A couple of months ago, I blogged about how the TV show 24 plays on and sustains stereotypes of brown people being terrorists.
But now, the white mainstream media thinks that brown folks are breaking out of the stereotypical molds. A recent USA Today article titled "Stars of South Asian Descent are on the Ascent" shatteringly announces:
"It's not just Apu anymore."
Roll out the red carpets! Add Desi (or their Anglicized) names to your A-lists of exclusive Hollywood parties!
Apparently, we're breaking through the tightly fortressed Hollywood Empire. We're no longer Apus, nerdy medics, genius professors, confused 2-gers who are torn between progressive Western values vs. backward motherland values, and terrorists. Now, we're...well, brainy medics, genius professors, confused 2-gers caught in the middle of the East/West divide, and terrorists:
After years of relative anonymity, performers of Indian heritage are establishing a small but growing presence in TV and film, breaking stereotypes along the way. From Sanjaya Malakar of American Idol to actors on some of TV's most popular shows, U.S. viewers are seeing a broader range of performers who trace their roots to the world's second most populous country.
"Things are opening up - very slowly, but it's definitely happening," says Sendhil Ramamurthy, who plays genetics professor Mohinder Suresh on NBC's Heroes, TV's biggest freshman hit.
Navi Rawat, a native Californian of Indian and German heritage, encountered a first when seeking the role of mathematician Amita Ramanujan on CBS' Numb3rs. "It was the first time I was cast in a role specifically written as someone who was Indian," she says.
Other actors of at least partial Indian descent on network TV include Naveen Andrews, ABC's Lost; Parminder Nagra, NBC's ER; Mindy Kaling, NBC's The Office; Ravi Kapoor, NBC's Crossing Jordan; and Aasif Mandvi, CBS' Jericho. Kal Penn, who stars in the film The Namesake, appeared this season on 24 and is in an ABC pilot, The Call.
Rawat says it's good for audiences to see that actors who share the same heritage can represent a range of birthplaces, backgrounds and appearances: "They don't fit one stereotype."
For decades, people of South Asian descent rarely were series regulars. (Kavi Raz held that status in the 1980s on St. Elsewhere, and Apu is a long-running animated character on The Simpsons.) In 2002, CBS' Presidio Med, a medical drama set in San Francisco, premiered with no doctors of Asian heritage.
That many of the characters have a medical or scientific background shows TV is starting to reflect a reality in which many doctors are of South Asian heritage (not to mention medical correspondents, such as CNN's Sanjay Gupta), says Karen Narasaki of the Asian American Justice Center, a civil rights organization that has studied diversity on TV.
Oddly, acting opportunities grew in the aftermath of 9/11 as films and TV cast actors of Indian heritage as Middle Eastern characters, says Ramamurthy, a Chicago native who speaks in Indian-accented English on Heroes.
Narasaki wants to see Asian-Americans getting to play all roles, such as Penn's stereotype-defying stoner in Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, and not just those that fit a newer stereotype, such as "the model minority." TV also needs more diversity on its writing staffs, she says.
Finally! We're not only appearing on TV and film sets as never before, but we're "breaking stereotypes" as well. I'm glad we're seeing more Desis stepping out of racially labeled boxes by playing genetics professors, mathematicians, doctors, terrorists, and genius prospective medical students who tightly roll up their fists and cry, "Look Dad, I know I'm a model minority medical whiz kid who doesn't even need to study to get into a top tier med school. But for god's sake, I'm a normal kid just like everyone else who needs to get stoned once in a while!" Then everyone will began to realize that not every single Desi in the United States is a doctor, professor, brainy student, and terrorist. The way to beat back racial profiling is to continue racial profiling.
Interestingly, the current poster boy for "ethnic" actors Kal Penn (nee Kalpen Modi), who has played trail blazing roles such as being a Desi stoner in the movie Harold & Kumar, a terrorist on the show 24, and the touchingly conflicted 2-ger in The Namesake, points out:
"Just because I have been fortunate in the past few years doesn't mean that there is a huge sweeping change taking place," he says. "On the contrary it's still very, very difficult for South Asian actors to break in. And that's kind of frustrating. When you read some of the (Indian American publication) articles, people assume that just because I have a movie coming out, it means things have changed."
"I think that if we ignore the fact that it is incredibly difficult for Indian American actors then we grow complacent and we have so much opportunity to change things and encourage our kids to go into the arts," he adds. "But for most South Asian actors, it is still a struggle."
