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English Literature & Language {Higher Level}

Written Task [Part 2]
Language and Mass Communication

Rationale
“Why would you need her to play that role?” I wondered when I stumbled
upon a news article stating how a leading, heterosexual, actress was
casted to portray a transgender character in a mainstream Hollywood
movie. More so than an ‘aha moment’ it was a comical realisation given
how mainstream media continually misrepresents communities,
specifically minorities. Thereafter, I delved deeper into the mindset of
Hollywood and why it blatantly dismisses the existence of minorities
and marginalised communities in the sphere of cinema, unveiled
through outbreaks and public statements of artists lost in the shadows of
oblivion. This task is an exemplar blogpost, written for the “New
Yorker”, by Sandra Oh, an acclaimed Korean-Canadian actress who,
given her signature sarcastic style, in juxtaposition with her complex
analysis of this issue, strikes an untouched chord with the readers. Post
her appointment as the first woman of Asian origin as the host of the
Golden Globe awards 2019, I found her to be the apposite pick as the
writer, especially when the article speaks largely of Asian
misrepresentation. This post is set to impact, most significantly, young
men and women who receive their daily doses of news and knowledge
from the internet. The mood here is reflective as nostalgia echoes
throughout whilst she revisits anecdotes and instances that lead to such
biases in media. This task is intended to relate to the topical areas of
stereotypes in media as well as popular culture since a lot of references
from the aforementioned can be noticed. A strong presence of Ethos,
Pathos and Logos in the task prolongs the readers’ interest and results in
a newfound realisation towards the conclusion. Overall, this task
encouraged me to expand my awareness of the persistent bias in media
and its grave consequences.
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Task

Guest insights

Undertone
By Sandra Oh,
January 10, 2019

undertone
/ˈʌndətəʊn/
noun: a subdued or muted tone of sound or colour.

Oh Sandra! (pun intended) Guess you’re a scholar now, you might be asking yourself.
Gently I’d look at you with my almond-shaped eyes and explain- “I only started with a
definition because it took me a couple google searches to figure where I was going with it,
my dear”. A muted tone of colour: a colour that in the past few decades, in terms of the
performing arts (ehm, Hollywood), has been anything but white. Whether it be the recent
castings of Matt Damon in “The Great Wall” or Joseph Fienne as Michael *a black man*
Jackson, the sins of manipulating reality in the name of art have plentiful examples in this
industry. I, a Korean-Canadian young lass who grew up in Canada but still fancied
Hollywood, never really saw a person who looked like me on the television. Stick thin, pale
faced, blue eyed, blonde-haired girls is all I ever wanted to be like; not because I hated
how I looked, but because I wanted to be like them- an actress. One fairly cold night, I
decided to realise my dream, told my whole family to gather in the living room and as they
cluelessly waited for two hours while I was locked up in my room, I unlocked my door. The
squeaking noise of the door was my drum roll, this moment in the history of the world
marked the commencement of my acting career! As I tread down the stairs, my sister
Grace burst into invincible laughter, my parents’ faces couldn’t do justice to how stumped
they were: staring down their daughter in a tight-fitted dress, with blue contact lenses, a
blond wig and a caked face!

The issue at hand is not just under-representation, its also misrepresentation. Every Asian
is a nerd with no actual charm, only a meaningless urge to be laborious; every African-
American is gang-related, walks streets yelling cuss words and has no intelligence; every
queer person is effeminate or overly masculine, sassy with no real purpose except being
present in the name of inclusion. This is what mainstream Hollywood has been preaching
for the past god knows how many years and it couldn't be more incorrect!
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A subdued tone of sound: the sound being the individuality of these characters that
declares their significance and why audiences fall in love with them. Christina Yang, a
high-profile doctor of Asian origin I play on the TV show ‘Grey’s Anatomy’; is a sassy
woman with class, complexity of character, storylines entangled in her personal life- not
just an Asian doctor. Such characters are considered breakthrough, however, they're only
representation of regular people all over the world. ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ was the only movie
since 1969 with an all asian lead cast which, when compared to movies with an all white
cast, puts a lot of things into perspective. Not just Asians but people of all minorities fall
prey to Hollywood’s unexplained efforts to whitewash the movies which, with consideration
of the audiences, only lead to consequences like my little story up there- young people, all
people, feeling represented in an alien role, someone they can’t relate with, stories they
won’t understand.

A study conducted by UCLA Department of Social Sciences unveils that only 1.4 in 10 lead
actors of movie are people of colour, as of 2018. It says non-white representation will have
to triple itself from 2016 so as to reach the actual ratio of 38.7% , currently at 13.9%. I’ve
always been the person to never understand what these numbers actually mean unless I
say them as a pies, so my dears you’re in luck, go knock yourself out with an excerpt from
the report!

The point here is very simple, it’s not about them being represented, its about the rest
being under-represented. This entails our stories being ignored, because its not just
actors; it’s directors, writers, cameramen and countless others. We need to agree
on one thing- if the stories can be different, then why can’t the storytellers too? Why
can’t they add their own tweaks to identify with their communities?
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Let’s step into someone’s shoes now.

Imagine you’re a young black woman aspiring to be an actress, graduated top of your
class from Yale drama school so no questions about your caliber, right?
You walk into an audition for a big-budget blockbuster and after waiting for what seems like
an eternity you get to act the lines you’ve been repeating to yourself ever since you
got your hands on the script, your big break!
You act out the lines the casting director observes carefully and once you halt, exclaims
“ Holy christ, you’re an exceptional artist, one of the best of my career, what more can a
director ask for if you enlivened my character so beautifully, expect a call back but
all you hear is “We’re not really looking for um.. someone of your colour for this role!
So sorry” *Beep beep beep* there go your dreams! Why not a black girl you want to
ask them, but what more can you even do! This is the story of now award-winning
actress Lupita Nyong’o, who eventually ended up playing the lead female character
in the blockbuster hit ‘Black Panther’. But the woeful part is, this is a carbon copy of
every person of colour’s story in Hollywood. It’s piercing to hear those words; when
your race, gender, identity or sexuality is the biggest obstacle on the path to your
success- things you can’t and shouldn't want to ever change.
Well that’s as many words as these generous folks here give me but I want to leave you
with one things on your mind- how many versions of you have you ever seen on the
screen? Peace out, lovelies <3