The topic of Asians in the media came up at dinner last night, after a group of us watched The Incredible Mr. Fox (entertaining film). I asked who in the group was watching "Glee" and one person mentioned he gave up on the show, disgusted with how the Asian characters were always in the background. For a show supposedly written with minority characters in mind (Gay, ethnic and disabled to name a few), the Asian characters are relegated to pretty much wallpaper. So with a few exceptions like John Cho in Fast Forward, Kunal Nayyar in Big Bang Theory and Sandra Oh in Greys Anatomy, Asians are still a tiny blip on the TV landscape.
That is why I took notice when Verizon released their new Droid ad lampooning a certain phone for being "tiara-wearing, digitally-clueless beauty pageant queen". It's a not so subtle stab at Apple's dominant iphone, and one picture stood out for me. There's a shot of three people gazing a the "queen" phone, a likely copy of a famous photo of the iphone, and there happens to be an Asian guy in the mix. Hmmmm, you have a woman, a feminine looking white guy with longish hair, and a nerdy looking Asian guy. What's the message Verizon??? And please don't tell me it was a fluke that they hired an Asian model for this commercial.
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