Filipino here - I am sooo torn on Raya. On one hand I'm always happy to see brown Asians AND southeast Asians. Asian rep is already so far and few between, especially Filipino rep. And I'm so happy Kelly Marie Tran was able to have this opportunity after the horrible things she had to go through and I support her. On the other hand....I hate that they mushed together all of those southeast Asian countries. I know it's an ~inspired fantasy world. And I am glad that Southeast Asian people helped write the movie, but to me, I don't see it as a win for representation fully? If that makes sense. I feel like it pushes the narrative that Asian cultures are a monolith. The Philippines itself has 100+ dialects. Asian cultures are so vast and different it's impossible for there to be One Media that will accurately represent all of us. So my take on this is like, instead of pushing one media as "is this the Asian rep we all needed?" we should be like "Ah yes this is good Chinese or Vietnamese rep etc." Which goes into why Raya being well received is such a good thing, because it means Hollywood sees this and now more Asians of different cultures and backgrounds can have the opportunity to tell their stories, and HOPEFULLY soon all of us can have our stories and voices heard! Also I know this is getting long lol I have so many feelings, but you brought up the thing about people being hesitant on calling Raya a princess and how you're glad they were explicit about it. Idk if this is an unpopular opinion but sometimes I wish we could just have an Asian princess who has a nice romantic storyline where she's loved and revered? I love badass women and I love empowering storylines but I too always wanted to be a princess and I feel like we never see that? I rarely see women like me be romanced and loved and respected at the same time (without the icky orientalist shit in western media). And personally I love the romance genre so sometimes I just want a nice fluffy story w/ someone who looks like me to enjoy. This was such a great video btw!!! I love that you covered all the intersections of the discussion. I love seeing fellow Asians speak out about this
ew you’re filipino. nobody knows u, not even us so how are u gonna b happy on “representation”? and not u sayin “brown asians” when chinese and more of us can b tan too. and this movie looked chinese, what r u on? the reason why it was chinese because one of the writers is a northern viet person. northern viet pratices a chinese culture.
I feel this too as a Muslim American, the representation is terrible from casting to the script itself, there’s only one story to tell apparently. Hijabi girl feels “trapped” by religion then falls in love with white boy, abandons faith and hijab the end. It’s sickening that this is only representation we have because like you said this is the only means of people of ignorance to “see” us and if you do it wrong at that. They only see the stereotypes. Hollywood needs to higher a more diverse set of script writers and casts, imagine what beauty they can create with the right people on board.
That's awful! I'm glad I'm not alone in feeling this way, but also saddened that other POC communities also have to experience this same crap from Hollywood. Definitely agree with you-- increased diversity is the answer!!
I'm Filipino and I'm watching this because I'm writing a story with Asian main characters, because I'm scared of misrepresenting my own race along with wanting to make a character that breaks steorotypes
Let me tell you something, you're already an authentic Asian writer because you're Filipino and maybe should try to write about an Asian character who has insecurity because they don't know their culture and it would be genuine and not at all disrespectful but honest and I know firsthand you are not the only Asian with imposter syndrome, there are many, so so many, write about them, about you, it will sell. I once on a school field trip snuck out to Chinatown with one of my Asian classmates, Meg, because we wanted to buy Sailor Moon merch from Japan we couldn't get in an early 00s toy store, I found it odd she was more nervous than I was walking through Chinatown and I later asked her why and her response was she was terrified she would be approached and be expected to speak Mandarin and be shamed for not knowing. Write for her. Anyways, my point is the only people who get called out on misrepresentation are people like me, white people, but you, they won't call out, in fact they'll celebrate your unique voice and outside point of view that is not purely speculation but an honest portrayal. It will indeed sell. I myself want to know the experiences of 2nd/3rd generation Filipino and their American upbringing and would read it and compare it to my own experience as a 2nd generation Mexican.
@@米和光芒 Like the Lotus flower stereotype , the baby boy gangster, the model minority. Those type of stereotypes, I'm anxious of accidentally misrepresenting people.
@@baggachaos3406 filipinos aren’t even known. my point is no one talks bad about southeast asians. they don’t stereotypes u guys expect for viet people bc they look like chinese people as well as their culture. u guys r mix w white which makes u acceptable so why are u feeling anxious about writing ur asian character when i don’t think u experienced racism that much. just colorism. dark east asians have it worse than all of us. east asians r alr hated but when they’re dark, oof but u sea alr have acceptable features. u have the features that people want east asians to look like.
I'm glad they were darker skinned in this movie, finally some acknowledgement that their are a range of skintones among us. I wonder is they will make Raya paler in the Disney princess merchandise as they have done with the other poc princesses in the past
I really appreciate Disney making Raya a princess. Besides helping to make the brand diverse, it also helps to diffuse the idea that a princess can't be a warrior or that she has to be literal royalty. Mulan, Pocahontas, Cinderella, and Ariel are my top 4 Disney princesses, so I really love it when Disney adds women from different backgrounds and personalities--though I'd enjoy more princesses (not to mention protagonists in general) that had magic powers like Rapunzel. I prefer magic over physical weapons.
If you haven't seen it, please watch Saving Face (2004). It is a romantic dramedy directed by Alice Wu. It has great Chinese-American and lesbian representation.
As a SEA American I really liked Raya though I know the film isn't perfect and comes with its own issues and complaints. For a bit I felt bad for liking the film since most of the general discussion around the film I found was negative. It wasn't until I looked at SEA American responses to the film that I felt comfortable acknowledging this film has extreme value in just existing. I hope this film leads to more films centered around SEA stories
Hey I would like if you watched a show called winx... It was an Italian cartoon made in the 2000s about fairies going to an academy for fairies called alfea and for its time and when it was made it had a lot of representation and had an Asian coded girl called Musa and there even a Asian inspired planet... I would love to see your opinion about that show
Jackie Chan was playing a Chinese Vietnamese in the movie. Ethnic Chinese in Vietnam (Nung Chinese). Other Vietnamese actors off the top of my head include Dustin Nguyen popular in the late 90's, early 2000's, Thuy Trang (the yellow ranger in the original power rangers RIP). Not too many that I can think of after that.
i loved your video. As an indian i can relate too. Also please make a make up routine video i am literally in love with your makeup. You are so gorgeous
Thank you for bringing this up. And even more thanks that you, as a Chinese- American noticed this as well. I enjoyed Raya and then as I watched the credits roll, as a filipina- american, I was like WTF? Almost all the voices are East Asian. There's barely enough representation of southeast asians as there is and they couldn't even throw a bone . Just one SE asian voice? East asians and southeast asians are not interchangeable. Also, you brought up colorism which I thing isn't talked enough about in the Asian community. . I was friends with a Malaysian -Chinese who told me I looked like a maid. I was like, "WHAT?" And it was bc I'm a lil bit more tan than the average Chinese person, wheras in the Philippines I'm actually considered light. And bc I look "filipino" I look like a maid. I think that's what bothered me about the voice casting of Raya. Finally some brown asians and they get voiced by East asians. Sigh...
