Growing up Chinese American, I always wanted to be a writer, but my family viewed it as a ludicrous idea. My research scientist father made it very clear that the only accomplishments that mattered were in the sciences. “I did not sacrifice all of this for my child to go on to be something frivolous,” he said on more than one occasion.
This sentiment that a career in STEM is the desired path is not uncommon within the Asian American community — although we represent 6.2% of the overall U.S. population, we account for 13% of workers in science, technology, engineering and math fields, according to the National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics.
So, it was particularly moving for me, in late February, when Michelle Yeoh won the Screen Actors Guild award for best actress in a leading role for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” after having scooped up an award during the Golden Globes the previous month. Tears welled in my eyes when she declared, “This is not just for me, this is for every little girl that looks like me.”
The key here is not simply that Asian Americans have not been widely represented in popular American film and television, for much of the 20th century, when Asians were depicted in American cinema, it was often as caricatures — Long Duck Dong in “Sixteen Candles,” or John Wayne’s Genghis Khan in “The Conqueror.” There are countless examples.
It has been perhaps especially challenging for Asian Americans to break into not just film and television, but also many creative fields, as our parents often pushed us into “serious” and respectable careers.
Ken Jeong, for example, was practicing as a family care doctor in California before his acting and comedy career — with scene-stealing parts in “Community” and “Knocked Up.” He finally gave up his career in medicine after his entertainment career took off.
Yeoh and I are three years apart in age….
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