Only the Oscars are Yellow
February 25, 2005
The role of Asians onscreen and in the box office still exists almost completely behind the scenes when it comes to critical cinematic acclaim. In the face of this Sunday’s Oscars, AsianWeek columnist Phil Chung expresses his disappointment with the lack of Asian individuals and works nominated for this year’s awards ceremony.
With little recognition given to Asian Pacific Americans by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, it is unfortunately appropriate that this week’s feature is on Hollywood’s most embarrassing moments in the depictions of APAs. This year in particular, it’s not without effort that the Oscars are passing us over. Zhang Ziyi in House of Flying Daggers and Sandra Oh in Sideways demonstrated top-caliber performances.
But unfortunately, our screen faces still seem invisible to the Academy’s exclusive club of judges. It is reminiscent of how The Last Emperor won the Best Picture award nearly two decades ago. Yet despite the almost all-Asian cast, including outstanding performances by John Lone and Joan Chen, the Academy shut the actors out.
Yet undeniable is the influence of Asian culture in American moviemaking.
Star Wars’ heroic Jedi Knights are clearly inspired by the bushido code of the samurai and the wuxia kung fu epics. The Matrix trilogy would lose almost all its action sequences without paying homage to the martial arts. Quentin Tarantino brings East and West together with Uma Thurman’s training through an old Asian kung fu master. This does not even touch on the Asian horror genre now taking the United States by storm with films such as The Ring, Saw and The Grudge.
In a way, these films are like the vinyl music records of yore when only white faces appeared on the album covers, instead of black and brown artists, to increase marketability.
But in a deeper way, these films reflect the lasting impact that Asians are having on America. Don’t be fooled. Even if the Academy doesn’t see our contributions, we are making our mark. And sooner or later, the Academy will have to recognize the real color of the Oscars is yellow.
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