In the midst of all this Jeremy Lin talk, there was another Asian American battle going down in the blogosphere last week. Everyone was talking about the xenophobic Superbowl ad, which led some to question who the actress is and what the hell she was thinking. Lawrence O’Donnell called the actress out in the video above, saying, “I’ve done things in show business…that I’m not proud of, but I’ve never done anything that I’m ashamed of.” AngryAsianMan found out that the actress was a 21-year-old woman named Lisa Chan…and I don’t know what happened after that.
However, the interesting side story is that the AA blogosphere and O’Donnell both faced some backlash from some parts of the AA community. One prominent AA leader on FB whose views I often respect said that the woman was a victim of Asian American “cyberbullying.” An Asian American actress named Joyce Wu criticized O’Donnell, saying to O’Donnell that that is often the only kind of role available to Asian actresses, and that:
It is easy for you, as a Caucasian man, to hold high-minded ideals and make moral judgments about the kind of roles this woman should not accept. The sad truth is that these grotesque stereotypes and racial caricatures are not limited to just one xenophobic politician’s offensive commercial. People are rightfully outraged at Hoekstra’s ad, but they should be equally outraged any time they turn on their televisions or go to a movie theater.
So here’s my view. First, the Blogosphere is in the right. It’s NOT cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is when you secretly tape someone doing something and posting it online so that people can harass him. In this case, that video went online because the actress accepted money from a politician with a xenophobic message in order to do his dirty work. She willingly became a public figure with a public message and was compensated for her work. It wasn’t as if Hoekstra invaded some rice paddy and secretly filmed this Asian woman doing a bad Chinese accent while boasting about the Chinese economy. People should respect the law, but it’s perfectly reasonable for people to nicely ask why she CHOSE to fan the flames of xenophobia against Chinese people.
Second, O’Donnell is in the right. While Joyce Wu may be right to complain about the hard situation for Asian actresses, O’Donnell is even MORE right to say that people have to take responsibility for their actions. From the Hoekstra actress’s resume, it seems that she’s a Berkeley grad who founded a nonprofit. It wasn’t like she was so desperate for work that it was either “do this commercial” or “let’s see how much the hospital will pay me for my blood.”
When filmmakers produce racist crap, I usually blame the writers, producers, and distributors. I’m usually very lenient with the actors and actresses. I also know that actors and actresses often have a different kind of mindset from most people. But even this has its limits–everyone, actors and actresses included, needs to take responsibility for his or her actions. I understand that sometimes an actor/actress doesn’t know where a storyline is headed, but in the case of this TV commercial, it was so obvious that I find it hard to give this actress a free pass. Certainly we’ve all done things in our younger years that we’ve not been proud of, but this goes beyond.
For the community, I think we need dialogue. We’ve got so much racist “art” going around, and we hardly ever talk about it. Dialogue is good for creators and consumers. Acting, like writing, is a form of communication between the creator and the consumer. If you’re a consumer, willingly or not, the creator ought to hear from you. Otherwise, how else can we produce art that isn’t racist?
Related posts:
Alpha Asian had something up about this too. I actually agree with O’Donnell and think that Wu is off-base with her criticisms – particularly with regard to this ad in which there is no nuance of character and the message is entirely inflammatory.
Coincidentally, I actually wrote a post a few weeks back that pretty much said the same things that O’Donnell is saying – there are ethical questions involved when Asian actors are faced with these types of roles because they have the potential to cause harm.
http://benefsanem.blogspot.com/2012/01/just-acting.html
I agree with with Byron’s views on this. And without negative pressure and outrage, this is something that will continue to happen again and again. There are some roles that no Black actor would take, because of the repercussions. It would be like figuratively slitting one’s own throat.
However, that being said, you also have to leave a path to redemption for a 21 year old. She should certainly be made to feel the heat, but only in an effort to bring her to a place of contrition where she can choose to renounce her participation, and learn from her mistake.
The dynamics of film related industry could mean that there will always be people willing to take on dubious roles in dubious circumstances. Take a look at the porn industry, there is outright ABUSE there, but men and women still act in it because they need (or just want) the money. There will sadly always be suckers out there who will be exploited willingly or unwittingly.
Opprobrium against actors and actresses who take demeaning roles will always be necessary, however we should not go too far, and we would be better served focusing our outrage on the people who produce and then distribute racist media, while we continue lobbying for unshitty roles.
