Asian-Americans in Hollywood: Late 2010’s and Beyond, A Golden Age of Representation
Throughout this series, we’ve looked at the history of Asian-Americans in Hollywood. From the blatant racism and yellowface of the early 1900s to microaggressions and Whitewashing into the 2000s. The journey of Asian representation in big budget Hollywood movies has not been smooth, to say the least.
However, despite its rocky path, Asian-Americans have persisted and pushed to see change in not only Hollywood movies, but also in society. The Asian community is finally speaking up and making ourselves known as a force to be reckoned with, and this change is evident in the film industry. Up until around 2018, Asian-American representation in Hollywood movies was slim and there was little diversity in the Asian characters we did see on screen. The Asian characters that did exist, however, often showed little to no ties to their Asian identity or were based on harmful stereotypes. This all changed in 2018, where the overwhelming success of a few Asian-lead movies turned the tides and showed Hollywood that our voices matter. In this piece, we’ll be looking primarily at East Asian representation, and while there have been great strides, there is still lots of progress to be made for non-East Asian representation.
“Crazy Rich Asians,” or The Year it All Changed
It all began in Fall of 2018, when Crazy Rich Asians swept the nation; the first all-Asian cast since The Joy Luck Club in 1993. Crazy Rich Asians has a very special place in my heart for a number of reasons. Besides being a fantastic movie on it’s own, Crazy Rich Asians was monumental for our community — it was the first movie in 20 years and the second Hollywood movie of all time to feature an all-Asian cast. Watching the movie in a theater was the most magical movie watching experience I’ve ever had.
It was opening night and it was my friend’s 20th birthday who came to watch the movie with me. The sold out theater was filled with other Asian people just as excited to come out for the Asian community as I was. The energy of the theater was unlike anything I had experienced before. I don’t usually go to opening weekends to see movies, but I wanted this movie to have a good opening weekend to show the world what this movie meant to the Asian community. The iconic opening scene began, and I remember the gasps, “ooohs”, and cheers that filled the theater within the first few minutes of the movie. From the collective gasps at the racist remarks to the full-on cheering for Michelle Yeoh’s stunning performance, there was something about being in that theater with people that understood the nuances of the opening scene that made me feel seen. Throughout the movie, I laughed at Awkwafina’s unique character, I cried during the wedding scene, and I got chills at Gemma Chan’s iconic line (still do every time). And of course, the most magical moment of it all was the breathtaking Mahjong scene that had the entire theater cheering, screaming, clapping, and crying from the flawless delivery of a single monologue. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you, but the rest of the movie was fantastic and by the end I was shaking. As an added bonus, Ken Jeong’s shout out to my alma mater at the dinner scene made me literally scream and start crying in the theater during a part of the movie that did not call for that.
While the movie itself is a masterpiece of its own, there was something very unifying about being in that theater with other Asian people and having the same reactions to nuanced details about the Asian experience. We all laughed together, cried together, and cheered together at this uniquely Asian movie that was able to bring not only the theater, but the entire Asian community together through this common lived experience. Even though the movie was about crazy rich Asians, there were underlying themes that all people could relate to, especially in Asian cultures. In addition to being a huge milestone for the Asian-American community, Crazy Rich Asians also had the numbers to back it up. Within the first few weeks of it’s release, it became the highest grossing romantic comedy in a decade, far surpassing initial estimates. The way that this movie brought together the entire community was a cultural phenomenon and set the course for a golden era of Asian representation.
