During the Jeremy Lin phenomenon, my boyfriend could not understand why all these asians were going crazy over him. Even people who don't watch basketball were getting on the Jeremy Lin bandwagon. It really annoyed him that this was happening because he couldn't understand why.
Well, the explanation is quite simple. Asians are severely under-represented in Hollywood and the media. There are plenty of white, black and hispanic actors and celebrities. But there are not very many asians. I can't speak for the whole asian community, but when there is an asian actor, athlete, singer, etc., I would want to show my support for them.
Of course, my BF would never understand this (he's not asian) because he's used to seeing his people on T.V. all the time. So, it's no big deal for him. I, on the other hand, have grown up with American media that has been void of asians for far too long. And when asians do get cast in roles, they are often typecast as characters who know Kung-Fu or some type of martial arts (i.e. Jackie Chan and Jet-Li). What's up with that?
Because of these stereotypical roles, the perception of asians by other ethnic groups are skewed. My BF actually thought I knew Karate when we first started dating. Whaa?!! I should've ended the relationship right then and there! haha. I may not know Karate but from the words of Madea, "I know whoop yo' ass!"
As I was saying, I am more inclined to watch a show or movie with asian characters, especially main characters, in order to support them. It doesn't matter if they're Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese or any other kind of asian. If there's an asian, I'm watching it.
Hawaii 5-O? I'm there! Nikita? You bet your ass I'll be watching (I know Maggie Q is only half asian, but she still counts). Herald and Kumar? Hells yeah! Once Hollywood sees that asians can bring in viewers, then there will be more roles for asian actors in Hollywood. It's as simple as that.
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