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"A series of interchangeable Japanese wives seems meant as a joke about the character’s racism, but the joke lands gracelessly"

Licorice Pizza has come under fire for a scene featuring a fake Asian accent.

In the scene, a white businessman played by John Michael Higgins speaks mimics an Asian accent to his on-screen wife who is Japanese.

Later in the film, the character appears with a new Japanese wife and once again imitates an Asian accent.

Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza is a comedy film starring Alan Haim, Cooper Hoffman, Sean Peen, Bradley Cooper, Tom Waits and more.

It tells the coming-of-age tale of two young people growing up in the San Fernando Valley in California in the 1970s.

Critic Dana Stevens highlighted the racist scene in here review, stating, “a running gag about a white restaurant owner with a series of interchangeable Japanese wives seems meant as a joke about the character’s racism, but the joke lands gracelessly.”

Culturally Relevant podcast host David Chen wrote on Twitter, “Picture this: You’re watching LICORICE PIZZA. It’s brilliant. Then, early on, a buffoonish character drops an Asian caricature. The (mostly white) audience laughs. And now you gotta think about that laughter the rest of the film.”

Director and screenwriter Karen Maine also tweeted,  “there’s an incredibly racist, seemingly pointless (other than a cheap laugh, which it got at the screening I was at) scene that mocks Asian accents.”

Licorice Pizza opens today in theatres.