Asians make history at the Academy Awards

Oscar winners, from left: director Chloe Zhao, musician H.E.R. and actress Youn Yuh-jung.

There has never been an Academy Awards like this year's Oscars show. In the midst of pandemic-induced social distancing and mask-wearing, Asians made their presence felt like never before in the history of the coveted statuettes.

An unprecedented number of Asians and Asian Americans were among the nominees and they walked away with awards for directing, best picture, best supporting actor and best song.

Chloe Zhao of China was named best director for helming the drama Nomadland, which also won awards for best picture and best actress (Frances McDormand). In her victory, Zhao made history as the first woman of color -- and only the second woman, ever -- to win the director's Oscar.

“I have always found goodness in the people I met everywhere I went in the world,” she said as she accepted her statuette. “So this is for anyone who has the faith and the courage to hold on to the goodness in themselves. And to hold on to the goodness in each other, no matter how difficult it is to do that. And this is for you, you inspire me to keep going.”

Zhao's was a frontrunner for the award had been building since awards season began. She and Nomadland won a plethora of awards in the film festival circuit including the director's award in the Golden Globes, Critics' Choice and the Director's Guild.

For the first time in Oscar history, there were two directors of Asian descent being considered for the director's Oscar. Isaac Lee Chung was nominated for Minari, a movie about a Korean immigrant family adapting to life in rural Arkansas. 

Like Chao, Youn Yuh-jung, who played the feisty grandmother in Manari, made Oscar history as the first Korean and the second Asian American to win the Best Supporting Actress statuette. Miyoshi Umeki won the award for Sayonara in 1958.

Minari's lead actor Steven Yeun was also nominated for Best Actor. Like the director's category, it was the first time there were two Asians up for Best Actor. Riz Ahmed was also named for the same category for his work in the Sound of Metal. The award was won by  veteran actor Anthony Hopkins for his role in The Father. 

TWITTER

Filipino American musician and singer H.E.R. didn't expect to win the Oscar.

The song for Judas and the Black Messiah, "Fight For You" cowritten and performed by H.E.R., aka Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson, won in the category of Best Song. "I didn't expect to win this award," said H.E.R.

"Musicians, filmmakers, I believe we have an opportunity and a responsibility, to tell the truth, and to write history the way that it was, and how it connects us to today, and what we see going on in the world today. I have no words, I'm so, so thankful," said the 23-year old Filipino American in her acceptance speech. Judas and the Black Messiah is about the betrayal and assassination of Fred Hampton, chairman of the Black Panther Party.

"Knowledge is power, music is power, and as long as I'm standing, I'm always gonna fight for us," she said. "I'm always gonna fight for my people and fight for what's right, and I think that's what music does, and that's what storytelling does."

 

The movie, 'Minari,' tells a uniquely quintessential American story but the Golden Globes call it 'foreign'

Minari director Lee Isaac Chung, left, and the cast of his Asian American film.

OPINION

The Golden Globes stirred up a hornets' nest when it decided the movie Minari should be placed in a foreign-language film category instead of the more prestigious "Best Picture" category.

Critics of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which awards the Golden Globe Awards every year, blast the decision to judge what is essentially an American story in the foreign category.

Minari is written and directed by an American, stars mostly an American cast, with a story located in rural Arkansas and tells the uniquely American story of immigrants adjusting to America. Although Minari is about a Korean family, it could just well have been about an Italian family, or an Irish family, or an Ethiopian family or a Central American family. The universal appeal of the story speaks volumns about America, a nation built by immigrants, 

However, because the Korean American immigrants spoke Korean throughout the majority of the movie, the HFPA placed Minari in the foreign language category.

The HFPA made a similar decision last year with The Farewell, the story of a Chinese American's visit with her grandmother who lived in China. 

With Minari being mentioned as possible contenders for film industry awards, for directing (Lee Isaac Chung), screenplay (Chung), best picture and acting (Steven Yeun for Best Actor and Youn Yuh-jung, who plays the grandmother, for best supporting actress).

Asian American celebrities strongly objected to the HPFA decision that minimizes the film's accomplishments. About the categorization of Minari, "The film equivalent of being told to go back to your country when that country is America," actor Daniel Dae Kim wrote in a tweet. 

Maybe because they are the "foreign" press, the HFPA members don't know America as I know it even though most of them have lived in Southern California for years.

I certainly don't want to tell them to "Go back where you came from," (heavens no) but I also don't want them defining to the rest of the world what is American.

What began as a controversy within movie industry bubble has grown to ask the larger existential question, "What is American?"

 One of the racist barbs I've had to endure in my life is, "You speak really good English." 

Exc-u-use me? I was raised in this country and -- in fact, and rather regretfully -- English is the only language I speak fluently (most of the time.) 

In fact, I even have a picture of myself remarkably similar to the publicity photo (below) of Dale Kim as David in the movie, wearing a cowboy hat, a Roy Rogers vest and toy pistols in my holster.

Alan Kim as David in 'Minari.'

Over 70 years in the U.S. and people still view me as a foreigner.

Being seen as a foreigner, -- an outsider, an "other" -- because of the color of our skin and hair and the slant of our eyes is one of the racist slights Asian Americans have endured since the first Filipinos set foot on the continent's western shore in 1587.

Mass media and a stilted education system are big parts of why people have that perception. In the culture we grew up in -- by school textbooks and pop culture, the dolls favored by children, the beauty we seek to attain, the heroes we are supposed to emulate and even the Christian images we see in or churches -- being American meant being white, Anglo-Saxon and being blond and blue-eyed was an extra added bonus.

Minari is not a Korean story. Its the story of all immigrants who come to our country having to learn the customs, the laws and the way of American life. Yes, that includes learning the language too -- no matter how long. 

For those fearful of the balkanization of the U.S. and want to make a law mandating that English the official language of the U.S., recent studies have shown that by the third-generation of an immigrant family, English becomes the language most spoken in the home.

What the Hollywood foreign press doesn't realize and the recently outspoken celebrities are saying, is something that poets, creators, sociologists and mental health experts have known all along: 

Being American is not the color of your skin or the slant of your eyes, or even, the language you speak. Being American is not the singular act of raising your right hand reciting a pledge. Being American -- like the country itself -- is always seeking a better way, a better idea, a better life and a better self. An American is not just "being" an American, but a shared process; a continuous state of evolving not only as individuals (which is only part of the American mythology) but also as a family, a community and as a society. 

The questions surrounding Minari comes as the definition of "American" is being debated today, when immigration from Asia is higher than from any other part of the world; Asian Americans impacted the choosing of Joe Biden; and an Asian American is the Vice President-elect.

It is no coincidence that the debate is occurring today, when immigration from Asia is higher than from any other part of the world; Asian Americans impactin the Presidential election, an Asian American is the Vice President-elect, hate acts against Asian Americans are spiking and the country ever-so slowly is realizing that its future lies in the nations of Asia; a revolutionary 180-degree shift from the Eurocentric mindset that has ruled the economy and culture of this country for centuries. 

The debate over Minari is just one step in the evolution of our country. It requires a cultural shift in the minds of the 80-plus HFPA members -- not an easy task, but one that should start with the HFPA members working for Asian publications and networks.

Minari is in limited release now but will have a general release in February, 2021,

EDITOR'S NOTE: A word of caution, this is news sprinkled with opinion. Readers are encouraged to seek multiple news sources to formulate their own positions.