By Lily Pine
“We have a long way to go,” said Alan Yang at the 68th annual Emmy Awards, as he accepted the Emmy for Best Comedy Writing alongside writing partner Aziz Ansari— the first Asian-Americans to do so. The duo was recognized for their highly acclaimed Netflix series, Master of None, heralded for its diverse cast and nuanced portrayal of modern life in New York. Yang called for increased representation of Asian-Americans on-screen, saying, “There’s 17 million Asian Americans in this country, and there’s 17 million Italian Americans. They have The Godfather, Goodfellas, Rocky, The Sopranos. We got Long Duck Dong” (Mardo). Yang’s call to action is not unfounded. A study conducted by Fusion showed that only 37.9% of shows on network television feature at least one Asian cast member (Fitzpatrick). A USC report from 2014 showed that only 5.1% of speaking or named characters across film, television, and digital series that year were Asian (Fitzpatrick). These statistics are even more shocking when examined in proportion to the Asian population of America. While they align with the overall population of Asian-Americans in the country, who make up 5.6% of the population, the underrepresentation is truly seen when placed in the context of big cities (Quickfacts). Many network TV shows use big cities as their backdrops and these cities tend to have a diverse population. In New York City, Asian-Americans represent more than 13% of the population, a significantly higher percentage than is represented on network television (New York City Census).
These staggering statistics are what make a show like Master of None so groundbreaking. Following in the footsteps of ABC’s hit sitcom Fresh Off the Boat (the first sitcom to star an Asian family in almost 20 years), Master of None serves as proof that diversified television shows can be widely popular. Master of None stands amongst the highly successful Netflix series like Orange is the New Black and Daredevil— and is the only Netflix series with an Asian lead. Master of None’s power comes from Yang and Ansari’s raw storytelling abilities— most exquisitely displayed in the second episode of the series, “Parents,” the episode that won Yang and Ansar the Emmy. The episode, which stars Ansari’s actual parents, examines the complex relationship between the millennial generation and their immigrant family members. Ansari’s character, Dev, and his friend Brian, a child of Chinese immigrants, decide to display their gratitude for their parents’ sacrifice by taking them to dinner and listening to their stories. The episode parallels the lives of Dev and Brian with that of their parents— defying the tropes of overbearing Asian mothers and emotionally distant Asian fathers while maintaining an accurate portrayal of Asian-American culture. With it’s sharp humor and moments of human vulnerability, “Parents” is Master of None at it’s best, but is by no means the only time the show addresses the adversities specific to its Asian-American leads.
Two episodes later, Master of None, continues to unpack the complexities of modern race relations in “Indians on TV.” The episode’s poignancy is encapsulated in its opening minute— Short Circuit 2 plays on the television in front of a young Dev. The white actor Fisher Stevens, in yellow-face, fiddles with a robot onscreen as an Indian scientist, Benjamin Jarhvi. The clip is followed by a montage of Indian characters on TV— highlighting the consistent stereotyping and yellowface in popular culture. This opening scene lays the groundwork for and parallel the hard issues unpacked in “Indians on TV.” Dev, struggling against the typecasting that comes with being an Indian male in the film industry, is offered an audition for a lead role in a network sitcom. After his audition, he is mistakenly sent an email chain from the producers of the sitcom, and realizes that he has been passed over for the role for another Indian man because, as one producer says in an email, “there can’t be two” (Yang). Throughout the episode Dev, alongside two other Indian actors, reconcile the pain that comes with working in an industry that does not respect your identity. A thorough and satisfying commentary on itself, Master of None asks whether or not an “Asian” show (a television show that stars more than one Asian person) can be successful and succinctly answers the question with it’s own success.
Despite this success, the issues “Indians on TV” addresses still plague the film and television industries. Short Circuit 2 isn’t the only popular film guilty of yellowface— for decades, white actors have been putting on makeup and playing Asian characters. This is most famously seen in the Audrey Hepburn film, Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Caucasian actor Mickey Rooney plays Mr. Yunioshi, Hepburn’s character’s Japanese landlord. To achieve the “Asian look,” Rooney wore copious amounts of state makeup to darken his skin, 
shrink his eyes, and enlarge his teeth while delivering his lines with a grating attempt at a Japanese accent. Despite this horrific display of racism, Breakfast at Tiffany’s remains at the top of many “Best Romance Films” lists and is heralded as one of the great films of the 20th century. In more modern m
edia, yellow face has been eclipsed by white washing, or the denial of roles designed for actors of Asian descent to actual Asian actors. Earlier this year, Nat Wolff was cast to star in the live-action adaptation of the Japanese anime, Death Note (Leon). Within months of the controversial casting, Scarlett Johansson was cast as the lead of another live-action anime film, Ghost in the Shell (Leon). Both of these animes were originally produced and circulated in Japan, making the choice to cast white actors in these roles a disappointing one, seeing as there already limited roles specifically available to Asian actors. While many directors cite the lack of bankable Asian stars as the reason for the consistent white-washing, the constant denial of roles to Asian-American actors allows this vicious cycle to continue. Until directors are willing to allow Asian-Americans leading roles in films, there will not be “bankable” Asian-American stars (Ansari). The white choice is generally the safer choice, as white characters remain universally acknowledged as the “default.” As Aziz Ansari said himself, “even at a time when minorities account for almost 40 percent of the American population, when Hollywood wants an “everyman,” what it really wants is a straight white guy. But a straight white guy is not every man. The “everyman” is everybody” (Ansari). Ansar and Yang’s work on Master of None has helped to expand this definition, but there is still work to do.