The only reason I knew Raya was coming up is because I follow Awkwafina on IG and she was super hyped about her new project so of course she was blowing up her feed about it. I don't spend time anywhere near news outlets so it wasn't until the week it was released onto Disney+ that I started getting ads for it on youtube. I only really know three Taiwanese-American actors: Christine Ko (Hawaii Five-O), Eddie Huang (Fresh Off the Boat), and maaaaaaaaybe Constance Wu (Crazy Rich Asians). She seems to consider herself Chinese American in most of her interviews, but wikipedia says her parents emmigrated from Taiwan so take that as you like. Edit: (sorry for the ramble) And just as like... not a defense of Awkwafina and her use of AAVE, just me wanting to give her the benefit of the doubt here. I don't know if she's addressed this yet, but I've seen videos of her going back to New York to visit old friends and hangout spots after her more successful movies and the friends she meets up with are using AAVE - some of them are black, some of them are white, but most of them are also Asian Americans. I don't think they were appropriating an accent or black culture out of any sort of nefarious motivations, just co-opting something they liked, respected, or thought was cool, and they did it without knowing that it was wrong. The way Awkwafina slips in and out of AAVE reminds me of how my mom slips in and out of her southern accent depending on the company she keeps. Obviously, my mom is part of that culture and Awkwafina isn't, but I think her younger self probably considered that her "natural accent" because people she was growing up with at the time were also using it. An asian comedian (I can't remember the name of him now for the life of me now if someone knows who I'm talking about please comment) he was talking about Fresh Off the Boat and how he related to the main character's obsession with rap artists because he went through a similar phase in the 80's and 90's when he was growing up. And Awkwafina would have had a similar experience. Really the only minority with representation in the 90's and 2000's were African Americans (The Proud Family, Everybody Hates Chris, Fresh Prince, Sister Sister, That's So Raven, Tyler Perry, The Cosby Show, and more). I'm not excusing her and I obviously don't know her personally, I just always try to understand people before passing judgment and I think this is something to consider. I hope she addresses the criticism and doesn't just read off a statement that her publicist wrote for her.
I'm 17 and I am half Filipino and Canadian and I love my Filipino culture and raya the last dragon is a awesome movie because of the characters and the animation is awesome and badass and I love Raya because she's very sweet and stubborn and passionate.🤗🇵🇭🤗🇵🇭🤗🇵🇭🤗🇵🇭🤗
The Vietnamese representation is not great, Julia Nickson, Singapore descent, was in Rambo: First Blood (1985) played Co Phoung Bao, I just remember her saying in painfully broken English asking Rambo, "Go Merica?" The most infamous was Papillion Soo, English and Chinese descent, who played Da Nang Hooker in Full Metal Jacket (1987), she says, "Oh, me so horny, me love you long time", groan. This came up with the Asian representation with the massage workers in Atlanta. Thuy Trang played the Yellow Ranger in Power Rangers. Maggie Q's mother is Vietnamese, she has been in a number of tv shows and movies. Ross Butler in Raya has mother who is Chinese and Malaysian. Thalia Tran played the baby, Little Noi. Kelly Marie Tran took over for Cassie Steele, whom I saw for Raya at the D23 Expo. Tran was a very strong, woman figure for this film. It also goes behind the camera, Qui Nguyen was the co-writer of the screenplay. The message of Raya is very powerful and a mostly Asian cast is important.
@@LianaChau you already covered Henry Golding who was good in the romance Last Christmas and has the upcoming Snake Eyes: G.I.Joe Origins. Filipino actors? The standout is Lea Salonga who sang in Mulan and Aladdin, she originated the role of Miss Saigon, which ventured in Asian stereotype territory, and she was great in the recent musical Allegiance based on George Takei's story. In that vein, I also like Christine Allardo who sings beautifully in the Prince of Egypt musical. Other Filipino actors? Dave Bautista of course, Guardians of the Galaxy, Blade Runner 2049, and the upcoming Dune, Jacob Batalon, who is in the Spider-Man movies, Michael Copon, he was in One Tree Hill, but he was kinda cool in the Scorpion King prequel, Rise of a Warrior, also a Power Ranger. Ella Jay Bosco was in the Birds of Prey movie. Her father, Dante Bosco, was Rufio in the movie Hook. Nico Santos was also in Crazy Rich Asians. Manny Jacinto was in The Good Place. These are just some Filipino actors.
