memoirs of a Geisha” situated from “The World of Suzy Wong”? Pretty close. “The World of Suzy Wong” is a 1960 American movie adapted from a novel written by a Caucasian male writer (Richard Mason). Directed by a Caucasian male director (Richard Quine), the movie traces the mysterious and mythical private life of an Asian prostitute and her love affair with a man. “Memoirs of a Geisha” is a 2005 American movie adapted from a novel written by a Caucasian male writer (Arthur Golden). Directed by a Caucasian male director (Rob Marshall), the movie traces the mysterious and mythical private lives of three Asian prostitutes and their love affairs with men. Luckily, the men have changed from Caucasian m...