Also you should probably consider that without some form of tangible payoff, white support networks will probably remain closed off to Asian Americans. The least that Asian Americans could do is demonstrate that as a whole this demographic supports Asian American artistes with MONEY.
ROFL take a look at this and be slain: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzox0VSCNKw
XD
If the producer was Asian and had a clear message to convey, artistically or otherwise, while using those actors, within those confines, it’s fine. There’s a backstory to every tale. But we won’t all know that unless he blatantly says it somewhere down the line.
With regard to creative writing, it is the only medium left on this planet to have imagination and power. The only one left that people still cherish and treasure. Vulnerability and anti-establishment ideals are hallmarks of wonderful literature. Not saying I’m an artist, not me, but those that do write move mountains and make people feel.
The odd thing about it, everyone seems to be in an uproar. There would be no push, nor a cry, without political strings (Dem party) attached to the Hoekstra ad. Asians can chant now, but there’s always tomorrow. When campaign season is over, you can brace for shock. Just another American consumer ad.
Another reason I like Jeremy Lin, he passes the ball to other people of color that are not of his ilk. That’s admirable.
Yep, I wrote that blog entry on Alpha Asian re: O’donnell’s comments. While his self righteousness and perhaps condescending tone may be off putting, the gist of his argument, I feel, is valid. And he wasn’t attacking the actress. And I am not slamming her either. The point that I felt O’donnell was making was advising people of color to not be shills for some politically shameful ads.
And don’t forget about what Roger Fan wrote in his blog post about being an Asian American actor on youoffendmeyouoffendmyfamily.com:
“I’ll refer you to Asian American actor Roger Fan’s blog post about his troubles in Hollywood and his decision to turn down a role in the remake of “Red Dawn” which used the Chinese as the villians:
“This situation is not unique, btw. I have encountered this before over the years on projects very similar with people of similar Hollywood status. I was younger back then so I felt like I had to say yes just to pay my dues. But the feeling was always the same when I went: SHAME. They invite you in for an asian need, you fulfill that asian expectation, and at the end, they shake your hand, tell you how amazing you were, say, “I owe you one”, and then kick you out of the clubhouse. At the end of the day, because of the role you’re brought in for, the perception of your potential is severely limited.”
He turned down the role in “Red Dawn” despite his agent’s pushing him to take it. Additionally, he remains non-judgemental about others who do take on those roles. And even O’donnell says that he understands that struggling actors have to take jobs to pay the rent and to eat.
“… But upon reflection, 90+% of the roles that I was fortunate enough to get could not have existed without a very specific asian reason within the story line. More simply put, there had to be an Asian reason to justify my presence and existence on screen (ie. Jet Li has a cousin, the Chinatown episode, white guy encounters gang members in alley, the William Hung biopic, etc.). My presence facilitates the story line and the main actors journey through it. But my presence is not crucial to the heart of the story…basically you’re the asian set dressing that the main characters have to navigate through in order to make their adventure seem more interesting. This is not anything new. Just about every single Asian American that you see on screen on American movies or tv shows today is there for a very specific asian reason (yes, i do know there are exceptions…but they are very, very few). They don’t exist as most Asian Americans exist in America today: as real, three dimensional, everyday people….
At the end of the day, I think it’s all about personal choice. If you can justify your choices and live with what results, then it’s the right choice for you. So what’s my choice? My choice is to try and be a part of projects where my role in them does not have to be justified with an Asian reason. But this has not been easy. By making such a choice, I have seen my pool of potential work reduced by 80-90%. My phone rings a heck of a lot less and I find myself not working as much as I would like. But for me, the choice is clear and I can live with the results. I don’t know if my choice is right or wrong. It just feels right. It just feels right to me.”
The question is, did this feel right for that actress to take on that role?
Well, she’s just 21 years old.
Guys, you know if legitimate acting is a career path that leaves the majority of its professionals out of work most of the time, it can be very bad for a person’s mental state. The compulsion to take a job, any job, just to keep moving, just to get in practice and some airtime, can become very strong. The industry knows this, they sell the glamor of films and celebrity in order to get a ready pool of cheap labor they can pick from and then exploit with their money.
What O’Donnell mentioned is a good principle to have, but it’s also a baited trap because it will just be impossible to achieve, and it shifts the attention away from the industry’s choices and to the people who are the most vulnerable in it.
Well said Raguel.
