This is a great interview with John Cho in advance of the national release of the heavily anticipated, at least around these parts, of the sequel to Harold and Kumar in which John Cho reprises the role of Harold. In the interview Cho highlights something about Asians and the entertainment industry that I've noticed, which is a rise in the casting of Asian Americans in commercials.
One thing I'm oddly encouraged by though, there's a lot of Asians in commercials. The reason why I think that's important... you know, there's the casting where they say, okay, we're going to make our show look cosmetically multicultural. We're gonna try and do this thing that you guys keep asking for. And then there are commercials, which are just pure commerce, in that we're trying to sell you this product. Asians, buy this detergent. And if they're trying to sell us detergent, or trying to sell us a Lexus, maybe eventually they'll try to sell us movies, you know? Come see this movie. We've put together a cast of people that look like you. So maybe that's the next move.
The other day, I noticed a commercial, the exact product escapes me at the moment, featuring an Asian guy, his white wife, and their hapa baby. That observation is apropos of nothing because to fully explicate this would make my head explode, and I don't think there's enough space on the Internets.
Anyway, on an anecdotal level I've observed a trend in commercials where castings seem to reflect a more accurate mirroring of our multi-racial and cultural environment. Movies and television alas is still far, far behind. But! There's a light at the end of that tunnel! Oh wait, no light, it's just Neil Patrick Harris riding on a unicorn. Thank GOODNESS for awesome stoner dude-flicks like Harold and Kumar!!
