Another ass-kicking Asian woman will star in Quantico, an upcoming TV cop show

Priyanka Chopra, front and center, will lead the cast of Quantico, the latest entry starring an Asian lead character on ABC's increasingly diverse programming schedule.

WHAT IS it about American TV and movie producers? They seem to have a predilection for ass-kicking Asian women.

We have a new entry in this category in the new ABC drama Quantico, which will star Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra, who will play an FBI recruit undergoing the rigorous training for agents at its facility at Quantico, Virginia. Think G.I. Jane meets the new crop of interns/cops-n-training meets the cops-&-robbers genre and you get the essence of Quantico.

But if your daughter or young niece is looking for a role model, she might have to look for someone else. In an interview with an Indian publication she was asked what would allow her to succeed in Hollywood when so many others have failed. Her answer seems to indicate that her determination to downplay stereotypes, she wants to also downplay her ethnicity. She answers: 

"The only different thing I did is stand my ground and say no to all those offers which would have put me in that box. I didn't want to be the exotic Indian princess who rides on elephants. I used to be asked those (stereotypical) questions all the time. Like, 'In India, do you go to school on elephants?' It is ridiculous sometimes to know how the perception is. When Quantico happened, the only thing I told the agency was that you have to find me a path, which is ethnically ambiguous as an actor. It should have nothing to do with my race, country, religion and to their credit, they found me one. I am playing a half-American, half-Indian FBI agent. It's a great female-driven part."

If you don't know who this actress is - well, you'll soon see a lot of her. She is one of Bollywood's most popular stars and she's making the leap to Hollywood. She attended school in America for a while, encountered racist situations, and returned to India where she launched her acting career.

In an terview with the Hindustan Times, she reveals her latest brush with American bigotry:

"When my song was played at National Football League (NFL), I got comments such as, ‘who’s this Arab terrorist?’ and ‘how can she be on NFL, she’s not white’. I was so offended. I hope the show will help break stereotypes."

Yet ... she wants to downplay her racial identity. I hope in time she'll learn the perspective of people of color living in the U.S. why it is important that her race become a part of who her character can be. It would be so much interesting, much more impactful, if her character doesn't ignore her racial heritage but uses it to enlighten others. It doesn't have to be a central part of the character, but how could she NOT be conscious of her race when other FBI agents and characters -- will (in real life) react to her race, whether she is conscious of it or not?

Chopra joins a growing list of ass-kicking Asian women on American television. Presently, that group is led by Ming-na Wen and Chloe Bennett, both in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D; Maggie Q in the recently canceled Stalker, who played the same type in her previous hit series Nikita; and Grace Park, who plays a tough cop in Hawaii Five-O. That's only four names - plus Chopra makes five - but when there are only a few Asian actresses on television in key roles, that would account for about 50 percent.

Michelle Yeoh in Crouching Tiger,
Hidden Dragon

The woman brawler probably debuted on American television with Diana Rigg in the original Avengers. Buffy the Vampire Killer and Xena brought the demon-fighting Buffy and a demigod type, respectively, to a new generation. 

The Asian female fighter really took hold in the U.S. with the success of the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, in which Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi wowed audiences with their marvelous choreographed swordfight scenes. As someone who has dabbled in the martial arts, those were the best movie fights I had ever seen.

The Asian woman-as-martial-artist may be a contemporary extension of the Dragon Lady stereotype that Asian women have had to put up with for decades. The other extreme stereotype is the demure, obedient do-what-your-man-says geisha type. Pick your poison. 

(This is an interesting cultural phenomenon that deserves a closer examination in a future posting.) 

Asian women seem to have fared better than their male counterparts, who overwhelmingly fall into the comedic vein. Thank goodness for Daniel Dae Kim on Hawaii Five-O and Hoon Lee in Banshee for going against the grain.

At least - to counter the Dragon Lady stereotype a bit, we can point to Lucy Liu on Sherlock, Constance Wu on Fresh Off The Boat,  Mindy Kaling on The Mindy Project, Indira Sharma in Game of Thrones, Shay Mitchell in Pretty Little Liars and Archie Panjabi in The Good Wife. 

Add Priyanki Chopra to the ass-kicking side of the ledger.

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