Thing is within Asians themselves there is kinda a racial hierarchy with East Asians at the top followed by North Asians, then Central Asians, then West Asians, then South East Asians and at the very bottom South Asians yeah
5:28 LOL my thoughts exactly XDD. GITS is set in Japanese, she has a Japanese name, that's all I need to know that she should have been played by a Japanese American actress -.- Great Video!! :D
this video is so good.... you literally voiced all the thoughts that have been brewing in my silly little head for the past 22 fucking years ! as a chinese american person, i want to say keep doing what you're doing ! very inspiring
(edit: I whole heartedly apologize for the absolute monster of an essay I unintendedly wrote) Hi, I'd like to touch on a few points of your topics in the video, and hope you don't mind me stating some of my own opinions here. I'd like this to potentially open a discussion as i do agree asian representation is severely understated in the US. And really hope you don't take anything I may say as anything negative even if it opposes to some of your opinions. Firstly, I'm glad you enjoyed Raya. While I have not watched it, I also do not have plans to watch it as I have become pretty emotionally burnt out from Disney currently. I've been burning out of Disney ever since they started remaking all the classics into live action (that is a topic for another day) but Mulan in particular has just tipped me over the edge to the point that I wouldn't be able to watch Raya objectively (at least for now) But I'm glad to hear good things about this movie and only wish it had come out sooner and to bigger fanfare because Raya really did have like almost zero promotion. The only place I really saw it being pushed even a bit would be when I got on twitter I'd sometimes get a Raya tweet promoted on my feed. Secondly I'd like to touch on the views of appropriate race casting. For the most part I am on the at least cast an Asian in an Asian role. I typically do not mind mixed castings (baring certain circumstances). But mostly EA character cast EA actor (even if they do not perfectly match up races) is okay with me. I say this in the same mindset of Americans and British actors-characters get mixed all the time. I'd be more on the fence about casting EA actor into SEA character because depending on which part of SEA said character would come from I just don't think they'd pass. Not that the stereotypical non-asian would notice or care to notice the difference. (Which I agree is an argument that lends credit toward the race specific castings, but as this would lead to a huge tangent I'll leave that part off here) That said, as they're lending voices, I don't really have too many misgivings on the more prominent EA voice cast. I'd like to additionally touch on where you focused heavily on Jackie playing lead in The Foreigner. On this specific casting it didn't entirely sit right with me that you repeatedly stated how Jackie should not have been cast and brushed off his casting solely to using name power for the sake of making money. While I agree lending Jackie's name (as well as Pierce Brosnan's) to that project is very likely linked to drawing in a bigger audience to rake in the ticket sales, I think you miss on some key changes and details that adding Jackie's name did for Asian representation instead. His name did draw in lots of ticket sales, but also drew in lots of eyes to a serious Asian led film. It is entirely true that a lot less people would have watched the Foreigner if the main character had been cast with pretty much a no name Vietnamese actor. But also a key change they did once they did cast Jackie to the role was to adjust his character into a Chinese Nung, which are a group of native chinese that live in vietnam and while most people probably missed this, I think it's a very important change to the over arcing situation to the cast of Jackie into what was originally a Vietnamese character in the original source material that can still be seen positively. The Chinese Nung do have a history that still correlates to the background history of Jackie's character in the movie pertaining to the Vietnam War and his special forces training. There are a very real underrepresented group of EA/SEA people that live and are native to SEA countries where they border China that are clearly of EA(primarily Chinese) descent and appearance that get ostracized by the country they're born in and the country that they happen to look like. The Chinese Nung also have a history that still correlates to the background history of Jackie's character in the movie pertaining to the Vietnam War and his special forces training. As someone that does come from a similarly unheard group of Asian people with parents and relatives that went through being used by the US forces in the Vietnam war and then subsequently abandoned once the war was over, this resonated with me. I genuinely felt they took care to the change in actor to character race very well in this specific case. I think this is a good point to contrast the "well she's a cyborg so it doesn't matter" argument with Scarlet Johansson. I firstly would like to agree with your point in brushing aside Mamoru Oshii's opinion on how hurt Asians were over Johansson's casting. Because it's 100% true that Asian American's concerns or even straight up offense over misrepresentation always get brushed aside with "well the people in (insert asian country name) don't care." but that's not the point. Because they over there do not have to face the same reality and discrimination as we over here. It is a valid point that along with everything else concerning asian american prejudices just get swept aside. But I would like to add my opinions to counter the "cyborg so it doesn't matter" argument. Back when GITS first came out I was ready to not care that Johansson was cast as Major. I went in with the mindset that it was an american adaptation so she was just caucasian, cause they called her Major Mira Killian so I figured they just changed her race and I made peace with that. But once they did the reveal of Major's previous life of how she actually still is Japanese that now resides in a Caucasian body and cannot even pronounce her Japanese name correctly all cards were off the table. The fact that the other cyborg was also a japanese man in a caucasian male cyborg was just another twist of the knife. "She is a cyborg so it doesn't matter" should not be used as a pass to give a caucasian actor to play a japanese character. It should have been the argument to justify why in an american adaptation the character is now caucasian instead of japanese. Because she is a cyborg she is not inherently japanese despite having a japanese name in the original source material. Even the arguments you attempted to make in effort to stay objective for Johansson's casting did not really hold water. If you compare the same points of casting Johansson with Jackie in The Foreigner or Henry in Crazy Rich Asians, Johansson's points are also lacking. Henry was essentially a no name actor that by chance and good will got to be cast as the male lead for a movie that was gonna hit it big whether he was gonna be in it or now. And, not to brush aside his own hard work, but the hi profile of CRA really did jumpstart his whole career. Being cast in Ghost of the Shell wasn't made on a proviso that it was to push her career forward. Johansson already had an extremely healthy long thriving career. She even excuses her acceptance of the role because it was a "strong female role" but she was already one of the biggest well known mainstream "strong female role" of black widow. Jackie brought both numbers in money and eyes to the foreigner that otherwise would likely have been drastically less. Despite Johansson's own global fame, it cannot be said that she was a driving force to the amount of money the movie made. GITS already had it's own huge cross continental following prior to the 2017 movie. A following that had the movie been made with genuine thought and care for it's audience would have been happy to pay multiple times over to watch that movie in theatres. While certainly having her name attached would have brought in some mainstream audiences that may have overlooked said movie save for the familiarity in her name, Johansson's name attach would have also turned away a fair number of GITS's original audiences. The audiences that would have been repeatedly loyal otherwise. That the movie made money at all is a testament to the global GITS fanbase.
(edit2: looks like part of my message didn't make it. again, sorry for the monster length comment) Because you mentioned Henry Golding, I wished to express my opinion on him in Crazy Rich Asians. In part because I have strong feelings about his casting and the fact that you had spent a good few minutes speaking to your opinion of the miscast of Jackie Chan in The Foreigner. I mind a little bit that Henry is Maylasian in the casting of Nick in CRA, as I genuinely do not think he passes for Chinese that Nick's character and family definitely is. But the mixed asian casting again, doesn't bother me too much. I am much more bothered by the fact that he is half Caucasian. It's a casting that normally I would overlook even if it bothered be, but in the specific case of CRA that a huge part of it's promotion is that it touted an all asian cast it was a real slap in the face for me with Henry Golding's casting because my genuine first thought when I saw him was that "Even in an all asian cast movie, hollywood still needed to the male lead to be 'half white'" It does make me feel bad, because it is no fault of Henry's at all, and I actually really like him as an actor. But it's a very real feeling that gets invoked in me as a result of the overhype of "all asian cast" that was thrown everywhere when the movie first came about. All the same, I'm happy that since the exposure he's gotten from Crazy Rich Asians, Henry Golding's career has been doing well. I shan't speak on Awkwafina as the CA topic is it's own huge can of worms, as well as I've never been a fan of hers. I liked her well enough in crazy rich asians, but despite trying, I have simply never been a fan of her comedy style. And therefore lack too much knowledge on her to make any real judge on that situation. My only contribution to that topic is that I do have cousins that did grow up in very tough environments that also picked up that vernacular and way of speaking because they did genuinely live that lifestyle and in those same communities. But again, I do not know Awkwafina's past so I cannot make any opinion one way or the other.
