I’ve long since gotten over the expectation that what I see on my television will be an accurate reflection of what I see in the mirror each morning (and night, or really anytime of day I happen pass a mirror and feel vain). TV is by and large the domain of a bunch of impossibly heroic/dramatic/photogenic cops/doctors/lawyers and the occasional impossibly perceptive writers/mentalists/math geniuses who all dress really well and have uniformly blinding white teeth. After all these years of owning a remote, I’ve come to expect it. Just like, unfortunately, I’ve come to expect that a good 80 to 90 percent of those impossibly heroic/dramatic/photogenic cops/doctors/lawyers and occasional impossibly perceptive writers/mentalists/math geniuses with the impossibly white teeth will be white themselves. Sure, TV gives us a sassy black friend or wise brown coworker or whatever other ancillary character they deem OK to be a less white shade of pale.
So imagine my pleasure this season when a few more faces on my television – not a ton mind you, but an important few – look a little more like me. We have Lucy Liu in the CBS crime drama “Elementary,” Mindy Kaling on the FOX sitcom “The Mindy Project,” Suzy Nakamura in the “NBC comedy “Go On” and Jamie Chung on the returning ABC fable “Once Upon a Time” have all offered up major new female characters of East Asian or South Asian descent. Sure, a handful of characters may not seem like a lot. But it’s more than we get most years. Especially considering the number of major broadcast network shows with major female Asian/South Asian characters currently can be counted on only one hand – “Grey’s Anatomy,” “The Good Wife,” “Glee,” “Hawaii Five-O” and “Bones.” I might have missed a few here and there, but not many.
So why am I excited about Lucy, Mindy, Suzy and Jamie? Because as numbed to the status quo as we all become consuming media day in and day out, it’s always nice to be reminded that, yes, Virginia, there are other ethnicities out there. And there is still something unspeakably powerful about seeing someone who looks at least a little more like you on TV. In fact, I remember the very first show I saw that centered around a female Asian character. And I remember being ridiculously excited to watch it. That was back in 1994 when Margaret Cho’s “All American Girl” debuted. The show, it turns out, sucked. But by no fault of Margaret’s. But my thrill at finally seeing someone like myself on TV remained. It mattered then and it matters now.
Of course, this new mini-wave of Asian female characters is but a drop in the bucket when you consider that combined East and South Asian population is close to 3 billion people. That’s a big honking chunk of the world’s overall population of 7 billion folks. But, hey, we’ve got four new female faces on our TV this fall. So, you know, baby steps. Anytime TV looks a little more like all of our collective mirror, it’s something to smile about.
p.s. I totally already ship Mulan and Sleeping Beauty. Bring it, Sleeping Warrior.
