Asian Actors in Hollywood

Lack of Racial Diversity in Hollywood

Caucasians filling Asian roles in Doctor Strange and Ghost in the Shell

Hollywood cinema has historically been very limited in diversity, and while times are changing, this fact remains unchanged. In recent years, there have been increased protests and reactions against this racial discrimination from the #OscarsSoWhite drama in the 2016 Academy Awards to the recent whitewashing of Asian roles in highly popular creative properties of Doctor Strange and Ghost in the Shell.
In the original comics of Doctor Strange, the Ancient One was a Tibetan-born man, but Tilda Swinton, a British actress, was cast for the role. News of the casting was first revealed in early 2016 when Marvel dropped its first teaser trailer for its film Doctor Strange. Days later, Paramount and Dreamworks released their first artwork for the film Ghost in the Shell, based on the popular Japanese manga of the same name. The image revealed Scarlett Johansson, an American actress, was cast in the lead role of the Major, a Japanese female in the original manga series.
The flipping of race in the casting of these roles brought about uproar and criticism. This whitewashing controversy further emphasized the lack of diversity in Hollywood cinema even today.

Asian Males in Leading Roles

Ethnic Representation in Hollywood Films

Within this racially stagnant industry, Asian male actors, in particular, have had great difficulty in landing leading roles.The Slanted Screen, a 2006 documentary, highlighted how Asian actors are often pidgeonholed into roles depicting ethnic stereotypes. Covering over 50 film clips spanning almost a century, the film shows how stereotypical portrayals continue to persist and asks why roles for Asian men are decreasing while the Asian American population continues to increase.
Asian actors still only form one percent of leading roles in Hollywood. Hollywood has yet to cast an Asian male in a lead role that is not linked to his ethnicity or status as a martial artist. Jake Choi, an Asian actor, asserts that "Asian men in media are so desexualized." He believes Asian men are never portrayed as sexy or appealing because of white male insecurities. Asian men being portrayed as sex symbols would threaten white male sexuality and dominance. Asian males are emasculated by never receiving roles as a love interest of a Caucasian woman, and an Asian man kissing a woman is never shown onscreen. Instead, Asians are often portrayed in caricature and stereotypical roles.

Many Asian Americans that have struggled to find leading roles in Hollywood have turned elsewhere to find success. In Asia, several Asian Americans have established themselves with leading roles portraying them as sexy, appealing men. Some have also made a place for themselves on content on the Internet by participating in web series and crowdfunded movies that would never be greenlit in Hollywood.

Matt Damon in The Great Wall

The Great Wall

The Great Wall, a recent fictional film set in China, also raised controversy over the casting of Matt Damon in the lead role. It raised questions as to why a white guy always has to the hero. The film presented a great opportunity to tell a story encapsulating the rich history and culture of China, yet the casting of a whilte male as the leading role during a historical period within China seemed jarring to audiences at the very least. As Hollywood cinema continues to tell stories through their films, they should strive to capture the diversity and culture of different races. Rather than continuing to tell the single story of the dominant white male, it can tell different stories that people of other races and culture can relate to.

Are Asian Men Attractive?

A study by online dating site OkCupid found that non-Asian women did not find Asian men attractive, despite Asian women faring well in attractiveness rating by all men in general. Asian men, black men and women scored the lowest in ratings in the study. Much of the perception can be correlated to how ethnic diversity is portrayed in the media. While there are attractive men and women of all ethnicities, such roles are rarely seen in Hollywood cinema. This single story portrayal of white male attractiveness contributes to perceptions in society regarding beauty and sexiness. The sentiment seen in the following video is echoed in numerous videos and content found throughout the internet.

Hollywood Writers Diversity

A new study by UCLA showed that people of color make up 13 percent of television writers and only 7 percent of film writers. When most writers are white males, it is easy to understand why there is a lack of diversity in Hollywood. Most writers tend to write about what they know. With such little diversity in writers, we can only expect stories from a limited point of view. Even with unconscious bias, writers tend to gravitate towards stereotypes because they are well known. It requires work and effort to learn the culture and diversity within different ethnic groups.

Influencing Change

In the 2015 Hollywood Diversity Report by UCLA, it was found that films with relatively diverse casts enjoyed the highest median global box office receipts and the highest median return on investment. The same held true for success in television. Co-author of the report Ana-Christina Ramón believes that the audience has the power to influence studios and networks with their wallets, remote controls, and through social media. Hollywood is a business, and when diversity helps the bottom line, studios and networks will change to produce content that makes money. When they see a formula that works, they want to replicate it. We are already seeing more diverse shows on television. As movie studios tend to lag behind television networks due to the sheer number of content produced in television compared to films, we can only hope that movie studios follow suit in improving diversity and representation in their content.