APA Women in Hollywood - and how it affects you

[kasia]

if we can have only women responding here please...

just out of curiosity, are any of you affected by asian/asian american females in hollywood - what they seem to represent to the rest of the world, whether they are viewed as representative of us. do they make you feel proud, ashamed, or indifferent?

we have a good number now - gong li, bai ling, kelly hu, ming na wen, tamlyn tomita, margaret cho, etc.

1) do you think we have a right to be critical of these women because they inadvertently represent us?

2) regardless of whether we hold that right, are you affected by what you believe these women stand for and how?

[hkRT]

There are not that many asian american women in Hollywood and some of them are not really the main leading actresses.. I don't think they have affected me in any way. I don't see them as representative of anything, unless they want to represent, but I doubt most of them want to. I guess most of them are just like other people, having their own struggles. They make a living from acting and other opportunities associated with it. It would be nice to see them use their voice to send some positive messages if they can but then it 's not something they are obliged to do and so in my opinion, the expectation of them should not be greater than it is of ourselves.

Do we have a right to be critical? I guess once people become public figures, whether it's politicians, actors or actresses, the public get naturally critical of them when they read about them or see them in the media. But there's usually not that much coverage about asian american actors and actresses, so they don't really cross my mind. I don't watch TV much either. So occasionally when I turn on the TV and see an asian actor or actress, I will probably pay a bit more attention to see what it is about. It's nice to see more asian representation in movies but I think it's more up to whoever is producing and writing the scripts than the actors and actresses themselves.

[urbia]

I think it depends on how subtly the stereotype is wielded. If you have a character playing a role in a movie set in a current time amongst 'normal' people, that stereotype is also normalized.

An Asian woman in the role of a geisha will not have the exact same effect because she doesn't 'represent' me in current times, but it may indirectly effect representation if the portrayal is historically inaccurate and stereotypical. A role set in the past isn't completely toothless because of the perpetual foreigner stereotype: you can take the Asian out of Asia but not the Asia out of the Asian, no matter the era.

Representations don't make me proud or ashamed, but neither am I indifferent. I think the best adjective would be impassive. There's no emotion of surprise or shock when I see stereotypical representations over and over again, for obvious reasons. I merely feel the calm of someone who's made up her mind as I follow the story, ready to leap to action-- and the meaning of action is different for each situation.

[rice cracker]

I feel we have the right to criticize anyone who makes a living in the spotlight, Asian or not. If they are acting like damn fools or bitches, then like everyone else in the world they should be called out on it. Like, someone should really take Bai Ling aside and tell her to PUT. THAT. SHIT. AWAY. MY. EYES!

[applehead]

i'm with kim, we can't help but be critical of
anyone who chooses to live their life in the spotlight.
and they should really stop complaining about it.

i feel like, collectively, there's isn't enough worthy asian american
females in hollywood to make a difference in my life, personally.

But for some reason i feel really embarassed and pissed off
when one of them decides to partake a crappy role in a movie
or do something stupid.

so i guess to me, it doesn't matter how many good asian american
actresses are out there sending out a positive image
of asian american women but i am affected when one decides
to do something undignified or trashy.

i'm telling you. one bad seed ruins it for all of us.
*cough* bai ling *cough*