Hiep Thi Le from the 1993 film Heaven & Earth was the first Vietnamese-American actress to pop into my mind. The movie is rarely remembered though and I admit I had to look up her name. Also Jane March, though she's English and part-Vietnamese.
Mulan is considered an official princess, according to the "official Disney Princess Rules" (it's a real thing) and I am glad they are including her because I loved Mulan so much and she deserves it and so does Raya
Love ya and hearing you talk about topics like this. Not that it matters… but: Mulan is a Disney Princess… she’s in the actual official Disney lineup. Just as a sidenote. Megara and Esmeralda and Kida aren’t. The official Disney Princesses are: Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tiana, Rapunzel, Merida, Moana and now Raya. Elsa & Anna are too but because their franchise is so successful on it’s own they aren’t yet really in the official lineup but then again sort of are as they are in Wreck-it-Ralph 2 so.
If we want real represantation we must watch those movies and not the others. Hollywood will only change if they loose money. Bullying any actors is not the way.
yes, that’s true. she mentioned only east and southeast asians bc that’s what everyone thought “asian” meant in america. we aren’t related to u south and west. we are just grouped together under the geography term
I was really upset with how insignificant Kelly Marie Tran's role was in the most recent Star Wars film. She was basically a glorified extra, who didn't go on any missions or do anything at all. It felt like Disney caving in to the very worst elements of the fanbase.
I remember when the movie Selena came out and Jennifer Lopez was cast in the role even though she was born in New York to Puerto Rican parents. Selena I believe was Mexican-American. My daughter has a friend from Guatemala whose mother always points out that they are not Mexican. I'm wondering whether there can be something like cap and trade which places a total limit on pollution emissions but allows individual companies to exceed the limits on an individual basis by exchanging with other companies who are under the limit. Let's say there is a movie about Shakira but at the audition there are 4 people who show up, a Mexican, a Vietnamese, a transgender, and an actress whose parents are from Columbia. Let's say the Mexican actress is the best singer and dancer, but the Vietnamese has Chinese blood and was born in Vietnam and moved to Columbia as a child. The transgender looks very much like Shakira. In case the producers do not choose the most accurate person to play the part, their movie studio might have other movies being developed where it could go the other way and let's say the Columbian actress who gets passed over for the Shakira part might get to play a role normally played by a white person. It would even out in the long run.
I disagree that it would even out. It is extremely rare for a POC to play a role originally meant for a white person. Feel free to correct me with examples. If casting wants a white person, there’s gonna be a white person. And I think Jennifer Lopez was cast as Selena because she is Jennifer Lopez. As I mentioned in the video about Jackie Chan and The Foreigner, casting a big name is more important to movie makers than accuracy with ethnicity. When it comes to Asian representation, there is a bias toward East Asian actors and a severe lack of representation for actors of Southeast Asian descent, in the specific case of Raya and the Last Dragon. I would hesitate to say that it all evens out.
it’s not colorism that east asians voiced sea characters. yeah colorism happens at any time but most of the time, colorism is towards someone w unacceptable features when it comes to outside of your community. raya and the last dragon is so east! like the traditional hairstyles and wearing layers. i’ve heard from some sea that they messed up their cultures. they don’t even have cherry blossom in south east asia. cherry blossom grows by itself in east asia. whoever did this, did us (east asians) dirty. like, the characters look like these east asian celebs--
isn’t the sun close to east asia? that’s why we have jungles. it means our area is hot. and no, the sun can’t make ur skin go dark. you’re just dark naturally. what the sun does is giving more melini. im a light skin chinese and i get sun burn while my sister gets tan as well as my brother. dark east asians do exists! if u believe in energy, i think chinese people did smth to their pigment making half of us not have brown skin. even brown east asians loose their whole color as they grow up which doesn’t work like that bc when black people r light skin, they don’t loose their color.
yes, east asians r dark naturally. it’s not possible to carry the pigment if we weren’t dark. and also the girl saying how we benefit from colorism is just racist and colorist. she’s literally a mix background (she’s mix with mexican) so ofc she’s gonna make up lies about the azn community bc she’s not a FULL race. when ur mix or come from a mix ancestry background, u just feel good abt yourself.
Oh you're so super kind. If anyone's rude that's just who they are and that's nothing to do with you. I hadn't heard about this movie either. Don't generalize about white people please obviously im not an asshole and asians DO belong in America.
I love when you talk about cultural things like this!
Glad you enjoy!! ☺❤ thanks for watching!
Filipino here - I am sooo torn on Raya. On one hand I'm always happy to see brown Asians AND southeast Asians. Asian rep is already so far and few between, especially Filipino rep. And I'm so happy Kelly Marie Tran was able to have this opportunity after the horrible things she had to go through and I support her.
On the other hand....I hate that they mushed together all of those southeast Asian countries. I know it's an ~inspired fantasy world. And I am glad that Southeast Asian people helped write the movie, but to me, I don't see it as a win for representation fully? If that makes sense. I feel like it pushes the narrative that Asian cultures are a monolith. The Philippines itself has 100+ dialects. Asian cultures are so vast and different it's impossible for there to be One Media that will accurately represent all of us. So my take on this is like, instead of pushing one media as "is this the Asian rep we all needed?" we should be like "Ah yes this is good Chinese or Vietnamese rep etc."
Which goes into why Raya being well received is such a good thing, because it means Hollywood sees this and now more Asians of different cultures and backgrounds can have the opportunity to tell their stories, and HOPEFULLY soon all of us can have our stories and voices heard!
Also I know this is getting long lol I have so many feelings, but you brought up the thing about people being hesitant on calling Raya a princess and how you're glad they were explicit about it. Idk if this is an unpopular opinion but sometimes I wish we could just have an Asian princess who has a nice romantic storyline where she's loved and revered? I love badass women and I love empowering storylines but I too always wanted to be a princess and I feel like we never see that? I rarely see women like me be romanced and loved and respected at the same time (without the icky orientalist shit in western media). And personally I love the romance genre so sometimes I just want a nice fluffy story w/ someone who looks like me to enjoy.