I should also add that we are also at fault for contributing to the environment in which these incidents are inevitable. Every time we pay to go to the cinema to see the latest Leonardo Di Caprio flick, every time we buy the latest DVD of the latest Brad Pitt or George Clooney film, every time we pay that cable television bill, we reward the racist Hollywood mainstream media establishment for perpetuating the cultural subjugation of Asian Americans.
So, if you really cared about the factors that led to the production of this racist Super Bowl ad, then take the first step toward responsible Asian American media consumption: CANCEL YOUR CABLE SUBSCRIPTION. For many of us, that’s the most symbolic thing we can do on our path to becoming “media neutral.” We need to take ourselves out of that mainstream media ecosystem.
The next step is to “vote positive” with our dollars and actively support positive portrayals of Asian Americans by taking the money we’ve saved from canceling our cable tv and spending it on Asian American theater, film, iTunes content, and Kickatarter projects.
And if you don’t have money to spend, at least keep clicking on those KevJumba links on YouTube!
Once producers can see that it is lucrative to invest and produce diversity positive content, Asian American actors such as Lisa Chan will have many more options than just those diversity-negligent roles. Not to mention that a media environment with more diversity would help to fight the xenophobic sentiments of people lie Hoekstra.
Here’s an interesting and relevant interview with Tavis Smiley and the two African American actresses from The Help:
Watch Actresses Viola Davis & Octavia Spencer on PBS. See more from Tavis Smiley.
It’s 24 minutes, but I think it’s worth watching the whole thing. I haven’t seen The Help, but they bring up many many questions that are equally relevant (if not more so) to Asian American artists. Now I don’t think the Hoekstra “artist” is in the same camp as these two women–there wasn’t much subtlety in her fake accent–but it does delve into some of the issues that Joyce Wu brings up.
I think Angry Asian Man’s article mentions some really important points. The real villain here is Pete Hoekstra. Lisa Chan probably should have known better, but actors are often just cogs in the wheel of production. I can probably sympathise with her not fully understanding what a xenophobic piece of shite this ad was going to be.
First, the Blogosphere is in the right. It’s NOT cyberbullying.
Sure. However, we all know what the internet is like. And she is going to get all kinds of hatred thrown at her on blogs, forums, and in person. O’Donnell didn’t bully her, but he created an opportunity for it to happen. I’m guessing she will get at least 3 death threats, at least 1 threat to rape her, and 589 accusations of being a dirty slut or some such. Like it or not, this is the cyber-world we live in, and sometimes when denouncing someone we need to keep that in mind.
Is she a community club member or an AFCC member?
Italics everywhere. My bad, some bad HTML in my last comment. Byron you may need to fix it up.
[Fixed! No worries, Eurasian! But I do find it strange that WordPress hasn't fixed the way it sometimes runs like that! B.]
But was she really being denounced b O’donnell? I posted a blog entry about her but it wasn’t an attack upon her but a criticism of her judgement. I don’t like her participating in it, but my criticism is tempered by getting a perspective of understanding what it is to be a struggling Asian American actor. That’s why I referenced Roger Fan’s thoughts on the reality of trying to find work as an Asian American.
Anyone who would vilify her after reading what Roger wrote, really isn’t being very thoughtful. I would hope that people wouldn’t feel the need to jump all over her. Even Roger has to struggle with the economic hardships by choosing to turn down stereotypical roles but it sounds as if he’s not trying to be judgmental about other actors’ choices because he’s in the trenches too, just as much as this actress is when it comes to jobs.
She may have learned a hard lesson and perhaps O’donnell’s advice, no matter how pedantic it came across, isn’t so bad as it sounds.
Of course, turning this into a witch hunt is the wrong thing to do here. This should not be an excuse for trying to destroy a young 21 year old Asian actress. Having her take a handful of sleeping pills under enormous pressure, and personal embarrassment does no one any good.
However, she still MUST be asked the hard questions, her motives and judgement must be publicly questioned and impugned. Yes, it’s uncomfortable, and unfortunate, but a precedent has to be set for the next actor/actress who may be thinking of playing a similar part. It has to be clear that the money is not gonna be worth the backlash.
LOL at Kristina Wong video
Asian American working actors are tools for racist produced material designed to keep us at arms length, itll never change until China buys Hollywood out, and even then its doubtful what with flowers of war.
