The latest Newsweek talks about the Korean wave (hallyu) cresting in Hollywood.
Film producer Roy Lee of Vertigo Entertainment says that there now are more people of Korean descent working in Hollywood—from actors to writers to producers to set workers to talent managers—than any other Asian group.
More significant is the fact that Hollywood sees economic opportunity in opening its doors to more actors of Asian descent—and those actors’ global fans.
Like all of corporate America, Hollywood is going global. There are big bucks to be had across the way by finding roles for Korean stars with mega fan bases in Asia.
That’s all very cool, but I hope more and more Asians and Asian Americans eventually become the power brokers in crazy town because Korean American fans in the U.S. are not like the fans in Korea.
We won’t be happy just to see Rain (ripped as he is) on the big screen. We want more leading roles that portray Asians as complex human beings – not just martial arts killers or hot-looking ethnic flavoring in a mainstream film or TV series. Asian actors can do more than stare into a camera menacingly, damn it.
So I hope that the wave of Korea-mania in Hollywood does not mean that Asian American audiences are bypassed in favor of bigger dollars from rabid fans in Korea who think it’s fun to see Rain make it big in Hollywood. The fans in Korea worry less about how he is portrayed, of course; they live in Korea. They see themselves reflected in mainstream media every day.
Sadly, I think Asian Americans will be subjected to more ninja assassins before the wave of casting Asians as complex human beings smacks Hollywood in the head.
