"But I'm just not that
attracted to Asian men." Asian male characters
in film and TV have long been sidelined,
emasculated, and denied the chance
to have romantic or sexual relationships -- that’s when they’re not
openly mocked. “If you promise
not to be angry I might let you take
those pictures we mentioned.” “When?”
“Sometime.” “Anytime.” In an inverse of the trend
of fetishizing Asian women through the “lotus blossom” trope,
Asian men are consistently desexualized onscreen. And this has directly led
to the damaging, widespread perception
in U.S. society that Asian men are less masculine
or sexually desirable. “I did read somewhere that
the people that do worst on the apps are Asian men
and black women.” “Well, it's great white people
finally have an advantage somewhere.” Here’s our take on how
the Asexual Asian trope has been used to spread
stereotypes of Asian men in real life, and why it’s more important
than ever to move past it. “I also want, you know,
nerdy Asian men to feel they are worthy of love. The problem is when you make fun
of them in a secondary role where you don’t explore
their whole lives.” If you're new here,
be sure to subscribe and click the bell
to get notified about all our new videos. "His name is Long Duk Dong." "I gotta sleep under some
Chinaman named after a duck's dork." Cinema is full of
Asian male characters who have been stereotyped
and belittled, their foreignness frequently treated as the butt
of the joke. "You gonna f*** on me?" "Nobody's gonna f*** on you!
We're on your side. I hate Godzilla!" While today we’ve at last moved
beyond the regressive idea that an accent is a funny joke, "So Grandpa's hyena
don't get disturbed." "Hernia!" the “Asexual Asian man” trope
is still omnipresent, coming through in a variety
of forms and character types. “Everybody, please!
Han just clearly injured his vagina.” The stereotypical Asian male
character might be nerdy, weak or effeminate (especially in contrast to
hypermasculine white male characters). He’s typically reduced to
a marginal role like sidekick to a white guy, “You fool!
You raving Oriental idiot!” mysterious martial arts master, or cartoonish villain. “Your brother’s soul is mine!” And an overwhelming number
of these characters have no romantic relationships
in sight. “If Bruce Banner is driving
a rental car and turns into the Hulk,
do you think it's covered, or does he need to add
the Hulk as an additional driver?” “You really need a girlfriend.” But it wasn’t always like this. In the early days
of silent film in Hollywood, Japanese actor Sessue Hayakawa
became a huge star, and one of Hollywood’s first,
iconic sex symbols -- so why was he also one of
the the last leading Asian men in the following decades? The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882,
which prohibited Chinese immigration into the U.S.,
represented an American fear of Yellow Peril. “A letter appeared in the pages of
"The New York Sun" written by a young Chinese immigrant.” “This country is the land of liberty
for all men of all nations except the Chinese." This was the idea that
Asian immigrants posed a threat to an American way of life. As a result of these fears,
Asian men in early cinema were villainized
as dangerous threats, often to white women. In the 1915 movie The Cheat,
Hayakawa plays a predator who exploits a spoiled
white society woman. The Fu Manchu movies
also played into this trope, "I will wipe out your whole
cursed white race!" "Oh no!" but Fu Manchu himself
was almost always played by a white man in yellowface --
painting Asians as villains while reminding the audience
of who held the real power. “It is said that the devil
plays for men’s souls. So does Dr. Fu Manchu.
Satan himself. Evil incarnate.” Meanwhile, in real life,
labor and immigration laws meant that Asian men
had to take jobs that white men didn’t want -- such as laundering, cooking,
and washing dishes -- which were seen as “women’s work.” This was later reflected
in onscreen portrayals that dismissively portrayed
Asian men in these kinds of roles. “He does the dishes
and helps with the laundry, you betcha.” Over the decades,
increasing numbers of Asian men found success in high-powered
fields like medicine and law, thus solidifying the
“model minority” myth. "I'm telling you,
those Asian guys love crunching numbers." Yet Asian men’s growing
class power was plagued by a desexualization
meant to reinforce the existing power dynamic,
which kept white men on top. As Matthew Salesses writes
for The Guardian, this emasculation of Asian men
was a deliberate way for white men to show that, “Societal power may come
at the cost of sexual power. The model minority
Asian American male might become a doctor or lawyer or engineer,
but he can’t get the girl.” Meanwhile,
this desexualized portrayal came in sharp contrast
to the hypersexualized depiction of Asian women through
the submissive, “exotic” lotus blossom trope. “She say she very happy
to belong to handsome captain. She say she gonna
serve you well.” Asian men were often made out
to be inferior choices or threats to Asian women,
who were then available to be rescued by white men. “Maybe I can save one of them,
with your help." Ultimately,
it was this combination of the emasculated Asian Man
and the objectified Lotus Blossom that allowed for
white male supremacy over both Asian men and women. “What's happening,
hot stuff?” There are a variety of
different tropes and clichés used to desexualize,
sideline, and emasculate Asian men in pop culture. Let’s take a look at some
of the most common ones: “This time I'm warning you!
