Friday, May 17, 2013

Media....and it's culture(ness)(noscity?) depiction of South Asians

Let me first start by going off topic.



I've recently started hearing from all the fandoms  about Hannibal. I knew at first (to my dismay then) that this was a TV show as the fangirls  people talking about it were mostly only into TV shows. The only Hannibal I knew of was from Silence of the Lambs and that was a brilliant film with some brilliant acting and script writing and plot as a whole.



However, I decided to give the show a chance and whaddya know? I really like it! It is very reminiscent of Criminal Minds (which I've stopped watching...it's getting far too repetitive) but Madds Mikkelsen depicts Hannibal so well and his chemistry with Will Graham is great. FYI, this revolves around the first novel of the Hannibal series, The Red Dragon (I have yet to read those. I'll add them to my long list of must-reads).

*****

Now where  was I? Oh yes.
Throughout the past couple years or so...probably more but it seems more apparent nowadays, is the rise of South Asian actors/actresses in TV/Movies. (FINALLY!!)
Remember how there was always the token black kid? Then later you'd spot that one Asian kid? And finally, there's the "brown" kid! 
Okay this might not be the BEST example.
What brought me to this discussion was seeing Mindy Kahling from The Office, who not only was one of the main writers for the show (besides being a producer and directing a few episodes), she also starred in the show and is currently producing/directing/writing AND starring her own show called The Mindy Show starring none other than herself. 
Wikipedia states how she is the first South Asian American to be the main star of a North American TV Show (or just American?). This makes me feel how this wouldn't occur otherwise if someone else was in control of the show (and production house..) but other than that, it's taken a huge leap from South Asians just being simple secondary cast members (with the exception of Kal Penn)!! I think it also helps that she's not supermodel skinny and quirky and in my opinion, hilarious.

I've talked to other friends who are South Asian but many said they disliked it (not their style..understandable) or they don't know why they watch it :/ I found that whoever from my high school watching this may have a bit of a shocker as she has sex with other guys (gasp) and is not über cultural. -_-
Let's not forget some who are main cast members!
Yet sometimes, I feel that we're taking a few steps backward here...especially in the movie industry.
Today, I saw Star Trek: Into Darkness with a friend of mine. She mentioned how some people were saying that Benedict Cumberbatch was portraying Khan. 
Me reaction: 
Benedict is awesome and a God for all I know but WHAT or more importantly WHY. Wrath of Khan was a white guy back then, but considering it's 2013, you'd think they'd change that... sigh. Especially considering the starship of the fleet...maybe change Khan's name...I dunno! 
Personally, one the bigger reasons I liked this film was due to Cumberbatch's performance so I'm glad he was in this but him as Khan? Maybe it's just me...

Update: this article sums it up better than I can. 

2 comments:

  1. The other day my flatmate and I got into an argument, he started hating on Lucy Liu saying 'what has she ever done for Asians' and I just thought: LOLS MORE THAN YOU EVER WILL. HELLO! SHE GAVE ME A FACE I COULD RELATE TO IN THE MEDIA! SHE KICKED ASS AND SHE KNEW HER SHIT.

    Haters gonna hate.

    Did I just change the subject from one type of Asian to another. My bad. Oh I really thought Cici had a great opportunity to *represent* but the writers for the show really didn't do her much justice. I felt she was so underdeveloped and irrelevant to the plot a lot of the times.

    And... Abed4Ever.

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  2. It is time for South Asian women to get the recognition they deserve in whatever profession they choose!!!! I could not agree with you more~ and Mindy, besides Michael, made the show The Office hilarious!!

    (='.'=)
    Lauren at adorn la femme

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