From the early 2000s to the late 2010s, Asian characters were largely absent from film and television and were almost nonexistent in children’s media, often as blatant stereotypes or one-off or supporting roles meant for laughs.
The “model minority” stereotype, which characterizes Asians as academically and economically superior, is deeply rooted in the media.
Growing up with white parents, I didn’t have much of a connection to my Asian roots and never thought of myself as smart or a genius.
There was only one on-screen character from that era who really existed beyond typical Asian stereotypes: London Tipton, played by Brenda Song in the Disney Channel series The Suite Life, and she was the only character I could truly relate to.
London was the opposite of a genius and different from other nerdy Asian characters I’d seen growing up: she was clumsy, didn’t care about school, and her personality didn’t revolve around race.
The “model minority” stereotype may seem like a good thing, but it’s harmful. Throughout elementary and middle school, when I got an answer wrong in class, my classmates would often say to me, “I thought Asians were supposed to be smart.”
Comments like these could be the result of a parent casually making a remark without realizing their child was listening, but it’s also possible that stereotypes in TV shows and movies targeted at young people influence how young people think.
This had a huge impact on me because I struggled growing up as a transracial adopted child.
By 2015, I had outgrown the Disney Channel, but there were still no strong Asian characters in the media I was watching, but representation wasn’t something I actively sought out, as I felt defeated by not being able to find more characters I could identify with.
I was more concerned with watching what my classmates were obsessed with than I was with finding something I actually wanted to watch.
One of the shows I watched back then, though I didn’t love it as much as I do now, was Glee, which featured several major characters who were Asian, and the show included episodes that depicted these characters struggling with their identity and challenging stereotypes.
Shows like “The Walking Dead” and “The 100” have also featured Asian characters who don’t feel stereotypical, but since both are set in post-apocalyptic worlds with less cultural influence and focus on people fighting to survive, you can’t fully count them as examples of representation.
For me, a boom in Asian representation in media happened in 2018 with the release of films like Crazy Rich Asians and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.
“Crazy Rich Asians” is the first Hollywood film in 25 years to have a majority Asian cast. While I couldn’t relate to the Singaporean culture and lifestyle in the film, I could relate to the main character, Rachel, an Asian American with loose ties to her Asian roots who tries hard to fit in but ultimately succeeds by staying true to herself and her roots.
This marks the beginning of a surge in Asian representation in film, both in terms of narratives surrounding Asian culture. For example, “Shang-Chi” and “Legend of the Ten Rings” were big steps for Hollywood, with Simu Liu playing the first mainstream Asian superhero.
While the film is about his Chinese roots and how it empowered him, the character of Shawn (or Shang-Chi) had more depth than a stereotype. This was about an Asian character being strong and powerful.
Others, like “Always Be my Maybe,” ignore the “model minority” stereotype altogether. The film’s two Asian leads don’t rely on stereotypes and are portrayed as people, not members of a particular race.
This is representation that was lacking when I was a kid, and I’m glad to see it becoming more prominent as I’ve gotten older, but this representation still has a long way to go and I hope that it will eventually become more prominent in all forms of media, including kids’ programming.
While showcasing Asian culture is important, there are ways to avoid creating characters that are based solely on stereotypes and pushing the story forward. It is important to give characters depth, regardless of their ethnic background, especially for younger and more impressionable audiences.
As a writer, noticing the lack of adequate representation of Asians in film and television has inspired me to write more and create characters that look like me and people I know, including Asian characters who are adopted or who didn’t have a typical upbringing.
I want to share these stories one day so that when I’m older, my children and grandchildren won’t have to go through what I did, but also so that others who grew up in a similar way to me feel understood and can relate to what they see on screen.