I am definitely this time going to calling the police!” The FOB or
“fresh off the boat” character is primarily used
as comic relief. "So what's your name?"
"Dong." "What's your first name?'
"Long." Cinema is full of offensive
examples of this, like Mickey Rooney’s
yellowface portrayal of Mr. Yunioshi in 1961’s
Breakfast At Tiffany’s, and 1984’s Sixteen Candles’
Long Duk Dong, an exchange student
whose broken English and inability to assimilate
into American culture makes him a laughingstock
for his peers. “No more yankie my wankie.
The Donger need food!” The FOB character
is especially damaging in how it depicts Asian men
as bumbling and stupid -- ignorantly suggesting that
having an accent is a sign of low intelligence
and turning the difficulty of the immigrant experience
into something to snicker at. “The little boy take knife.
Big boy take a doughnut. Bad boy!” Any sexual or romantic interest
these characters display are usually part of
a larger joke made at their expense. “People with boobs touch me!”
“She means aside from your mom.” “Then, no.” The television series
2 Broke Girls came under fire for its depiction of Han Lee,
a Korean immigrant whose difficulty adjusting
to American culture -- and getting girls--
is a constant, running joke
for the main cast. “With this costume,
my chances of getting laid are higher than ever!” “So zero?” The Sidekick is another
popular way Asian men are portrayed in media. “Can I be your guy
in the chair?” “What?” “You know how there's a guy,
with the headset, telling the other guy
where to go? Like... like if you were stuck
in a burning building, I could tell you where to go!” One of the earliest examples
is the character Kato, played by Bruce Lee,
in the 1966 series The Green Hornet. Kato serves as
the Green Hornet’s valet and martial arts expert. “Hornet sting... check.
Let's roll, Kato!” As a sidekick,
the Asexual Asian usually doesn’t have
the opportunity to experience romantic relationships,
as these are reserved for the usually white protagonist. Even a modern example,
Ned Leeds in Spider-Man: Homecoming,
initially plays into this, though it corrects the problem
by giving Ned a romance in the sequel. “We actually got to
talking on the plane, and it turns out
we have a lot in common. So, uh, we’re boyfriend
and girlfriend now.”
Similar to
(and sometimes overlapping with)
the sidekick,
The Nerd is another common portrayal of an Asian man
where he’s typically in the background,
playing a supporting role, and notably desexualized. The nerd plays heavily into
the model minority stereotype, assuming that Asian men
are naturally smart -- especially in STEM fields --
but this intelligence comes at the cost of being
socially awkward and unable to have relationships. “She asked me a question.
I should probably nod.” They’re painted as awkward
and never seen as a real romantic threat. “You mind if I sit over here?
I was married to Linda Cooksey--” “No, why don’t you sit
over there, I prefer that.” Another variation on
the Asexual Asian is The Guru. The guru is wise,
sometimes mystical, and most importantly, old. His age and wisdom seemingly
puts him above the triviality of romantic relationships,
and he almost always lives alone. The guru also often takes on
the role of mentoring the white protagonist,
usually in martial arts. “Wax on, wax off." Similarly mystical,
cartoonish, and asexual-feeling is the Asian Male Villain. “You insult my honor again,
I kill you.” He serves as an obstacle
for a usually white, male protagonist to overcome,
often representing an ambiguous Eastern threat to
Western supremacy. “The Americans are fools.
I offered my services. They refused.” Playing into the idea
of Yellow Peril, villainous Asians can also pose
as threats to helpless female victims,
providing an opportunity for the protagonist to display
his superiority physically and sexually when he succeeds
in getting the girl. Finally, the Asexual Asian
has also been repeatedly portrayed as a Martial Arts Star: “Is it true what they say
about Hong Kong?” “What's that?” “You know,
all you guys do Kung Fu.” “Of course.
State law.” This particular portrayal --
and the popularity of the Kung Fu movie --
began in large part with Chinese martial artist
and actor Bruce Lee. “My style?
You can call it the art of fighting without fighting.” Lee’s departure from
the portrayal of the weak and submissive Asian man
helped audiences see Asian men as strong and masculine, "A good martial artist
does not become tense, but ready." and gave a lot of Asian men
confidence and pride in their heritage. Still, Lee’s popularity
also helped perpetuate stereotypes about Asian men --
for example, their innate knowledge
of martial arts or other “Asian” forms
of fighting -- and he was rarely given
love interests or romantic partners in his films. In Lee’s most famous film,
Enter the Dragon, his co-competitors
Roper and Williams both spend the night
with prostitutes, “I’ll take you, darling.
