A Look at Asian American Male Masculinity in Films (2017) 

As an asian American, it is true. We barely even get represented in Hollywood and when “Crazy Rich Asians” came out people finally started talking about it.

It's not only Asian males. Hollywood is still back in the 1930s with it comes to race. To many Casting directors, BLACKS are the ONLY minority in the US. Take the ABC network show "The Good Doctor" It's based in San Jose California, (silicon Valley) in a region where Asians are a huge part of the population. Who are the doctors in this fictional Hospital in San Jose? 99% black characters and some Hispanic. WHAT? Has any of them BEEN to ANY hospital in California? it's 99% Asians and East Indian doctors. But, sure you'll get the idiot who points to the ONE asian guest star to 'prove you wrong'. LOL. It's not just Hollywood. Most of the viewing public is anti asian racist, and they refuse to see it or make lame arguments that it doesn't exist. :D

The asian guy in the maze runner is a real legend

Hey great video essay, kinda wish you had included some footage of Steven Yeun and his starring role in Mayhem that came out in 2017. It was a rare Asian American lead role last year. Especially since the role wasn't written for an Asian American nor the film directed by or written by one. He just filled the role as an actor, and they casted him because of his skill and star power. Although he was born in South Korea he moved to the US in 1989 when he was 6 and was raised in Michigan.

Shout out to Fast and Furious to having sick Asian actors

Im Asian when I saw this video I was like yep never gonna go to see Hollywood I am starting to hate American movies

"this guy is the Last Samurai??" ftw!

Great video! Then comes along a movie like EEAAO, that destroys the notion that masculine stereotypes are desirable to begin with, by having the lead actor save the multi-verse by being exactly the non-masculine Asian stereotype that we have made fun of for decades. Mind Blown.

I felt the same way like any others. The best solution is produce our own movies and compete with them just like china economy. Don't fight with weapon fight with intelligence, intelligence is the most lethal weapon in life. Good luck and thanks for your informative videos.

To my Asian brothers. Go to the gym and workout. You will feel more confident and look more attractive. Get some nice clothes. Practice communicating to girls in a confident, humorous and relaxing way. I Guarantee u more girls will look your way. I experienced it myself. Peace bro.

Do you think the popularity of korean dramas and korean movies in usa has had a positive effect on asian men stereotypes ?

I remember the sitcom Dexter where a Japanese guy potrays a office called Masuka. They made his character behave like a clown and he never gets the ladies and always comes with Corny adult jokes.

Bruce Lee is still Hot!

Excellent work. I do see the stereotype changing. I work the last 5 yrs in a predominantly Asian work place and I've become good friends with many. I believe a clash of both sides (media and consumer demand) will meet a lot sooner than we think. ;) Hello from Toronto. New sub here.

Great work dude! Loved your narrative leading to things picking up nowadays with Justin Lin's work from Better Luck Tomorrow onwards and Wong Fu's work too.

I'm why I strongly believe that people should 1) learn about the fundamentals of Sociology and how that ties into how each person ultimately thinks, but 2) combine #1 w/ life experiences that help bolster that understanding. But, I get it, you have to have an interest in that topic in order to really do it and not everybody has access or the mental capability to learn. In either case, thanks for this video and excellent job on showcasing a part of why Asian-Americans, as a whole, are perceived the way they are/have been. :)

Ninja Assassin was Holly Wood's chance to redeem but they failed again. Perfect movie for romance! The guy was gorgeous!

This is such a great video! Keep up the good work! Sending love as a Filipina that's tired of these stereotypes.

The Most Racist Portrayals of Asian American Men on Film 1. Sixteen Candles 2. Breakfast at Tiffany's 3. Porky's 4. Revenge of the Nerds 5. Fargo 6. Once Upon A Time In Hollywood 7. The Joy Luck Club 8. The Karate Kid Series 9. Fu Manchu Series 10. Charlie Chan Series

The only way to change, is to first acknowledge we need to change.

Better Luck Tomorrow is one of my favorite films. I must have watched it over 100 times. Every time I see one of the actors from that film in a more recent project, I smile.

What are the movies @ 5:42 that WE SHOULD WATCH!? The indie films. thanks

yo dude could you list the movies you used I wanna check some of them out but other than Harold and Kumar I don't recognize them at all.

I dunno man, Japan and South Korea are doin a pretty good job at feminizing their dudes too and it's a lot worse to me than what I see in western portrayals of Asians.

