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[El Topo]

I really liked that The Good Place had such a diverse cast. I wish more shows did that (and if possible with more diversity among leads for that matter).

 

[y2dvd]

That "box office draw" aspect is unfortunately true, and is a direct consaquence of these casting practices. Who would you say is the most famous Asian actress in Hollywood right now? Hannah Simone? Lucy liu? Maggie Q? Chloe Bennet?

According to google it is Zhang Ziyi Fan Bingbing Gong li Michelle Yeoh and Arden Cho

Insert Guardians of the Galaxy Who.Gif

4/5 of those actresses are over 35 and i had only previously heard of one. Michelle Yeoh.

This isn't thay hard. The "box office draw" will remain true when you typically keep casting white actors in Asian roles or when you cast for Asian stereotypes. What asian actors want are meatier roles. You can't be a box office draw if you're never given the opportunity to be one in the first place.

 

[Zoe]

it sounds like sucks to be an Asian American actor whether you're Eastern Asian, Middle Eastern, brown/South Asian, or Southeast Asian

At least Middle Easterners have a history of getting roles playing Hispanics.

(Filipinos too)

 

[lightskintwin]

A bunch of classicaly trained actors doing Blaxpotation movies because we couldn't do anything else basically.

But the point is Blacks took initiative and put their money up, took the risk, and cast themselves as leads and focused on Black narratives and proved their was a market for Black led films and Hollywood took notice.

For instance what many consider the first Blaxploitation film is "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song" in 1971. Melvin Van Peebles, who directed and starred, funded the film himself and borrowed the last 50,000 from Bill Cosby in order to complete the project at $150,000. The independent film was a big success grossing 4 million, which is noteworthy because it made 4 times more than Clint Eastwood's Hollywood studio film of the time "The Beguiled". The film has since grossed 15 million.

Now granted Hollywood abandoned it after being involved for several years, once their White movies became more profitable (LOL), but the point is it created and sustained the careers of Black screenwriters, directors, and actors, made an impact and influence on American pop culture (Style, Fashion, Lingo, Music, etc..) and helped create a network that would later help and inspire the newer generation go farther.

 

[kswiston]

I know I'm merely speaking from personal and anecdotal experience but you're kind of proving my point here.

The Asian American demographic was also easily ignorable for most of TV/Movie history. Asian Americans were 0.75% of the population of the US back in 1970. In 1950 that number was 0.2%. And that was for the entire Asian continent. Once you start subdividing by ethnic origin (Chinese, Indian, Filipino, etc) you were dealing with relatively tiny communities.

We're now about 40 years into mass Asian immigration in the United States. If you figure that immigrants tend to identify with their home country over their adopted country, most of the US born Asian Americans are GAF age or younger. I would imagine that these are the Americans who want to see themselves in the movies and on TV (their parents are happy watching Bollywood or cinema from Hong Kong, Korea, etc). Now is the time to prove to Hollywood that there is a market for those characters and stories. Because, being realistic, white, black and latino moviegoers largely don't care either way about Asian representation unless they are approaching it from a social justice perspective that encourages diversity in general. Those aren't their personal stories.

I do think that things will gradually get better in regards to Asian representation in Hollywood. Especially as American demographics continue to shift. It just takes way too long.

 

[jdstorm]

I don't know what to say when Arden Cho is in a list with gong li and Michelle yeoh.

I just googled "most famous asian actress hollywood" and thats what came up. Lucy Liu didnt make the list. Which is strange since she is currently or was recently working as co lead on CBS' Sherlock and had been an A-List celebrity in the past.

This isn't thay hard. The "box office draw" will remain true when you typically keep casting white actors in Asian roles or when you cast for Asian stereotypes. What asian actors want are meatier roles. You can't be a box office draw if you're never given the opportunity to be one in the first place.

I 100% Agree. I also think some biger budget films would benefit taking chances on some more highly talented unknown actors of any and all ethnicities. However for the case of Ghost in the Shell it was the type of niche film that would typically be carried by an established movie star. The reality is that there wasnt a female asian movie star with an established western audience to cast.

 

[milkham]

I just googled "most famous asian actress hollywood" and thats what came up. Lucy Liu didnt make the list. Which is strange since she is currently or was recently working as co lead on CBS' Sherlock and had been an A-List celebrity in the past.

More insult to injury, Cho is the only American

 

[Jeffrey]

Surprised after all these years Hollywood hasn't asked why people like Han in fast and furious series so much.

Maybe having an Asian dude that is just a dude has some merit?

