Constance Wu sheds light on Asians and Asian/Americans as seen by Hollywood

HOO, BOY! Constance Wu opened up a can of worms in the April issue of Allure magazine explaining one of her pet peeves: the difference between between Asians and Asian/Americans. 

"I wish reporters were more in tune to the difference between the Asian experience and the Asian/American experience. I think often they lump the two together and think that when I talk about Asian/American narratives that they can cite Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or Mulan as proof of concept when it’s a different experience. We are told that we should be placated by those stories, even though they aren’t our stories.," said Wu.

"You can’t name an Asian/American movie that’s mainstream in the past ten years. You cannot name one. You cannot. You could name a Chinese movie, a Korean movie, blah blah blah, but it’s different," said Wu, one of the stars of ABC's Fresh Off the Boat.

Constance Wu

"Even my television show is a period piece. It’s set in the ’90s. And a lot of times people think of Asian culture as some mythical world, instead of modern people with modern occupations with modern problems, modern tools, and modern occupations. 

"Like we’re not all just talking Taoism and kung fu — some people are just trying to get over their breakup with their boyfriend, and they’re Facebook stalking.”

Lumping together all people from Asia and Asian/Americans into one monolithic bloc is a common mistake made by pollsters and people who are not part of that demographic.

Politically, sometimes it is convenient to put us all together in order to achieve the numbers that might give us some attention.

Among ourselves, we are all aware of our differences. However, we share a lot of similar issues that make it convenient to join together when it serves our common interests.

When Asian/Americans protested the whitewashing of Major Motoko Kusanagi of the Ghost in the Shell movie, the Japanese creators of the character were praising the selection of Scarlett Johansson to play the Japanese role in the film. Asians who have grown up in Asia did not have to grow up with whitewashing, yellow face or erasure.

Differences have shown up in the affirmative action debate. Without the knowledge of why affirmative action policies were necessary, newcomers believe it works against their children in university admission policies. Growing up in a homogenous society, they generally have no idea of the impact of racial discrimination or white privilege in the admissions process or in applying for a job.

In a way, new immigrants are at an advantage over their U.S.-raised brethren in that they don't carry the weight of baggage filled with the centuries-old biases and social stratification that shaped the America we have today and which holds back many AAPI from fulfilling their dreams and full potential.

So, while we tend to not want to air our dirty laundry, perhaps Ms. Wu has done us a favor by bringing the issue to the attention of those who can't tell the difference between Asians and Asian/Americans, much less the variations between people from China, India, Japan, the Philippines or any of the dozens of countries and regions that make up Asia and Pacific islands.

The dissimilarities between Asian/Americans and Asians are sometimes stark. As the U.S. becomes increasingly diverse, the people descended from Asia need each other, no matter when they set foot on these shores. At the same time, non-Asians - especially those in the mainstream media -- need to realize and learn to appreciate the differences.

Read about Constance We in the April 2017 issue of Allure.

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Is America ready for a TV show with Asian leads?

Could ABC's new television show featuring an Asian American family be the series I've been waiting for since the 1950s? I'm hoping it is.

All props to Mindy Kaling for "The Mindy Project" but I suspect mainstream America never thought of her as Asian after her long run in "The Office." There are two ways to battle stereotypes: one is to play down the differences demonstrating that we're all the same with the same flaws, same wants, and same dreams and goals; the other way is to bust the stereotypes wide open.

The Mindy Project depicting a young woman looking for love, looking for respect and career success, clearly is using the former approach. From the looks of the trailer and other sneak peeks, FOB is going for the latter approach.

The sitcom is based on the childhood of chef and restaurateur Eddie Huang as he grew up in Orlando, Florida in the 1990s. "Little Eddie," (how can you not like that name?) is also a bling-wearing, swearing hip-hop fanatic, a far cry from the nerd stereotype most caucasian Americans have of Asian students. The lead character is the son of fellow blogger Jeff Yang and he writes:

"The show is like nothing you will have ever seen before on television. If it makes it to the air, it will blow minds, raise eyebrows and, to quote a line that my son says as Little Eddie, 'change the game.'" A game-changer, eh? That's a lot to put on one single show. But if you consider the scarcity of Asian roles on TV and the movies, much less, fully-rounded characters, its hard not to think in those terms.

I remember the first attempt - "All American Girl" starring Margaret Cho. That was a dismal failure when producers tried to turn Cho into an all-American girl. It didn't last a season and is one of the big regrets of the comedienne.

I faithfully watched it, even when it wasn't funny, out of loyalty and eagerness to see it succeed, as if I counted in the Nielsen ratings.
Since then, a few inroads have been made by Asian actors, but roles for Asian actors have been far and few between and never as the main roles.

I may seem to make too much of media portrayals of Asians but the media -- TV, movies, commercials and print --- is where most Americans gain their impressions of unfamiliar situations, countries and people -- even if it's crazy and fantastic. There are people out there who are preparing for a zombie apocalypse, for goodness sake!

But more importantly, the media is where stereotypes are born and reinforced. The quiet, studious image is one that I've fought against all my life. Not that that's a negative stereotype, but there is so much more to individuals that people overlook because of the first impression that's made. Many times, that first impression is made before they even meet you ... because of that damn stereotype playing on the silver screen or the boob tube: always the sidekick, not the hero; always the doctor's assistant, not the surgeon; always the submissive one, not the leader; the friend, but not the best friend; always the nerd, not the hiphop fanatic.

Its taken 20 years for a major network to attempt an Asian family comedy again. And I'll probably watch it out of loyalty and curiosity. For sure I'll be pulling for it. I just hope its funny and the audience is laughing "with" -- not "at" -- the characters.

The month of May is . . .

I'd be remiss not to mention that May is Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month. Let's hope next year at this time we'll be talking about the second season of Fresh Off the Boat.

The cast of "Fresh Off the Boat." Will non-Asians be able to relate?