This is why I stream movies and bootleg them because fuck Hollywood I’m not giving them my money

Thanks for including the titles of each film with the captions. :P

Fantastic video essay.

This is a neat video. I appreciate opportunities like this; to learn and gain perspective. Growing up, I've been so unaware of the many stereotypes, political propaganda, etc in Hollywood.. makes sense, there's a lot of money, power and influence in mainstream entertainment.. My favorite example of Asian masculinity is Toshiro Mifune. Wow, what a man. I'm not just talking about his samurai movies either. Imagine if more movies presented more realistic, masculine characters of different races that male viewers actually wanted to BE like. That would be great.

I grew up in California went to school with a lot of mix races and Asian Americans besides their own culture speak and sound like any American I even herd a Chinese American speak like a Texan when I was station at Fort Hood Texas he was in my tank platoon my tank commander a Japanese American I never looked at them and said oh a Asian or the stereo types in movies I never would think that is how they act or are all smart or great martial artist. To me it was what up bro in our group of friends all the super smart guys were two nerdy whites and a Mexican and we are still the same dumb group of friends but in our 50's now.

Needs to be more amwf love films

as a half Asian myself,how Hollywood portrait Asian men ain’t it the stereotype of they are suppose to be good kung fu,the smart one ,when it comes to casting the same Asian American actors when there are many out there

Has anyone seen John Lone? He was one of only a few Asian men voted People’s most beautiful people; Russell Wong is another though he’s half Chinese from an American mother ; I wish I knew their secret they would have no problem getting women; it could be stage presence which not everyone has

Amazing video! I went looking for video essays on Better Luck Tomorrow after watching it wondering if anyone else talked about it and found yours!

Please write different races and ethnicities like hair color, height or voice type ; it can influence the character's life in small ways, but it's *very far* from being everything they are. It's simply a characteristic in physical description.

This is great work man!

Seems like to me the average young adult Asians are far different on average than what the stereotype of them are on shows like 2 Broke Girls. I'm a 5'7" white American man and around most young adult Asian men, even the southeast Asian men, I feel short compared to them. These young adult Korean American men and many Chinese American men depending on which area of China that they are from look like half of their male population is 5'11" (180 cm) or taller. The young adult southeast Asian American men such as the Vietnamese, Thai, Cambodians, Filipinos, etc look like half of their male population is 5'8" (172 cm) or taller. Many of your European Americans have half or more than half of their male populations being 5'9" or shorter such as the Italians and the Irish and many others. As a 5'7" white American man I more often than not feel average more then short around Italian Americans, Irish Americans, Greek Americans, French Americans and other European Americans.

7:57 who is he? I remember that he made very funny videos a while ago on youtube, does anyone know the name?

Joe Seo from "Spa Night"--awesome actor!

Amazing video!!!

I think Jackie Chan bucks all of the trends, though. Bruce Lee too, actually. Both portrayed characters who could fight, but were also generally good with women, were masculine, heroic and even funny. Anyway, those were the Asians I grew up on in the 90s and early 2,000s.

歧视来源于刻板印象，刻板印象来自日常生活--换句话说，来自现实。观众选择权在自身，如果电影的隐喻不符合现实，就没人买账。

0:50 whta movie is that

Hey, do you think you would be able to list the name of the movies in you video essay? I would really like to check them out for myself! Thank you!

That not cool Asian people at awesome and humans just like us don’t hate on the Asian

I saw this movie a very long time ago... What's the name of it???

What’s the movie where the asian guy in the letterman jacket called,

Also I'd like to add something about 4:26 The Maze Runner is an action adventure movie, where the character have to be able to run, flee, chase and fight for their survival I think it's not as bad as other examples because young men fighting gor their lives is the premise, having a guy who can fight and happens to be Asian in that context isn't that bad, they pretty all trained to survive The rest I completely agree with

Keanu Reeves was the first Masculine Chad Asian in hollywood💪💪💪

What is the movie from the thumbnail?

Which movie are you showing clips of with Danny Pudi in it? I'd love to see it.

3:56 what film is that?