 

[Jintor]

Surprised after all these years Hollywood hasn't asked why people like Han in fast and furious series so much.

Maybe having an Asian dude that is just a dude has some merit?

i do feel like it's important both ways though. Like, there should definitely be stories where asian characters can just be... characters who happen to be asian, but (as the recent glut of asian-american comedy/sitcoms seems to tell) it's also important that there be experiences that are uniquely asian, or asian-american (or asian-australian, asian-english, whatever).

Like, the other day I saw a clip from Fresh Off The Boat i think where the kids were marvelling at a dishwasher actually being used to wash dishes because they thought it was effectively an under-the-counter drying rack because their parents had them handwash the dishes even though they owned a dishwasher. That was incredibly relatable and I busted my gut laughing at it because dude, that was me and my little bro.

I would never have seen that kind of thing when I was growing up.

 

[Megalosaro]

What? Krysten Ritter isn't attractive?

Lol I know right. Who ever said she wasn't needs to re-evaluate

 

[Al-ibn Kermit]

At least Middle Easterners have a history of getting roles playing Hispanics.

(Filipinos too)

The actual middle-eastern characters are usually far more offensive than the typical "good stereotype" east Asian characters. Not trying to dismiss the problems in show biz with regards to how east Asians are portrayed, I'm just saying the problems are very different.

 

[Kimawolf]

Asians need to take tbe black people route and make their own shit. Hollywood won't ever give you the shot you want.

Just like i said before, you think the message of GitS will be white washing? Let WW underperform and it will be "welp women can't carry big budget action movies." That will be the message.

Hollywood only caters to white males. Everyone else will have to force their way in. Black people have opened the door but we still are in the lobby so to speak.

 

[Sunster]

My 8 yr old son is half Chinese. I make sure we watch shows like Fresh of the Boat, Kim's Convience. I want him to be exposed to variety as much as possible. I wish there was more though.

Watch Asian dramas together. You can probably find them subbed on the net.

Kissasian.com is great. I used it to watch Filipino movies to help with my Tagalog learning. Until they removed all Filipino shows ((

 

[guek]

The Asian American demographic was also easily ignorable for most of TV/Movie history. Asian Americans were 0.75% of the population of the US back in 1970. In 1950 that number was 0.2%. And that was for the entire Asian continent. Once you start subdividing by ethnic origin (Chinese, Indian, Filipino, etc) you were dealing with relatively tiny communities.

We're now about 40 years into mass Asian immigration in the United States. If you figure that immigrants tend to identify with their home country over their adopted country, most of the US born Asian Americans are GAF age or younger. I would imagine that these are the Americans who want to see themselves in the movies and on TV (their parents are happy watching Bollywood or cinema from Hong Kong, Korea, etc). Now is the time to prove to Hollywood that there is a market for those characters and stories. Because, being realistic, white, black and latino moviegoers largely don't care either way about Asian representation unless they are approaching it from a social justice perspective that encourages diversity in general. Those aren't their personal stories.

I do think that things will gradually get better in regards to Asian representation in Hollywood. Especially as American demographics continue to shift. It just takes way too long.

Yeah, I know there are reasons. Trends are changing too, though mainly because Hollywood is trying to pander to China. Asians are doing best in TV right now, though it's still not great.

It's just disheartening when I say Asians don't get much sympathy and then someone tries to shoot that down. You can't hold up blacksploitation films and imply Asians should just do that when the industry is completely different today. Asians still only make up 5-7% of the US population.

 

[CopperPuppy]

I mean, she's not ugly, but Krysten Ritter isn't exactly a babe, either.

You've gotta be kidding.

 

[nitewulf]

I am not a big fan of the show but LOST was surprisingly progressive on this aspect. Also you guys should watch "Crazy Ex-girlfriend", another show that uses a very attractive Asian lead as the main love interest, which definitely stands against the typical desexualized Asian stereotype.

 

[Jeffrey]

i do feel like it's important both ways though. Like, there should definitely be stories where asian characters can just be... characters who happen to be asian, but (as the recent glut of asian-american comedy/sitcoms seems to tell) it's also important that there be experiences that are uniquely asian, or asian-american (or asian-australian, asian-english, whatever).

Like, the other day I saw a clip from Fresh Off The Boat i think where the kids were marvelling at a dishwasher actually being used to wash dishes because they thought it was effectively an under-the-counter drying rack because their parents had them handwash the dishes even though they owned a dishwasher. That was incredibly relatable and I busted my gut laughing at it because dude, that was me and my little bro.

