Pause for a second. Name the first Asian celebrity that comes to mind.

Who was it? Let me guess… Jackie Chan?

I’m going to assume that I’m correct for over 50% of you. Why was I able to predict this? (Not just because of the large picture of him to the left)

Simply put, there aren’t enough Asian stars to choose from, and I didn’t even limit you to movie stars. Sure you could have mentioned Yao Ming or Ichiro, but what influence (unrelated to fantasy sports) have they had on you? Jackie Chan has been relatively prolific, with his achievements including the Rush Hour series and recent ventures into animation. Few others have seen his success or recognition.

The fact of the matter is that we, Asian Americans (AA’s) need more stars, but we’re cutting them down before they can make it near the top. We do this through our hypersensitivity, let me explain.

As AA’s, we are outraged when we are not selected for major roles in movies that we think we deserve. There was a public outcry following the release of the movie 21, which portrayed the drama underlying the famed MIT Blackjack team. In reality, this team was comprised mainly of bright Asian American students, who combined their talent and wits to earn boatloads of cash. It was important for them to be of Asian or ethnic background to fulfill their appearance as rich children of technology moguls.

Instead of keeping consistent to a team filled with AA’s, Hollywood decided to fill the cast with white actors, throwing in a token Asian male with a decidedly one-dimensional role. Suffice it to say, many prominent AA leaders were not pleased, some even went so far to say that the exclusion of AA cast members was unconstitutional.

This displays a sort of hypocrisy that occurs in our community. The outrage over the lack of AA actors is only matched by the outrage over AA actors in “degrading” roles. When Better Luck Tomorrow displayed the violence and lawlessness of AA teenagers, the traditional community was up in arms. They believed that the movie portrayed our youth too negatively and wanted to ban the movie to save face.

The problem is that in order to gain presence on film, AA’s need to take on these multidimensional, albeit offensive roles. In order to be granted the leading role in a film, AA’s need to break stereotypes. Progress cannot be had all at once. This could come from a psychotic gay crime lord (Ken Jeong, The Hangover) or an overzealous pothead (John Cho, Harold & Kumar). AA’s have been furious over these characters, deeming that they detract from Asian values.

But we need to relax and stop putting the weight of our people on their backs. After all, do you want to be known only as a bunch of Jackie Chan’s for the rest of your life?