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| 'The Bachelorette' will star Asian American Jenn Tran this season. |
For the first time, I think I'll be tuning in to watch The Bachelorette Monday evening.
It may be only a small blip of history that The Bachelorette this season be Jenn Tran, a Vietnamese American. But even a small step is a significant move forward for representation.
The significance of being the first Asian American to star on the reality show is not lost on Tran, who was among the top six remaining female contestants in the previous The Bachelor.
“I think about it every day, all the time. I think if I pushed it aside, that would be such a dishonor to me in who I am because being Asian American, that’s me,” the 26-year-old aspiring physician assistant tells The Associated Press.
Ever since the Bachelor/Bachelorette franchise announced Tran's selection, she has been the subject of racist trolls. Tran doesn't need to be reminded of her ethnicity and let she simply ignore the disparaging comments.
“Social media is like this platform for all these people just come at me all at once and it’s a new feeling. It’s overwhelming. And unfortunately, that’s the world that we live in right now,” Tran tells AP.
“I hope that people are more open-minded and that they open their hearts up to this truly,” Since Tran's Vietnamese roots will play a big role on the upcoming series.
“My mom and I speak a lot of Vietnamese together. And I can’t wait for people to see that. That’s not something that people have seen before,” the 26-year old aspiring physician's assistant tells the AP.
“There is a small scene in the beginning in my intro package where I talk to my family about leaving as a bachelorette and there they cooked a big, big Vietnamese meal,” Tran says. “I hope ... I’m exposing people to something that’s different than them. And so that can incite change and that can incite acceptance into people.”
That includes the show's producers. The Bachelor/Bachelorette franchise has been criticized over the years for its lack of diversity. Producer Bennett Graebner recently acknowledged their failure in casting more Asian male contestants this season. Of the 25 contestants, only one is described as having Asian heritage.
FYI: The Bachelorette airs Mondays, starting July 8, 8 p.m. EDT/PDT on ABC. It will stream on Hulu, Fubo, Direct TV and Sling.
“That’s on us. We didn’t do what we needed to do,” Graebner told the Los Angeles Times. The franchise didn't have its first Asian contestant until 2016. Other Asian men have been eliminated early.
The producers hope that this season of The Bachlorette will encourage more Asian male contestants. “Our hope is that they will see Jenn and realize this is a safe space. We’re not saying it will solve and fix everything. But it is a step.”
“I can’t really speak to the casting process and the decisions that were made, but it is unfortunate that there weren’t a lot of Asian men this season,” Tran tells Glamour in an interview. “Asian men haven’t always seen themselves in this position, and I am hoping that me being here and [contestant] Thomas N. being there, that the both of us can inspire other Asian men to realize that they can do this too if they want. They can be in this position as well. I’m hoping that it inspires them.”
Tran's starring role may not change the world, but it might change the world for a young Asian American girl searching for her place in this society. She says she understands how important it is for Asian American viewers to finally see someone who looks like them.
“Any time anyone comes up to me and they’re like, ‘I’ve been waiting for this moment …’ I know how much it means, because growing up, it’s hard when you don’t have any representation,” she said.
“It’s like, Okay, I’m doing this for a reason, and everybody understands how I’m feeling and I understand how you’re feeling.”
EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge.
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