If Asian women are considered so desirable why no Top Movie Stars?

Ziyi Zhang, Takako Matsu and Yunjin Kim might not have a huge filmography but they are extremely hot and talented. Why aren’t they more popular though? Great Question.. I have no idea.

Ditto! I have no idea either. One of my daughter in laws is Chinese, smart as a whip, attractive. So, my grandson is considered Eurasian. They live in the DC area, a more cosmopolitan place, and as a New Yorker, I’m not aware of prejudice. Could that be why though? If not that, what?

Well, Lucy Liu is American, and Sandra Oh is Canadian.

There are plenty of Asian and Indian film actresses who simply don’t work in Hollywood. There are more Indian movies produced annually than American, and I suspect that the gross from Bollywood movies may rival or exceed Hollywood’s. (The figures aren’t public, so it’s hard to know.)

It’s almost a given that the nets are higher in Bollywood. They don’t waste nearly as much money as Hollywood.

If you’re asking why those actresses aren’t recruited by Hollywood producers more than they are, then that’s a question for the producers. I suspect that it’s a function of risk: producers don’t want to risk the huge investments they make in movies on “uncertain” stars, so they go with what they know.

Statistically, there are more non-Asians than Asians in the acting business. I think what you see is just a reflection of the ratio. BTW, Asians are considered to be “smarter” in general, so I doubt they’ll end up in the “acting” business because I think most of them would pursue academic careers instead.

That’s just a personal opinion, but I think it provides some possible reasons…

Because everything we see and hear about here in the media is all about Hollywood and the predominantly white actresses from Tinseltown. Go to Asia, and most of the people there probably don’t even know or care who Scarlett Johansson or Uma Thurman is.

There are actually many beautiful and sexy East Asian actresses who aren’t household names here in America. The ones we do hear and are familiar with on our television and movie screens, and who star in Hollywood films, wouldn’t be considered real “beauties” in Asia at all! If you ever go to Chinatown or some other East Asian community like Japan Town, you will see the real beauties in “star magazines” there. They’re so gorgeous they’ll make your (mouth) water. :3

I can see myself having trouble remembering and spelling the names that @digitalimpression mentioned. Maybe if I was Asian, that would be a different story.

Why do I bring this up? Well, I think it might have something to do with it… as I am sure I’m not the only one with this memory problem.

The names you mentioned.. “Lucy”... “Sandra”... those sound more English. A native English speaker may find a person with one of those names easier to relate to. Maybe it’s as simple as that.

PS: I like the actress who played Cho in the Harry Potter movies. She’s pretty good. I know that she is Scottish, but still.. she has ties to Hong Kong.

I personally like black women and white women, despite having a child with an Asian but there are tons of Asian women in movies. Asian cinema is huge as is Bollywood.

There is at least one well know Asian porn star making films in the US. Christine Nguyen. THe name is clearly of Vietnamese origin; I know nothing of her background or where she was born.

@MRSHINYSHOES My daughter in law is beautiful. I’ll have to look at my son’s mouth when he looks at her, to see if water is dripping from it. : )

The Asian fetish amongst white men in the U.S. happens to be predicated on the idea of a docile, submissive woman, a concubine that will devote herself to her man. That type of woman does not make for a starring role in US movies. The psycho-sexual fantasy doesn’t match up with the Hollywood fantasy.

@zenvelo Wow! That’s a strong pre-judgement. My daughter in law is a well educated, strong and beautiful woman. If I were to prejudge, from those I’ve met, I would say that education is very important to people of Asian descent as the ones I know are all highly educated and knowledgeable.

@zenvelo I agree. That wouldn’t make for a very popular movie role, especially here! Lol.

I love the old movies of Ozu. The women in them were always beautiful, reserved, and faithful, yet strong in their own way. That’s the mystique of East Asian women.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVvTvABHE_g

Who says they’re that desirable? To each his own.

Err, yeah… as judgemental as @zenvelo‘s answer may seem, that assumption appears to be true amongst guys I’ve talked to… they really do seem to feel that Asian women are submissive, delicate, feminine, and will give their men whatever they want. That being said, it is also true that it is not fair to judge someone based on stereotypes.

There are, we just don’t know who they are because they’re not as well known as Lucy Liu.

Grace Park
Michelle Yeoh
Gong Li
Brenda Song
Kelly Hu

I have heard the theory recently that the best movie roles go to white men, and that they are typically cast against white female leads.

There are a few breakout stars who are African American who are considered by Hollywood as able to carry a movie. If one of these African American men is cast, they often will fire any white female lead who they had intended to cast, and then cast a woman of Asian, African American, or Spanish decent, under the theory that white audiences are subconsciously uncomfortable with a black male/white female pair, although they will never admit it.

So, to get back to the original question, the studios are making conscious decisions on who to cast. If and only if the male main character is non-white, do female non-whites have a probability of getting the role. And then female non-whites of all genetic backgrounds are all competing for those rare few roles, leaving only a tiny pool of famous consistently working Asian women.

“Why aren’t Asian women represented more diversely in American/European film?”

Because they’re not American/European. Hollywood is a business. Business thrives on knowing their customer base.

Bollywood is a business too. And it thrives on promoting Eastern/Indian look. That’s their audience.

@comity That is not my belief. I am describing why so many white men seek out an Asian girlfriend with the idea she will be the ideal mate. In parts of California, it is a fetish, so men can show off their Asian GF to each other.

Because of considering Asian women that way, the lead roles aren’t written for them.