And you." while his character stays
focused on the mission. The film Romeo Must Die
is also infamous for its desexualization of its
Asian male lead. Despite the film being
a literal retelling of Romeo and Juliet,
the film’s version of Romeo (Han Sing,
played by Jet Li) isn’t even allowed
an onscreen kiss with his co-star Aaliyah. “You didn't really think
you was gonna get them panties,
now did you?” “What?” “Trish.
You didn't really think she was gonna give it up
to you, now did you?” When the studio showed
a test cut of the film that did include a kiss scene,
the audience reacted so poorly that the scene was changed
to a platonic hug in the final cut. Despite all the superficial
differences between these categories of stock
Asian male characters on-screen, we can see how,
as a group, they’ve led Asian men to be
consistently perceived as nerdy, effeminate, and not interested in --
or a poor option for -- romance. “I have made a big decision.” “You're having a sex change?
I totally support you, but be careful,
Han—female-to-male is very tricky.” All these portrayals
shape our opinions of Asian men in real life --
and have real-world consequences. "Excuse me.
Do you like Asian men?" "No." "Thank you.” Asian men and Black women
are viewed as the least desirable racial dating groups,
according to a 2014 OkCupid study. And the lack of romantically
desirable Asian male characters on-screen can also lead to
Asian men internalizing this narrative themselves. "Paxton Hall-Yoshida,
the hottest guy at Sherman Oaks High.
Look at this kid's jawline." In 2016,
a social media campaign called #StarringJohnCho
went viral, Photoshopping images of actor
John Cho as the leading role in popular film posters. While Cho went on to play
the lead in movies like Columbus and Searching,
the campaign highlighted how rare it was to see
leading Asian men onscreen, especially in films
with romantic elements. In recent years,
we have at last seen evidence of this trend changing. "You smell really good." There are now more positive,
well-rounded Asian male characters who experience onscreen
romantic relationships. Crazy Rich Asians launched
Henry Golding’s profile as one of contemporary Hollywood’s
rising sex symbols. “Wherever you are in the world,
that’s where I belong.” Always Be My Maybe and Mulan
highlight the romance between an Asian woman and
a non-stereotypical Asian man. “Hello my name is Marcus,
with lyrics for your carcass." More and more examples also pair
Asian male leads with non-Asian women,
moving away from the stereotype that only Asian women
are interested in dating Asian men. “I am your bride.” Kumail Nanjiani co-wrote
and starred in romantic comedy-drama The Big Sick,
which looks honestly at how an interracial relationship
between a white woman and a man of Pakistani heritage
has to reckon with complex cultural baggage. "You know how we have
arranged marriage in my culture? These are those women." "These are women in Pakistan
who want to marry you?" "They're not in Pakistan." Insecure’s interracial relationship
between Molly and Andrew shows Molly’s initial bias in dismissing
Andrew as a romantic partner, "Why aren't you excited about him?
Is it 'cause he's Asian? 'Cause no judgment!
But judgment." before she eventually comes
to see him as a highly romantic and sexual man,
as well as a true catch. "What that dick do?
Or do it don't do?" "Oh, no, it do.
It definitely do." The relationship between
Steven Yeun’s Glenn and Lauren Cohen’s Maggie
is one of the longest-lasting romances on The Walking Dead, “Maggie, I love you.
I should’ve said it a long time ago and
it’s been true for a long time.” and one that features Glenn
as just an ordinary guy, without any qualifiers that
elevated him above “normal” Asian men. Additionally,
the rise in popularity of k-pop bands like BTS
among young female audiences shows us that society is open to
redefining what kind of masculinity is attractive,
opening the door for Asian men who are not traditionally masculine
to have opportunities at romantic relationships
in media. "We’ve been partnering with UNICEF’s
End Violence program to protect children
and young people." In the end,
Hollywood’s countless desexualized and dismissive
portrayals of Asian men have served to subconsciously
reinforce Asian male inferiority and white male superiority. The Asexual Asian trope
as an inescapable, ubiquitous cliché limits
the representation of Asians onscreen and in our culture’s
collective mind. “We got an ATM.” “I thought we already
had an ATM. ‘Asian transgender male.’” “Well, thank you
for saying ‘male." Perhaps most importantly,
it sends a damaging message to an Asian male viewer
about himself, which is based solely
on false myths and a purposeful attempt
to marginalize an entire culture. Romantic relationships
are not a necessity in order to tell a story about
a fully-formed, three-dimensional character
of any background. But it’s important to portray
Asian men as viable options for romance,
to present their desirability as one realistic aspect
of their full humanity, and to remind everyone
just how much they have to offer. “Will you marry me
and make me the happiest man in the world?” “Yes! Yes! Yes!
She will marry you!” If you're new here,
Be sure to subscribe and click the bell
to get notified about all our new videos.