This was such a great video btw!!! I love that you covered all the intersections of the discussion. I love seeing fellow Asians speak out about this
Thank you for sharing your opinion. Really enjoyed reading your comment! Wish you nothing but the best 💗
ew you’re filipino. nobody knows u, not even us so how are u gonna b happy on “representation”? and not u sayin “brown asians” when chinese and more of us can b tan too.
and this movie looked chinese, what r u on? the reason why it was chinese because one of the writers is a northern viet person. northern viet pratices a chinese culture.
tired of y’all going famous just cuz y’all look like the mix version of us 😴
Omg I’m so early! I literally just found you through your Cinderella video and subscribed right away, I just love hearing you talk! lol
Ahhh thank you!! Glad you're here :D
I feel this too as a Muslim American, the representation is terrible from casting to the script itself, there’s only one story to tell apparently. Hijabi girl feels “trapped” by religion then falls in love with white boy, abandons faith and hijab the end. It’s sickening that this is only representation we have because like you said this is the only means of people of ignorance to “see” us and if you do it wrong at that. They only see the stereotypes.
Hollywood needs to higher a more diverse set of script writers and casts, imagine what beauty they can create with the right people on board.
That's awful! I'm glad I'm not alone in feeling this way, but also saddened that other POC communities also have to experience this same crap from Hollywood. Definitely agree with you-- increased diversity is the answer!!
i'm Muslim Canadian and i agree
you make up like less than 1% of the country...how narcissistic are you
I'm Filipino and I'm watching this because I'm writing a story with Asian main characters, because I'm scared of misrepresenting my own race along with wanting to make a character that breaks steorotypes
Let me tell you something, you're already an authentic Asian writer because you're Filipino and maybe should try to write about an Asian character who has insecurity because they don't know their culture and it would be genuine and not at all disrespectful but honest and I know firsthand you are not the only Asian with imposter syndrome, there are many, so so many, write about them, about you, it will sell.
I once on a school field trip snuck out to Chinatown with one of my Asian classmates, Meg, because we wanted to buy Sailor Moon merch from Japan we couldn't get in an early 00s toy store, I found it odd she was more nervous than I was walking through Chinatown and I later asked her why and her response was she was terrified she would be approached and be expected to speak Mandarin and be shamed for not knowing. Write for her.
Anyways, my point is the only people who get called out on misrepresentation are people like me, white people, but you, they won't call out, in fact they'll celebrate your unique voice and outside point of view that is not purely speculation but an honest portrayal. It will indeed sell.
I myself want to know the experiences of 2nd/3rd generation Filipino and their American upbringing and would read it and compare it to my own experience as a 2nd generation Mexican.
@@juliannehannes11 Thanks so much!!!!
wdym by stereotype?
@@米和光芒 Like the Lotus flower stereotype , the baby boy gangster, the model minority. Those type of stereotypes, I'm anxious of accidentally misrepresenting people.
@@baggachaos3406 filipinos aren’t even known. my point is no one talks bad about southeast asians. they don’t stereotypes u guys expect for viet people bc they look like chinese people as well as their culture. u guys r mix w white which makes u acceptable so why are u feeling anxious about writing ur asian character when i don’t think u experienced racism that much. just colorism.
dark east asians have it worse than all of us. east asians r alr hated but when they’re dark, oof but u sea alr have acceptable features. u have the features that people want east asians to look like.
I'm glad they were darker skinned in this movie, finally some acknowledgement that their are a range of skintones among us. I wonder is they will make Raya paler in the Disney princess merchandise as they have done with the other poc princesses in the past
Me too! I didn’t know they did that with the merch!! That sucks, hopefully they don’t 😩
I really appreciate Disney making Raya a princess. Besides helping to make the brand diverse, it also helps to diffuse the idea that a princess can't be a warrior or that she has to be literal royalty. Mulan, Pocahontas, Cinderella, and Ariel are my top 4 Disney princesses, so I really love it when Disney adds women from different backgrounds and personalities--though I'd enjoy more princesses (not to mention protagonists in general) that had magic powers like Rapunzel. I prefer magic over physical weapons.
Very eloquently put!
If you haven't seen it, please watch Saving Face (2004). It is a romantic dramedy directed by Alice Wu. It has great Chinese-American and lesbian representation.
Will add to my list!! 🤩
As a SEA American I really liked Raya though I know the film isn't perfect and comes with its own issues and complaints. For a bit I felt bad for liking the film since most of the general discussion around the film I found was negative. It wasn't until I looked at SEA American responses to the film that I felt comfortable acknowledging this film has extreme value in just existing. I hope this film leads to more films centered around SEA stories
Hey I would like if you watched a show called winx... It was an Italian cartoon made in the 2000s about fairies going to an academy for fairies called alfea and for its time and when it was made it had a lot of representation and had an Asian coded girl called Musa and there even a Asian inspired planet... I would love to see your opinion about that show
Obviously not the fate remake as they made Musa a white Irish girl
Jackie Chan was playing a Chinese Vietnamese in the movie. Ethnic Chinese in Vietnam (Nung Chinese).
Other Vietnamese actors off the top of my head include Dustin Nguyen popular in the late 90's, early 2000's, Thuy Trang (the yellow ranger in the original power rangers RIP). Not too many that I can think of after that.
i loved your video. As an indian i can relate too. Also please make a make up routine video i am literally in love with your makeup. You are so gorgeous
Thank you for bringing this up. And even more thanks that you, as a Chinese- American noticed this as well. I enjoyed Raya and then as I watched the credits roll, as a filipina- american, I was like WTF? Almost all the voices are East Asian. There's barely enough representation of southeast asians as there is and they couldn't even throw a bone . Just one SE asian voice? East asians and southeast asians are not interchangeable. Also, you brought up colorism which I thing isn't talked enough about in the Asian community. . I was friends with a Malaysian -Chinese who told me I looked like a maid. I was like, "WHAT?" And it was bc I'm a lil bit more tan than the average Chinese person, wheras in the Philippines I'm actually considered light. And bc I look "filipino" I look like a maid. I think that's what bothered me about the voice casting of Raya. Finally some brown asians and they get voiced by East asians. Sigh...
