Film Portrayals of Asian Men Are Evolving Beyond Stereotypes
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September 11, 2024
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For years, Asian Americans have been documented as caricatures through the “white gaze.” They’re often depicted as emasculating tech geeks who are socially awkward, and lacking in romantic appeal, and, if they happen to like someone, they’ll get rejected quicker than they can solve 1+1. Just take a look at Long Duk Dong from Sixteen Candles (1984).
Long Duk Dong from the 1984 film Sixteen Candles, widely criticized for perpetuating negative Asian stereotypes, as his portrayal relies heavily on exaggerated accents and mannerisms (Image Source: Universal Pictures).
That seeming lack of nuanced portrayals was increasingly a benchmark for every Asian male cast- side characters that add no value but purely humor for the story. However, the rise of Crazy Rich Asians may not be the perfect stereotype-breaker; it definitely made a change in bringing Asian males to the forefront of romance.
According to a new study from the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, there has been a considerable increase in AAPI characters in films, rising from 3.4% to 15.9% between 2007 and 2022. You can see this specific buzz in global blockbusters like Parasite and Everything Everywhere All at Once, which, along with the boom of K-pop, Squid Game, anime, and Indian cinema, contribute to the bursting allure of Asian entertainment.
Simu Liu stars as the title character in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (Image Source: Jasin Boland/Marvel Studios).
This was one of the few times Hollywood truly let Asians showcase their talent. Their roles are more diverse, multidimensional, and resonant—sometimes even diaristic—as they gradually gain more control over their narratives.
Joel Kim Booster’s 2022 film Fire Island, which he both wrote and starred in, was a self-affirming act of a gay Asian American man, grounded in personal experience and insecurities. Alongside Booster, actors like Randall Park, Kumail Nanjiani, and Simu Liu have taken on roles that challenge traditional stereotypes, playing superheroes and romantic leads that are not always ethnically centric. Sean Wang’s 2024 critically-acclaimed movie Dìdi also looks into the complex growing-up experience of an Asian American man, carving out new territories in the monotonous Asian-led narratives.
Fire Island (2022) is a rom-com directed by Andrew Ahn, starring Joel Kim Booster, Bowen Yang, and Margaret Cho. It follows a group of gay friends on vacation, exploring romance and class struggles (Image Source: Searchlight Pictures).
Yet in spite, representation remains uneven, with many characters still marginalized. The road to diverse and well-portrayed depictions of Asian American men continues, hopefully with more individuals and organizations to create and support the community.
With the rise of streaming platforms like Netflix, more eyes are on the global moviescape, particularly from Asian audiences, the fastest-growing population in the world. While well-rounded representation still has a long way to go, the current strides for AAPI talents are promising and appealing.
Lori Matsukawa, a former Hawaii resident, and Seattle news anchor received the ‘Order of the Rising Sun Sun, Gold and Silver Rays’, one of Japan’s highest honors.
The award was for her contribution to promoting Japan-U.S. friendship. “This is a true honor and thrill for me because for the last several years, I’ve been really working hard to connect people in Japan and people in the United States on a person-to-person basis,” Matsukawa told KING 5.
The award was more generally bestowed upon distinguished members of the Japanese military since 1875, but in 2003, the honor was extended to women.
Matsukawa was a well-known journalist for the Seattle media and KING 5, as well as a former president of the Japanese Cultural & Community Center of Washington. She brought to light important events in Japanese American history, particularly those that occurred during World War II, through her reporting.
Her Emmy-award-winning documentaries centered on the detention of Japanese people in the Pacific Northwest during World War II.
Matsukawa was also instrumental in founding a chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association.
King County has designated June 29, 2019, as Lori Matsukawa Day in honor of her retirement.
A $95 million lawsuit has been filed against a restaurant owner behind several top East Village Japanese restaurants, Shuji Bon Yagi for allegedly sexually assaulting an employee this winter.
The lawsuit was filed by Nozomi Horikoshi, a top executive at Yagi’s restaurant group T.I.C., who claims Yagi allegedly assaulted her while she had passed out after a night of drinking and could not consent, according to the New York Post.
According to the allegations made in her file, Horikoshi, who has been employed by the well-known restaurateur for close to a decade, stated that he invited himself to celebrate the birthday of another female colleague “knowing that his wife was in Japan throughout the weekend.”
Horikoshi claimed that her boss forced her into a taxi sometime after 2:00 a.m. and then began groping, caressing, and attempting to kiss her when she was very intoxicated. She “tried to push Yagi off her and told him to stop, but due to her level of intoxication, the plaintiff eventually lost consciousness inside the taxi,” the filing alleges.
Yagi reportedly drove her directly to his residence on West 58th Street, as obtained from the GPS information from Horikoshi’s cell phone. Horikoshi ultimately awoke with her employer allegedly resting on top of her while she was naked from the waist down.
“I realized I was naked from the waist down … that was so embarrassing.” The 51-year-old married mother of three told the New York Post, “I was like what happened? I have to go home. I knew that something happened already,” she continued. “There was a feeling of shame.”
Horikoshi’s attorney claimed the lawsuit was about “power and accountability” for Yagi, a high-profile businessman renowned for influencing Japanese cuisine in New York.
Dubbed an “East Village ambassador for Japanese cuisine” by the New York Times, Yagi’s restaurants include Rai Rai Ken, Cha-An, Sobaya, and Bar Decibel.
Have you ever thought of opening a business during a recession? How about during the pandemic? Well, this lionhearted momma just did that!
