#asians in hollywood

[joshualunacreations]

The US and its propaganda arm, Hollywood, have always been anti-Asian. Although opportunities are opening up for Asian actors, the underlying messaging—that divides and hurts Asians—hasn't changed.

Not too long ago, AsAms seemed united in outrage against racism and white-washed casting such as Scarlet Johannsen in Ghost in the Shell, Tilda Swinton in Dr. Strange, or Netflix’s Deathnote. Yet as more projects with AAPI leads and casts were produced, this so-called unity proved to be a lie.

The illusion of AsAm unity fell apart with To All the Boys I Loved Before—which was widely celebrated despite its blatant white-worship. The most recent blow comes from Hulu's The Company You Keep, a U.S. remake of a k-drama that replaced the male love interest with a white man.

Once it seemed like AAPI women were getting roles and being “humanized” (i.e. garnering attention and approval from white men on-screen and off) AAPI with media power were satisfied. It didn't matter that AAPI men were still erased and dehumanized—even in supposedly pro-AAPI projects.

Not only do AAPI with media power not care about the continuing harm against AAPI men, they exacerbate it. When AsAms critique anti-Asian narratives—especially ones erasing or targeting AsAm men like TATBILB—they're gaslit, harassed, censored and even permanently blacklisted.

This is because AsAm media is held hostage by the racist framework of the U.S. government's 1942-43 Mixed Marriage Policy. White men's hierarchy—based on perceived threat levels and receptiveness to white assimilation—still dictates Hollywood narratives.

Research confirms that the MMP persists today. A 2015 study shows how gendered racism leads to severe under-representation of Asian men (and Black women). Whereas monoracial Asian men face significant barriers in dating, a 2014 study shows mixed-white Asians get a "bonus effect."

This is why Hollywood execs know there will be less uproar if monoracial Asian men aren't represented—it's been the status quo for decades. In the few roles made for Asian men, they still fall into two categories: pathetic loser or toxic man/villain. In some cases, both.

The hatred and erasure of Asian men is so deeply embedded that it's led to the widespread erasure of AAPI men as victims of anti-Asian hate crimes in recorded stats and media narratives. AAPI journalists know this, yet continue to do nothing to correct it.

So what's next for AsAm representation? In 2022, Janet Yang became president of the Oscars. She's co-founder of Gold House—an AsAm Hollywood collective—and executive producer of Joy Luck Club, a seminal work bashing Asian men as irredeemable misogynists compared to "good" white men.

Many AsAms like Yang want more of Joy Luck Club and similar stories. Amy Tan, author of JLC, has been pushing for years for a sequel with the original cast. A TV series was optioned in 2017, and as of 2022 a movie sequel is to be written by white male screenwriter, Ron Bass.

Stories like Joy Luck Club aren't just bad media—they're dangerous. Arthur Martunovich randomly hammered three AsAm men to death because he saw a movie depicting Chinese men as abusers and he wanted to "protect Chinese women". There's a high chance that movie was JLC.

Hollywood has figured out it’s easy to make anti-Asian films and stifle criticism by hiring Asian tokens to give stamps of approval. An article from 1986 (40 years ago) about AsAm criticism of racism in Big Trouble in Little China shows there's a history of sowing division among AAPI and using government resources to do it. I understand the allure of the Hollywood dream because I used to believe in it myself. From an early age, all marginalized groups—POC, women, LGBTQ+—are taught to fantasize about how we'll finally be accepted and heal the hurt once we get on a big stage and give an award speech. Having experience in Hollywood as a comic creator, I know how people in power (esp. white men) behave. Their goal is to wear you down until you internalize their bigoted messaging, regurgitate it yourself, and then thank them for it. They hate the word "no." Awards don't matter if the content that gets you there ultimately serves bigoted and harmful purposes. In 2020, I made a test for AAPI media. None of the projects so far have passed. That's by design. We think we’re holding the statue, but really, it’s holding us.

Correction: I just noticed a typo in the comic. Inside the Hollywood sign's letter "Y" I meant to say "non-Asians" not "non-whites." Sorry, it was a lot of drawing and writing, and I got tired 🥴 (Please don’t repost or edit my art. Reblogs are always appreciated.)

If you enjoy my comics, please pledge to my Patreon or donate to my Paypal.

https://twitter.com/Joshua_Luna/status/1134522555744866304 https://patreon.com/joshualuna https://www.paypal.com/paypalme2/JoshuaLunaComics

[lostscape]

Seven Samurai, Akira Kurosawa (1954)

[akajustmerry]

not saying anything new but it bugs the shit out of me as a researcher when an article talks about "asian filmmakers in hollywood" and then the filmmakers in question are (almost always) exclusively east asian. like......asia is more than east asia. do americans know that? like it's a 3rd of the world's regions, including the "middle east." i really think the term "asian" is just unhelpful on every level other than as a label for a continent, and should be retired as a term denoting ethnicity or culture, etc

[jesncin]

maws 🤝 caped crusader

squeamishly avoids discussion of racism in the themes they present (insisting on escapism as their reasoning to not talk about it) resulting in white characters accidentally becoming the only marginalized characters.

[sleepynegress]

Manny Jacinto just posted Oshamir fanart on his insta...

[not-your-asian-fantasy]

Anna May Wong

[johnny69150]

GRÂCE PARK

[hyohaehyuk]

So i found out, thanks to this tweet, that Jacob is in the same actor PR agency as Sam and it seems he changed his agency recently, like this year/2024 (dont quote me on this. Maybe he didnt had one before even tho i doubt)

Original tweet from the screenshoot here

Edit: So apparently was not his "actor" agency but his PR agency. I thought the actors agencies was a bit like kpop companies/labels and did everything for them including PR. Didn't even knew that they needed to be signed to a PR agency so they could get publicity

Thanks to the OP ⬇ for clarifying

[hotboyasian]

💪🏻

.

รับชมความฟินเพิ่มเติมได้เลยใน IG : @k_modelx

[fresherfriut]

[tvmusiclife]

Sandra Oh - #BiggestFan Series

Parasite - Oscars 2018

4town Live Performance - Unforgettable Gala

Everything Everywhere All At Once - Oscars 2023

[nihilistikal]

Now would be a good time to remind the world that there are literally other countries in the world producing movies and shows outside of the US of A.

[goatsghost]

something weird about how they handled jordan li’s character is, despite the fact that the show hired two wasian actors, it’s never brought up that they’re half white. like it’d be one thing if they hired one asian actor and one wasian actor that still slightly resembled each other, if that’s who played the part best. but they got two wasian actors (of different races, but that’s expected in hollywood atp) for this role.

they explicitly call jordan “asian” on at least two occasions — which obviously you can, but when they look as mixed as they do, it also makes sense to acknowledge their whiteness as well — and then they cast two clearly fully asian parents for them too

my (asian) dad and i watched ep 3 together and we both paused when the parents showed up, like “????” are we pretending jordan is fully asian when they look the way they do?

[flowerandthesongstress]