#RepresentationMatters: My Reflection on Representation Growing Up

Crazy Rich Asians has changed the game and has been huge for the Asian community. Since this movie came out in August 2018, it has officially become my all time favourite movie. The books are also excellent (YES Kevin Kwan!). The whole blow up and attention to Crazy Rich Asians has been huge for me as a Chinese Canadian woman in the arts. I grew up having never really seen myself in the mainstream entertainment industry. There was London Tipton in The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, and sometimes a couple other Asian mean girl sidekicks, but that wasn’t really me. I grew up doing Chinese dance (among practically every other dance style, tap, jazz, ballet, etc), and valuing my Chinese heritage. (Throwback to Chinatown Parades and Chinese New Year mall performances.) But the girls presented in the media weren’t that either, they weren't really connected to their Asianness. The closest thing that I could relate to was probably Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior featuring Brenda Song (good movie. It kinda scared me as a kid though). But when Crazy Rich Asians came out, and even Fresh Off The Boat, I was thrilled. They depicted the stories of Chinese Americans, close to Chinese Canadians, both Chinese Western world upbringings, so these are things I could see myself in. These things also came out when I was coming to the age of being acutely aware of being Chinese Canadian and being different than most people who go off to pursue musical theatre. Even wanting to go study musical theatre was a whole thing since not a lot of Asian people do it and 97% of shows don’t feature Asians. Yeah, there’s Miss Saigon, Flower Drum Song, The King and I, and South Pacific, but those stories don’t reflect who I am either. Besides, they can be pretty problematic since they’re from the Golden Age era of musical theatre (1943-1964, which means they’re kind of old and dated, not to mention they’re not very popular in our general, current society). So, what Asian musicals are there? Well, I don’t know, not many, especially mainstream popular and long running. But I decided to pursue this anyway and try to diversify and decenter musical theatre and maybe someday be a role model for another little Asian kid.

One of the biggest things I loved and looked up to in terms of Asian representation growing up was YouTube. There was a whole Asian American community on YouTube making sketches and vlogs and music. I now sometimes see them pop up in mainstream movies and TV, and I feel really proud. Like for instance, Kina Grannis singing in Crazy Rich Asians. I got so excited when I saw her. It makes me so happy to see how far they've come, even though it doesn't really have anything to do with me, but it was part of my childhood and identity. Nigahiga and Wong Fu Productions were huge in my life too. I was obsessed. And I still keep up with them to this day, not to the major extent that I used to but I'm still really excited to see all the amazing things they're doing (like Wong Fu's film Everything Before Us which was on Netflix for a while, and their Yappie series). They really made me feel seen as a kid, and still as an adult.

Finding the comedic CBC TV series Kim's Convenience was another win moment for me and Asian representation in popular media. Kim's Convenience is just so good. It follows a Korean-Canadian family that owns a convenience store and shows them dealing with relationships and life in general. The family itself is made up of two immigrant parents, and two 1st generation kids in their 20s. While I'm not Korean, I love it. Also, Simu Liu!!! Our upcoming Shang-Chi for Marvel! I am very excited about that too. Point is, if you put Asians out there and create things for/about them, they are there to collect and put in the work. The talent is there and we're living in an exciting time for the increase of Asian representation. Asian American and Asian Canadian representation to be more specific. And it's really exciting! So go out and support shows and movies with Asians in them! The Farewell featuring Awkwafina is another really good movie.

Anyway, back to Crazy Rich Asians for a moment. I came across this quote from Gemma Chan (English actress known for Astrid in Crazy Rich Asians, and Anita/Mia in the sci-fi TV series Humans). This hit me hard. This relates to everything I've thought about in relation to being in the entertainment industry and what my family has said about it too. But I’m blessed to have a family that supports me no matter what, so thank you. Change is coming, change is happening.

#RepresentationMatters #CrazyRichAsians #AsianRepresentation