A continent, a people

Apologies for the extended hiatus, I had an unusually busy end-of-summer season that was followed immediately with back to back mini-vacations.

(A view from one of the countless switchbacks on a trail up the side of a peak in Yosemite. It. Was. Amazing.)

Spending my time communing with nature means I haven’t been indulging in slightly more civilized pleasures like movie-going, which is really the only reason I have yet to see “Crazy Rich Asians”.

For those of you who haven’t heard about this cinematic juggernaut-cum-cultural phenomenon, it’s based on Kevin Kwan’s 2013 bestseller by the same name.  I read it – no, devoured it – over the course of two days.  It was a fabulously entertaining read, much of it providing a glimpse into the lives of the “crazy rich”.  But apart from the names of the characters and the setting, I didn’t much think about the “Asian” part.

So a disclaimer here – I’m half Japanese – and I’ll eventually write a post about growing up with a multicultural background.  Suffice it to say I speak Japanese fluently and understand the complicated etiquette that is particular to Japan enough to have worked at a law firm there for a summer.  I don’t identify as a Japanese woman, but I embrace a great deal of the mores and attitudes that make up Japanese culture.  But embracing Japanese culture, to me, is very different from the idea of “being Asian”.

What has been of great interest to me as “Crazy Rich Asians” continues to dominate at the box office is the notion that its success has meant so much to Asian Americans.  It’s the first major studio film in 25 years to have an all-Asian cast (the last was “Joy Luck Club”), and that certainly means a great deal.  And there have been dozens of articles citing the importance of the film for putting Asian actors in the forefront of American culture and how Hollywood is now scrambling to find new Asian-centric stories to ride on its success.

Which is all good and well in the sense that it seems that mainstream America is more welcoming to racial/cultural diversity.  But to me it belies an underlying ignorance (or perhaps casual racism?) that Asians are…Asian.

I mean, first of all, we may all come from the same continent, but all Asians can be incredibly different in culture, language and, yes, appearance, depending on which part of the continent you’re talking about.  It reminds me of the whole “It’s hard to tell Asians apart” thing.  Like you can lump us all together because we kind of look…a little bit…the same.

And it’s the wholesale description of anyone who comes from an entire continent as “Asian” that, to me, has the whiff of racial and cultural insensitivity.  It reminds me of going to see “Memoirs of a Geisha” and being confused that a Chinese actress, Ziyi Zhang, was cast in the lead role.  Zhang had gained worldwide recognition for her role in “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and thus was a recognizable “face” – and isn’t one Asian face just like another? Never mind that to me, Koreans look like Koreans and people from Okinawa look like Okinawans (even if they are, strictly speaking, Japanese).

There was actually some controversy surrounding the casting of Henry Golding as the lead in “Crazy Rich Asians”  – the half Malaysian-half English actor wasn’t deemed “Asian enough”. I’m not even sure of what that means.  Is it all just a matter of looks? Or that he wasn’t culturally Asian enough to fully understand and be able to accurately portray his character?  I suspect it’s the former. Which is frankly more culturally insensitive than if it were the latter.

It’s the whole notion that Asian Americans should be delighted to be represented by someone who “looks like them” on screen that rankles me, because it negates the truth that we all look quite different, on top of ignoring the vast differences over the many Asian cultures and the even greater diversity of experiences of the Asian diaspora in this country.

In short, while the success of “Crazy Rich Asians” might be some indication of the acceptance of cultural diversity in mainstream America, to me it points out how limited and, frankly, ignorant mainstream America continues to be.  One cannot delineate or define an individual by the geographical area of their origin.  A continent doesn’t create a people.

Please share your thoughts in the comment section – I’m really curious to hear how others see this issue!