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Expect Stereotypes as South Asians Make U.S. Film, TV Debuts
PNS Youth Media Commentary
By Christine Wong Yap, Pacific News Service
Indian Americans and others with South Asian heritage are watching American pop
culture incorporate more South Asian music, culture and talent. But that visibility, the
writer says, comes with a price.
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From Bhangra beats in hip hop to
American-born Indian actress Tanveer Atwall in Matrix Revolutions, South Asians
are primed to stage a cultural coup in U.S. movies and television. But as a Chinese
American artist who carefully watches media representations of Asians, I know that higher
visibility in mass culture can be disappointingly superficial.
I'm fed up with the tired stereotypes and one-dimensionality forced upon Asian Americans
in art and media. My range of life experiences is much greater than my Asian heritage, but
still see characters whose Asian-ness defines instead of describes them -- remember that
yellow Power Ranger? South Asian Americans looking forward to seeing faces like theirs in
the next big Hollywood hit might consider the following:
1. A little visibility only goes a little way.
Not too long ago, Asian actors were usually seen playing crooks and coolies. Then Bruce
Lee brought a cool Asian face to American pop culture with kung fu. But Lee's popularity
ensured that non-Asian people knew one thing -- and sometimes one thing only -- about
Asian culture. Growing up in a rural, mostly-white town, I was constantly asked by my
classmates if I knew kung fu. Bruce lives on in the popular imagination, but his dream of
racial understanding is still a long ways off.
2. Stereotypes play a role in casting.
Pat Morita has acted with an Asian accent for decades. But Morita, best known for playing
Mr. Miyagi in the "Karate Kid" movies, was born in the United States and doesn't
have an accent -- nor does he typically respond to questions with obtuse, sage-like
answers. While Morita's ability is admirable, pigeonholing only reinforces racist
assumptions.
And Asian American actors can even catch flack for playing three-dimensional characters.
When the independent Asian American film "Better Luck Tomorrow" -- a kind of
dark, amoral coming-of-age story -- screened at Sundance 2002, a critic alleged that
minorities have a responsibility to portray their races in a positive light. Who knew that
exploring the human condition -- and not just our conditions as Asian Americans -- would
make people so uncomfortable?
3. Ladies in free.
Lucy Liu is a successful actress who in some sense has broken free of stereotypical Asian
American roles. But that's because she's playing a sexpot. Tons of pretty girls, including
exoticized non-whites, inspire movie-house ogling. Too bad Liu isn't doing more memorable
things than playing a giggling, goofy Charlie's angel who kicks ass in tight clothes.
Remember, there's only one Quentin Tarantino giving work to one Pam Grier, while countless
other aging pretty girls disappear from Hollywood like yesterday's news. If beautiful
South Asian women gain Hollywood's attention, it doesn't mean South Asian actors are
gaining respect.
4. No guys need apply.
Despite Newsweek's notorious declaration that (East) Asian men were the trophy boyfriends
of 2000, Asian men are still a rare sight in TV and movies. There are exceptions: Pat
Morita, Yao Ming, Keanu Reeves, Hank Azaria (Oops! He's not Asian, though he plays one on
TV...) and various Hong Kong action stars who were already hugely popular before making
stateside landfill like "Bulletproof Monk" and "Shanghai Knights."
Last year my husband yelled, "Hey! There's an Asian guy on TV!" The WB's
"Off Centre" -- a sitcom about three sex-craved roommates -- starred John Cho as
Chow. Perhaps the only recent Asian American male leading role on primetime TV, Cho played
a happy-go-lucky goofball. In other words, he was comic relief. Hollywood producers better
make room for South Asian males beyond Apu of "The Simpsons."
5. Vulnerability accompanies visibility.
NBA basketball star Yao Ming's sudden popularity exemplifies two things: Asian Americans'
desire to see themselves reflected in mass culture, and Asian "outsider" status
reinforced by other minorities. Shaquille O'Neal's controversial Chinglish gibberish aimed
at Ming last year echoes the interracial tension seen in hip hop.
I'm saddened that black rappers can't seem to get enough of "Ching Chong
Chinaman" jokes. Many hip-hop artists have a love/hate relationship with Asian
culture, appropriating kung fu and samurai mythology on albums that feature
Chinaman-in-the-ghetto bits. Sadly, the black experience of racism in Asian-owned stores
in the hood is often real. But Chinaman Chinglish is dumb, racist and belies false
assumptions (such as all Asians are Chinese, or all Asians are recent immigrants).
In light of the cultural misunderstanding in the post-911 era, I hope their growing
visibility in mass culture will allow South Asian Americans to correct stereotypes and
have a stronger voice in national dialogs on race. We don't need any more grinning
comic-relief sidekicks, over-done accents or "exotic" hotties. But I doubt Apu
will be packing up his Kwik-E Mart any time soon.
Also of Interest @ Asian-American
Village
PNS contributor Christine Wong Yap, 26, is an art
director and associate editor for YO! Youth Outlook (www.youthoutlook.org), a
magazine by and about Bay Area youth and a PNS project.
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