Crazy rich asians and everthing everywhere all at once are few american films which show great asian representation

we speak with actions

4:29 what movie is that

Hollywood needs to stop white washing Asian original stories like anime etc ,watching Dragonball Evolution which is originally belonged to the Asian but casting barely had Asians

Asia being a continent is mostly forgotten and Asians (people from Asia or his/her ancestry can be trace in Asia) has a wide diverse race. Ussually people and even our fellow Asians neglect this facts. To be identified as Asian one must look a certain characteristic (Mongolian Race). Other Asian races are often neglected and given another category of thier own. I am Filipino and I am oftentimes being questioned by people with other races. Are you really Asian? or Pacific Islanders? which is redicullous because us Filipinos don't have the vocabulary of being Pacific Islanders with is a term coined by non-Asians. Asians: Malays (Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines etc.. ) South Asia (India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh etc...) There are even white Asians (Asian parts Russia, China boarders of Russia, some Central Asian countries) and many other more races t and as mention Asians are diverse not only excluse to those who belong to Mongolian race.

I m asian living in asia...if i want to see asian movies, i select those from china , korea or japan or even the middle east. If i want to see an american movies or british ones i know where to look for n of course my expection for the last two catergories to to be predominantly white cast as represented by cross section of society over there.

there is a mew MCU movie Shang Chi legend of ten rings kinda helped abit.

Name of movie with the first party

Anyone know the movie at 1:50?

What is the movie on clip 7:09 ?

I'm a korean Canadian man who was adopted into a Canadian family. I really don't see what it is these days with people's obsession with being portrayed as sexy and cool on screen... or having to be sexy and cool to the population in general? The majority of the population doesn't find asian men as attractive as other races... but some do. I've experienced lots rejection because of... I suspect... being an asian male. But then again I've also had white girlfriends from the past have preferred that I was korean... but that's probably not because of looks... but because of personality and who you are inside. But I don't sit around crying that women don't find me attractive. There's way too much going on in the world right now to sit around thinking about yourself to be honest. We need to stop being so selfish. It's like these overweight women who get upset because being skinny is the standard of beauty these days. Yes and that's probably never gonna change... so what? Being unattractive isn't the end of the world. I cared about being different when I was in high school... but I stopped giving a fuck a long time ago because basing everything on looks and how your represented in movies is not the real world. I watch the asian characters in the hangover and harold and kumar and thought they were funny... because it's just a fucking movie. Yes it's not an accurate depiction... but I don't complain that ewoks aren't real when I watch star wars. But this whole thing about everybody bitching and moaning about not being sexy to a majority of the population... whether its asian, indian, fat people, bald people, redheads... etc. etc. You only need one person to love you for who you are... and not give a shit about the rest.

The notion of "representation" to me, is often problematic. Everyone is an individual. Even the most successful and positive role, personae, portrayal will always represent that person and only that person. When we point to movies, they mostly make more roles for myths and fantasies, than actual people. Heroes are great to root for and admire, even creating "positive stereotypes", and I love'em all, but most are less "representative" and more artificial than not. (unless someone makes a "toned down" realer to life movie, which isn't common) Don't get me wrong, I love my heroes, myths, and fantasies. However, greater "Exposure" is the best word to describe what I'd like to see more of, and offers the better value and shot for advancing Asian American Media in Entertainment and the Desire for Representation. Here's the media content I'd like to see Asian Americans focus on, on a semi-pro level: REALITY TV, FOOD, TRAVEL, DOCUMENTARY, VLOGS, VARIETY. Showcase your Asian Ethnic-Town, interview a business, show us the lives of the people, and different types of Asian American communities. Reason being it generally features real life people in real world scenarios. I'd also assume it's cheaper and easier to make. I'd also push RU-vid as a reasonable platform for exposure because there is almost no barriers for "broadcast." In fact, I'd want Asian Americans to push ANY CONTENT onto RU-vid, no matter how amateur, for exposure's sake. Product reviews, news, whatever you're passionate about, whatever. I'm not unaware of the difficulty of attracting views, and the artificial creation of an inflated personality in order to gain views, but if we want people to see us as we are, it's the way to go. Production skills involved such as writing, presenting, editing, and camerawork matter but it's a lot easier than moviemaking. I love movies but it's a daunting platform to breakthrough. If you have the resources and backing, that's great, make more myths, heroes, and fantasies, but for the rest of us, contributing content is not an impossible. I wish somebody would make something like the "Terrance House" series on Netflix. Get a bunch of attractive young guys and attractive young girls, both with calm, polite demeanors, less prone to stupid drama, commentated by a bunch of average looking people who rely more on their personalities than their looks, and let life play out. To me, that's a closer unadulterated form of exposure.

When it comes to the dating world 1 reason I noticed many Asian men struggle is because their parents don't let them grow socially when they're young.

