Does Hollywood Make ASIAN Actors Act TOO White?

a study shows that Asian actors are casting roles that are just too white and not culturally specific to them being Asian let's talk about what this really means oh my goodness and apparently if you read the comment section it means a lot we're talking about a study from the Norman Lear Center at USC Andre and they're talking about the meaningful risk to Casting Asian roles in proximity to whiteness and this Sparks so many debates what does it even mean to act Asian it is okay for an Asian to act white is it okay for an Asian to act black why does it seem like you can only either be a nerdy Asian try to act white or try to act black in America what's going on man so make sure you like subscribe and turn on your notifications because this one it's a little complicated but you know what is not complicated SMA sauce a sauce that is eastern and western not trying too hard to be either one but probably a little bit more Eastern check it out smas sauce.com we are shipping right now very proud of it anyways guys uh they said Andrew in the top 100 titles on streaming Platforms in 2022 okay MO like basically almost all let's just say 95 out of a 100 of the Asians in the top 100 streaming titles that were Asian-American acted more white than anything according to the study okay like acted close in proximity to whiteness they're not talking to other Asian characters they're not talking about cultural specificity they're not making deep cut Asian jokes or even Asian jokes at all it's almost like these characters were written for white people but then just given to an Asian and people were debating is that right wrong is it a Dei is it tokenized or is it actually how some asian-americans really are in IRL yeah I mean I have some reasons why I think that is so a few reasons one is that some of these Asian actors are getting thrust into these non-asian roles for diversity purposes or they're like hey this is a side character we don't have to put another white person here this Asian actor can do the job let's just slip him in there give him a white name it doesn't matter for example Katie burck being played by con woo in the terminal list it's not really brought up that she's Asian but she's a pretty Asian woman and she almost is just she's playing the character with the with the Eastern European last name right who knows I mean maybe she could have been adopted right they could make that excuse right um also I think that a lot of Asian actors who go into Hollywood are kind of I don't want to say whitewashed but essentially more like into white culture because theater acting if you've ever Tak an acting class even if you took an improv class it feels right it's not necessarily wrong that it feels white but you understand what I'm saying like those are things designed by white people when I took are you talking about the theater when I took a theater class in college one theater class in college my teacher or Professor was a black woman but you could say when you are watching her teach I don't know was she acting like a white woman I don't know you know what I'm saying so I guess like uh that's also another aspect of it a lot of right so the writers might be looking at even that specific actor and be like yeah they could pull this white character off they feel to when I'm yeah and then a lot of good Asian actors themselves in their real life are very Americanized minus a lot of the Asian actors who are born in Asia that came here to work such as Ronnie Chang Jimmy oang those guys or Grace Park or for Park they they they have to or D even Daniel Day Kim these guys they're they're clearly very Asian they're very in tune with their Asian Stu I feel like almost like 60% of the time asianist is brought up in their character but maybe not like a a deep a type convo but it just might play into the content right so I I I guess my main question though is and a lot of the main gripe about this is one what does it mean to play an Asian character do you have to make a reference about you being Asian even if you're an Asian character that's in the movie for 10 minutes do you have to make some reference to taking off your shoes before they get into the house something like that right is that what you would want is that what people are talking about right and then um also just like I get guess I I guess what about like Asians from Asia like kramas is that what acting Asian is like like you got to act like Duna right from Netflix right right right no I mean it's a good question I think that that's why there was so much argument in the comment section I mean real quick is being acting Asian-American specifically almost having sort of a sarcastic analytical outside eye a little cynical like like a Daria like a Meg Griffin like a Lisa Simpson or like a obvious Spock is the most stereotypical Asian like he was written to be like you know he's like I'm kind of robotic and human I'm fighting both sides the Asians East Asians have the robotic stereotype I think even though all those characters could have been swapped with an Asian person and it would have made sense I think essentially that's going to be seemed too stereotypical right I guess I guess I just want to know what people are asking for if they're fed up with this I don't think actually that many people are mad about the representation lately I think because there's so much of it you would take it it's almost like I'll take it but it's not perfect but I'll take it yeah I mean seeing an Asian face is still way way way better than no Asian face I think the truth is and it's changing right now it's becoming more 3D it's becoming more nuanced but long story short in America for the past 100 years or so I'd say since Sammy Davis Jr and actually since African-Americans were even allowed into the mainstream there's always been a white Spectrum in a black spectrum and there's a middle point and I believe that Asians are placed more towards White and I believe that Latino people are placed more towards black and that's not necessarily fair to either group but that is where the placement has been on the pre-existing linear cultural spectrum of America okay so even though it might be more technical to make it a hexagon or a heptagon and rank it more scientifically people don't right right okay let's talk about some Asian characters that people are generally satisfied with some Asian actors that when they show up even other Asians are like satisfied with this representation right right I I would say to me the most Asian character that I ever saw on mainstream and it's so crazy I got to go so far back to do it but it makes sense because