I would never have seen that kind of thing when I was growing up.

Shit that's still me when I visit the parents lol.

 

[Octavianus]

I mean, she's not ugly, but Krysten Ritter isn't exactly a babe, either.

I'm sorry, what?

 

[Sunster]

I am not a big fan of the show but LOST was surprisingly progressive on this aspect. Also you guys should watch "Crazy Ex-grilfriend", another show that uses a very attractive Asian lead as the main love interest, which definitely stands against the typical desexualized Asian stereotype.

yea but then they played that submissive Asian wife trope to the max

 

[Timbuktu]

i do feel like it's important both ways though. Like, there should definitely be stories where asian characters can just be... characters who happen to be asian, but (as the recent glut of asian-american comedy/sitcoms seems to tell) it's also important that there be experiences that are uniquely asian, or asian-american (or asian-australian, asian-english, whatever).

Like, the other day I saw a clip from Fresh Off The Boat i think where the kids were marvelling at a dishwasher actually being used to wash dishes because they thought it was effectively an under-the-counter drying rack because their parents had them handwash the dishes even though they owned a dishwasher. That was incredibly relatable and I busted my gut laughing at it because dude, that was me and my little bro.

I would never have seen that kind of thing when I was growing up.

It made me sad in the UK that they bring pretty much every US sit com over, but not Fresh off the boat. East Asians are even more of a minority here. For British Chinese/Japanese/Korean actors on UK TV, I can only think off Gemma Chan and she is then mostly know for acting as a robot, with other rows being dragon ladies, or oppressed girl needing to be rescued by a white man. For a male UK east Asian actor, I can only think of Benedict Wong.

 

[nitewulf]

The Krysten Ritter thread derail isn't helping discuss the main issue.

 

[……forgetit]

I mean, she's not ugly, but Krysten Ritter isn't exactly a babe, either.

She's model though.

 

[Apharmd]

My 8 yr old son is half Chinese. I make sure we watch shows like Fresh of the Boat, Kim's Convience. I want him to be exposed to variety as much as possible. I wish there was more though.

watch kamen rider breh

 

[lightskintwin]

The Asian American demographic was also easily ignorable for most of TV/Movie history. Asian Americans were 0.75% of the population of the US back in 1970. In 1950 that number was 0.2%. And that was for the entire Asian continent. Once you start subdividing by ethnic origin (Chinese, Indian, Filipino, etc) you were dealing with relatively tiny communities.

We're now about 40 years into mass Asian immigration in the United States. If you figure that immigrants tend to identify with their home country over their adopted country, most of the US born Asian Americans are GAF age or younger. I would imagine that these are the Americans who want to see themselves in the movies and on TV (their parents are happy watching Bollywood or cinema from Hong Kong, Korea, etc). Now is the time to prove to Hollywood that there is a market for those characters and stories. Because, being realistic, white, black and latino moviegoers largely don't care either way about Asian representation unless they are approaching it from a social justice perspective that encourages diversity in general.

I do think that things will gradually get better in regards to Asian representation in Hollywood. Especially as American demographics continue to shift. It just takes way too long.

This.

Now's the time for an Asian American Shonda Rhimes, Melvin Peebles, Spike Lee, Ava Duvernay, Gina Pryce-Bythewood, John Singleton, F. Gary Gray, Hughes Brothers, Lee Daniels, etc... who will focus on creating Asian American narratives and/or cast Asian Americans actors. It will give Asian American actors a platform to be visible, help sustain their careers, and put them in positions to be cast in bigger budget mainstream films potentially as leads.

In a recent interview on Breakfast Club, Tyrese and Ludacris talked about if it wasn't for John Singleton casting both of them in 2 Fast 2 Furious, they wouldn't be part of one of the biggest franchises in the world right now. In Tyrese's case, he also talked about if it wasn't for John Singleton taking a chance and casting him as a lead in his film Baby Boy, he wouldn't be in a position to be cast in any of the films afterwards such as Transformers.

The actual middle-eastern characters are usually far more offensive than the typical "good stereotype" east Asian characters. Not trying to dismiss the problems in show biz with regards to how east Asians are portrayed, I'm just saying the problems are very different.

There's a great documentary on that subject that came out 10 years ago and I've linked below if you haven't seen it.

Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People

Asians need to take tbe black people route and make their own shit. Hollywood won't ever give you the shot you want.

Just like i said before, you think the message of GitS will be white washing? Let WW underperform and it will be "welp women can't carry big budget action movies." That will be the message.

