Another Avatar rant

[geri_chan]

Dom Nguyen over at the Megatokyo webcomic recently posted an excellent rant on the Avatar movie casting and about Hollywood racism in general. He expresses everything that I've been feeling, a good deal more articulately, from the disgust at the Asian stereotypes and caricatures, to the feeling of glee and excitement whenever we spot an Asian actor on TV. Oh, and also the disgust towards those who just don't get it; Dom posts a link to this MTV news article on Avatar, where the actor playing one of the main characters says in response to the controversy: "I think it's one of those things where I pull my hair up, shave the sides, and I definitely need a tan," he said of the transformation he'll go through to look more like Sokka. "It's one of those things where, hopefully, the audience will suspend disbelief a little bit."

*headdesk*

Now, I don't hold a grudge personally against this actor for being cast in a role that ideally would have gone to an Asian actor; he's just an actor doing his job, and the responsibility for the casting lies with the director and producers. If he'd just said, "I'm going to do my best as Sokka, and I hope the fans will give me a chance," I wouldn't have a problem with him. But he obviously has no idea of how offensive and ignorant he sounds by implying that all you need to look Asian is the appropriate hairdo and a tan.

Funny, I had just been thinking about race and Hollywood last Friday while watching NUMB3RS--the episode was about the FBI trying to find an undercover agent who had been kidnapped while infiltrating an illegal sweatshop in Chinatown. On one hand, we have Kelly Hu guest-starring as the cop trying to find the missing agent--win. (I loved her in Nash Bridges and Martial Law.) On the other hand, there are lots of other Asian guest-stars, but they're mainly victims (illegal immigrant women being forced to work in sweatshops or as prostitutes; several have mysteriously disappeared, along with the undercover agent) or villains (gang members or shady businessmen victimizing helpless Chinese women)--this feels more like "fail" than "win".

Now, I'm not saying that it's wrong for Asians to play villains or victims, but sometimes it seems like that's all we see--I can't count how many times I've seen the "evil Asian gang members bringing in women from overseas as sex slaves" plot on various detective shows. (There actually was a NUMB3RS episode with this plot in an earlier season.) Every now and then if we're lucky, we get the token Asian cop, too. I would just like to see a more representative mix of Asian characters on TV and in the movies: along with the gang members and kung-fu masters, how about some plain ordinary folks? The loving-but-dysfunctional sitcom family, the neighbor next door, the love interest.

Actually, I have to give NUMB3RS some credit for this--Aya Sumika was cast in a semi-regular role as Liz Warner, a fellow FBI agent and Don's love interest, although it looks like she may be moving on now that they've broken up and he has a new girlfriend. Still, her character's name isn't Asian, so it seems like it could have been color-blind casting, and while she can kick ass as well as any of the other agents, there was no playing up of Asian stereotypes, like her being a black belt in karate or something. But I'd really like to see more of that--roles like Liz, or like Lane Kim, Rory's best friend on the Gilmore Girls, where the characters just happen to be Asian.

So I'm not really picking on NUMB3RS in particular, but just getting frustrated with all the sterotypes in general. Sometimes people tell me that things are getting better, that we're starting to see more people like Masi Oka on Heroes, and yes, that's a good thing. But sometimes I feel resentful that I should have to feel grateful for whatever crumbs that Hollywood tosses in our direction, that it's still rare enough to see an Asian face on TV that I get excited whenever I see characters like Liz or Hiro, and in fact was positively thrilled to see the Asian-American cop Cho on The Mentalist, even though he's only a supporting character. Someday I'd like to take it for granted and not be shocked when I see an Asian character on TV or in the movies, whether in the lead or supporting role.

Comments

[anodracs.livejournal.com]

Very true. I feel that way about Native American characters. Aside from bit parts, usually playing to stereotypes, I rarely see Native Americans on TV, and when I do, they're certainly not playing the "just an Average Joe" role. I used to feel the same way about Latino characters, but I've seeing more Hispanics in mainstream roles recently.

[anodracs.livejournal.com]

Oh, and who's the cute guy in your icon?

[geri-chan.livejournal.com]

I definitely agree that Native American and Latino actors are under-represented and subject to stereotypes, too, though I was focusing on Asians.

The cute guy in my icon is Japanese actor Joe Odagiri; that particular picture is the from the Shinsengumi TV series, which aired only in Japan (and on a few Japanese-language stations in the US). If you want to check out his acting, he does have a few movies that were released in the US on dvd (Japanese with subtitles): Azumi, Shinobi: Heart Under Blade, Princess Raccoon, and Scrap Heaven.