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Kee Nang
Charlotte Lewis as Kee Nang
First appearanceThe Golden Child (1986)
Last appearanceThe Golden Child (1986)
Adapted byDennis Feldman
Portrayed byCharlotte Lewis
In-universe information
OccupationPriestess
FamilyThe Old Man (father)
Significant otherChandler Jarrell
HomeTibet

Kee Nang is a fictional character who appears in Michael Ritchie's 1986 film The Golden Child. She is portrayed by English actress Charlotte Lewis.[1][2]

Character arc

[edit]

Kee Nang is a young Tibetan priestess who tries to recruit[3] social worker[4] and private investigator Chandler Jarrell (Eddie Murphy[2]) in hope of finding and rescuing a mystical[5] Tibetan boy. The boy, who is only known as "The Golden Child" (J.L. Reate), has been kidnapped[6] by an evil[7] sorcerer (Charles Dance) named Sardo Numspa.[8]

Kee tells[9][10] a skeptical Chandler[11] that it is his destiny[12][13][14] (as it was written in a Tibetan scroll[15] 400-years prior) to find the Golden Child. Chandler at first, plays along but mainly to get close and flirt with Kee,[16] only to soon realize that not only is otherworldly magic real, but so is his destiny.

Chandler was already working on a case[17] involving a missing and eventually murdered girl[18] named Cheryll Mosley, when Kee saw him on television.[19] Sardo Numpa's forces drained Cheryll of blood in order to try and fool the Golden Child into consuming the blood, thus weakening[20] his powers.[21] These powers in particular, consists of telekinesis and the ability to bring dead animals back to life.

When Chandler asks Kee why they were trying to feed the child blood-soaked oatmeal, she responds by saying that she doesn't know but that “There is somebody we could ask about the blood.” This leads the two to an apothecary-type store run by Doctor Hong (James Hong). Downstairs into the brick basement, they meet a mysterious librarian behind a three-paned screen named Kala[22] (Shakti Chen). She tells Chandler that Sardo wants the Golden Child to eat blood because if he polluted himself with anything impure, he would become vulnerable.

Sardo Numpsa later enters Chandler makes a deal with Chandler via a dream sequence, that he will give over the Golden Child if he can retrieve the Ajanti Dagger. Kee Nang meanwhile, is tied-up with toilet paper[23][24] while wearing a black leather bodice. Unbeknownst to Chandler and Kee, is that Sardo needs the dagger to kill the Golden Child.

So Chandler and Kee jet off to Nepal in order to find the dagger. After Chandler succeeds in solving a mythical task of carefully carrying a cup of water while traversing through a dangerous cave,[25] a high priest says to Kee that magnificent Americans have so much power but also, so little understanding of what to do with them. While in Katmandu, Chandler asks Kee's father, the Old Man for some love[26] advice. The Old Man soon gives his blessing to Kee[27] to marry Chandler.

Back in Los Angeles, Chandler and Kee are taken to a safe house. After initially resisting his advances,[28] Kee Nang finally decides to invite Chandler into her bed[29] only for him to decline in favor of sleeping on the couch.[30]

But soon, Sardo and his men arrive and take out the guards. Kee ultimately gives her life to save Chandler from Sardo's crossbow bolt,[31] but not before telling him that she loves him. Doctor Hong and Kala tell Chandler that he has until sundown[32][33][34] to rescue the Golden Child in order to bring Kee back to life.

After locating the Golden Child's location, which is an empty mansion, they are chased by the Sardo, who has transformed into a winged demon.[35] On the way back to the basement of Doctor Hong's shop, where Kee's body is resting, Chandler is able to kill Sardo with the Ajanti Dagger and the Golden Child is able to restore Kee back to life by lifting her foot of into a beam of sunlight, where it touches her toes.[36]

The film concludes with Chandler, Kee, and the Golden Child taking a walk while discussing the child’s return to Tibet and (as Chandler jokingly suggests) the boy’s prospective fame as a stage magician.