The only reason I knew Raya was coming up is because I follow Awkwafina on IG and she was super hyped about her new project so of course she was blowing up her feed about it. I don't spend time anywhere near news outlets so it wasn't until the week it was released onto Disney+ that I started getting ads for it on youtube.
I only really know three Taiwanese-American actors: Christine Ko (Hawaii Five-O), Eddie Huang (Fresh Off the Boat), and maaaaaaaaybe Constance Wu (Crazy Rich Asians). She seems to consider herself Chinese American in most of her interviews, but wikipedia says her parents emmigrated from Taiwan so take that as you like.
Edit: (sorry for the ramble) And just as like... not a defense of Awkwafina and her use of AAVE, just me wanting to give her the benefit of the doubt here. I don't know if she's addressed this yet, but I've seen videos of her going back to New York to visit old friends and hangout spots after her more successful movies and the friends she meets up with are using AAVE - some of them are black, some of them are white, but most of them are also Asian Americans. I don't think they were appropriating an accent or black culture out of any sort of nefarious motivations, just co-opting something they liked, respected, or thought was cool, and they did it without knowing that it was wrong.
The way Awkwafina slips in and out of AAVE reminds me of how my mom slips in and out of her southern accent depending on the company she keeps. Obviously, my mom is part of that culture and Awkwafina isn't, but I think her younger self probably considered that her "natural accent" because people she was growing up with at the time were also using it. An asian comedian (I can't remember the name of him now for the life of me now if someone knows who I'm talking about please comment) he was talking about Fresh Off the Boat and how he related to the main character's obsession with rap artists because he went through a similar phase in the 80's and 90's when he was growing up. And Awkwafina would have had a similar experience. Really the only minority with representation in the 90's and 2000's were African Americans (The Proud Family, Everybody Hates Chris, Fresh Prince, Sister Sister, That's So Raven, Tyler Perry, The Cosby Show, and more).
I'm not excusing her and I obviously don't know her personally, I just always try to understand people before passing judgment and I think this is something to consider. I hope she addresses the criticism and doesn't just read off a statement that her publicist wrote for her.
there’s no such thing as tawiwanese. they’re chinese. i’m chinese btw and they even speak our language too. she’s smart lmao
I'm 17 and I am half Filipino and Canadian and I love my Filipino culture and raya the last dragon is a awesome movie because of the characters and the animation is awesome and badass and I love Raya because she's very sweet and stubborn and passionate.🤗🇵🇭🤗🇵🇭🤗🇵🇭🤗🇵🇭🤗
The Vietnamese representation is not great, Julia Nickson, Singapore descent, was in Rambo: First Blood (1985) played Co Phoung Bao, I just remember her saying in painfully broken English asking Rambo, "Go Merica?" The most infamous was Papillion Soo, English and Chinese descent, who played Da Nang Hooker in Full Metal Jacket (1987), she says, "Oh, me so horny, me love you long time", groan. This came up with the Asian representation with the massage workers in Atlanta.
Thuy Trang played the Yellow Ranger in Power Rangers. Maggie Q's mother is Vietnamese, she has been in a number of tv shows and movies. Ross Butler in Raya has mother who is Chinese and Malaysian. Thalia Tran played the baby, Little Noi. Kelly Marie Tran took over for Cassie Steele, whom I saw for Raya at the D23 Expo. Tran was a very strong, woman figure for this film. It also goes behind the camera, Qui Nguyen was the co-writer of the screenplay. The message of Raya is very powerful and a mostly Asian cast is important.
Always learning something new from your comments!!
@@LianaChau you already covered Henry Golding who was good in the romance Last Christmas and has the upcoming Snake Eyes: G.I.Joe Origins. Filipino actors? The standout is Lea Salonga who sang in Mulan and Aladdin, she originated the role of Miss Saigon, which ventured in Asian stereotype territory, and she was great in the recent musical Allegiance based on George Takei's story. In that vein, I also like Christine Allardo who sings beautifully in the Prince of Egypt musical.
Other Filipino actors? Dave Bautista of course, Guardians of the Galaxy, Blade Runner 2049, and the upcoming Dune, Jacob Batalon, who is in the Spider-Man movies, Michael Copon, he was in One Tree Hill, but he was kinda cool in the Scorpion King prequel, Rise of a Warrior, also a Power Ranger. Ella Jay Bosco was in the Birds of Prey movie. Her father, Dante Bosco, was Rufio in the movie Hook. Nico Santos was also in Crazy Rich Asians. Manny Jacinto was in The Good Place. These are just some Filipino actors.
Thing is within Asians themselves there is kinda a racial hierarchy with
East Asians at the top followed by North Asians, then Central Asians, then West Asians, then South East Asians and at the very bottom South Asians yeah
omg we east asians r the new yts yet we’re the ones not being mix with yts or looking acceptable 😔
I now realize why us Filipinos always lose our shit whenever we see our country simply mentioned in foreign media.
5:28 LOL my thoughts exactly XDD.
GITS is set in Japanese, she has a Japanese name, that's all I need to know that she should have been played by a Japanese American actress -.- Great Video!! :D
Thanks!! ☺️❤️
Thanks for making this video. I can imagine that it's not easy to talk about, but it is very important for many people to hear! You rock!
❤️❤️❤️ thank you!
This was such an interesting video. I haven't seen Raya yet but I can't wait to.
this video is so good.... you literally voiced all the thoughts that have been brewing in my silly little head for the past 22 fucking years ! as a chinese american person, i want to say keep doing what you're doing ! very inspiring
(edit: I whole heartedly apologize for the absolute monster of an essay I unintendedly wrote)
Hi, I'd like to touch on a few points of your topics in the video, and hope you don't mind me stating some of my own opinions here. I'd like this to potentially open a discussion as i do agree asian representation is severely understated in the US. And really hope you don't take anything I may say as anything negative even if it opposes to some of your opinions.
Firstly, I'm glad you enjoyed Raya. While I have not watched it, I also do not have plans to watch it as I have become pretty emotionally burnt out from Disney currently. I've been burning out of Disney ever since they started remaking all the classics into live action (that is a topic for another day) but Mulan in particular has just tipped me over the edge to the point that I wouldn't be able to watch Raya objectively (at least for now) But I'm glad to hear good things about this movie and only wish it had come out sooner and to bigger fanfare because Raya really did have like almost zero promotion. The only place I really saw it being pushed even a bit would be when I got on twitter I'd sometimes get a Raya tweet promoted on my feed.
