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ferallion · 8 years

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Yellow Facing: Start The Conversation. Part I.

There's a been a lot of discussion about yellow facing in Hollywood and to a lesser degree the American music industry. This issue goes back over a century. True to the entertainment industry, we are good enough for the stereotypical villains, sidekicks, or sexualized roles but not good enough to be included in role of romantic interest, hero, or lead. Don’t get me wrong there are some awesome villains and sidekicks but don’t restrict Asians to just those roles.

Now this isn't some PC rant to say that no one else can portray a particular role. This is saying that an apathetic practice that has been accepted for far far too long is still tolerated. It needs to stop. It needs to change. There are a lot of very skilled Asian actors who could be promoted as stars within Hollywood but it is not happening.

Really quick I want to say that as far as humor goes, you have to laugh at yourself, even your racial quirks. We are too up tight as a society and need to loosen up and poke fun at things. The type of humor that would be wrong, as an example, would be Mickey Rooney's role as a Japanese landlord in Breakfast At Tiffany's. While a great film, and a product of its time, this kind of humor is not funny. In fact it is uncomfortable and personally hurts to watch.

CLOUD ATLAS:

This brings up another point. The movie Cloud Atlas had the cast portraying their characters in different eras and races. I wasn't insulted by that at all because it fit the story and to be honest it was fun to see these talented actors take on these challenging roles. When their characters were Korean, it didn't bother me because these Asian characters were normal, they were not hurtful insulting caricature of Asians. They were portrayed as human beings, not a stereotype. GHOST IN THE SHELL & DR. STRANGE: Take the Ghost in the Shell controversy that is currently lighting up social media. A lot of people are missing the original point of the conversation. Which has unfortunately started to get buried under the blanket of white washing. A separate issue where its unique eccentricities are being used to excuse yellow facing.

Scarlett Johansson is an accomplished actress and plays a great strong female lead. I like her as an actress. Black Widow is one of my favorite characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It would be wrong to say she should not have been given the opportunity to play the role or that she is not qualified. She in fact is qualified. I think she looks great as the Major. The point is that yet again (over the course of around a 100 years of cinema) an Asian role is being given to someone who is not Asian. I am not saying no one should be given the opportunity to portray a character outside of their race. If we lived in a world where Asian actors and actress' were being given equal opportunity to be the heroes, romantic interests, or staring leads, the whole casting controversy of Ghost in the Shell and Dr. Strange (though not without it's own unique set of issues) would be non issues because quite frankly the actress' chosen are qualified to play those roles. I hope people will give them the benefit of the doubt and not leap to conclusions that do not help the conversion move past the present and forward toward a brighter future.

What the Asian community is upset about (it takes a lot to get us visibly upset) is that this has been occurring in an environment where we have been ignored or sidelined for so long that these new incidence of yellow facing are just more examples to pile on top of the already long history of Asians being sidelined by an industry that largely regards us as not marketable. Which is a polite way of saying "Your racial background is not appealing unless you fit into the clearly defined stereotypes we think are appropriate for Asians. Oh by the way please sign this form that states that we do not discriminate on the basics of race, religion, etc etc etc." In other words, politely accept the status quo, stop over reacting, and know your place. I think a lot of this comes from a lack of understanding about the subject and how it impacts the Asian community, one's identity growing up, and the wider division this creates within our American society. It's not right. It needs to stop. It's time to turn it around. Growing up, most Asian faces I saw on screen, that I could identify with, were from China or Japan. Don't get me wrong Bruce Lee and Toshiro Mifune are awesome to look up to. Unfortunately there were very very few Americans on screen that I could look at and say hey they look like me and I can dream big and be that character. Now this may seem like an exaggeration but it's not. Think about it. For the most part American Asians have to turn to other countries, not their own, in order to see themselves accepted on screen or in music as the stars. How unfortunate is that? Now I was brought up to not see a distinction between any other American but eventually the idealism of childhood gives way to the realities of life as you begin to see some of its ugliness as you grow up and mature & learn to deal with this complexity.

As an American I can look at actors and think I can be a gunfighter, romantic interest, or super hero. As an American Asian I'm told, "Sorry no Asians allowed." (Reminds me of the sort of things that my Grandparents experienced during WWII) or "Wait you need a sword and martial arts." or "How come you don't have an accent." but the worst is "We're going to make fun of you because well, that's all your worth.....a pathetic, cheap laugh." Seeing Asian women portrayed as nothing more than sexual objects because of the short sighted, immature, ignorance of an industry is equally infuriating.

ASIAN ACTORS: One actor that I loved watching growing up, was George Takei of Star Trek fame. Why? Well he was American, he was on a science fiction show, he had an important role on a warship, and he was not required to speak with an accent. Mr. Sulu was respected and treated like any other member of an international crew. Ironic how different that still is over 50 years later in American society.

Star Trek 6 was one of my favorite movies in the ST franchise. Why? Mr. Sulu was a fleet officer, the captain of a capital starship. Coming from a navy tradition in my family (which I would later join and become a navy veteran myself) this was fantastic to see as a kid. I gravitated toward that character and played those scenes over and over because there were so very few characters like him. Everywhere else I looked as a kid there were hardly any other Asian characters that I could look up to and think, yeah, that's ok to have as part of my identity as an Asian American. Pat Morita on Happy Days was great, he owned a restaurant. On M*A*S*H he was a Korean officer. Then one of my all time favorite movie franchises came out. Karate Kid. Mr. Miyagi was not only a wise mentor, retired worker, but he was an American war veteran and Medal of Honor recipient. Keanu Reaves is part Asian, like me, and watching him play the roles he does has been great. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa and BD Wong are other actors I enjoy watching.

Ming Na Wen in Shield. Lucy Liu in Elementary. Grace Park in Battle Star Galactica and Hawaii 5 O. Among others, I love watching. These are strong female roles they’ve taken on and it breaks the stereotype.

The Asian community has a ton of great entertainers who are not being given the chance to expand their talents and grow as entertainers simply because they happen to look different and refuse to fit into a stereotypical box. This isn't a call to go around boycotting, initiate some sort of ridiculous industry quota based on race, or to be rude to people. We have enough of that kind of stupid nonsense going on and we do not need that kind of negativity. It is simply a call to common sense. Thoughtful conversation and action to bring about change.

Also, please include us in your conversations. While it's greatly appreciated that there are a lot of conversations taking place in social media, we've noticed that many social media shows (looking at you Youtube) or podcasts have forgotten to invite the Asian community to the conversation. Not trying to stir up any guilt or slam well intentioned people but when I see a vast majority of other Americans talking about what they think their fellow Americans of Asian decent think about yellow facing and we aren't there to participate and reply to the different aspects of this issue, then it puts us in the same place that we've been trying to get changed for decades now. Again, genuinely not attacking anyone, just putting it out there so people can make the choice to change.

We in the American Asian community have a voice, we do have our opinions & perspectives, and this does involve us. So invite us to the conversation. Not just temporarily but permanently. Promise, we're normal =^^=

#yellow facing #ferallion

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