For the follow-up to the original Van Wilder, Penn was contracted to a sequel option by the film's producers. He took this opportunity to make changes in his character.
"My character in the first one was pretty much a sidekick, in some ways a stereotype even, and that bothered me off and on," he says. "You always try and make your character three-dimensional, but sometimes there are things in the script you cannot overcome." [Link]
In fact, in an interview, Modi Penn said that his character Taj in Van Wilder initially disturbed him because he was asked to put on a stereotypical accent. And Penn himself knows that Desi actors are getting typecast on the basis of ethnicity:
Were you hesitant or did it bother you to be asked to do the stereotypical accent?
At first it did. I didn't get the full script - all I had was 3 or 4 pages for the audition scenes - and on top of it it said the character's name and a little blurb about the character and his scenes. I saw his name was Taj Mahal and that he had an Indian accent and I was like, "That's it. I'm sorry, I'm not going to audition for this." I called my agent and she said, "I think you might actually be surprised with the nature of the character if you read the script." I didn't want to jump to conclusions about that so I read the script. The thing that struck me the most was that he's a character who turns out to be Van's best friend and his assistant, and he advances the plot of the film. His whole reason is that he wants to get laid which was, to me, a lot different than a lot of the two or three line parts that are unfortunately out there for Indian actors - the 2 lines at the 7/11 where it's just about degrading the guy behind the counter. I saw a huge difference between that and "Van Wilder," just because of the nature of the character.I asked the writers what their motivation was for making this guy Indian, why didn't they make him anything else? Surprisingly they also said they knew they wanted him to be an exchange student just to add some flavor to the character but they didn't know he would be Indian; they were toying with the idea of him being British or South American or African or East Asian. They decided Indian because there's never really been an Indian character with more than those couple of lines. I thought that was wonderful.
Do you find it's been more difficult to find roles where your nationality doesn't play a major part?
It's definitely been a challenge. I'd say it's about 50-50. Half of the roles that I go out for are specifically South Asian or ethnic and the other half are pretty open. It's always a challenge because even if the casting director is open to all ethnicities, you'll read for it and they'll send you to the producers and you'll do a good job for the producers but either the producers or the network might not be sure if they want to take a risk. It's kind of a Catch-22 because I wouldn't say that it's outright racism - if they've never had an Indian guy without an accent before then how's that going to do? Are people going to accept it? Are they going to see the movie or are they going to see the show? Is it going to do well with the numbers? That goes with any character regardless of race in terms of specific types for characters.When casting directors see this, they may see you as the Indian guy. How will you resist other stereotypical roles that aren't as sensitive as this?
That's something I'm talking to my manager about right now. I haven't been through this experience before so that's actually something I'm - I don't know if concerned is the right word - but definitely anxious about. I want to use this as a platform to get a role that is ethnic neutral - just a guy in college or wherever I can fit that's based on the content of the role. If I'm offered the 2 line Indian role, I've always said I don't have a problem playing a cab driver or 7/11 owner as long it's not about being the cab driver or the 7/11 owner. If it's about the character, then to me that's important to tell the story. It will be a challenge to see how that evolves [Link]
Penn forgot to leave out that not only does he have no problem playing a cab driver or 7/11 owner, but he'll play a terrorist as well. In any case, I've always thought that to a certain extent, we should hate the game and not the player. Hollywood casting directors are looking for minority tokens that they can scatter around to spice things up a bit, and if they can find a Desi actor/actress who fits the racial bill, then it works. And for a Desi actor/actress who wants a high exposure role, they'll take up the only role available to them- which is a role that more often than not plays on stereotypical notions.
Penn said in another interview that "if we are talking about stereotypes of doctors v/s engineers, cab drivers v/s store owners, these types of films are oddly groundbreaking. Whether you agree with them is almost irrelevant."
Perpetuating stereotypes is "oddly groundbreaking?" You be the judge.
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Great article. Didn't most minorities have to undergo this? From African Americans in Vaudeville "blackface" and Mammy from Gone With the Wind, Latinos with Cheech and Chong and even Speedy Gonzalez, Asian Americans with that one exchange student in Sweet Sixteen, Oddjob in James Bond, and so forth? Nowadays those molds have been broken by actors (partly in thanks to their predecessors) such as Halle Berry, Lucy Liu, Salma Hayek, Penelope Cruz, and so forth whom I'm sure had to play their fill of stereotypes before they could become Bond Girls, Charlie's Angels, and the roles of intelligent, independent women on shows like "Ugly Betty." It's good to see we're moving up, even if it means we have to cringe through these years. Being noticed is the first step in a town like Hollywood.
