Of course, Asian August didn’t come out of nowhere. Asians and Asian Americans across the country and globe have been working tirelessly for years to ensure greater representation on screen. One such individual is William Yu, the Korean-American digital strategist and mastermind behind the internet phenomena known as #StarringJohnCho and #SeeAsAmStar.
Yu followed his viral campaign up this past May with #SeeAsAmStar, a collection of video clips that use controversial Deepfake technology to feature Asian-American actors John Cho, Constance Wu (star of Crazy Rich Asians), Arden Cho and Steven Yeun in popular Hollywood movies, from Captain America to Hunger Games, to deconstruct the definition of a Hollywood movie star and once again show that Asian Americans can play these roles.
You might be thinking that this should be in a 2019 (Year) In Review post, but that would be impossible because that hasn't happened yet, and even if it weren't impossible, it still wouldn't be the right answer.
I just feel like this should be a yearly occurrence because it brings joy to everyone and I feel like the cameos can just get better and better every year.
The first post looking back at 2018, as well as the start of hopefully a run of posts up until the end of the year - this one just feels right.
I absolutely loved "Searching" with John Cho, Debra Messing, Joseph Lee, Sara Sohn, Alex Jayne Go, and Michelle La - and although I did think the weakest link while watching the movie was Debra Messing - it kind of made sense at the end of the film and maybe that was exactly the way she needed to be - although with the strong performance of John Cho, who anchored and made that film believable (along with a really strong performance by Joseph Lee) - her performance didn't need to be great - just believable.
Written by Aneesh Chaganty and Sev Ohanian, and directed by Aneesh Chaganty - it did keep you on the edge of your seat and I thought the vehicles they used to show the main parts of the film - like using the YouTube channel of a news agency - were incredibly innovative and kept you guessing not just about the plot, but how the story was going to be unfolded from a completely operational view.
Generating around $75 million at the box office (off a reported $1 million budget) not counting revenue from On-Demand or other services - and having 90%+ ratings on a number of different review platforms - it's just more proof that an Asian American Lead can anchor an innovative film that people want to watch, and that's hugely profitable as well.
I DO THINK THOUGH...
I'll be honest though too in that I think Cho's performance will be overlooked and that if he was a non-Asian actor - and a White actor - he'd probably get more accolades for the film. His acting when you compare it to other films this year, it was undeniably a great performance that deserves recognition.
The slantyapolis/seftre blog has served millions of views trying to help in its own way, to give voice to the Asian and Asian American community, as well as document it, over the last 18 years. Sometimes op-ed, sometimes straight news, sometimes off the beaten path--the continued impetus remains that there's power in sharing voices and in sharing your own voice and reflecting that back into the communities you belong to.
If you're looking for the 2008 In Review Posts, the link list has been moved out, but you can still get to them all by following this link which pulls them up by label (they'll be in reverse so go to the oldest post to read them in order).
2007 In Review Posts
If you're looking for the 2007 In Review Posts, the link list has been moved out, but you can still get to them all by following this link which pulls them up by label (they'll be in reverse so go to the oldest post to read them in order).