Hollywood only caters to white males. Everyone else will have to force their way in. Black people have opened the door but we still are in the lobby so to speak.

Preach. I keep saying this. Plus it's not as if there aren't successful Asain American/Western producers and directors. It's just a shame they tend to focus on White narratives and cast White actors.

I think not only is there a good market for Asian American films in America, but that there's potentially a big international market specifically in other Asian countries that could make it very lucrative.

Yeah, I know there are reasons. Trends are changing too, though mainly because Hollywood is trying to pander to China. Asians are doing best in TV right now, though it's still not great.

It's just disheartening when I say Asians don't get much sympathy and then someone tries to shoot that down. You can't hold up blacksploitation films and imply Asians should just do that when the industry is completely different today. Asians still only make up 5-7% of the US population.

Why not? Blaxploitation films started out as independent films created by Blacks focusing on Black narratives with Black leads. There's nothing stopping the younger generation of Asian Americans saying "Fuck Hollywood" and working amongst themselves to create their own independent films focusing on themselves and proving there's a market for it that Hollywood is missing out on.

 

[Kin5290]

The actual middle-eastern characters are usually far more offensive than the typical "good stereotype" east Asian characters. Not trying to dismiss the problems in show biz with regards to how east Asians are portrayed, I'm just saying the problems are very different.

Hell, even Israeli actors have to play Arab Islamist terrorists. It's that recurring bullshit with how in every show about the war on terror, every Middle Eastern character is either a terrorist, a secret terrorist for plot twist purposes, or a mole for the terrorists.

 

[Zoe]

I am not a big fan of the show but LOST was surprisingly progressive on this aspect. Also you guys should watch "Crazy Ex-girlfriend", another show that uses a very attractive Asian lead as the main love interest, which definitely stands against the typical desexualized Asian stereotype.

Love Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. The Expanse is another show that has a ton of Asian characters who just happen to be Asian.

 

[Mighty Chin]

More of a side note here. Maybe my Canadian Brothers and Sister can chime in.

We are much more exposed to diversity up here. In BC at least you will see lots of diversity in TV Commercials. Interracial couples are quite prominent. It helps with perception and that perception will help with the future generations.

 

[Mollymauk]

Hollywood Shuffle still resonates

 

[LifEndz]

What? Krysten Ritter isn't attractive?

My exact reaction.That photo the poster used wasn't very complimentary, but Krysten Ritter is stunning.

And yeah, the type-casting in the entertainment industry sucks.

 

[Timbuktu]

I am not a big fan of the show but LOST was surprisingly progressive on this aspect. Also you guys should watch "Crazy Ex-girlfriend", another show that uses a very attractive Asian lead as the main love interest, which definitely stands against the typical desexualized Asian stereotype.

Edge of Seventeen had that to an extent, what did people think of that film? Hayden Szeto was pretty great.

 

[lightskintwin]

Hollywood Shuffle still resonates

Yet another example of a Black Independent Film funded for $100,000, $60,000 of which was funded from Robert Townsend's own credit cards, and grossing 5 million dollars and proving yet again there's a market for Black films in the 80's.

I think an Asian American could remake Hollywood Shuffle with a Asian American focus and do a very smart yet scathing social commentary on Hollywood right now and be successful.

Edge of Seventeen had that to an extent, what did people think of that film? Hayden Szeto was pretty great.

Great film, I still thought the Asian character was better in some respects, and still a stereotype in others. Dude doesn't even kiss the girl.

 

[kswiston]

More of a side note here. Maybe my Canadian Brothers and Sister can chime in.

We are much more exposed to diversity up here. In BC at least you will see lots of diversity in TV Commercials. Interracial couples are quite prominent. It helps with perception and that perception will help with the future generations.

I don't think it's all that much better in Canada. We just happen to have different dominant minority demographics. Vancouver metro, and the GTA are minority-majorities where Chinese, Indian, and other Asian ethnicities make up a big portion of the population. It seems natural that an Indian Canadian would see more representation than an Indian American if you are watching the news or Canadian broadcasting. There are proportionally a lot more Indian Canadians than Indian Americans.

 

[nitewulf]

Also I remember the CW (back them WPIX) creating a few shows, one of them had Russell Wong as the lead, frankly he is too good looking to be anything else.

 

[milkham]

Yet another example of a Black Independent Film funded for $100,000, $60,000 of which was funded from Robert Townsend's own credit cards, and grossing 5 million dollars and proving yet again there's a market for Black films in the 80's.

