Semester Project - #StarringAsianActresses

Mina Youn

Media 384

Prof. Cacoili

May 13, 2017

For my semester project, I’ve written an essay on the whitewashing and racist practices against Asian Americans in Hollywood, titled #StarringAsianActresses (and accompanying slideshow), as a tribute to the social media campaigns #StarringJohnCho and #StarringConstanceWu that have reimagined Hollywood movies with these actors as the main leads.

A social media campaign re-imagining Hollywood movies starring Constance Wu.
A fan created poster of Easy A shows Constance Wu replacing Emma Stone who drummed up controversy by being cast as a quarter Chinese, quarter Hawaiian woman in the film Aloha.

In my essay, I cover a bit about my own experiences growing up as a Korean American girl with a lack of understanding of Asian representation and diversity. I also address issues such as the lack of Asian American roles in television and media and the whitewashing of original source material that features Asian characters in Hollywood especially.

Scarlett Johansson as a Japanese cyborg named Major Motoko Kusanagi, based off a Japanese anime manga and anime film Ghost In The Shell

By writing this essay, I’ve started a blog called Youn Sistars which I hope to collaborate with my sister in documenting our experiences living as Asian Americans in New York. Hopefully, I will be able to reach young Asian Americans and spark a dialogue that will help bring more awareness to this critical lack of Asian American representation in media. I hope to reach Asian American artists, film makers, aspiring actors and other media makers to try and collaborate in creating content and art that will inspire others like us, where we can ultimately encapsulate all our unique and individual experiences as Asians in America.