Representation is not only important to the diverse group o people who desire to take part in the film industry, but to the children consuming media on a daily basis. Lack of representation has a direct impact on a child’s self esteem— one study found that white children had increased self-confidence after watching television, while minority children had the opposite reaction, their self-esteem went down after exposure to television (Lee). And this study cannot be surprising— seeing yourself poorly represented, whether stereotypically or not at all, makes finding characters to identify with difficult. Minority children find it difficult to identify protagonists that resemble them, instead, many of the few “role models” they have are caricatures of their identity.
Growing up both Asian and female, I found it difficult to find heroes to identify with. My friends would refer to me last the “Asian version” of prominent pop culture guides like Hermione Granger from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series (which features approximately three characters of Asian descent) and Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games (which features no Asian characters)— as if these characters could not possibly be of Asian descent. However, I found my voice in Katara, a character on Nickelodeon’s cartoon series Avatar: the Last Airbender. The entire show was set in a fictionalized version of Asia and for the first time in my life I was able to watch a show knowing that all of the characters had something in common with me. Katara wasn’t my favorite character because she was Asian (as I often felt obliged to pick the only Asian character in a TV show or movie as my favorite), but because of her kindness, strength, and intelligence. In 2010 M. Night Shayamalan, known for his direction of both Sixth Sense and the Ring, released a live-action adaptation of the cartoon. The day the trailer was released my heart sunk. The movie’s Katara was white with blonde hair and blue eyes. In fact, the only Asian characters in the film were the villains– the Fire Nation. At age 12, one of my deepest insecurities and fears was confirmed: someone who looked like me would never be good enough as someone who looked white. I would never be the lead in a romantic comedy, or get to save the world, or even play a character supposed to be of the same ethnicity as myself. With only 6% of main characters on TV being portrayed by Asian actors and only 10 Asian films ever having been nominated for Oscars, this sentiment seems to be true (Fitzpatrick, Briones). The cynicism that took root in me after the Avatar: the Last Airbender film, however, gives way with every show like Master of None, for every character like Dev, and every victory like Ansari and Yang’s. We do have a lot of work to do, but after seeing Alan Yang and Aziz Ansar on the Emmy stage, two-Asian men standing next to each other, victorious, I can’t help but feel hopeful for the future.
Works Cited:
Ansari, Aziz. “Aziz Ansari on Acting, Race and Hollywood – The New York Times.” The New
York Times. New York Times Company, 10 Nov. 2015. Web. 1 Nov. 2016.
Briones, Isis. “Asian Actors Are Still Only 1% of Hollywood’s Leading Roles.” Teen Vogue Conde Nast, 4 Mar. 2016. Web. 6 Oct. 2016.
Fitzpatrick, Molly. “Of 800 Main Cast Members on 100 Network TV Shows, Just 52 (6%) Are of Asian Descent.” Fusion. 23 Apr. 2015. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.
Freeman, Sarah E. File:Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang at the 75th Annual Peabody Awards for Master of None. Digital image. Wikimedia. N.p., 21 May 2016. Web. 13 Dec. 2016.
Lee, Marissa. “Study Examines Television, Diversity, and Self-esteem.” Racebendingcom. 2012. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.
Leon, Melissa. “Hollywood’s Anime Whitewashing Epidemic: How Is This Still a Thing?” The Daily Beast. Newsweek/Daily Beast, 30 Sept. 2015. Web. 01 Nov. 2016.
Mardo, Paola. “Master of None Writer Alan Yang Had the Best Emmy Speech Ever.” Film School Rejects., 20 Sept. 2016. Web. 06 Oct. 2016.
“New York City Census.” United States Census. U.S. Department of Commerce. Web. 2 Nov. 2016.
“QuickFacts United States.” United States Census. U.S. Department of Commerce. Web. 1 Nov. 2016.
Sun, Rebecca, and Rebecca Ford. “Where Are the Asian-American Movie Stars?” The
Hollywood Reporter. Billboard. Web. 01 Nov. 2016.
Yang, Alan, Aziz Ansari, Zoe Jarman, and Sarah Peters. “Indians on TV.” Master of None. Netflix. New York, New York, 6 Nov. 2015. Television.
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