The notion of an "initiation period" supposes that racism against black Americans, Latin@ Americans, and Asian Americans has stopped. It really hasn't.
Because that's how the world is. i.e. global capitalism / imperialism over centuries.
Vivek:
If you could see me right now, you'd see how stunned I look :) The entire movie, as Dr. Anon points out, operated within the framework of stereotypes- both anti- and pro stereotype.
And furthermore, I get the sense that people- and the movie- see getting stoned as an "American" thing, when it is clearly NOT. Furthermore, the "hyphenated" representation was this: the "Asian" part was over achieving, naturally genius; and the "American" was getting stoned. Put those two together and you get brainy Asian guys who like to light up like their white counterparts (interestingly, the movie somehow portrayed getting stoned as a white thing, when again, it is clearly not true.) These dichotomies- "Asianess" vs "Americaness"- are not only stereotypical, but inaccurate.
Totally agree.
Firefly:
Exactly.
Antahkarana:
Not really. As visions of my college dorm days are fleeting past my eyes, I remember whites getting stoned together, blacks getting stoned together and Persians getting stoned together. Each was to his own. The only cross cultural smoking out I saw on my dorm floor was between three Indian dudes, one Pakistani foreign student, and one American Jew (but that's also because they took a lot of the same classes, and hence fostered a relationship based on math homework and smoking out).
And smoke out sessions off of my floor was more or less the same. Most friendships were formed on the basis of shared ethnicity, and as such, when they lit up, it was with people who were predominantly of your own ethnicity.
Not that I would know. I never partook in these things. I just observed.
To the best of my recollection, Harold & Kumar was written by a Jewish guy.
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Yes, I am correct.
Antahkarana is a pseudonym that I picked that refers to the thread of consciousness between the self and reality (but like most words, there are a variety of meanings for it...I just like that one). It's also a form of healing. And I liked that.
Also, my guilty pleasures are Super Troopers and Harold and Kumar despite all the misogyny, homophobia, and unrealistic drug use. I often wondered if the creators of those movies were so offended by being referred to as members of a model minority that they deliberately sought to prove we're just as frequently and incompetently stoned as the next race. I don't understand drug culture at all, but from my experience as a stereotypical good little Indian girl, I've noticed it's the great bridge between cultural divides and natural enemies. Light up together, and you're friends forever. Study, and you'll have no buddies. Really, I don't know what they wanted to prove, but I loved 'em.
I agree, there is lot of hype about Indian economic progress, but India has indeed progressed. Just take the example of Mobile telephony services in India, the way it turned out is phenomenal. I think India skipped/missed Internet revolution, but it is using Mobile/wireless communications rather well, better than any western country. It is empowering small traders like vegetable vendors, fishermen...
Or take the example of 33% women's reservation in technical education, village level councils. Its not as effective as it was intended to be, but I've seen parents sending their daughters to colleges, who would otherwise get them married. Same with 33% reservation in village councils, which is bound to throw up some new generation of women politicians/leaders. I feel Indian Government/politicians got it right and deserve praise for this.
Liked the post you linked, you are right about "unrestrained capitalism", but I don't think India is doing that, there are enough check and balances (Trade unions, Courts or so called vote bank politics). I feel India is following its own version of capitalism
Antahkarana
This makes it sound like hazing, or initiation- in order to join the club, you have to get roughed up. Why would people have to go through degrading representations to get noticed in the first place?
I vehemently disagree. This sounds way too complacent and "just grit your teeth and bear it, that's how society/industry/life is." It's like people who put up with racism saying, "Oh well, it happens, we're minorities in this country, we should just ignore it."
mebbe I watch it again before I say anything more about it.
But I still stand by Super Troopers.
ok, yes. the convenience store scene pissed me off as well. they could just leave.
Are you kidding? The whole point was that they were portrayed as the anti-stereotype. But it still worked in the same framework, what with the medical family and the conversations about race with the Black people in jail (whom they left there, I might add), and the effeminite/impotent East Asian man and the working class White people and ALL of that.