Development and background

[edit]

Kee Nang initially appears as a mysterious,[37][38] stoic,[39] non-observant, Westernized woman. Kee is the daughter of “The Old Man” from Tibet (Victor Wong) and she enjoys respect from the secluded Tibetan monks.[40]

Kee is also an expert in kung fu and saves Chandler from a gang of bikers after initially being told to wait in his car.[41][42] Chandler in return, erotically dreams of saving her instead and becoming her hero. She is soon left to question her beliefs[43] as she begins to fall[44] for Chandler.

Kee Nang as a character, arguably represents the Lotus Blossom image, with her sexual availability and idea of exoticism. She in particular, is on the surface, very quiet and meek, yet also holds characteristics of being subservient, and willing to sacrifice herself for Chandler.

Ken Chase was the makeup designer and creator and Steve La Porte was the key makeup artist[45] for Charlotte Lewis in The Golden Child. Lewis is in actuality, primary of white ethnic background being born in the United Kingdom, and her father being half Chilean and half Iraqi. Producer David Kirkpatrick would later write[46] that he nervous about the romantic scene between Charlotte Lewis and Eddie Murphy in The Golden Child. Kirkpatrick added that Lewis was a lovely British actress with a dark complexion. She as previously noted, was Irish, Chilean, and Iranian. And when there was a kiss between her and Murphy, no one, according to Kirkpatrick ripped up the seats. So he felt that they he had found the right girl to kiss the black star.

Charlotte Lewis was at the time, an 18-year-old model-turned-actress.[47][48][49] A Los Angeles Daily News article dated on March 25, 1986, announced[50] Charlotte Lewis as the final choice for the role of Kee Nang and claimed it would be the “first time Eddie Murphy has been romantically involved on screen.” The casting director for Pirates recommended her The Golden Child. Lewis was selected from over 500 applicants.[51] Lewis was paid[52] $150,000 (a little under £100,000) for The Golden Child.

Eddie Murphy when describing the film said[53] that “It’s about this guy who was living his normal life and this person comes and says, ‘You are the chosen one. You’ve been chosen to save the world.’ He's like, ‘Really?’ My character throughout the whole picture is reluctant to go on this journey. He starts to slowly believe what this woman is telling him. There are strong contrasts in the film. Charlotte's character, Kee Nang, is a mystical, magical person. My character is this guy with strong common sense solving an illogical thing with logic. It's a nice contrast.”

Meanwhile, Lewis said[54] that she actually thought that she was going to Tibet since that was where The Golden Child was set. In actuality, the Tibet as seen in The Golden Child was to be a set at Paramount, with a little location shooting at a ski resort called Mammoth Mountain five hours from Los Angeles. According to Lewis, so much money was spent re-creating Tibet in California that it would have been cheaper to actually fly to the country.

Karen Elaina Price was Charlotte Lewis' stunt double for The Golden Child, mainly providing Kee Nang's flips. Otherwise, Lewis would claim[55] that did all of her character's fight scenes herself. Yūko Mizutani did the Japanese dubbing for Charlotte Lewis. In the scene where Sardo is the aiming the crossbow at Chandler as he's running, Kee can be spotted[56] hiding behind a post, seemingly looking to the side and waiting for her turn to get into the shot.

Legacy and allusions

[edit]

Aiden Mason of TV Overmind suggested[57] that Kee Nang bore similarities to Chun-Li from Capcom's Street Fighter video game series. In August 2020, Lovell Porter from the website Blaque Rabbit, suggested[26] that Jessica Henwick should play Kee Nang in a hypothetical remake[58] of The Golden Child.

Reception

[edit]

Dave Kehr of the Chicago Tribune said[59] that Eddie Murphy's companion as played by Charlotte Lewis, is a beautiful Eurasian woman who leaps, chops and backflips with all the unflappable springiness of Bruce Lee, but director Michael Ritchie employs her chiefly as cheesecake.[60][61][62] Kehr particularly made note that when Lewis bounds through the air, it's merely an excuse to look up her dress.

