Is it me or am I seeing more Asians being featured in commercials? I live in NYC, so this is based on what I see on TV and online commercials. This should be a great thing right? It’s like when they started showing more African Americans in family settings with beautiful houses in the suburbs. You know, when commercials started being less “White” and didn’t have just one awkward minority with their thumbs up in the middle of nowhere.
What are you talking about? They're not racist, see?
But according to Dave Chappelle, it’s not just the people who cast the roles, but nature of the people themselves. Stereotypes come from somewhere…
Okay, so if the African American community can have a commercial makeover from “Wazzuuuuuuup???” to Home Owner’s Insurance and the likes, this gives hope to Asians right? ….Right?
The answer is, only if you’re a WOMAN
See, the thing is, Asian women can be seen as sexy or cute… Asian men are… I.T. guys or the funny drunk friend you bring along to parties. Maybe he looks like Ken Jeong. (The Hangover Asian.) Because you only get hired if you look and act like Ken Jeong… Here’s Dat Phan. Why does he remind me of Ken Jeong?
Quick, make cute sexy, scared face and be pretty.
So what is it about Asian men that can’t make them be seen as sex symbols in America? Is it the height? The teenage boy body that stays even throughout their late twenties? Because we’ve all seen attractive Asian females. Sure, they’re exotic remember? They are petite, look vulnerable, not very bossy, quite submissive, look good in skimpy clothing…
Now men can’t look like that. If they’re in skimpy clothing, they need to have rippling muscles. Unless it’s a comedy. Ken Jeong’s case again. He went fully naked.
How did he go from doctor to the only Asian male Hollywood would hire again? Sure, being a movie star is more glamorous and he makes more money but… Somehow I imagine being a doctor was more respectable. Because what kind of Asian role model is he? Please explain why was he in the Transformers movie again?
Even the Asian guy in the Fast Five movie served no purpose – He was in charge of reconnaissance, but when his job came up, he failed – only to have the sexy female take over and have her ass rubbed. Moral of that story is Asian men suck at reconnaissance and women are only useful as eye-candy. I mean seriously, reconnaissance??? He was the ONLY ASIAN in that country. How fuckin’ invisible did he think he was? Perhaps there was another Asian in the film crew. He was in charge of the pulley system.
WTF are you doing with your hands in your pocket like you don't know why you're there, silly Asian man? You drive car now?
WTF is Jet Li's picture doing in the front? We watched that movie for Aaliyah! (R.I.P.)
Stop lying to yourself. You don’t find Jackie Chan or Jet Li sexy. Unless they’re fighting someone or saying something with their funny Asian accent, you don’t even want to see them on screen. Jackie Chan dramas? Jet Li tearing? We don’t understand the words that are coming out of their mouths! So unless an Asian can be sexy, they won’t sell movies. Since Asian men can’t be sexy, Asian men don’t sell movies. You KNOW it’s their Black counterparts that really sell the tickets…
Seriously, when’s the last time you saw an American production feature an Asian lead alone? Ninja Assassin, Rush Hour, any Jet Li movie… Oh wait there WAS The Forbidden Kingdom movie featuring only a skinny white kid, but that movie sucked so much, it only enforced why Asians need to be paired with Blacks to make a successful movie.
No one gives a crap about Jason Statham in “The One” with Jet Li. When Delroy Lindo’s character died (why do black men always have to die in these movies?), you felt something. Jason Statham isn’t funny at all. That movie was a comedy right? So many duplicates of one Asian man running around the universe… It MUST be a comedy. Oh look, Asian man tries to speaks English again!
Oh look, Asian tech guy. That’s original.
November 24, 2012
What if she was adopted? LOL I didn’t even realize they were supposed to be a family until I read the article. I don’t get the “Asians are smart” undertone, because quite frankly the line of buying “smart” has been used for everyone.
I felt in general the commercial was cheap and very localized. (Specific to the dealer’s area.) Budget and casting-wise they are limited. Rushed and overlooked? Maybe. Racist, hardly. Just a sloppy mistake on the production part. The back story may have well been that the eldest daughter was adopted. She didn’t look very Oriental, if that’s what everyone is bitching about.
I moved to Canada a few months ago, and to my surprise, Asians are in commercial EVERYWHERE. I don’t mean just Orientals but South Asians as well. Apparently race isn’t as big of an issue here. You can feel it in the society. I found it weird at first when I saw many different races selling mainstream items, but as I lived here longer, I found it was the norm.
America is just very racist in its core, I guess. (Or for some reason, very aware of one’s race.) We’re brought up like that maybe. Instead of, “That lady over there,” our brain instantly says “That Chinese lady over there.”
*shrugs*