Former US president Donald J. Trump often referred last year to Covid-19 as the "kung flu", "Asian virus" or "China virus", mostly because it originated in this part of the world.
Increasingly, we have seen hate crimes in against Asian people, especially among Asian-American communities. There's been numerous news reports about violent attacks against Asian people, regardless of national origin -- from hate speech blaming Asians for spreading the virus, to physical assaults and even murders, the bloodshed causing more outrage and fear everywhere.
The representation of Asian characters in Hollywood has a crucial role in this problem too with a history of stereotypes and racism that is still on display today. After years of effacing cinematic portrayals of Asians, films have relied on the perspective of white protagonists. Asian characters have often been portrayed on television and films as unpopular, nerdy, powerless, and hardly in the spotlight as leads. And Asian women are often hypersexualised, often portraying prostitutes or sex workers, who are often abused and killed in films.
"Similar to Mexicans who often portrayed servants, or African-Americans as criminals, the stereotype of Asian women in cinema extends as far back as the origin of Hollywood's Dragon Lady archetype actress, Anna May Wong, who could only make a name in the industry by playing typical roles like prostitutes and temptresses," said Chananun Chotrungroj, a Los Angeles-based cinematographer and artist who has been living in the United States for over a decade.
Krissada 'Noi' Sukosol Clapp. (Photo by Varuth Hirunyatheb)
There are a lot of upsetting incidents that demonstrate this spike in targeted attacks against Asian-Americans. According to the forum Stop AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) Hate, crimes against Asian people increased by almost 150% from last year. Some 3,800 anti-Asian racist incidents were reported last year, with 68% of those against Asian women. And while many attribute the spike in racist attacks to Trump's virulent rhetoric, we have to realise this is the ongoing result of centuries-old racism.
"The racism and anti-Asian thing are nothing new and have been around for the longest time, but it was Trump who made things worse by constantly referring to Covid-19 as the 'China virus' and 'kung flu'," added Chananun. "And when a powerful politician speaks like that, it's like encouraging people to believe that it is okay for them to express feelings of hatred against other races."
Racial discrimination is also present in Puccini's Madama Butterfly (1904), an opera about a heartbroken Japanese woman who commits suicide after she is abandoned by her white lover. These stereotypes would continue in films like Miss Saigon (1989), Memoirs Of A Geisha (2005), and Stanley Kubrick's 1987 Full Metal Jacket, in which actor Papillon Soo, playing a Vietnamese prostitute, reads the lines white man wrote for her, "Me so horny, me love you long time" -- an infamous phase often used by men to harass Asian women. So it's no coincidence that the Atlanta mass shooter, who blamed his actions on his sex addiction, specifically targeted spas comprised of Asian women.
While considering herself lucky, Chananun says she mourns for the victims who have been attacked and killed, like an Asian woman who was fatally stabbed in Riverside, California, or the 84-year-old Thai man who died two days after an attack during his regular morning walk in San Francisco.
Terrified by the recent news of the Atlanta spa mass shootings last month that killed eight people -- six of them Asian women -- Chananun has decided to speak out and since has been active on social media, joining in the #StopAsianHate discussion on Clubhouse, or taking part in protests and rallies that have been held across the country to help highlight the urgency of the issue.
"Almost immediately after the killings articles began to quote the police officer in charge, who somehow described the murder as the shooter was fed up and having a bad day. Seriously? This killing spree was not the result of a bad day. This was obviously the result of misogynist racist hatred. I was so horrified by the news that I couldn't leave my bedroom for days," she said.
Chananun recalled her own experiences with harassment while she worked in New York, which included being accosted on the street and even having rocks thrown at her. "But I just kept it to myself. For years I didn't speak out against anti-Asian racism. But now, I can't stay silent, and neither should anyone else."
Like the #MeToo and Black Lives Matter movement before it, the Stop Asian Hate movement seeks to implement real and lasting change to laws and interactions with others.
"Racism and discrimination sometimes comes from a lack of education, lacking knowledge and experiences about other races. So I believe that the movement is needed. It's a step that people can all take to contribute to a society where it's clear that these behaviours are not acceptable," said Thai singer-songwriter-actor Krissada "Noi" Sukosol Clapp.
Chananun Chotrungroj. (Photo: Nathasha Odpanya)
"I think no matter if it's MeToo, Black Lives Matter, or Stop Asian Hate, they're all somewhat connected. There was an irony in that I think this is divided into three different characters. I see one person is already dead. Another person is probably going to jail for the rest of his life, and the last one is probably going to get off and walk free. The person who's dead unfortunately is George Floyd who got killed on camera, which started Black Lives Matter; the person who's probably going to jail forever is Harvey Weinstein, who's a convicted sex offender and gave prominence to the #MeToo movement. And the last person who is going to get off free is Donald Trump who conquers by creating fear and division between people."
However, Hollywood in recent years has slowly become more liberal and beginning to incorporate diversity and inclusion into its industry. There's been a major shift in Asian-American storytelling across film and television especially when it comes to Asian characters. Asian men and women are now protagonists, not side characters.
With the success of movies like Crazy Rich Asians (2018), Parasite (2019), The Fairwell (2019) and Minari (2020), Asian-themed stories in cinema are taking prominence. These films reveal fresh perspectives and prove to be successful without reinforcing old and negative stereotypes. Non-Asians are getting to see Asian characters in a positive light, demonstrating the importance of representation.
"I believe this is a hopeful time, that Asian stories are now more accepted in Hollywood and with characters who are more humanised in a more authentic light than before," said Krissada. "But while progress is promising, there is still more to do when it comes to true representation of Asian characters on-screen and behind the scenes."
