David Chiu

On Thurs and Saturday I went to check out events at the VC Film Fest. Thursday night I attended the opening event at the DGA and saw the premiere of Saving Face written by first-time director/writer (and ex dot-com worker) Alice Wu. The film was intersting and had it’s moments but ultimately left me un-impressed. At the end of the movie all I could think is if it is more “shocking” to see two asian females in a passionate lesbian relationship, or an Asian guy with a sexy blonde starlet in a passionate relationship.

I also felt strangely out of place among my fellow Asian brothers and sisters sitting in that theater. Unlike the characters portrayed in the movie, I am not bilingual. My parents, since they are from different Asian countries, spoke only english in the house (except when they spoke to relatives). We didn’t have a lot of relatives close by or even come visit us very often. My experience was different than what I saw on screen and a lot of the jokes that people laughed at, I just didn’t find that funny.

On Saturday I attended a seminar on “Castng Asian Americans”. Most of the information seemed geared more towards Asian actors getting started in the industry. I was more interested in asking some of the deeper issues such as, “How do we (as asians) change the game and get those leading male roles?” and “When are we going to see an Asian guy kissing the hot blonde girl on network TV?”

The answer from the panel came from the main sponsor of the event AZN TV. Her respone was that Asians need to support Asian media such as the VC Film Festival and AZN TV. With support the demand for Asian programming will grow and Asians will gain better visibility across all media.

Although I agree with the basis of this statement, I do see a couple problems. One of the biggest problems is that I just don’t see a unified support from all Asian communities. The problem is that we, as Asians come from several different countries who speak different languages and inherently have negative views of each other because of things that have happened in history. We are not unified. And frankly, there are a lot of Asians who are just out there for themselves. Plus, there are a lot of different demographics of Asians - from those who have immigrated, to those who are second generation, to those who are bilingual, to those who are completely “assimilated”. How do you appeal to all groups?

Ultimately I think it is about the quality of the work. If the story is entertaining and has a universal theme, people will like it and appreciate it regardless of race. Look at movies such as “Bend it Like Beckham” and “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”. Both highly successful and entertaining interweaving cultural elements from different peoples’ background. This is the kind of product we need.