Secondly I'd like to touch on the views of appropriate race casting. For the most part I am on the at least cast an Asian in an Asian role. I typically do not mind mixed castings (baring certain circumstances). But mostly EA character cast EA actor (even if they do not perfectly match up races) is okay with me. I say this in the same mindset of Americans and British actors-characters get mixed all the time. I'd be more on the fence about casting EA actor into SEA character because depending on which part of SEA said character would come from I just don't think they'd pass. Not that the stereotypical non-asian would notice or care to notice the difference. (Which I agree is an argument that lends credit toward the race specific castings, but as this would lead to a huge tangent I'll leave that part off here) That said, as they're lending voices, I don't really have too many misgivings on the more prominent EA voice cast.
I'd like to additionally touch on where you focused heavily on Jackie playing lead in The Foreigner. On this specific casting it didn't entirely sit right with me that you repeatedly stated how Jackie should not have been cast and brushed off his casting solely to using name power for the sake of making money. While I agree lending Jackie's name (as well as Pierce Brosnan's) to that project is very likely linked to drawing in a bigger audience to rake in the ticket sales, I think you miss on some key changes and details that adding Jackie's name did for Asian representation instead. His name did draw in lots of ticket sales, but also drew in lots of eyes to a serious Asian led film. It is entirely true that a lot less people would have watched the Foreigner if the main character had been cast with pretty much a no name Vietnamese actor.
But also a key change they did once they did cast Jackie to the role was to adjust his character into a Chinese Nung, which are a group of native chinese that live in vietnam and while most people probably missed this, I think it's a very important change to the over arcing situation to the cast of Jackie into what was originally a Vietnamese character in the original source material that can still be seen positively. The Chinese Nung do have a history that still correlates to the background history of Jackie's character in the movie pertaining to the Vietnam War and his special forces training. There are a very real underrepresented group of EA/SEA people that live and are native to SEA countries where they border China that are clearly of EA(primarily Chinese) descent and appearance that get ostracized by the country they're born in and the country that they happen to look like. The Chinese Nung also have a history that still correlates to the background history of Jackie's character in the movie pertaining to the Vietnam War and his special forces training.
As someone that does come from a similarly unheard group of Asian people with parents and relatives that went through being used by the US forces in the Vietnam war and then subsequently abandoned once the war was over, this resonated with me. I genuinely felt they took care to the change in actor to character race very well in this specific case.
I think this is a good point to contrast the "well she's a cyborg so it doesn't matter" argument with Scarlet Johansson. I firstly would like to agree with your point in brushing aside Mamoru Oshii's opinion on how hurt Asians were over Johansson's casting. Because it's 100% true that Asian American's concerns or even straight up offense over misrepresentation always get brushed aside with "well the people in (insert asian country name) don't care." but that's not the point. Because they over there do not have to face the same reality and discrimination as we over here. It is a valid point that along with everything else concerning asian american prejudices just get swept aside.
But I would like to add my opinions to counter the "cyborg so it doesn't matter" argument. Back when GITS first came out I was ready to not care that Johansson was cast as Major. I went in with the mindset that it was an american adaptation so she was just caucasian, cause they called her Major Mira Killian so I figured they just changed her race and I made peace with that. But once they did the reveal of Major's previous life of how she actually still is Japanese that now resides in a Caucasian body and cannot even pronounce her Japanese name correctly all cards were off the table. The fact that the other cyborg was also a japanese man in a caucasian male cyborg was just another twist of the knife.
"She is a cyborg so it doesn't matter" should not be used as a pass to give a caucasian actor to play a japanese character. It should have been the argument to justify why in an american adaptation the character is now caucasian instead of japanese. Because she is a cyborg she is not inherently japanese despite having a japanese name in the original source material.
Even the arguments you attempted to make in effort to stay objective for Johansson's casting did not really hold water. If you compare the same points of casting Johansson with Jackie in The Foreigner or Henry in Crazy Rich Asians, Johansson's points are also lacking.
Henry was essentially a no name actor that by chance and good will got to be cast as the male lead for a movie that was gonna hit it big whether he was gonna be in it or now. And, not to brush aside his own hard work, but the hi profile of CRA really did jumpstart his whole career.
Being cast in Ghost of the Shell wasn't made on a proviso that it was to push her career forward. Johansson already had an extremely healthy long thriving career. She even excuses her acceptance of the role because it was a "strong female role" but she was already one of the biggest well known mainstream "strong female role" of black widow.
Jackie brought both numbers in money and eyes to the foreigner that otherwise would likely have been drastically less.
Despite Johansson's own global fame, it cannot be said that she was a driving force to the amount of money the movie made. GITS already had it's own huge cross continental following prior to the 2017 movie. A following that had the movie been made with genuine thought and care for it's audience would have been happy to pay multiple times over to watch that movie in theatres. While certainly having her name attached would have brought in some mainstream audiences that may have overlooked said movie save for the familiarity in her name, Johansson's name attach would have also turned away a fair number of GITS's original audiences. The audiences that would have been repeatedly loyal otherwise. That the movie made money at all is a testament to the global GITS fanbase.
(edit2: looks like part of my message didn't make it. again, sorry for the monster length comment)
Because you mentioned Henry Golding, I wished to express my opinion on him in Crazy Rich Asians. In part because I have strong feelings about his casting and the fact that you had spent a good few minutes speaking to your opinion of the miscast of Jackie Chan in The Foreigner. I mind a little bit that Henry is Maylasian in the casting of Nick in CRA, as I genuinely do not think he passes for Chinese that Nick's character and family definitely is. But the mixed asian casting again, doesn't bother me too much. I am much more bothered by the fact that he is half Caucasian. It's a casting that normally I would overlook even if it bothered be, but in the specific case of CRA that a huge part of it's promotion is that it touted an all asian cast it was a real slap in the face for me with Henry Golding's casting because my genuine first thought when I saw him was that "Even in an all asian cast movie, hollywood still needed to the male lead to be 'half white'" It does make me feel bad, because it is no fault of Henry's at all, and I actually really like him as an actor. But it's a very real feeling that gets invoked in me as a result of the overhype of "all asian cast" that was thrown everywhere when the movie first came about. All the same, I'm happy that since the exposure he's gotten from Crazy Rich Asians, Henry Golding's career has been doing well.
