Windows of Opportunity

A brief synopsis of Chapter 5 in Helen Zia’s Asian American Dreams reveals the historic struggle of Asian Americans in the performing arts. In televised media, there was a stringent mold that Asian Americans played. Prior to their actual involvement in the said field, there were few roles open to any Asian. Consequently, it became a common practice for Anglos to don yellow powder and to tape their eyelids. Additionally, the roles played by these characters were unbefitting and degrading.

Initial depictions of Asian characters ultimately skewed popular belief of Asians and Asian Americans alike. As a result, a strict mold, which defined Asian American casting, was established. Both male and female Asian Americans were type casted as grossly misrepresented characters. The only roles that were offered to Asian Americans males fell within three categories: 1) A diabolical deviant that was toppled by an Anglo hero, 2) A bumbling sidekick with profound ‘Asian characteristics’, or 3) emasculated geeks. Asian American women, on the other hand, were also placed under the same amount of scrutiny, but were offered less diverse roles. Petite and subservient, Asian American women played the role of sex slaves that awaited liberation from the tyrannical grasps of Asian pimps. The only form of salvation would come from white skinned liberators. These controversial roles would eventually come under the spotlight when the world renowned play Miss Saigon made its initial opening stateside.

The play Miss Saigon entails an Asian women who is impregnated and abandoned by her loved, an American GI, during the Vietnam War. When the play opened up in Europe, it was met with rave reviews despite the disproportionate number of Asian actors. When the play came stateside, there was an outcry by Asian American actors. Directors were only willing to open up the part of Kim to an Asian American woman. The plays antagonist, The Engineer, was said to be openly casted, but was ultimately handed to a British man with no Asian heritage. When the director of the play was questioned, he defended his choice by saying that there were no male Asian American actors that were suitable to fill the role. In subsequent productions, the role became open to Asians, but a different reprisal was bound to surface.

Eventually, the common state of mind questioned why are Asians limited to sparse roles? There was fervor amongst the masses to open up all plays for an Asian American lead. Plays that once offered Asian Americans with a chance to perform were spurned. Why does an Asian American or any individual in general, have to degrade their personal character and heritage in order to find a job? Although later productions did open up different roles for Asian Americans to play, a stigma still remained. The number of plays that glorify Asian Americans are too few. Additionally, the modes of representation for these ideas are still untested. Adapting those ideas for popular culture while maintaining the essence of the story is not only challenging, but it is trivial as well.