American movies really don't give Asians enough attention. According to a study from the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, only 4.4% of speaking characters in 100 movies were Asian. An article, also from Annenberg, states that there has always been a lack of Asians in American film because of the harsh stereotypes that the few Asian characters depicted. The Japanese actor Sessue Hayakawa played in many films, but was often cast as a negative portrayal of Asians, such as an authoritarian Japanese general. Some Asians in film were played by a white actor in yellowface, like Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's. He played the protagonist's bucktoothed Japanese neighbor and, well, it's not pretty.
But this poor portrayal of Asians is not just a thing of the past. It has affected the movies of today as well. In the 2008 movie 21, in which a team of MIT students figure out how to steal millions of dollars from Las Vegas casinos, the cast is nearly all white actors. But in the real story that the movie was based on, was mostly Asian students. The producer claimed that they could not find enough Asians that fit the parts. They couldn't find four capable Asian actors in all of Hollywood? That's pretty sad. Did they just not look hard enough, or did all of the Asian kids growing up watching movies with these harsh stereotypes feel completely repelled from the idea of being an actor? If the latter is the case, then I think there is really nothing that can be done to get out of this hole. It may very well be too late for Asians to feel welcome as talented actors who play some role other than a harmful stereotype.
But this poor portrayal of Asians is not just a thing of the past. It has affected the movies of today as well. In the 2008 movie 21, in which a team of MIT students figure out how to steal millions of dollars from Las Vegas casinos, the cast is nearly all white actors. But in the real story that the movie was based on, was mostly Asian students. The producer claimed that they could not find enough Asians that fit the parts. They couldn't find four capable Asian actors in all of Hollywood? That's pretty sad. Did they just not look hard enough, or did all of the Asian kids growing up watching movies with these harsh stereotypes feel completely repelled from the idea of being an actor? If the latter is the case, then I think there is really nothing that can be done to get out of this hole. It may very well be too late for Asians to feel welcome as talented actors who play some role other than a harmful stereotype.
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