Anna May Wong
One of the first movies featuring an Asian character was “The Toll of the Sea” in 1922. This movie featured the Chinese actress Anna May Wong. Anna May Wong began acting when she was 14 and became a very well known icon for portrayal of the character “Lotus Flower” in “The Toll of the Sea”. Before her debut, Wong grew up in Los Angeles and went to school with other Asian kids. She never felt uncomfortable or had difficulty fitting in. She was bilingual and knew both Cantonese and English.
Wong had always been interested in the film industry. She was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to work on a set when a movie was being shot on one of the streets near her house. From then on, she begged producers and directors to give her a chance. Eventually, she was given a role and changed to her English name “Anna”. Wong had enjoyed being on screen, but decided to leave the film industry because she was repeatedly typecast for lead Asian roles in films. Another reason she decided to leave Hollywood was because of the constant discrimination she dealt with.
After Wong left Hollywood, the appearance of Asians became more constant in tv shows and films. However, although this was a huge turning point for Asian actors, many Asian actors were still not given the same kind of roles as white actors. For example, Asian men were playing roles that were “drug addicts with a likening for prostitution and gambling.” Some also played roles that were seen as undesirable which became a comedic way of describing them in shows and movies.
On the other hand, Asian women were being portrayed as hyper sexualized and inanimate objects for white men’s pleasure. Often in pop culture, Asian women are also portrayed as “incompetent and fragile foreigners, exotic femme fatales, and subservient “mail-order” wives." Because of this, people generalize Asian American women and create racist and misogynistic opinions on them. This leads to violence towards Asian American women. The misinterpretation of female Asian characters on screen heavily influences how Asian women were and are still being treated today.