The best part of The Meg?
No, it wasn't the shark or Jason Statham or the special effects and action sequences (though all of that was fun and good). It was Li Bingbing's character, Suyin. God, it was refreshing to see an Asian actress playing the female lead in a Hollywood summer blockbuster who wasn’t the sexy Kung Fu sidekick or the war bride "damsel in distress" or the cold, calculating Dragon Lady bitch.
Last night reminded me that there’s something profoundly excitinghappening in media, entertainment and pop culture right now (#MeToo, diversity, inclusion). Something that’s been brewing for quite some time and finally bubbling up in mainstream American cinema, TV, digital content, publishing, social media, marketing, music and sports.
Growing up, my only Asian/Asian American cultural reference points were minor characters that played to tired stereotypes (read: Long Duk Dong in Sixteen Candles, the Me-Love-You-Long-Time Da Nang hooker in Full Metal Jacket and even Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid - I love you, Mr. Miyagi, but I swear if I ever have to hear another wax on-wax off reference I’m seriously gonna lose my shit).
Thankfully, today we have John Cho, Ali Wong, Ken Jeong, Awkwafina, Mindy Kaling, Randall Park, Constance Wu, Eddie Huang, Bobby Lee, Dev Patel, Kelly Marie Tran, Daniel Wu, Elodie Yung, Priyanka Chopra, Li Bingbing (and the list is growing!) starring in Fresh Off the Boat, Ocean’s 8, Star Trek, Quantico, The Mindy Project, Into the Badlands, Daredevil, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Lion, Baby Cobra, Hard Knock Wife, Love, and yes, The Meg (and many others!).
And what’s opening this weekend? CRAZY RICH ASIANS!!!!
