Diversity In Asian-American Cinema

Growing up, I was constantly reminded that for whatever reason, Asians had it easy in America. Like somehow, professions in medicine and law were handed to us on silver platters because everyone expected us to become doctors and lawyers anyway. Of course, the multitude of Asian-Americans who do end up in these fields must have worked tirelessly to get there. But I often look back at my childhood thinking, “What if everyone had supported me becoming an actor in the same way they support future doctors?” My dream of working in entertainment was taken as joke, and growing up, I understood that I would have to work twice as hard to become successful in this field because people like me did not receive support in pursuing the arts. Contrary to what

These companies have also noted that diversity generally does not hold strong market value in comparison to a traditionally white narrative. In perspective, the recent science-fiction film Ghost in the Shell cast Scarlett Johansson as a Japanese woman, to which screenwriter Max Landis defended the choice, claiming that “there are no A-­list female Asian celebrities right now on an international level” (Chow 9). We can take from this claim a sense of how the industry truly feels about the notion of box office success for films in relation to diversity. More and more people are aware of the inequalities in media representation, but what are the implications of a more diverse cast and crew in terms of success? It may be critical in this era to portray accurate representations of race, disregarding its implications in box office success. Obviously, it is impractical to depict the life and struggle of every Asian-American, but is even just getting out one form or another enough in gaining visibility within the film industry? Or is this simply a pipe dream that has limitations in society because of our inevitable hierarchy of white