When is a dunk more than a dunk? When it’s wrapped up in proving yourself to your entire high school.
Who are they? Jingyi Shao is a writer and director, whose latest project is the Disney film, Chang Can Dunk.
The story follows Bernard Chang, a 5-foot-8-inch high schooler in the marching band, who makes a bet with his school’s top jock that in just 12 weeks, he’ll be able to dunk a basketball.
Chang’s mission to prove himself to his peers and subvert their expectations is one that is personal to Shao. He says the inspiration for the film and many of the themes are drawn from his own experiences growing up in New Jersey.
What’s the big deal? Though the premise is pretty straightforward, the plot touches on many elements others may identify with: Chang trying to earn the respect of his peers as an Asian American and novice athlete; struggling to gain his single immigrant mother’s understanding; and believing in himself enough to achieve his goal.
Shao explains how representation is intertwined with self-perception: “Watching this film, if you’re an Asian American or if you’re another person who’s a minority, there’s another layer to that. When people watch this film, I want them to think about their own self-perception, because I think that is almost as important as other people’s perceptions of you. I think that stereotypes are really powerful because we’re scared that they might be true.”
It’s also another story focused on providing a new perspective on the Asian immigrant experience in the United States, hot on the trail of the groundbreaking Everything Everywhere All At Once Oscars sweep.
In 2021, USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative published a study that analyzed 1,300 films from 2007-2019. The results showed that from 51,159 speaking characters, just 5.9% of them were Asian or Pacific Islanders.
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