Basically what @zenvelo said (@comity – obviously, Asian women aren’t actually like them, but we’re talking about how the white American male views them, especially in a fetishized role). And they are they Exotic Other, that’s what fetishization is, so if we put them in all these lead roles, they stop being the Exotic Other and start being normal. And as an Exotic Other, Asian women are supposed to be quiet, docile, submissive, and then insatiable and freaky in the sack – those are really bad qualities to have in a leading role, because leading roles tend to involve quite a bit of dialogue, quite a bit of action and assertiveness (especially as an empowered leading role, not many Disney princesses where they are technically the protagonist but are not the leading role or the hero), and in big blockbuster movies that will actually make it a potent leading role for civil rights, PG-13 or R rated at most. Asian women aren’t considered to be desirable as themselves in whatever form that takes, but rather as an accessory for white, rich men to show off and parade around. It’s almost like Hollywood is kinda racist…

Grace Park is quite lovely, and one of my favorites on Battlestar Galactica.

I don’t know why here in America people frown upon docility, reserve, delicateness, femininity, and quietness. In most parts of Asia, these qualities are considered a big plus, not a negative. To equate these qualities with weakness and being treated “unfairly” is very erroneous. In Asia, to be loud, individualistic, and independent is extremely unattractive, as people who exhibit these characteristics are seen as overbearing and selfish, and ugly.

And I agree with @Male, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. We are so innundated with images of white actresses from Hollywood, that even some Asian girls grow up thinking there is something wrong with them because they don’t conform to this “ideal”. But the Asian ideal of beauty is quite different from the Western concept of beauty, particularly for women. Most East Asians value delicateness, grace, femininity, docility, even submissiveness. They don’t see it in the same “negative light” as many paranoid North Americans do. But like @Male said, to each his own. Personally, I think it’s a pity not to appreciate the stereotype of East Asian women, because I think it’s one of their biggest strengths, not a weakness. A lot of Asians would agree. It’s only here in the West do people make it into a bad thing.

@MRSHINYSHOES There is nothing necessarily wrong with being docile, reserved, delicate, feminine, or quiet. There is something wrong with judging someone based on a stereotype. I hope that makes sense. :)

What @zenvelo said makes sense, because I suspect the reason why many people here object to the stereotype is because they feel threatened by it. I’m not saying that pridefully, but only because there may be a shred of truth in that, especially when so many white men seek out Asian women as their girlfriends, wives, etc. Many talk shows have done episodes on this subject.

Yes, @AnonymousGirl , what you said makes sense, and I agree too. But it’s almost always people in the West, especially here in America, who make a negative judgment based on the stereotype in question, when all I’m saying is that the stereotype in itself is not viewed as “bad” or “destructive” among most East Asians. Again, to each his own.

I’ve said enough on the subject and made my point. Time to move on and unfollow. :)

If a person identifies with the stereotype, it’s different… and understandable. It’s just safer to not judge someone by a stereotype automatically, though.

I am from Canada and I am a quiet woman myself. I can be quite submissive and I’ve been told I’m too submissive in the past. I am also quite reserved and have been told I am delicate. I’d like to be more feminine.

I see nothing wrong with an Asian or any other woman, for that matter, being the way that you’ve described… as long as she doesn’t end up being with someone who abuses that and takes advantage of those qualities.

I feel like the way I am is not that accepted where I live.. at least not by people whose voices seem to matter to others the most. I’ve met people who seem to feel that I must be shy just because I’m quiet and they also seem to like treating me like I lack confidence. Unfortunately, they may be right… but it can be quite hard for me as I end up acting the way people treat me… so, if they treat me like I’m stupid, I feel stupid… if they treat me like I’m shy, I pull away and act and even feel shy…

Where I live, in order to be respected, it seems that women must be assertive,.. must stand up for themselves, and… must be willing compete with men.

It feels totally backwards to me and goes against everything I feel… in person. It makes me feel lost and uncertain quite a bit, even when I’m in relationships.

I may seem brave and well-spoken online, but I’m different for the most part in person.

Maybe I should check out Asian movies. ;)

And… maybe, just maybe, I am contradicting myself somewhere in this post.

Feelings can be contradicting, though…

A part of one may feel one way, but another part of that same one might feel something else.

May not be top movie star, but she’s leagues ahead of them all in looks! AISHWARYA RAI. Just my opinion!

@zenvelo Got it! But, don’t quite understand why some pre judge people that think differently or look differently from them, people that they don’t really know or have never met. Maybe that’s why they’re not in movies, as was said more eloguently than I, as the movie won’t be a hard sell to people that think like that.
All – It’s interesting that in the DC area, there’s many a couple I met who intermarried, that are of Jewish and Chinese background. I wonder whether one of the comonalities they have is an understanding of sometimes being treated as “different”, a minority.

The perception @zenvelo describes is alive and well in Australia also. There are so many older caucasian appearing men with young asian wives. I assume they are mail order, the young women trying to get into the country any way they can and the old dudes looking for a docile young thing.

I have known several of these couples and the old men are often disappointed because the young woman is not a docile delicate little thing but an ordinary, modern young female with her own mind and opinions. And good for her I say. I would like to eliminate the stereotype that females, in order to be desirable and feminine, must be reserved, quiet and have delicateness, grace, femininity, docility, even submissiveness. I recently heard a 40ish divorced male say that western women have sacrificed their femininity for liberation but eastern females have not. Jeez it gives me a pain that men still think of a women as a well trained dog (but with benefits).

But to answer the question, I think there are many strikingly gorgeous asian women but yep their names are too difficult to pronounce and they are not sure bets like Angelina so they get ignored.