Filipino-American Mariel Black started her baking business, Sinful Treats, in June 2009, at the peak of the recession — everyone thought she was crazy to start a business at that time. She had only one product to sell, some unknown Filipino pastry called ‘Food for the Gods’. “No one knew what it was. I had to tell people, ‘it’s like a blondie with dates and walnuts’” she said. Starting out as an online bakery, she gave out samples to whoever was open to trying her product. People never heard of it, but once they tasted it, they loved it!
Because everyone was hurting during the recession, she found that people were more inclined to help each other. Soon, a few coffee shops agreed to carry her products, and she also kept selling online.
“This photo marks the beginning of our Sinful Treats adventure. My boys have been involved since Day 1.” -Mariel
Her big break came in 2011 when the Railroad Museum in Old Sacramento ordered 19,800 Snickerdoodle cookies for their main holiday event, The Polar Express. A year before that, she took her 4-year-old son on the train ride, where they served cookies and hot cocoa just like in the movie, Polar Express. He took one bite of the cookie, then he told her that she should make the cookies. “Ah, the power of suggestion, from a 4-year-old!” Mariel exclaimed.
She talked to the coordinators and gave them cookie samples and they loved them. The following year, they ordered 19,800 Snickerdoodles. “I said YES, even if at that time,” she said, “I had no kitchen and no employees to help me. I had a couple of months to figure out how to make it happen.”
She rented a kitchen in a restaurant at night and asked friends to help, “I had a crew of 5 people. Like little elves, we’d bake all night while the restaurant was closed.” They only had one oven with 2 racks, only able to bake 48 cookies every 12 minutes. The cookies were baked from scratch, scooped by hand, packaged individually, sealed with a heat sealer, and labeled — all 19,800 of them!
“It was the most exhausting but exhilarating experience. It was then I knew that I loved the thrill and pain that came with being a business owner.” She’s been baking for the Railroad Museum since then.
Sinful Treats grew to have its own retail location a few years later and became a full-service bakery and catering company. They created and launched their first baking mix in 2015 with their signature product, “the treat that started it all” — Food for the Gods Baking Mix.
The year 2020 would have been their 10th year baking for the museum, “but 2020 had a different plan for all of us” she said. All of their Fall and Holiday events have been canceled. “Being in the baking business, our fourth quarter is when we make the most. Suddenly, all of it was gone. Having survived and thrived during the recession, I can honestly say this year, this pandemic is a lot harder than the recession.”
But the lockdown didn’t stop Mariel to continue her passion, rather she pursued another idea – to have a one-stop shop for baked goods. “Recession, pandemic, lockdowns won’t stop me. There are always opportunities even in the worse scenarios.”
In October 2020, she launched an online marketplace where local bakers can sell their products and grow their small businesses. Sinful Treats is now home to the best local brands. Mariel’s goal is to empower small business owners, especially women and minority-owned businesses. All Bakers and Food Makers who have something special and have unique products to offer are welcome to join, “The food industry is already very competitive, but we are stronger together. So my hope is that through this marketplace, we can all help each other grow.” They ship cakes, cookies, desserts, and gourmet food across the United States.
Sinful Treats’ Business Partners
“The food industry is already very competitive, but we are stronger together. So my hope is that through this marketplace, we can all help each other grow.”
-Mariel black
“Everything I have worked for seemed to be a stepping stone to what I’m doing now,” she said, “Having a brand that’s already established, a working website, products that have been tried and proven, years of networking and relationship building, all of this and more are now helping to make this new path easier to take and faster to grow.”
Mariel always gets a thrill watching businesses grow, she also shares over a decade of her experience and wisdom with new small business owners. “I love baking, but my real passion is business”. She guides her marketplace sellers with what they need; teaching them about branding, pricing, basic accounting, packaging, shipping, and even how to improve their products and come up with new ones.
“I always tell my kids, when something bad happens, it’s usually a blessing in disguise,” she added, “True entrepreneurs find opportunity even in the worst scenarios.”
One of Southeast Asia’s biggest job platforms, Glints, just put out a report that shows the situation may not be as severe as they seem.
Glints co-founder and CEO Oswald Yeo told TechCrunch that there has been a lot of funding injected into the IT business. This is a response to the two-to-three-year bull run, and as a result, several firms grew swiftly.
Yeo said that Singaporean firms seemed to adapt fastest to macroeconomic changes and that this wasn’t a terrible thing because other firms wanted to move swiftly, too.
Operations, finance, HR, and certain sales and marketing teams have been hit hard, while businesses turned to Vietnam and Indonesia, which have fewer layoffs, for top-tier technical personnel. Moreover, the pandemic has created a decentralized-minded workforce.
Yeo observed that the pandemic had made remote work more convenient, necessitating cost-cutting measures. Many firms turn to remote employment to optimize their human and financial capitals.
They have seen that remote work prospects on Glints have expanded tenfold in a year. Some regional firms in Malaysia continue to hire foreigners, while others only hire Malaysians. According to Glints, mid-to senior-level employees’ compensation won’t diminish, but junior talent may.
One-year fixed-term contracts are another trend that helps firms predict their financial destiny, as employers are wary about signing long-term contracts.
He believes that not everything was awful — the need for technological and product skills on Glints favored job seekers.
Layoffs help startups build core teams. Yeo said that because there is less rivalry for talent, it’s a fantastic moment for organizations in a strong position to hire top managerial talent.