the director was Asian-American himself was Justin Lynn having Sun King playing this cool manga Samurai like philosopher in Fast and Furious 2 and you know what is crazy Andrew I still hear Asian-American guys talk about that character sometimes how many Asian guys in your real life do you know act like sun Kang in that movie that act like him in some I wouldn't say a lot I haven't met that many yeah but I'm just saying that he felt Asian though CU he felt like a Zen no cuz he felt like almost like a uh of the lineage of a samurai so I guess is that how as you just make decisions and you don't look bad yeah so is that how Asians should act in real life like because if if if if if people are just writing characters based off some Asian person they've met in real life than Asian people got to also act yeah but I just think that the white writers who are often times the writers they probably only meet authentically more white adjacent or whitewashed Asians in their circles right so I guess it's like a whole thing where it's like some accident as well as some on purpose which creates this whole thing where you go man 95 out of 100 lead character Asians acted white let's talk about uh Steven Yun Ronnie changen Jimmy oang Daniel Day Kim I feel like we're generally satisfied with all their characters they play what about Sandra but those guys were born overseas Sandra o from Canada Aquafina is Asian americ are we are are we satisfied with the characters that they play I've met them both I mean obviously we know aquaf I wouldn't say that they actually act white I'm not saying that they you know what I mean I wouldn't say from knowing them yeah they don't act white in the characters but I guess so we we want more Asian actors to act like them less like constant woo right because everybody no one likes like her character right apparently constant woo in her characters and IRL is like deeply deeply feels white I guess apparently that's what everybody's been saying um I don't know man it's complicated I guess I guess how do we just theose it with a character like Boogie where Taylor I believe what takahara Takahashi yeah Takahashi the the Hooper he was quote unquote acting black do you know what I'm saying that was uh I guess the well that was a theatric that would have counted against the hundred right like that would have been on the other side boie Boogie wouldn't have get wouldn't get counted in that um yeah I mean and then but then acting black is it problematic acting white it's problematic acting Asian acting too fobby too Asian is stereotypical and problematic it's almost like long duck dong is the Asian character or some version of it I'm not saying hasn't elevated over the years and then people are thinking when you're acting white you're acting like Taylor Swift or maybe Ryan Gosling and then when you're acting black it's almost like people are thinking like something really stereotypical too like you know what I mean whether it's like Kevin Hart or like NBA young boy or um you know Tiffany had is just something I'm saying that those are the I I just feel like that's how people like triangulate things for Asians you're going to be like either this thing that we think you are your dad is or your uncle is your grandpa is and then are you going to be a wannabe version of this or a wannabe version of that that's how I feel like it sort of plays out for Asians in a media sense and um yeah we're going to get in some interesting comments anyway um this guy just said yeah I just feel like people think that Asians are close enough and it just checks A diversity box it's probably like a lot of directors they're just forced to do it because the execs are making it like a Dei quota initiative so that's why you see so many Asians shoved into pieces it's glad we're glad to see their faces but it's not like they like asianizty where I think a lot of Asians would be okay with them acting like a cool version of a white guy or a cool version of a black guy like if an Asian could act like Leonardo DiCaprio or to be honest Ryan Goslin he kind of has some cool roles he's dorkier than Leo though leoo Hees play dorks though he does not play dorks R when was the last time Ryan Goslin played a dork he plays a dorky hunk yeah but I'm just saying there all right Leo if you if a Asian guy play can play like a Leo M can can play like a MCC or a DiCaprio then we'll take it right even though he's acting like a white guy but he's not a corny white guy but we just never have seen that I know to the day I I guess that's what maybe aawa but maybe that's what people are mad about like like if a Asian guy can literally play like Den L mhm I don't think they're going to I don't think anyone's going to trip about that yeah all right Andrew we got to get into two major debates here this one was between Republican assimilated Asians and assimilated but more I guess like liberal woke Asians and Asians who just don't even feel assimilated at all they were in a triangle argument so this guy basically was like so you can't be too white but also not too Asian to make everybody happy these casting calls are just so ridiculous and complicated looking for an ambiguous Asian of unoffensive shade and basically somebody else was like like yeah what's wrong with being white some of my best friends are white and then somebody else came in and said you know it's okay we're not saying that that's wrong we're just saying we just need to have our culture actually shown and what makes us different and somebody else said came in and was like yeah you're right I don't feel like everybody knowes it's not representing me because I am different from everybody well you have like all the sides so there's different groups of Asians right and there's different viewpoints on this some Asians some Asians wanted to just grow up and be accepted like everyone else to be able to walk in a room to walk into a role you mean be treated as a white person without it it you being from a different phenotype ever being brought up right to just be treated like literally every like your your ethnicity is not a reason that you're there and then there's another group that's like Hey we're Americanized but we hold on to our culture so I'd like to see our culture acknowledged and then there's the ones that are like the Foreigner Asians who are like literally like well you know I'm just new to this country so you know I really don't uh I don't think uh yeah I'm just I cannot penetrate the mainstream flow yeah I'm an immigrant so I think like of those three groups what group are you like you know to the to audience asking somebody said man this all comes down to wanting Southeast