I think an Asian American could remake Hollywood Shuffle with a Asian American focus and do a very smart yet scathing social commentary on Hollywood right now and be successful.



Great film, I still thought the Asian character was better in some respects, and still a stereotype in others. Dude doesn't even kiss the girl.

I can only think of one Asian American film like you suggest, Better Luck Tommorow directed by Justin Lin, with Sung Kang and John Cho. I didn't think it was very good but it has a good rotten tomatoes score. Interesting enough, MC Hammer put up some money for it and is credited as a producer.

 

[kswiston]

Yet another example of a Black Independent Film funded for $100,000, $60,000 of which was funded from Robert Townsend's own credit cards, and grossing 5 million dollars and proving yet again there's a market for Black films in the 80's.

I think an Asian American could remake Hollywood Shuffle with a Asian American focus and do a very smart yet scathing social commentary on Hollywood right now and be successful.

M Night Shyamalan is already self-funding $5-10M films. There's no reason why he couldn't push for one of the lead roles to be someone who wasn't white. Given how much Split made, he can continue to do what he wants for the foreseeable future.

 

[Mighty Chin]

I don't think it's all that much better in Canada. We just happen to have different dominant minority demographics. Vancouver metro, and the GTA are minority-majorities where Chinese, Indian, and other Asian ethnicities make up a big portion of the population. It seems natural that an Indian Canadian would see more representation than an Indian American if you are watching the news or Canadian broadcasting. There are proportionally a lot more Indian Canadians than Indian Americans.

Well I'll compare it to the 80's when I was growing up and even though I was in a ethnically diverse community everything on tv was all White. It takes decades. I think Canada is far ahead on this front.

 

[The Artisan]

At least Middle Easterners have a history of getting roles playing Hispanics.

(Filipinos too)

Hispanics should play Hispanics.

what are some of these roles?

 

[Dr.Horrible]

Still relevant - Nobody's Asian in the Movies, from the commentary of Dr. Horrible.

http://youtu.be/MNmzegQUtFA

 

[Madness]

Huh something I never considered was how African-Americans have formed a solid foothold in pop cuture that Asian-Americans haven't quite formed. I hope eventually they can get to that point in movies and television. Master of None was a good step in the right direction and I think Netflix would be a great outlet for such ventures.

Well there is a wide disparity in terms of American socio-cultural status between African-Americans and Asian-Americans. Asian-Americans are largely new to the US having a fraction of the shared history that African-Americans who are the descendants of slaves centuries back. Additionally, while there is great diversity within the black community in the US, there is no real 'Asian' united block. Chinese Americans have a different history than Japanese Americans who have a different history than Filipino Americans who have a different history than Indian Americans, and vice versa, yet all are termed as Asian Americans.

Then you have just sheer population. Prior to 1990, the Asian American population was below 3%, it is now over 6% but still is half that of the African-American community. By terms of underrepresentation, latino and hispanics make up almost 20% of the US, meaning 1 in 5, and yet are almost entirely invisible in terms of politics, media, sports, music, culture, arts and television. Things will slowly change, but even then look how many people think Kumail Nanjiani is Indian when in reality he is Pakistani.

It'll change. Rapid demographic change means that by 2030, more than 25% of the US will be either hispanic, south asian or east asian.

 

[Ninja Scooter]

I mean, she's not ugly, but Krysten Ritter isn't exactly a babe, either.

Come the fuck on, bro.

 

[Darth Pinche]

Love Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. The Expanse is another show that has a ton of Asian characters who just happen to be Asian.

Yes! I also enjoy Agents of Shield. Especially the fact that May is the ultimate badass.

 

[SKINNER!]

I mean, she's not ugly, but Krysten Ritter isn't exactly a babe, either.

You can't be serious.

 

[Zoe]

Hispanics should play Hispanics.

what are some of these roles?

Lou Diamond Phillips is probably the biggest offender on the Filipino side. Oded Fehr played Carlos in Resident Evil, and I'm skeptical that Gisele was intended to be Isreali in F&F4.

I cried a little on the inside when I saw some people circulating articles about "the new Asian Harry Potter" in A Wrinkle In Time (which is laughable in context anyway) when the boy is going to be playing a half white/half black character.

One of the things I love about Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is there's absolutely no ambiguity that Josh is Asian even just by looking at his name. SVU had a recurring character (Morales) for several seasons who you never would have thought was Filipino until his last (or close to) episode where he goes off talking about his exploited relatives back in the Philippines.