Michael Wilmington of the Los Angeles Times wrote[63] that as the inscrutable kung fu princess Kee Nang, the fetching Charlotte Lewis hardly qualifies as a straight woman to Eddie Murphy.[64]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times said[65] that Lewis as the preternaturally beautiful heroine Kee Nang, won her an audience of dozens in Roman Polanski's Pirates and that The Golden Child will likely do a lot better. Ebert added that Lewis looks very beautiful, and because that is her role in this movie, she fulfills it flawlessly. Lewis also according to Ebert, succeeds in keeping a straight face[66] while Eddie Murphy uses her as the subject of speculation, rejection, romance and betrayal, and while she uses her effortless mastery of kung fu to protect him.

Candice Russell of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel believed[67] that the love that Eddie Murphy's Chandler Jarrell feels for Kee Nang is perplexing. Russell went further by saying that she may be an exotic full-lipped beauty but she has the demeanor of an ice princess who doesn't thaw out or even kiss him till the final scene. Russell believed that the scantiest credibility of their romance is hurt because she treats Jarrell like a dimwitted servant.

Leonard Maltin in his review of The Golden Child, simply wrote[68] that Charlotte Lewis was more wooden[69] than most ex-models. Meanwhile, Paul Attanasio of the Washington Post wrote[70] that Lewis is simply a prop in an affair that is less a romance than an a' la carte order of Murph 'n' Turf.

Janet Maslin of the New York Times said[71] that Charlotte Lewis, who would be better off left to simply stand by and look statuesque, is forced to simulate some exceptionally fake-looking gymnastics. And she according to Maslin, is no less credible doing back-flips than Eddie Murphy is talking to a character who's supposed to be half-dragon.

Nadia Ramoutar in a 2006 study from the University of Florida noted[72] that Charlotte Lewis' character in The Golden Child can leap over tall walls or from high buildings, usually just wearing Eddie Murphy’s shirt and her underwear.