To All the Movies We’ve Loved Before
Directly after the smash success of Crazy Rich Asians, came another ground-breaking Netflix movie, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before; a movie adaptation of a book series of the same title. To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before (TATBILB) is a romantic comedy about an Asian-American teenage girl who accidentally sends out love letters and fakes a relationship with one of the recipients. Besides Crazy Rich Asians, TATBILB was the first romantic comedy with an Asian-American female lead. What was particularly special about TATBILB was its ability to tell the story of the lead character, Lara Jean, which included her Asian-American identity, without overemphasizing or completely ignoring that identity. It wasn’t an ~Asian-American~ romantic comedy, nor was it a romantic comedy that just so happened to have an Asian lead; it was a romantic comedy that beautifully incorporated an Asian-American identity into it while still making it enjoyable for everyone. Shortly after it’s release, Netflix singled out TATBILB as “one of it’s most viewed original films ever with strong repeat viewing.” TATBILB went on to produce two sequels after the success of the first movie, following the three-book series. This film series easily could have whitewashed Lara Jean’s Asian identity and replaced it with a White female lead, and in fact, they tried. But the book’s author, Jenny Han, insisted that the character be played by an Asian actress to maintain the character’s integrity and identity. Jenny Han said in an interview with TeenVogue that, “one of the biggest struggles with it was to find the right partners who would agree to cast an Asian-American family, and to have Lara Jean, specifically, be Asian. That was the biggest challenge… To me, the more alarming part of it was that people didn’t understand why that was an issue.” A similar scenario happened to Crazy Rich Asians’ author, Kevin Kwan; where producers recommended changing the lead female to a White woman (yes, in a movie called Crazy Rich Asians). Both Han and Kwan’s insistence to maintain the character’s Asian identity is representative of something that wasn’t seen very often in Hollywood, and that paid off in a big way.
The massive success of Crazy Rich Asians and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before within just a few months of each other, along with DC’s Aquaman coming out a few months later, lead the way to a golden era of AAPI representation in Hollywood movies.
The combination of the overwhelming success of Crazy Rich Asians and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, mixed with the failure of recently Whitewashed movies that received massive backlash, signaled to Hollywood executives that the Asian community is a force to be reckoned with. Since then, we’ve seen more AAPI stories being told than ever before, seeing AAPI in never before seen roles, seeing more diversity in the types of Asian stories being told, as well as seeing more AAPI representation behind the screen as well as in front. This golden era is representative of significant change, and will hopefully continue to trend upwards.
AAPI STORIES
Prior to this Golden Era, the number of movies that told AAPI stories was limited. To begin with, most movies didn’t have Asian leads with stories to tell; and the majority of movies that had Asian leads didn’t necessarily tell AAPI stories, but rather had characters who just happened to be Asian, without acknowledging their racial identity. The significance of having Asian lead characters is following them in their journey and diving deeper into the complexities of their character, something not common amongst supporting roles. This shows the complexity and humanity of Asian people, instead of merely being props meant to boost the story of those around them.
Never Before Seen Roles and Genres
Prior to this Golden Era, the roles available for Asian actors and actresses were slim and often subject to harmful stereotypes and typecasts. Throughout this series, we’ve discussed stereotypes such as the Dragon Lady, the Lotus Blossom, the Fu Manchu, and Martial Artists; but also have seen more recent stereotypes and type casts such as the nerd, the best friend/sidekick, the foreigner, or potentially all three. However, within this Golden Era, we’ve been able to see AAPI characters in more diverse and never before seen roles that go beyond racist stereotypes and new genres previously strayed away from such as romantic leads, superheroes, thrillers, and even in animation.
Thanks to many racist stereotypes of the early 1900s and even into the 2000s, Asian people in movies weren’t seen as worthy or capable of love. The emasculation of Asian men vs the hypersexualization of Asian women portrayed Asian people as objects and not worthy of playing lead roles in romance movies. So seeing Asian romantic leads in movies such as Crazy Rich Asians (2018), TATBILB (2018), Last Christmas (2019), Always Be My Maybe (2019), The Half of It (2020), All My Life (2020), Lovebirds (2021), Love Hard (2021), etc was significant and portrayed Asian people as worthy of love.
We’ve also been able to see more Asian representation in superhero movies, such as Aquaman (2018), Shang Chi (2021), and Eternals (2021). This is significant because we get to see Asian people literally become the heroes of their own stories. It’s also important for young children to be able to see this kind of representation in a format that they can enjoy and understand.
The mainstream success and historic 2020 ‘Best Picture’ academy award for Parasite (2019) was significant in showing more diversity of Asian people in different movie genres.