I shan't speak on Awkwafina as the CA topic is it's own huge can of worms, as well as I've never been a fan of hers. I liked her well enough in crazy rich asians, but despite trying, I have simply never been a fan of her comedy style. And therefore lack too much knowledge on her to make any real judge on that situation. My only contribution to that topic is that I do have cousins that did grow up in very tough environments that also picked up that vernacular and way of speaking because they did genuinely live that lifestyle and in those same communities. But again, I do not know Awkwafina's past so I cannot make any opinion one way or the other.
Hiep Thi Le from the 1993 film Heaven & Earth was the first Vietnamese-American actress to pop into my mind. The movie is rarely remembered though and I admit I had to look up her name.
Also Jane March, though she's English and part-Vietnamese.
Also Thuy Trang from Power Rangers.
Ahh yes I was born in 1998 so definitely a little before my time, but good to know! I’ll be sure to check them out! ☺️💛
Mulan is considered an official princess, according to the "official Disney Princess Rules" (it's a real thing) and I am glad they are including her because I loved Mulan so much and she deserves it and so does Raya
I had targeted ads, but i am on disney sites regularly and watch the cartoon channels to decompress
Love your honesty Liana! 😘🥰
I hear theirs gonna be a live action attack on titan. If they dont cast mikasa a japanese ima riot
Love ya and hearing you talk about topics like this. Not that it matters… but: Mulan is a Disney Princess… she’s in the actual official Disney lineup. Just as a sidenote. Megara and Esmeralda and Kida aren’t. The official Disney Princesses are: Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, Tiana, Rapunzel, Merida, Moana and now Raya. Elsa & Anna are too but because their franchise is so successful on it’s own they aren’t yet really in the official lineup but then again sort of are as they are in Wreck-it-Ralph 2 so.
If we want real represantation we must watch those movies and not the others. Hollywood will only change if they loose money. Bullying any actors is not the way.
I would love to see your thoughts and opinions of the Marvel movie Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten rings!
Thank God you caught this out in time! And from those anti-Asian sycophants I don’t want any more trouble! 🙋🏻♀️💜🌹🕊⭐️🌈
Now u know what black people go through
Girl , brown also asian. Indians and middle east are aaian
yes, that’s true. she mentioned only east and southeast asians bc that’s what everyone thought “asian” meant in america.
we aren’t related to u south and west. we are just grouped together under the geography term
I love that disney picked a south east asian to voice Raya! I loved the movie! I wish they had more black Disney princesses or characters!
Me too! I’d love to see that!!
Lovely video! I love it when you talk about things like these! Thanks
Glad you enjoy!! 🥰❤️
ahhh, well said liana! love your videos. miss you!
thanks vikki!! miss you too ❤ hang out soon!
I still haven't got to see Raya and The last dragon.
I really enjoy your videos like this!! (: I love hearing your thoughts!! Will check out raja as soon as I can hehe
hehe thanks fernanda! definitely do, it's so good!!
Your so great 😍😍
Raya was so good and adorable 😭😭😭
I was really upset with how insignificant Kelly Marie Tran's role was in the most recent Star Wars film. She was basically a glorified extra, who didn't go on any missions or do anything at all. It felt like Disney caving in to the very worst elements of the fanbase.
I remember when the movie Selena came out and Jennifer Lopez was cast in the role even though she was born in New York to Puerto Rican parents. Selena I believe was Mexican-American. My daughter has a friend from Guatemala whose mother always points out that
they are not Mexican. I'm wondering whether there can be something like cap and trade which places a total limit on pollution emissions but allows individual companies to exceed the limits on an individual basis by exchanging with other companies who are under the limit. Let's say there is a movie about Shakira but at the audition there are 4 people who show up, a Mexican, a Vietnamese, a transgender, and an actress whose parents are from Columbia. Let's say the Mexican actress is the best singer and dancer, but the Vietnamese has Chinese blood and was born in Vietnam and moved to Columbia as a child. The transgender looks very much like Shakira. In case the producers do not choose the most accurate person to play the part, their movie studio might have other movies being developed where it could go the other way and let's say the Columbian actress who gets passed over for the Shakira part might get to play a role normally played by a white person. It would even out in the long run.
I disagree that it would even out. It is extremely rare for a POC to play a role originally meant for a white person. Feel free to correct me with examples. If casting wants a white person, there’s gonna be a white person. And I think Jennifer Lopez was cast as Selena because she is Jennifer Lopez. As I mentioned in the video about Jackie Chan and The Foreigner, casting a big name is more important to movie makers than accuracy with ethnicity. When it comes to Asian representation, there is a bias toward East Asian actors and a severe lack of representation for actors of Southeast Asian descent, in the specific case of Raya and the Last Dragon. I would hesitate to say that it all evens out.
it’s not colorism that east asians voiced sea characters. yeah colorism happens at any time but most of the time, colorism is towards someone w unacceptable features when it comes to outside of your community.
raya and the last dragon is so east! like the traditional hairstyles and wearing layers. i’ve heard from some sea that they messed up their cultures. they don’t even have cherry blossom in south east asia. cherry blossom grows by itself in east asia.
whoever did this, did us (east asians) dirty. like, the characters look like these east asian celebs--
isn’t the sun close to east asia? that’s why we have jungles. it means our area is hot. and no, the sun can’t make ur skin go dark. you’re just dark naturally. what the sun does is giving more melini. im a light skin chinese and i get sun burn while my sister gets tan as well as my brother.
dark east asians do exists! if u believe in energy, i think chinese people did smth to their pigment making half of us not have brown skin. even brown east asians loose their whole color as they grow up which doesn’t work like that bc when black people r light skin, they don’t loose their color.
yes, east asians r dark naturally. it’s not possible to carry the pigment if we weren’t dark.
and also the girl saying how we benefit from colorism is just racist and colorist. she’s literally a mix background (she’s mix with mexican) so ofc she’s gonna make up lies about the azn community bc she’s not a FULL race. when ur mix or come from a mix ancestry background, u just feel good abt yourself.
Oh you're so super kind. If anyone's rude that's just who they are and that's nothing to do with you.
I hadn't heard about this movie either.
Don't generalize about white people please obviously im not an asshole and asians DO belong in America.
Hello 👋
i feel like raya looks like if jamie chung and jhene aiko had a baby
Omg this is spot on