Liz Bourke of Tor.com complained[73] that Kee Nang's role in the film represents a really specific yet irritatingly common brand of seemingly-progressive-but-actually-sexist portrayals of female characters that in her mind, no one seems to have named yet. Bourke said that it's a slightly more evolved modern version of the trope in which exactly one female is allowed per a giant cast of males. Not only that, but Bourke questioned why Kee wasn't actually the hero of the film instead of the supposed "Chosen One" in Chandler Jarrell.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Attanasio, Paul (December 12, 1986). "'The Golden Child' (PG-13)". The Washington Post.
  2. ^ a b Angeli, Michael. "Brit Force". Playboy. 40 (7) pp. 132–140. July 1993. ISSN 0032-1478.
  3. ^ Powers, Stephen P. (19 February 2018). Hollywood's America: Social And Political Themes In Motion Pictures. Routledge. ISBN 9780429973352.
  4. ^ Scheib, Richard. "The Golden Child (1986)". Moria Reviews.
  5. ^ Molinari, Kamm, Matteo, Jim (2002). Oops! They Did It Again!: More Movie Mistakes That Made the Cut. Citadel Press. ISBN 9780806523200.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ Gonzales, Dillon (January 18, 2021). "Paramount Presents 'The Golden Child' Blu-Ray Review – A Subdued Eddie Murphy Dips A Toe Into Fantasy". Geek Vibes Nation.
  7. ^ Rideout, T.D. (August 28, 2020). "The Golden Child (1986) – Micheal Ritchie". The Mind Reels.
  8. ^ Hemmert, Kylie (November 25, 2020). "ComingSoon's Eddie Murphy Movie 4-Pack Giveaway!". ComingSoon.net.
  9. ^ "Central Michigan Life, 16 January 1987". Central Michigan University History. January 16, 1987.
  10. ^ Budd, David H. (27 July 2010). Culture Meets Culture in the Movies: An Analysis East, West, North and South ... McFarland. p. 98. ISBN 9780786483150.
  11. ^ Logo, Tau (September 21, 2020). "The Golden Child". VisArt.
  12. ^ Budd, David H. (27 July 2010). Culture Meets Culture in the Movies: An Analysis East, West, North and South ... McFarland. p. 98. ISBN 9780786483150.
  13. ^ "HMM '13: The Golden Child". Peanut Butter and Awesome. October 16, 2013.
  14. ^ Armstead, Christopher. "The Golden Child". Film Critics United.
  15. ^ Mcganney, Abigail M. (December 18, 1986). "Cinema Veritas". The Harvard Crimson.
  16. ^ Campbell, Brendan (December 7, 2020). "Blu-ray Review: The Golden Child". Inside Pulse.
  17. ^ Karella, Todd (December 3, 2020). "The Golden Child Blu-ray Review: A Classic Callback to When Films Were Fun". Cinema Sentries.
  18. ^ "The Golden Child". Absolutely Pointless.
  19. ^ "The Golden Child". Trak.tv.
  20. ^ "Celebrating 30 years Of Eddie Murphy's "The Golden Child"". The Shadow League. December 13, 2016.
  21. ^ Prisco, Brian (September 2, 2010). "Always Bet On Black". Pajba.
  22. ^ "The dragon lady librarian in 'The Golden Child' (1986)". Reel Libriarians. June 26, 2019.
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  25. ^ Molinari, Kamm, Matteo, Jim (2002). Oops! They Did It Again!: More Movie Mistakes That Made the Cut. Citadel Press. p. 112. ISBN 9780806523200.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  26. ^ a b Porter, Lovell (August 18, 2020). "Blaque Rabbit At The Movies: Casting The Golden Child Remake". BLAQUE RABBIT.
  27. ^ "The Golden Child". Quotes.
  28. ^ Siskel, Gene (December 12, 1986). "EDDIE MURPHY'S THE REAL GOLD IN 'GOLDEN CHILD'". Chicago Tribune.
  29. ^ "The Golden Child (1986)". Movie House Memories. October 4, 2018.
  30. ^ Baker, Bell-Metereau, Aaron, Rebecca (2010). Acting for America: Movie Stars of the 1980s. Rutgers University Press. p. 135. ISBN 9780813547596.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  31. ^ "Blair's Girls: Kee Nang". Polar Blair's Den.
  32. ^ "Bullet Points: The Golden Child". Bulletproof Action. September 2, 2019.
  33. ^ Jackson, Panama (December 30, 2017). "The Golden Child Is One of the Most Awesome Terrible Movies Ever". The Root.
  34. ^ Anderson, Troy (December 27, 2020). "THE GOLDEN CHILD (1986) - PARAMOUNT PRESENTS BLU-RAY REVIEW". Anderson Vision.
