Speaking specifically about American films/tv, when was the last time you seen an Asian male take a romantic role? Sure, Jackie Chan and Jet Li save the day and are the heroes, but do they ever get the girl (Let’s not include that little peck that Jackie got in Rush Hour 2)?
image credit: www.tvfodder.com
It’s a rarity to see An Asian male “sweep the damsel from distress and wooo” her. What we usually see instead is the White male hooking up with the ladies. Granted, the main reason could arguably be the lack of general interest or venues for such stories, and thus not much of a variety in terms of roles for the Asian male. There’s obviously a certain criteria or formula that Hollywood thinks of when creating romantic roles. The question is, why are Asian males so taboo?
Does Hollywood think America is still not ready for such a change? Unfortunately, I may have to agree. Although Asian males aren’t “shadowed” by Bruce Lee as much these days, they are still struggling with changing the image that Hollywood has brought about. Surely, we all can’t do martial arts, nor are we all good at math. There’s many dimensions to everyone, and Asian men aren’t an exception. We are making progress, however. Slowly but surely we are taking strides in diversifying roles for the Asian male, including romantic ones. Maybe Hollywood is learning a thing or two from overseas (where roles for Asian males are more diverse) and realizing we’re not so one dimensional after all. We (people of Asian heritage) are one of the fastest growing population groups. Hollywood needs to wake up!
image credit: www.tvguide.com, rottentomatoes.com
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February 22, 2008
Yaaay good post!!! And it’s sooo true. I mean, I watch so many Korean dramas and what not and the roles for the males are very diverse and shows different sides to them…I feel like Hollywood tries to lump the Asian male roles to fit the typical Asian stereotype. They make them either some bad ass, martial arts expert that has no feelings or some nerdy guy that’s like a wimp.
Asian men have feelings like other men; I know this cause my boyfriend is Asian and has emotions like everyone else. I hope that we’ll soon seen Asian men receive more romantic roles in the future.
February 22, 2008
True that but they are making sme headway. How about “WAR” where Jet Li gets more than a peck
February 22, 2008
Go Li! Cool, haven’t seen that movie yet. Is it any good? I agree, we are definitely making some improvements, don’t you think there’s more that can be approved upon?
February 23, 2008
Could it have something to do with the traditional view of the asian male as being stoic and emotionless to the point of roboticism? The way they (male asian heroes) are presented are as purely logical beings, with any/all emotions directed into short physical bursts, and only when necessary.
Of course, it could just be laziness on the part of writers too.
Jotun’s last blog post..Green Colibri - Small steps.
February 23, 2008
Great Point Jotun. That’s exactly what I was thinking. The Asian male is usually depicted as such, thus that is why there is a lack of romantic roles (and other diverse roles in general). And I guess you could always assume there are lazy writers out there too.
February 23, 2008
This topic really struck a cord with your readers Giun
I think we can chalk the lack of leading Asian men in U.S. movies to simple lack of demand due to low exposure. The American public in general (I don’t like to generalize) just hasn’t been exposed to very many Asian actors other than the few main stream martial arts movies with the likes of Jet Li and Jackie Chan. Jackie has certainly opened the path to drama or comedy roles allowing Asian actors to choose something other than martial arts parts.
The rest of the world seems to recognize the talents of many of the well known asian actors. For example, Bae Yong Joon is the hottest name around town no matter where you go except here in the U.S. I’m sure everyone posting here has watched at least one if not more of the Korean dramas featuring this young actor.
Rest assured, the Asian male is definitely making headway in Hollywood and I don’t think it will be long be fore we see a U.S. movie with an Asian leading man. Keep your eye on Sung Kang, I think we’ll be seeing a lot more of him.
phoFuki’s last blog post..Taking the MBP apart
February 23, 2008
I agree phoFuki. Asian males have been typecast into the martial arts genre and thus Hollywood doesn’t have much other roles to offer. A question I wonder is if the American public in general, is open to seeing Asian males performing roles where they don’t have to kick everyone’s ass. Obviously there’s some headway however. Sung Kang is definitely somebody to watch, thanks for mentioning him. He’s a talented actor and I hope the American public gets to see more of him.
February 27, 2008
ive written before but it has never published. i would feel soo weird with an asian american kissing scene on american scenes.. LOL. but its just me. we are soo used to how modest they are [or were] back in asia. i grew up with no kissing scenes and til this very day, i cant handle regular kissing scenes. sorry! [LOL] but its like seeing my own brother kiss. ICK!
July 8, 2010
Mysoju.com is a wonderful site where you can watch a ton (I do mean a ton) of asian movies/dramas (that are not all dramatic; meaning they are funny) I just thought to share this with eveyone who visits this sit (they are subbed in English) Check it out! btw I know this is totally random…but oh well!