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25 March, 2002

ASIANS AND OSCARS

It was a wonderful night for the Oscars - and for Americans of color. For the first time in history, African Americans won the best actor and best actress categories, and on the same broadcast, an African American was given an honorary award for his lifetime of work as a pioneering actor of color.

We'll have made progress when Asian actors are cast in roles that aren't made for them, but in roles that could easily have been given to white, or black, or brown actors.

I cried during the tribute to 78-year-old Sidney Poitier, who won his pioneering best-actor Oscar in 1963 for "Lilies of the Field." It's taken 39 years for another black actor to win the top Oscar. A montage of notable African American actors and actresses commented on Poitier's inspiration and influence on their careers, and then thanked him. The montage also showed indelible scenes from many of his films, including "Lilies," "To Sir with Love," "In the Heat of the Night," "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" and others.

Later in the ceremony, when Halle Berry won the best actress Oscar for her role in "Monsters' Ball," she gave sobbing tribute to black actresses who came before her, and predicted that other women of color would pass through the door that had finally opened.

Denzel Washington, who won top acting honors for his bleak, unlikable role as a corrupt LA narcotics cop in "Training Day," again acknowledged Poitier, who sat with his family in a balcony, beaming down at Washington. It was both mind-boggling and gratifying to see both Halle and Washington get their due from a Hollywood establishment that has been conspicuously white for almost three-quarters of a century of Academy Awards.

And, it made me wonder: Where are the Asian faces at this most globally televised of entertainment award ceremonies? Are we - Asian Pacific Americans as well as Asians - at a point like African Americans were 30 years ago, at a time when the Civil Rights Movement and Black Power had already broken down society's walls but the effects hadn't been felt yet?

Maybe. I'm not a film expert - I'm just a movie buff. But it seems to me that the presence of blacks on the big screen in the early 1970s is where Asians are now.

Looking back at films of the early '70s that featured black actors, I think of "Shaft" (1971) starring the oh-so-cool Richard Roundtree, and the subsequent industry explosion of "blaxploitation" films - Shaft sequels, "Foxy Brown" starring Pam Grier, "Slaughter" with Jim Brown and other gritty, street-soaked shoot-em-up action reels. Those movies were popular with niche audiences (blacks and young whites like Quentin Tarantino), but they didn't earn the respect of the Hollywood Establishment.

Still, they opened the door for African Americans to work within the film industry not just in acting and directing but in production and technical roles, and for some, they established careers in more "mainstream" movies. Pam Grier, for one, has worked nonstop since then in an incredible variety of projects including Steven Seagal's "Above the Law," the suburban teen comedy "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey," the sci-fi "Mars Attacks" and of course "Jackie Brown," Quentin Tarantino's loving tribute to the blaxploitation genre.

Since the '70s, a generation of black actors - Washington and Berry but also Will Smith, Samuel Jackson, Forest Whittaker, Laurence Fishburne and more (as well as directors like Spike Lee) - have emerged as stars, not just support players, working not just in a niche genre, but within Hollywood's mainstream community.

Now, a movie with black actors isn't just going to be seen by black audiences. Denzel Washington's latest movie, "John Q" is a good example, because the story could involve any working-class family of any color beset by the healthcare system, but the protagonist and his family happen to be African American.

I want this to happen someday with Asian faces on the screen.

Today, there is a surge in popularity for a niche type of action movie - martial arts films - that star and are often are produced by Asians. (There was a burst of martial arts films in the '70s too, thanks to Bruce Lee, but after his death the genre quieted down into a cult audience.) There are stars within the new martial arts genre, like Jet Li and Jackie Chan, who have broad, mainstream appeal. But except for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," which was directed by Ang Lee, who has already been accepted by Hollywood, these movies are like blaxploitation flicks: they don't earn Academy Award nominations, no matter how popular Jackie Chan gets.

Aside from the martial arts section and the "Foreign Film" category of every corner Blockbuster Video store. But few Asian faces are visible on the boxes that line the other 98 percent of the shelves. Sulu in the old "Star Trek" movies, sure. Mr. Miyagi in the "Karate Kid" series. The Japanese American characters in "Snow Falling on Cedars," or Japanese bad guys in many a WWII movie.

And sure, there have also been Asians who have won awards. Miyoshi Umeki won a supporting actress award in 1957 for her role as a Japanese woman who falls in love with an American GI during the Korean war in "Sayonara." Mako (Makoto Iwamatsu) was nominated for suppirting actor for the 1966 film "The Sand Pebbles" (he played a Chinese coolie). A Cambodian who had never acted before, Haing S. Ngor, won the best supporting actor award for 1984. But those were the exceptions, not the rule - like Sidney Poitier's 1963 award.

If today's martial arts stars are the equivalents of the 1970s' Richard Roundtree and Jim Brown, where are the Asian equivalents of Denzel Washington and Halle Berry? Perhaps they haven't entered the scene yet. Maybe the pool of Asian producers, directors and production staff hasn't matured enough yet. For now, movies with Asians seem to be made for small audiences, and roles for Asian actors seem to fulfill stereotypes and expectations of Asians.

We'll have made progress when Asian actors are cast in roles that aren't made for them, but in roles that could easily have been given to white, or black, or brown actors.

For now, though, I'm glad that the Oscars - and Hollywood - have finally accepted African Americans for their acting, not just the color of their skin. I can hardly wait until the same can be said for Asian Americans.