Do i hear picturefit’s narrator?

Hollywood just keep'em hot and sexy!

ive never had this problem lol because i only watched films/tv from China where all the men were badassess lol

The four asian guy of the cover

This is standard hate propaganda! We are talking about America where in the 1950's the biggest sitcom/comedy family show was a white women married to a Latino Cuban called "I love Lucy". Kung Fu and roles as intelligent nerds are called opportunities which America offers by the millions in a vastly diverse and free landscape. Every male actor loves his macho roles. Sylvester Stallone, Rambo and Rocky, Arnold Schwarzenegger Terminator! Bruce Lee never wanted to do Shakespeare his heart, soul and tradition was Wing Chun. People need to get off there whiny eggshells

Now that China has a lot of influence in Hollywood hopefully the issue will change for the better.

Wait there are asian men? I thought there were only asian women. Never heard of a me Cheng before but inhale heard of a mrs Cheng.

Im Filipino and i loom mexican

They are all man you ask me...until they get older then they are best friends with their wives. The older couples make the show.

I agree. I think Dolph Lundgren is probably the best Asian actor of all time. Just look at his role in ROCKY IV.

Human race know this {but still fight the good fight} Just know if we all look exactly the same we STILL BE FIGHTING ABOUT SOMETHING! If we all looked like you or you or me or maybe even you there would still be wars and good vs bad higher vs lower southern vs northerns or something so we have to look not outside at each other. It must be inside each person where this answer must be

Whats the movie at 6:30 please

But I think asian actors work harder, how many times I'm watching an indoor scene and cold smoke comes out the mouth, or the stunts which I heard are not protected like American stunts.

And what about Bruce Lee who’s a badass

Long duck dong got roasted by asians. Like Flavor Flav, he got paid.

Majority of white people don't think one way about any race. If you want Asians to take different roles than I get that. But this whole thing were races want attention because of the past blows my mind. Why can't people be individuals and not be what people think they should act like because of there skin color. **This comment isn't to spread hate its just to gain perspective**

Buff Asian exists Western move: yeah what?

Bruce Lee.

What's the name of that asian stereotype movie?

It’s not true man I’ve said it time and time again

Watch Asian movies. Problem solved.

The Harold and Kumar is a bad example, the whole role itself is a stereotype

0:28 movie title?

I erroneously thought this was going to be a video on how _Asian_ film depicts Asian masculinity. Instead it's just your run-of-the-mill complaining that there are white people in a country that was conquered, remade and exists as a Caucasian country. Probably worth exploring, but not nearly as interesting.

No shit we is

Wait, how about Filipinos and Filipino-Americans?

Can you do asian hip hop? LOLs.

You can say the same thing with other film countries. Are other countries going to allow for other foreigners to be films, even when they grew up there. Imagine mixing blacks, Japanese, Candians, Arabs, Brazilian, into a korean/chinese film or television show.

This will be long: Please, don't compete who has it harder, its irritating in so many levels... That one actor who played in DUFF is one of the most smartest people in the universe and yet society treats him like a replacemnet and to make a joke and its really irritating and disrespectful -_- I also love John Cho I love a guy from Maze Runner I basically grew up watching Jackie Chan's movies and I secretly have a crush on people I am not supposed to and its sad that i have to hide it... And now society basically has fetish over what not like Asian girls in a highschool uniforms and guys bc now kpop is trending, but they always were important and deserved more since the day i started watching it I also watched some kdramas and animes, and they deserve more than just being a trend, a culture we should steal, a fetish and a joke... and they are not just smart people we are supposed to only use just bc they are smart... i feel really bad for them, especially with Covid 19, it shows how people are so ignorant with xenophobia and so uneducated and want to blame it on everyone that looks similar

Same stuff happens in Asia with white and black folks. The more people of different races and cultures interact with each other, the less of an issue this is going to be. Time and interconnectivity are needed for this to go away. Should happen naturally if nothing gets in the way too much.

People complain about "white washing" but when an traditionally white character is changed to another race it's labeled "diversity". If white washing exists then request terms like yellow, brown or black washing exists too. Even the creator of anime said that anime read based on humans not a particular race for I believe this vary reason. Other than that I she worth everything you said. Stereotypes are offensive racist maybe but I never met a particular race of people that didn't do it most don't do it on purpose, racism is in the intent not the action someone can day something that is considered racist but a racist person of proud of their racism add do things because it's racist. There's no such thing as a "closet racist" in my opinion.