Lastly, we are seeing more representation in animated movies. For years, Disney was the main producer of animated movies that featured AAPI stories such as Mulan (1998), Moana (2016), and Raya and the Last Dragon (2021). But in recent years, we’ve seen AAPI animated movies from other major production studios such as Dreamworks, Netflix, Columbia, and Sony in movies such as Abominable (2019), Over the Moon (2020), and Wish Dragon (2021).
More than Just East Asian
The continent of Asia is made up of over 50 countries, and hundreds of individual unique cultures, yet for the longest time, Hollywood and people in general thought of Asian people as a monolith. In recent years and in Hollywood, we are seeing more diversity in the telling of Asian stories beyond just East Asian; but seeing more South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islander stories being told. Movies such as The Big Sick (2017), Raya and the Last Dragon (2021), and The White Tiger (2021). It’s important to see this kind of diversity within Hollywood and the Asian community because it further emphasizes the fact that we are not a monolith, and Asia is more than just the East.
Behind the Screen
In addition to seeing Asian talent in front of the screen, a lot of the magic also happens behind the scenes. Roles such as Directors, producers, writers, authors, casting agents, animators, and even Hollywood executives that have influence over how and why a movie gets made, is just as important as the onscreen talent that brings it to life. George Clooney once said, “it’s possible for me to make a bad movie out of a good script, but I can’t make a good movie from a bad script.” Within the past few years, we’ve seen some amazing AAPI directors, writers, and producers that have excelled in Hollywood and were integral parts to creating some of our favorite AAPI and non-AAPI stories. Directors such as John M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians, In the Heights), Chloe Zhao (Eternals, Nomadland), Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang Chi, Just Mercy), Bong Joon-ho (Parasite), M. Night Shyamalan (The Last Airbender, Glass, Split), Ang Lee (Life of Pi, Brokeback Mountain), and more. Without the vision and execution of those behind the scenes, Asian stories may never be told. A movie could have an entirely Asian cast, but if those behind it aren’t representative of or don’t fully understand the story they’re telling, then they won’t be able to tell it correctly.
Fake Stories, Real Consequences
While these may just seem like movies, make believe movies can have real consequences. For example, the increase in hate crimes and the #StopAsianHate Movement is an example of the real life consequences that movies can have. Consciously or not, one of the most popular stereotypes towards Asian people is the “Perpetual Foreigner” or the idea that no matter how long you’ve been in America, we’re never really American. I am a fifth generation Japanese-American, and my family has been in this country for over 120 years. Yet in the eyes of most White Americans who may have never met an Asian person in their life, I might have just stepped off the plane from China. As crazy as it may seem, their only exposure to an Asian person could be what they see in movies, on TV, or in the news. But if they were to watch movies like Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Sixteen Candles, and Big Trouble in Little China, that all have racist and problematic depictions of Asian people, that may be their only exposure and skew how they truly see Asian people. These problematic depictions then transfer to daily life, and their prejudice towards Asian people can turn into acts of violence. The recent and unfortunately common phrase of “YOU brought the virus here,” stems from the idea that an Asian person brought the coronavirus to the United States when allegedly “returning back from China,” regardless of where you’re from.
So why does any of this matter? Why spend three articles talking about the history of some Asian people in a movie? This shift in Hollywood is about more than just seeing Asian-Americans on a screen. Movies are a mirrored reflection of our time and what it values. Major motion picture companies wouldn’t spend millions of dollars creating a movie if they knew that it was bad and wouldn’t be socially accepted. AAPI representation is going far beyond the movie screen as Asian-Americans are becoming more prominent in television, music, sports, social media, politics, and every area of our daily lives — areas that they weren’t prominent in before. We are no longer afraid to speak up and make our voices known. After over 100 years in this country, Asian-Americans are realizing that the status quo doesn’t have to be static. Setting limits on roles that Asian-Americans can play in movies puts us in a box, but we’re finally learning to break through the box, create our own destinies, and tell our own stories. We’ve come a long way from the days of yellowface and tolerated racism. While the road to equal and positive representation is long, we’re on an upward trend that doesn’t seem to be going down anytime soon.
