tv & film
tv & film
On Representation in the Academy
An Oscar nomination or an actual trophy signifies an implied acceptance of Asian actress as “one of their own”. However, Asian women in films have been subjected to subservient characters lacking autonomy, reinforcing the conceptualization of Asian women being submissive housewives or undignified and thankless servants. More to that, Asian women on screen have been exoticized or sexualized as objects of desire designed to serve the male gaze, or as the backdrop and contributor to the bigger male-oriented story.
The Tough Choices We Make in the Face of Calamity: Chloé Zhao’s Tale of Women
The director of Nomadland Chloé Zhao, or Zhao Ting (赵婷), is a Chinese filmmaker who resides in California. Akin to millions of Chinese youths born after the 1980s, Zhao left her home in Beijing as a teenager and initially became an international student who pursued her study overseas. Her journey spread across the two sides of the Atlantic, from the UK to the US, while her root was at least one Pacific away.
As Netflix Put It, “Representation Matters”
Embodying hypocrisy at its finest, the people who complain about the presence of same-sex relationships in TV shows because they worry that this will “turn their kids gay” are the same people whose sexuality is forced down the throats of LGBTQIA+ youth by all aspects of media.
Film/TV Review Corner: Lifetime’s A Sugar & Spice Holiday
Lead by an Asian-female creative team (directed by Jennifer Liao, written by Eirene Donohue & casted by Judy Lee), this film centers on Suzie, an architect in LA with perfectionist tendencies (played with warmth and poise by Jacky Lai), who returns home to her family in Maine for the holidays after the passing of her beloved grandmother.
Biracial Asians in Western Media
The lack of racial diversity in Western media is an ongoing pain point, especially when it comes to roles for BIPOC.
How to Be Indian (Lessons Learned from the Screen)
Stereotypes, side characters, comic relief. When I was younger, these were the things that Brown people were reduced to in Western television. In short, people who looked like me were rarely at the forefront of popular culture. Imagine my excitement, then, when there were such people on the screen.