Granted, it was a stoner movie, but it was about as loaded as a stoner movie can get. I preferred Dude Where's My Car for the rampant homoeroticism.
Also, Antahkarana:
What does your name mean?
True. Now you've made me feel ashamed again. I'm a feminist and I get so angry when people say that about women, so I suppose the Indian side of me needs to fall in line with that. I can't stand it when women catapult from starlet to stardom by showing skin and acting simple, dependent, and readily available in unrealistic ways so I shouldn't have that attitude towards minority treatment.
However, in this case...maybe because I was a child actress for 10 years in my community, I can't help but feel that way. I've played a Bronx prostitute, Duke Senior from "As You Like It", and the soul singing Evillene from "The Wiz". An entirely wide range of characters, if you're not familiar with any of them, and I was only allowed to get away with it because no one expects a bang up job from free community theater. Real acting, from my experience, is stretching the limits of your personality and background to such an extent that you can play your opposite, nuances and facial tics included.
But contemporary acting, from many of the auditions I was turned down from, is more than the ability to convince with emotion. You have to look like what your audience expects a person you play will act like. A fancy hat and cape couldn't hide the fact that I am an Indian girl, not Duke Senior exiled in the woods. A lot of people are put off and confused by that and personally, I feel like it reveals a lot of inner stereotypes, ignorance, and prejudice that belonged to a lot of the audiences I performed in front of. Nowadays, you're selling yourself, not your talent. You have to look like you can play one role competently instead of a variety of roles. I don't agree with it, I don't like it, and I also hope it changes someday, but every actor, minority or not, has had to deal with the fact that simply looking as they do (black, white, brown, female, male, transgendered) comes before being able to act.
Great post. That article definitely made me roll my eyes.
One of the things I remember liking about Harold and Kumar was the fact that the two main characters' ethnic identity wasn't central to the story line. Certainly it played a role in some side threads, but in the end the characters were hyphenated Americans, and the hyphens didn't at any point take over the story.
Don't get me wrong, the hyphens were always there in the background - model minority investment banker and legacy doctor, etc., but I think it was possible to walk away from it with the feeling that one had seen a ridiculous movie about two privileged American stoners (and the requisite summer movie dose of homophobia and misogyny which made me hate myself for liking it so much). This was something I can't remember having seen before - except in the brilliant comedy, Super Troopers (I hope brownfrown will jump in and get my back before kettikili rips me apart).
Correct me if I'm wrong: I only saw Harold & Kumar once, and "we've gone too far" line and the stoned cheetah probably fogged my critical lens.
Antahkarana (#6):
And that's the problem - but it's not just Indians, I don't think (or brownz, though I think all of the actors in questions are of Indian descent - am I wrong?). I don't see many minority figures on TV who aren't there for the exclusive purpose of constantly performing their identity (sorry Antahkarana, you must be tired of me saying that). So the black woman is there to be black and do what black people (but more particularly black women) do. The gay guy is there to perform gayness. The Indian guy is there to perform Indianness, etc. etc., and each of these performances conforms to some ridiculous stereotype.
So I don't think it's really fair to set South Asians aside as a minority group that's less represented than other minority groups but is on its way up... the point is that while there may be more opportunities for other ethnicities, almost all of the roles SUCK.
Anyone have anything to say about stand-up comedy? (nudge nudge, wink wink)
That's what I saw, except instead of the one American Jew, it's the entire Hellenic Society, the Pakistani Pride club, and five Indian guys. Also you get the one Indian girl with all the Jewish boys and the Jamaicans and Asians lighting up together where I'm from.
I'm so confused.
You know what I find really strange, though, is that drinking and drugs have been looked down on by Indians--Gujarati's anyway (in my experience). My family always considered it an American thing, and if they ever saw Indian people doing any of those things...they were always shocked, disgusted, and shamed. Until now, anyway, when the jaded reality took over and more and more Indians moved into our town and kept coming over to my house for free psychotherapy from my parents. I guess I'm happy we proved that Asian and American drug culture aren't exclusive?
I remain American Born, Confused on this entire matter, and...mysteriously...Desi.
I think Indians/Desis/Browns are getting noticed in mainstream western media because of the progress made by India as a country. I see a direct correlation between we getting noticed and how Indian economy does. Now Bollywood, yoga... are cool and hip.
IndianoGuy:
Care to expand a bit?