4 posts tagged “media”

Just a quick post about some Asian representation on television.

-The latest Mitsubishi Lancer commercial features a cool Asian guy lounging and thinking.
-ANZ has a commercial with an Asian guy and his wife. (I'm cheering for some rare good ol' normal representation!)
-Anh Do is still representing in Dancing With the Stars!
-Asian guy on the show Cold Case. (Didn't really pay attention, since I was watching House. A good show, but where are the Asians? Why are there so many medical dramas without Asian guys? It doesn't make sense!)

Also found this funny commercial on one of my favourite blogs.

So my argument against media is that they don't feature Asian guys, or when they do - it's often negative. However, a counter-argument has arisen by others who state that maybe... just maybe... there could be the possibility that there just aren't enough Asian male actors and models.

Hmm, interesting... well then, I guess there's only one way to settle this.

And that is by actually becoming an actor/model myself (as an extra, for commercials or shows) to prove who is right. (Unless someone else is willing to do it for me). See, I'm not the type to complain about something and then not do anything about it. I'm a proactive person... I like to make a difference. But it's damn expensive to get a professional photoshoot. It also doesn't help that I've got other career aspirations and the fact that I'm setting up my own online business with a few friends.

In any case, I sent an application to this media agency and they called me the next day (which surprised me since I specifically wrote on my resume that I refuse to take on any roles that are negative representations or stereotypes of Asians and Asian Australians). So now the next step is... do I really want to sacrifice myself to go for something that has the possibility of putting me into the poor house? What if I'm right about media and they never call me and I become jobless for months - even years? Or maybe I'll be proven wrong and I get all these token Asian guy roles.

What should I do? Could someone pass me some advice?

(Maybe I could make a documentary out of this.)

Wow... that's all I can say.

Beau Sia, Chinese American slam poet on Def Poetry Jam.

Beau is pretty much tackling every single Asian stereotype we find in American media. It's amazing, yet at the same time thought-provoking. There are few roles for Asians in Western media, but they're often negative stereotypes created by the West. I used to be annoyed when I saw an Asian guy taking on a stupid role that made Asians look bad or when I saw another Asian girl taking on the nymphomaniac role. But then... I came to realise that these people have to put food on the table. Hollywood isn't giving them decent roles so sometimes they have to give up on their "art" and play as a geek, a gangster, a prostitute or a Chinese deliveryman who gets stabbed for the 100th time (glares at The Departed).

"'Cause struggling f*cking sucks hard after the ninth package of ramen noodle soup!"

Man, I feel you, I'm struggling too.