Diversity Matters

I sometimes ask myself why it is that I continue to watch Hawaii Five-0.

If we’re being honest, the show just isn’t very good anymore. (I happen to think it started off promisingly, but it began to fizzle by the third season.) Still, I inch through it on Netflix when I have a chance.

Part of it is just loyalty (I didn’t watch this far to give up halfway), but it’s also because I cannot in good conscience abandon one of the few shows on TV with a predominantly Asian cast.

Sure, McGarrett and Danno are as white as white can be, but the majority of everyone else they work and interact with are Asian, Pacific Islander or African American. And sure, they’re all playing second fiddle to the macho white guys, but at least they’re in the orchestra. Daniel Dae Kim may not be the first guy busting down the criminal’s door, but they did give him a shotgun.

Better that than being one of the 8 million other shows or films that consider “diversity” as simply having a token minority character and calling it a day.

Honestly, I never used to think about stuff like this very much. You just accept that you aren’t going to see a lot of people who look like you on TV, unless you turn to one of the imported Asian channels. But as I’ve gotten older — and as diverse representation in media has entered the national conversation — I’ve realized more and more how very much it matters.

It’s easy to think that it doesn’t — that story comes first, and what’s important is what is being said, not who is saying it; that 20 white actors and actresses simply had the best performances in an entire year’s worth of movies; that race-centered shows like Fresh Off the Boat are merely gimmicky derivatives of established formulas.

But look at it like this: No Asian woman has ever won Best Actress at the Oscars, and the last (and only) time one was ever nominated was back in 1935. And only two men of Asian descent have ever won Best Actor — in 87 years.

Does this mean that Asians are just not very good actors? Or does it mean that there are simply very few parts available for them to play, much less parts that are considered Oscar-worthy?

When we refuse to have this conversation and instead choose to believe that the time isn’t right for “something different” on screen, or that it’s just coincidence that a whole segment of the world is without representation, it reeks of racism and ignorance.

It matters to see someone who looks like you in cinema.

Don’t ever think that it doesn’t.

Paige’s Pick of the Week:

Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition Speaking of Asian representation, this Grand Theft Auto in Hong Kong is just about one of the best open-world crime games ever. An intuitive combat system, vivid cityscape and kickass soundtrack work in tandem with a surprisingly nuanced look at what it’s like to be torn between two cultures. (PS4, XBOX ONE, PC)

PTAKEYA@MIDWEEK.COM