Boycott 21

Ever since yesterday evening, I've been really actively promoting the Boycott 21 facebook group and have been trying to tell all my friends to boycott the movie. I'm worked up on this issue because this is a case of Hollywood whitewashing a partially Asian American event, and marginalizing the Asian American role.

I want to say a few words in support of boycotting 21, and then I want to say a few words about my own stances on this issue versus another stance I took publicly on a Harvard Op-Ed on Equal Opportunity Casting. I also want to say a few words why your support, even if it's just you, means a lot.

In a serious movie about the American cowboys, Hollywood (and I'd happily recant if I'm ever proven wrong) would never cast Asian Americans, Hispanics, or African Americans as the major characters. But 21 is another example of this equation being carried out in real life, albeit in reverse and only in one direction. 21 is an example where a group of people’s contributions are being marginalized, for whatever reason. This is unfair, and quite simply, the state of affairs as they are now sucks.

Asian American actors have yet to break the glass ceiling so that they are better represented on screen or on stage. If you look at the Hollywood productions themselves, there seems to be a movement (accidental, or intentional) to suppress Asian American talent. I'm not arguing that Asian Americans are being oppressed by the man! But on the other hand, Asian Americans are already given very little opportunity to break through to major productions, especially when Asian American stories like 21 are whitewashed, and when Asian productions such as The Departed, and The Ring, are redone with a White cast.

There's an argument to be had that maybe there isn't enough Asian American talent. My answer is that there is a Chicken or the Egg paradox that makes it hard to tell. Is it that there aren't enough Asians on stage or in major Hollywood productions because there is little Asian American interest in trying out for these roles? Or is it that Hollywood doesn't really give them a chance, so Asian Americans don't really bother... and Asian American talent consequently stays underdeveloped?

So why is it important to boycott a silly movie? Well, to tell you the truth, boycotting this movie probably won’t make a difference. It won’t make a difference, unless, be it on this issue or another issue, the people who matter get our message. They might hear us this time, they might hear us next time, or the time after that. What’s most important, though, is that we keep trying. Just by signing on to this facebook group, and inviting your friends makes a difference. That’s one more voice, one more human being, endorsing a message that is important for people to realize.

It’s not fair to Asian American talent that Hollywood does this. It’s not fair to the Asian American community to be largely ignored in mass media. It's not fair to society that Asians don't get to donate their version of George Clooney, or Will Smith, or Samuel Jackson, etc. etc. to the enjoyment and entertainment of society. For whatever reason, why is it intentionally harder for Asian Americans to break through in theater and in the movie theater? What in our culture doesn't allow for fair casting without consideration toward ethnic background? Even Roger Ebert has noticed a general condescending attitude toward Asian American artists and its detrimental effects. Ebert angrily proclaimed to the public at large and particularly to an amateur critic who criticized the Asian American cast and production team at a Better Luck Tomorrow event that "What I find very offensive and condescending about your comment, is that nobody would say to a bunch of White filmmakers, "How could you do this?!"... Asian Americans have a right to be whoever the hell they want to be!" (3:06) [I definitely recommend watching this youtube video]

We all know that if we don't start somewhere, if we don't say anything, if we don't do something, then nothing will change. The state of affairs will continue to persist- and some people don’t think that’s a bad thing.

It is a bad thing because there’s this dream. There’s a dream about a multicultural society, where the color of a person’s skin doesn’t matter. In this ideal society, it doesn’t matter if there’s a white actor playing an Asian American role and vice versa. But we aren’t there yet. We aren't there when this trade-off only goes in one direction. We’re at a place where Asian Americans are noticeably absent from the stage, from the movie screens, and from television. We’re in a place where we have to work to make things happen. So let’s work.

Please join us and Boycott 21, and please tell your friends. This isn't the first time this has happened to Asian Americans as a group. Otherwise, I'm inclined to agree that one instance isn't a big deal and probably doesn't indicate much, if anything. But there's been a pattern of whitewashing and anti-Asian racial casting, where Asian Americans are excluded from these historical roles and/or are ethnically subjugated if they are even given roles. The least we can do to address this problem is start a dialogue.