Making AF/WM movies more sophisticated

Shortly after I wrote about a movie by Thai director Wych Kaosayananda, “Ballistic: Ecks vs Sever”, my cousin in the United States wrote me an e-mail. He said he doesn’t know anything about this Thai director and he hasn’t seen the film.

“I probably would not see it because it’s just another Asian female and white male pairing,” he commented

Well, there is always a good reason not to see a film. He also said that there is a growing gripe inside the Asian American community about the pairing of Asian female and white males (hereafter called AF/WM) portrayed in the media.

The Hollywood AF/WM formula includes “Tuxedo”, “Rush Hour I and II”, “Shanghai Noon”, “Shanghai Knights”, “Romeo Must Die”, “Wayne’s World”, “Year of the Dragon” and “The Touch”, to name just a few.

Another thing the Asian American community doesn’t feel comfortable about is the unrealistic nature of those films compared to white male and female stars. Think about it:

In “Rush Hour I & II”, Jackie Chan never gets the girl. In short, there is no romantic female lead character for him at all.

In another Jackie Chan flick, “Shanghai Noon”, Jackie Chan never has a love scene with his heroine, Lucy Liu.In a sequel, “Shanghai Knights”, his sidekick Owen Wilson is romantically involved with Jackie Chan’s sister in the film. And Wilson is a white man. In “Romeo Must Die”, a Jet Li movie, there is a lead female Aaliyah, an African-American girl. They flirted but there was no kissing in the story.

In most films, the lead characters are always blessed with virtue: they get rid of the bad guys or they save the world, so shouldn’t they get some love?

Take another example: Chow Yun Fat, who was once (and for some, still is) a darling, has never had a romantic love interest after entering the Hollywood studios.

In his Hollywood debut “The Replacement Killer”, his role was absolutely free of romantic moments. Perhaps the closest was in “Anna and The King” with Jodie Foster.

On the other side of the coin, the movie and the book “Joy Luck Club” portrays Asian males as materialistic and chauvinistic unlike the white males whom Asian female characters consider as ideal mates.

So why does Hollywood always match white males (or non-Asians) with Asian females? It’s interesting to study this phenomenon. One simple assumption we would take is that Hollywood is trying to expand its viewer base.

When Jackie Chan’s movie premiered here, Thai people – especially old fans of his kung-fu movies – didn’t really care if he brought along farang characters but they’d say: “Hey! Let’s go see Cheng Long’s film (the name Thai people call him).”

Before his Hollywood days, only Jackie Chan’s films dominated the box-office in Thailand during Chinese New Year.

Having Asian characters in films should help Hollywood maintain its grip over the celluloid world especially when Asian cultures have been rising in the film industry.

The arrival of Asian superstars like Jackie Chan, Chow Yun Fat, or Michelle Yeoh can open a new chapter for Hollywood, paving the way for the big studios to offer some new faces in the films – if not new plots or story lines.

Hollywood may have to work harder and offer more quality for multinational audiences. First and foremost, it is the studio’s task to make the characters played by Asian stars more rounded rather than flat.

What has been portrayed in Hollywood flicks are mostly updated versions of similarly themes in movies made a decade ago.

The difference is only the later works are being advanced with more sophisticated pre-and post production techniques.

The big studios have also done their best to avoid stereotyping Asian characters. If their aim is to broaden their audience base, they do have to bear in mind that the audience knows best when it comes to their own people.

Featuring flat characters and stereotyped Asians will certainly make the films boring to non-Western audiences.

One last thing that may please the Asian American community in the US is that Hollywood must prove that the Asian-white pair formula films can be portrayed in all genres of films, including romance.

The Asian stars have to kiss and be engaged in some sex scenes just like their Hollywood counterparts.
The audience would love to watch some big action on the street and in the bedroom too

Published on Mar 15, 2003