Asians from the hood that break all East Asian stereotypes to finally get put on and not in a negative way only like Gran Torino either somebody said yes F all these model minority stereotypes I don't fit in with them I don't relate them and somebody said I just am sick of seeing the get bullied Asians I want to see some get Gully Asians m honestly part I wouldn't say this is the whole going to solve everything but like I feel like that yeah that'd be cool I I think you know you got to have the stories and uh I think it'd be cool I guess like how you could tie in like in like some white movie maybe like they should be able to encounter like a Cambodian gang or something like that like that would be interesting to write that in like in a good way in the Cambodian gang like helps them you know what I'm saying yeah but not just uh not just view them in a negative like right right right but then I guess is that what they want they want Cambodian gang members or do you just want Urban Filipino guys that are dancers more cuz I will say this in the dance movies they're probably should have been more Filipinos cuz there was a Southeast Asian guy who came in and said hey guys not all Southeast Asian characters need to be from the hood for example we could be journalists like hang S no from The Killing Fields or there was a recent uh Vietnamese romantic Netflix show that was in Vietnam that guy was obviously not like uh Johnny D or anything like that shout out to Johnny Dang though that's tight to somebody said uh yeah I mean I guess why why is everybody not happy Andrew everybody's thinking that this is going to solve it that's going to solve it I I just think that the truth is people want more playable characters in Street Fighter you know in Street Fighter Andrew you had to beat the lower characters to like open up the grade out characters so you could be Akuma and all the other better Street Fighter characters that were more advanced and like uh evil rayu or whatever but like I'm saying like uh you know what I'm saying like like are people just not happy with the the choices on the table mhm yeah I guess man I mean I think about simu you know suu's characters shangi you know obviously very Asian character written now he's in a bunch of other movies but not necessarily playing I don't think a being Asian is the focus of his character in some of these other roles that he has like are people going to be okay with that and Barbie I don't think they talk about him being Asian no no and Barbie he he he could have been he's just another Ken so is that is that how people would want is like you have an actor who played clearly an Asian role JN Cho he's Harold and Kumar that's clearly Asian but a stereotypical nerd asan but then Jon Cho can go off and play all these other roles that like it's non-specific to being Asian I think the one about losing his daughter searching is not they don't it's not Asian but his daughter's Asian so it's like it is like Asian but it's he's not acting like an Asian Dad is he or like what a typical Asian Dad is like I guess he's very intense but he's intensely looking for Zar I would imagine a lot of Asian dudes are would be like that yeah I don't know I I think think that uh it's so hard and I don't think everybody's going to be happy but I do think people need to really look at this I feel like when judging Asian characters you need to look at it one way whether you think they're acting more Americanized and that means more white or they're acting more urban and that means they're acting more black or they're acting more Asian which means they're acting Fabby whatever that is just scan them to see if they're an embarrassment if they're a good character at the Baseline and then I think the culture and everything is second because if they're a bad character the culture almost doesn't matter it's going to be a bad character it's going to be an embarrassment cuz you what long duck dong he was playing an Asian character embarrassment right but he was being an as yeah an Asian embarrassment so I'd rather have in a way like just a good Asian character that's not an embarrassment if that it's between those two right right right and then it is a matter if it's a cool Asian character that you can relate to or you can't relate to cuz I always feel like the samurai characters in uh John Wick I can't even forget I'm forgetting his name right now heroi the guy who plays uh well he's a Japanese actor the Japanese guy that's part of the table yeah you know what I mean or one of the Assassins or whatever you know I mean and then I'm saying like that's pretty cool but then it's almost like he's so foreign too because he's like a literal like Samurai I mean I guess it's cool that we have cool foreign characters like we have like uh uh Ken watan and like some other cool Donnie Yen plays pretty cool in John Wick yeah yeah some of the Korean actors are pretty cool too so I I guess like I think it's cool that people from Asia are being seen as cool in the west but then it's funny because because they're from Asia it kind of leaves out asian-americans so asian-americans are wondering hey when are we going to be get to be seen as cool and not corny but actually a lot of asian-americans are kind of corny to be honest so yeah because I think that the process that makes and I don't think it's like a lot but a pretty sizable amount they like try so hard to be quote unquote white or try so so hard to be black but then it just like doesn't work but then nobody has fully formed what it is to be Asian and even to be Asian it could vary for different groups or socioeconomic classes or education classes or different histories you know it's easier to act like a samurai when you're actually from Japan it is like when you're great great great when one of your ancestors was a samurai it is us anyways guys let us know in the comments down below what you think about all this who are some other good Asian characters that you thought uh did a great job representing themselves were still very specifically as um and yeah let us know what you think like are a lot of Asian actors in their roles playing to White can they just replace non-asian characters with an Asian face does that still count as representation I still think so but I'll say this I'll say this I think that a lot of people in the comments section Andrew were arguing a lot more than this Norman leer study they were talking about entire assimilation priorities and game plans in this uh being an Asian face living in the west so anyway let you guys uh let us know what you guys think of the comments section below until next time with the hop out boys we out peace