  35. ^ Gentry, Geoff (February 17, 2018). "TC160 – Breakout Eddie Murphy – "The Golden Child"". Golden Spiral Media.
  36. ^ Faust, Anthony (July 28, 2016). "5 Plot Point Breakdown: The Golden Child (1986)". The Script Lab.
  37. ^ Reiman, Tom (December 26, 2020). "Why 'The Golden Child' Is One of the Strangest Movies Eddie Murphy Ever Made". Collider.
  38. ^ Clarke, Terreece. "The Golden Child". Common Sense Media.
  39. ^ Grau, Meredith (November 27, 2013). "Review: THE GOLDEN CHILD (1986)". Bad Movie Nite. Archived from the original on August 10, 2016.
  40. ^ Dian, Ying (April 15, 2011). "Parodying the Oriental Monk in "The Golden Child"". Cinematique.
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  42. ^ Mobarak, Jared (August 9, 2014). "REVIEW: The Golden Child (1986)". Jared Mobarak.
  43. ^ Lucas, Darren (September 7, 2020). "ABC Film Challenge – 80's Movies – G – The Golden Child (1986) Movie Review". Movies Review 101.
  44. ^ "Underrated Gem: The Golden Child (1986)". The Action Elite. October 21, 2020.
  45. ^ "racechanging: various Asian characters". theMAKEUPgallery.
  46. ^ "The Black White Romance Thing in Pop Culture…It's getting better, isn't it?". David Paul Kirkpatrick's Living In The Metaverse. August 11, 2012.
  47. ^ Cruise, Chad (September 6, 2017). "Women of Action: Charlotte Lewis – The Golden Child". Bulletproof Action.
  48. ^ Rabin, Nathan (July 19, 2013). "The forgotten blockbuster The Golden Child marks the beginning of Eddie Murphy's "not trying" phase". The Dissolve.
  49. ^ "'The Golden Child' (1986): Axel Foley battles the supernatural". MOVIES & DRINKS.
  50. ^ "THE GOLDEN CHILD". AFI Catalog.
  51. ^ Cormier, Roger (December 12, 1986). "14 Illuminating Facts About The Golden Child". Mental Floss.
  52. ^ White, Stuart (August 8, 1999). "Wild Child: Charlotte Lewis full-text interview". aregledujeu.org.
  53. ^ Topel, Fred (December 1, 2020). "Eddie Murphy Once Said This '80s Movie Had 'The Best Script I've Ever Read'". Cheat Sheet.
  54. ^ White, Stuart (August 8, 1999). "Wild Child: Charlotte Lewis full-text interview". laregledujeu.org.
  55. ^ Sanello, Frank (January 3, 1987). "Lewis Is 'Golden Child'". Portsmouth Daily Times. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
  56. ^ "The Golden Child (1986)". Movie Mistakes.
  57. ^ Mason, Aiden (February 1, 2017). "7 Video Game Characters That Must Have Been Inspired by Movie Characters". TV Overmind.
  58. ^ "FAN CASTING The Golden Child (2020)". myCast. May 12, 2020.
  59. ^ Kehr, Dave (December 14, 1986). "MORE THAN ANYTHING, 'THE GOLDEN CHILD' IS DROSS". Chicago Tribune.
  60. ^ Anguiano, Isabelle (December 9, 2020). "BLU-RAY REVIEW: "THE GOLDEN CHILD" IS A SILLY, LIGHT-HEARTED FILM THAT DEFINITELY HAILS FROM THE '80S".
  61. ^ "My dear, sweet brother Numsie!". Now in Full Color. May 18, 2013.
  62. ^ "Eddie Murphy: Child Detective". The Movie Scene.
  63. ^ Wilmington, Michael (December 12, 1986). "Tarnished Script Mars Murphy Luster in 'The Golden Child'". Los Angeles Times.
  64. ^ "Episode #195 – The Golden Child". flophousepodcast.com. January 9, 2016.
  65. ^ Ebert, Roger (December 12, 1986). "The Golden Child".
  66. ^ "Episode 167: The Golden Child (1986)". twogeeksandagit.com. September 2, 2019.
  67. ^ Russell, Candice (December 15, 1986). "'THE GOLDEN CHILD' TARNISHES MURPHY'S CAREER". South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
  68. ^ Maltin, Leonard (4 September 2012). Leonard Maltin's 2013 Movie Guide: The Modern Era. Penguin. ISBN 9781101604632.
  69. ^ Rother, George (November 27, 2020). "The Golden Child". Movie Guy 247.
  70. ^ Attanasio, Paul (December 12, 1986). "Golden Child': Murphy's Law". The Washington Post.
  71. ^ Maslin, Janet (December 12, 1986). "SCREEN: 'GOLDEN CHILD'". The New York Times.
  72. ^ "Hollywood films portray biracial couples negatively if shown at all". University of Florida News. October 11, 2006.
  73. ^ Butler, Leigh (December 8, 2016). "Go On Home and Stop Smoking Scrolls: The Golden Child". Tor.com.
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