 

[lightskintwin]

I can only think of one Asian American film like you suggest, Better Luck Tommorow directed by Justin Lin, with Sung Kang and John Cho. I didn't think it was very good but it has a good rotten tomatoes score. Interesting enough, MC Hammer put up some money for it and is credited as a producer.

Still haven't seen that movie yet, but want to check it out. The problem is Justin Lin moved away from these type of films immediately and went on to make very successful Hollywood studio films (Fast and Furious franchise) that's ironically diverse but didn't really help create Asian American stars or change the system.

As I pointed out before, John Singleton in his Fast and Furious film cast Tyrese and Ludacris that have gone on to become cast staples in the franchise.

M Night Shyamalan is already self-funding $5-10M films. There's no reason why he couldn't push for one of the lead roles to be someone who wasn't white. Given how much Split made, he can continue to do what he wants for the foreseeable future.

I agree, and I've been said this; but he's also part of the older generation and probably doesn't see the issue the same way younger generation Asian Americans see it. There's no reason one of the girls in Split couldn't have been Asian American, instead it went back to two white girls, and a mixed girl that could very well pass as an African American character.

Well there is a wide disparity in terms of American socio-cultural status between African-Americans and Asian-Americans. Asian-Americans are largely new to the US having a fraction of the shared history that African-Americans who are the descendants of slaves centuries back. Additionally, while there is great diversity within the black community in the US, there is no real 'Asian' united block. Chinese Americans have a different history than Japanese Americans who have a different history than Filipino Americans who have a different history than Indian Americans, and vice versa, yet all are termed as Asian Americans.

Then you have just sheer population. Prior to 1990, the Asian American population was below 3%, it is now over 6% but still is half that of the African-American community. By terms of underrepresentation, latino and hispanics make up almost 20% of the US, meaning 1 in 5, and yet are almost entirely invisible in terms of politics, media, sports, music, culture, arts and television. Things will slowly change, but even then look how many people think Kumail Nanjiani is Indian when in reality he is Pakistani.

It'll change. Rapid demographic change means that by 2030, more than 25% of the US will be either hispanic, south asian or east asian.

Even with those demographic shifts I still think American media will be slow to reflect that.

 

[SixMachine]

Surprisingly Power Rangers was one of the better ones in this regard. Underprivileged Asian families aren't often shown.

The crazy thing is that a lot of asians actually are underprivileged but every mofo keeps telling them about model minority BS (not all of them are math geniuses) and that they got it good. Southeast asian americans have high poverty rates but all asian subgroups get lumped into one.

 

[tearsintherain]

Aziz Ansari said it best, if you are asian in Hollywood you have to make your own roles, not wait around hoping some agent or casting call will give you a break. It obviously is 100x harder for a minority than for your typical white actor, but my best friend growing up was Indian and something his dad (a doctor who immigrated from India) said to all his kids, pretty much every day, stuck with me for the rest of my life: "son, you have to work twice as hard to get half as much as everyone else".
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/aziz-ansari-finding-success-you-898076

You do see a LOT more minorities on TV nowadays, in lead and support and diverse roles, but Hispanics, Asians, and Indians I think have a double problem: there are extremely strong industries back home that are 100% homogeneous towards their own ethnicity, and people who want to watch people who look like them have options. My wife is chinese and when our kids were growing up they would watch a lot of chinese TV, from the special channels we got and streaming websites. For language but also she felt it was important that the kids see people like them doing ordinary things on TV.

With that "backstop" support, it gets harder to get audience numbers for shows that aren't extraordinary to get wide support. Masters of None is really, really, really good so it has a lot of viewers - I assume, season 2 coming up next month. But a crappy TV show/movie with a lot of white chars is no big deal if it fails, but if its full of asians, or hispanics, or black people if it fails its an indictment against an experiment.

 

[Skellig Gra]

One of my favorite things about Rogue One was how diverse the cast was and not in a pandering way at all. Too bad GAF hates that movie so much.

 

[lightskintwin]

One of my favorite things about Rogue One was how diverse the cast was and not in a pandering way at all. Too bad GAF hates that movie so much.

That doesn't address Asian American actors though. The two Asian characters were played by Foreign Asian stars.

 

[Future]

What? Krysten Ritter isn't attractive?

GAF never ceases to amaze

 

[Ninja Scooter]

GAF never ceases to amaze

Someone should dig up that old "post pics of unconvential people you find attractive" and it's filled with like models and actors and shit.