@Byrons video
quote:
‘we either want to revise or erase our history but we rarely want to face it’
that sums up the similiary for me for western born east asians in the media. actually, even cultural development. always wanting to save face and start afresh and not admit our racist western born roots is living in denial.
noone wants to admit ugliness of railroad worker lifestyle, how immigrants were treated, exclusion acts, and the stuff that frank chin is known for talking about but without it, you cant establish the roots of a korean american, japanese american chinese american culture, nevermind an honest asian american culture.
gotta start right at the beginning. in this day and age people want quick solutions and unfortunately despite online media’s opportunity, easy lite sound bites is also easily forgettable.
it probably wont happen , when it comes to culture, modern asians are typically too busy being superficial and depth of thought is considered taboo.
add it to ‘ history has nothing to do with me i just want to enjoy my life ‘ modern attitude and you have your answer. noone wants to confront the origins. because are too scared of what we will find.
Well, AngryAsianMan said that he reached out to her through a mutual friend, so hopefully that’ll turn into something good. I too would hate to see her hate herself, and I do think there is redemption, but there are answers that I think the community has a right to demand. Who knows, maybe she agrees with Hoekstra–as she has a right to. But with the damage that the community has undergone as a result of this ad, people should ask why she did it.
Putting too much pressure on Lisa Chen at this juncture would be failing to capitalise on the political climate. The mainstream sensitivity to this jab comes during a critical election year to elect another one term president who will have to push through unpopular moves in unpopular years. Neither the GOP nor the Democrats want to alienate any demographic, because these votes may swing the presidential elections if a reliable way could be found to tap into them. What will happen after the election is probably going to be more of the same old.
(Besides, it makes no sense to jump on Lisa while the heat on Bai Ling has tapered off)
This is one of the better times to get your voices out to the mainstream and tell people why, and how racist content like this negatively affects the lives of Asian Americans. Vincent Chin, etc. Even Joyce Wu had a great point, especially when she said that the only roles available to Asian actresses were as extras and Asian prostitutes.
If there are any observers, they would probably like to see in Asian America the capacity for an intelligent, targeted response, rather than some kind of Taliban-style fundamentalist knee-jerk reaction on Asian women’s personal choices and decisions, replete with wild and disproportionate threats and attacks.
Joyce Wu didn’t have a great point, because if she was really dedicated to the art and craft of theater and films, then she can easily go create material herself that’s not limited to prostitutes, illegals, or nail salon workers.
in fact, like that TOUCH movie Byron wrote up on: they can create their own AF/WM movies all they want and send it to the film festivals. I believe Joyce Wu made her own short film for a film competition (72 hours competition).
Plug time: In fact, I even produced my own for the 72 hours if folks want to see indie stuff anyone with a camera can do these days.
somebody mentioned literature: in fact, I also have a short story I submitted for the Hyphen short story contest – if Byron wants to give me some pointers.
right now I’m trying to produce a very “neutral” story about an Asian and a black guy who are Army snipers and the Asian soldier has to deal with PTSD. now who wants to give me money?
(LA is seriously crazy for studio space rentals: they aren’t movie friendly here, but money friendly as somebody told me…)
the money issue is only when folks have to ask themselves how much they’re willing to sellout for a paycheck.
if they consider themselves artists, then they always can put that Berkeley degree to good use and earn their rent money like everybody else and go shoot films on the weekends.
I wholeheartedly agree with JJ that Asians need to stop giving money to insipid mainstream movies and start supporting projects with positive APA portrayals.
also, I promised Byron at some point I’ll release an “Asian Marriage Negotiations” youtube skit. I might give it the additional title “Shit Asian girls say to Asian guys”
I’m still trying to edit that sucka down. lol
please stay tuned…
Lol, it is more likely that it is the black guy who has to deal with the PTSD because the Asian guy already had to deal with (and survive) Amy Chua style behavioral modification and abuse in childhood. He is probably already numb on the inside.
I think it’s really great that the Pan-Asian American community is reaching out to Chan. Wonderful. Now let’s reach out to Dat Phan now for the Directv Whale commercial and drop some dimes in his can. Better late than never. But that one was kind of funny, I must say. It had parody and satire written all over it — both of which draw from an incontrovertible reality. If Hoekstra had some comic edge to the ad, it might’ve been gotten a pass if the progressives actually had a sense of humor (some maybe laughed before picking up the phone to spin). I’m sure the repubs got a great laugh. But it’s all campaign money.
Al these calls from strangers for help. Such good people.