Writing Inclusion, Writing Positive Asian Characters

 

The gold standard of cultural representation over exploitation

In 1966 Star Trek debuted on NBC. Gene Roddenberry’s optimistic view of the future captured imaginations around the world and would spawn ten movies as well as going-on-a-dozen spinoff television series. Part of the reason for the show’s enduring popularity is inclusion. 

And, he would've made  ahell of a Musketeer. 

George Takei originated the character of helmsman, Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu in the original, series, (TOS). It was one of the first positive depictions of an Asian man in television—or western entertainment in general, for that matter. Lt. Sulu was no houseboy, (Kato) no sidekick, (also Kato) or caricature/comic relief, (Hop Sing). Nor was he the diabolical villain, (three Fu Manchu movies were made with white men in yellow face between 1965 and 1969). 

No, Sulu was a capable, consummate professional. 

Sparking decades of fetishes...

Previous to TOS, the best depiction of Asians in American cinema was The World of Suzie Wong. Nancy Kwan played a sympathetic prostitute. Seriously, that was the high-water mark for DECADES of film. 

But it's artful racism...

Servants, prostitutes, and villains meant to stoke race fears was the only avenue for Asian people in Hollywood. It was not terribly different in print where James M. Cain depicts a Filipino houseboy as the helpless dupe of his much-smarter boss in Double Indemnity (deep end of the pool). Chop-Chop had bright yellow skin, buck-teeth, and a queue in Will Eisner’s Blackhawk comic books, (shallow end of the pool).

Guess who isn't the hero...

But how far have we come since the bad-old days? 

In the 2017 television series Iron Fist, a Netflix collaboration with Marvel, blond-haired, blue-eyed Danny Rand is the eponymous master of martial arts—over a KINGDOM of Asian people. In Quentin Tarrantino’s 2019 film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Mike Moh plays an arrogant, (uppity?) Bruce Lee who has to be put in his place by Brad Pitt’s Cliff Booth. Also in 2019,  comic book fanboys railed that Simu Liu was not “good looking” enough to be cast as Shang Chi, the master of Kung Fu in the Marvel production of the same name. 

SO much racial insecurity on display.

But, but, but print fiction…

In his Mars trilogy, Kim Stanley Robinson identifies the challenges his scientist and biosphere designer, Hiroko Ali faces, and I paraphrase, “It must be so difficult for her to be the perpetual Dragon Lady or fetish…” ONLY TO THEN WRITE HER AS THE PERPETUALLY (manipulating) DRAGON LADY AND FETISH PIECE. But, more often than not, Asian men and women are simply ignored in print fiction. At best, there may be a mentor type, a teacher, or a flirt.

If not causation, then certainly correlation

For the last three years the media (print, anyway) has reporting the instances in which Asians have been targeted for violence. We have to do better. We have a responsibility to the cultures that many of us love and cherish and to which all of us owe so much.  

A great director AND an X-Wing pilot!

Not sure how? Larry Hama is a Japanese-American comic book artist and writer. He also served two tours of duty in Vietnam. Mai Nguyen is a farmer and environmental activist from California and leads the study of atmosphere and soil in California. Deborah Chow is an award winning film and television director from Canada but most importantly, (to me) she directed The Sin and The Reckoning episodes of the Mandalorian. Sunita Mani is an Indian American actress, choreographer and comedian—who grew up in Tennessee and SLAYS in everything from G.L.O.W. to Progressive Insurance commercials. 

Healing racial divides...over snacks.

Then there is Shang Chi. From household manners to culteral baggage to pioneering action sequences, director Dustin Creston crafted a love-letter to Asian culture in cellulose. The son of a warlord-turned-crimelord, Shang Chi struggles with Chinese family dyamics against a backdrop of mystical powers, family secrets, and a struggle to protect what is best and beautiful in his past, in our past. Every one involved from the legendary Michelle Yeoh to new-kid-on-the-block Awkwafina, is having a blast showcasing culture and subverting expectations.

Trevor is having the most fun of all.

Why do I cite these folks? None are stereotypes or caricatures. None are two-dimensional representations. They are real people. If you try, even minimally, I bet you can write someone just like these folks in your work, just like you see folks like this in your world. Who doesn’t want more fun kids on the playground?

It's way past time to #StopAsianHate.

I own none of the photos here. All are used here for instructional/educational purposes as covered by The Fair Use Doctrine.