Asian-American students in the arts react to recent gains in professional world

January 26, 2020 — by Anouk Yeh

Student performers found the entertainment industry to be a more viable career option following increased Asian-American representation.

The San Francisco Opera (SFO) announced in early December that Korean-American opera director Eun Sun Kim will be its next Caroline H. Hume music director. The announcement made history: Kim is the first Asian-American to serve as music director for an opera the size and caliber of the SFO.

At the Golden Globes on Jan. 5, the acknowledgment of Asian-American representation continued to flourish. There, Nora Lum, more widely known by her stage name Awkwafina, made history by becoming the first Asian-American to win in the category of Best Actress. Also at the Golden Globes, South Korean movie “Parasite” won best foreign film, being the first Asian film to win the award in over a decade.

Although already uber impressive, these recent milestones achieved by the Asian-American entertainment community are just microcosmic of a larger movement of heightened Asian representation and empowerment in American entertainment.

These high-profile success stories have served as inspiration for Asian-Americans like sophomore Jennifer Sheng, who is a prominent member of the school’s drama department. 

“It's really inspiring because I was taught from a young age that the arts were off limits as a career,” she explained. “But seeing all these people become really successful and get recognized is really uplifting. It lets me know that maybe there's a chance [for me to succeed in this industry].”

For junior Francesca Fernandez, the subject of representation in the entertainment industry is personal. 

Although Fernandez currently acts regularly in the drama department’s fall plays and spring musicals, she wasn’t always involved in the performing arts.

Before living in Saratoga, Fernandes, who is half Indian and half Chinese, lived in Texas while attending a predominantly Caucasian and African-American school. She said that the small Asian student population at the school and in the drama program made her more reluctant to take risks.

“I think part of [my reluctance to act] was just because so many of the people at my school were not Asian, so whenever I watched the performances, there was much less representation from my race,” Fernandes explained.

Fernandes said that not seeing a lot of people who looked like her acting made it so she wasn’t as “intrinsically inspired to act [in Texas].” 

Seeing more Asian-American representation in the student population here and in the media has inspired her to be more actively involved in the arts, she said.

In general, Fernandes thinks the U.S. has had a spotty  track record with representation.

“The fact that we've improved and now represent almost all different races and genders is just a very empowering thing,” Fernandes said.

Sophomore Taylor Zhou, an active participant in the school’s theater program and an avid filmmaker, said that he hasn’t been affected by the lack of Asian-American representation in the entertainment industry. However, Zhou said that he could understand how the increase in Asian-American prominence in the industry can positively inspire other aspiring Asian-American artists.

For Zhou, the increase of Asian American success and representation in entertainment is more than just inspiring. He said that significant progress that the Asian American community has been making in entertainment has also been serving as a great persuasion tool into swaying his STEM-focused parents into letting him pursue the arts.

“There is something in [increased representation] that, in a way, makes it so we can go to our parents and be like, hey, this is an actual route for success, and I could possibly build a career,” Zhou said.

Sheng believes that the increasing success and representation of Asian-Americans in entertainment has the power to sway traditionally held beliefs about who is able to be successful in the industry. 

“[Full and accurate representation] is really important because stereotypes impose the idea that only these type of people can do these type of things. Accurate representation shows that there's more people [than just a certain race] with talent,” she said.

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