Rice Picker Entertainment

Asian people (including Asian Americans) have received numerous recognitions for various things.  In society, Asians are noted for their smarts and work ethics.  These skills are really emphasized in career fields like engineering, medical, political, and sciences.  But it has come to my attention that we don’t see too many recognitions of Asians in the arts and entertainment.  Why is that?  Do we as Asians lack creative skills?  Are we just under appreciated as creative people?  I’ve thought about this for a while and have come up with a few basic answers that may not necessarily be true to everyone or even to just the Asian race.

Asians are just as creative as the next guy.  I have seen a lot of potential artists (fine art, music, media, dance, etc.) in the Asian community but they don’t pursue a career in the arts and instead do the stereotypical career.  The biggest reason for that has to do with parents.  Parents usually control their child’s life.  For that reason, they want the kids to do something reliable or what will bring in the most money.  I don’t know if it is based off of what generation the family comes from, but that usually is the reason to why most Asians don’t make their way to the arts.  Again this is not necessarily just targeted at Asian people because all parents can be similar.  I’m not saying that parents are bad for doing this because they actually are looking out for their kids.  Arts tend to be unstable and very spontaneous so it makes sense why parents would steer their kids to a more reliable career.

Asian people don’t lack creative skills.  We are just as creative as the next person.  A lot of Asians that I’ve hung out with can create amazing drawings or play an instrument (particularly strings or piano) as if they were Mozart.  However they are steered towards another career.  That didn’t stop a few Asians who have taken the chance at the arts like Vera Wang, Yo-Yo Ma (musician) or Far East Movement; just a few Asian American artists out in the world.  Actually, if it wasn’t for the Youtube movement which brought fame to stars like Wong Fu Productions, Ryan Higa, Kevjumba, or David Choi, the confidence for Asians in the arts may not have begun.  But there is one area in the arts that has yet to bloom in the Asian American community, film.

How many Asian American filmmakers are there in Hollywood?  Only three notable ones: Ang Lee, Justin Lin, and M. Night Shyamalan.  When it comes to film, most Asians are actually a part of below-the-line work on a movie set; I have yet to see another Asian American director or producer.  Wong Fu has actually inspired a lot of Asians to start pursuing careers in film which is in fact the way I got the courage to do such a thing.  The one place that hasn’t had much movement though is the film industry.  I’m sure there are potential Asian American filmmakers in Hollywood already, but they just haven’t been showing up.  I’m in the film school at ASU and I have to say that it’s easy to spot me in the crowd; my friends and I make the joke that my professors know me easily.  I’m trying to make it into the film program within the school.  If I make it, I do hope that I can encourage more Asians to follow suit in Arizona.