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'To All the Boys I've Loved Before' Movie Thread
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Wow, tbqh I'm appalled and disgusted that they would cast a non mixed-race person in a role for a character who is mixed-race and whose identity is part of the story. Hollywood fails again. Also, as someone who would be considered "biracial" I absolutely hate this word. I understand that some people identify with it and of course it's important to respect people's self-identification, however I really hate it when people treat "biracial" as a harmless, neutral term. Similarly, I really can't stand it when people say to me oh, you're half Chinese or half Asian. As a mixed friend says, I'm not a fraction or a percentage, I'm a beautiful whole.
All of these terms feel objectifying and tokenizing to me, with the focus on the percentage or fraction of "mixed-ness" that someone is---and often I find that the term "biracial" is applied non-consensually to people without regard to how they themselves identify. Also, the term "biracial" is often used to refer to people who are mixed with white, but I rarely see it used to refer to people who are say mixed Chinese-Japanese or Chinese-Vietnamese, etc. To me, it really simplifies a lot of racial and ethnic identify down and ultimately is dehumanizing. As a mixed-race person, people often ask me invasive and overly personal questions literally upon first meeting me bc they need to "figure me out" i.e. they feel uncomfortable not knowing my exact ethnic makeup and which parent is what ethnicity. The term also makes me of very insidious practices in the U.S. like blood quantums used to disenfranchise Native Americans, and the one-drop rule used to disenfranchise and oppress Black Americans, as well as dehumanizing terms like "quadroon" or "octaroon".
I think it's important to also question the idea of a "monoracial" ethnic identity. Like what does that even mean? In China for example, there are I believe 54 officially recognized ethnic minority groups. On my mom's side I don't know for sure that we're "100%" Han Chinese. How can we really know? And how much of current racial identity is connected with nationality / nationalism? And then on my dad's side, I'm already very much mixed: Irish, Welsh, German, and probably other things too--but if I were just white like my dad, I wouldn't be considered mixed and what's that about. I just think it's important to question ideas of how racial identity is construed and constructed and how this can have unintended consequences like promoting false and harmful ideas of racial "purity". And to question what gets lost or who benefits from these terms? At a certain point, when hearing these terms and being asked invasive questions from random strangers, I feel like people are discussing me as if I'm an animal that's been bred, rather than a human being.
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We're seeing more actors from minority backgrounds getting cast in bigger budget projects, so hopefully, more specific and authentic casting isn't too far behind. One positive thing I can take away from the casting, though, is that the movie will probably lead more people to read Jenny Han's book, which I assume has a more accurate representation of an American mixed-race teenager.
Also, I want to apologize for using the term "biracial" in my previous post. I obviously didn't mean to offend you or anyone else, but the harm is done. I used the term because I've seen reviews and bloggers use it to describe Lara Jean, and some of these writers were of mixed-race backgrounds. As you said, some people do identify as being biracial, but as a "non-mixed" person, I should have been more thoughtful of the connotations attached to the word. You bring up a lot of great points on how we should discuss and reframe racial identity, and I'm sure that discussion will continue to grow amongst our book club members.
Thank you again for sharing your thoughts. I'm always grateful when people take the time to write long, articulate comments on their experiences.
yiming wrote: "Wow, tbqh I'm appalled and disgusted that they would cast a non mixed-race person in a role for a character who is mixed-race and whose identity is part of the story. Hollywood fails again. Also,..."
I’m torn on this issue. This movie is the first of its kind, a mainstream rom-com centered around an Asian-American teen. Like with many other things that are first of its kind, we understandably expect it to be perfect— we hope it’s everything we ever wanted and were deprived of in past movies/media. I think that’s a lot of unfair pressure to put on a piece of art/media that’s trying something new. But at the same time, I totally understand your “high” expectations (it’s really not high, but it is above what Hollywood is willing to give at this point), and thus I understand your disappointment. Personally, I loved the book so it’s very easy for me just blindly love and accept the movie adaptation. So I thank you for adding your opinion and experience to give me a more critical perspective of the movie. I can’t stress enough how much your comment opened my eyes to a new perspective on this movie.
So… I am torn, but I think at the end of the day, I am going to buy a ticket to this movie. As they say, the audience speaks with their dollars. The more tickets they sell, the more likely Hollywood is encouraged to make more movies like it. TBH if this movie tanks, I don’t think mainstream Hollywood execs will think “It did poorly because we had a bad cast, director, or script.” They’re more likely to think “We were right. People don’t want to see a movies about a minority characters. This movie was a mistake”. So I want this movie, the first of its kind, to be a success so that it can pave the way for more and *better* adaptations. I hope it paves the way for movies to do casting right, to have better nuance, and to ultimately fulfill all the expectations and hopes we have for Asian American film. I don’t think a single movie can fulfill that, but a large collection of them certainly can. I hope this movie can be one of many in that large collection, so one day there’ll be at least one movie that each person in this group can relate to and wholeheartedly get behind.
*edited: completely edited my comment, once I realized how mistaken I was about the main actor's ethnicity.*Thanks for your reply Reera. Thanks for acknowledging how the term biracial impacts me and for taking in my thoughts about identity.
So I realized that I was getting super upset and I made an assumption about the actor's race based on her name, which is obviously ignorant. I assumed that the actor was white based on her name and then once I actually read the article, quickly realized that she is Vietnamese and was adopted. That informed a lot of my feelings and honestly my anger about this casting.
I'll be honest and upfront and share that I actually had a lot of things that I hated about the book....a lot of which I saw as the author's own internalized racism and her sympathy for white people and white supremacy.
That said....it still feels super weird that the movie is literally all about a mixed-race girl and yet they didn't cast a mixed-race girl. I don't know. That just makes me really sad.
I don't know if people have seen Andi Mack, the super cheesy Disney show about a pre-teen(?)/teen mixed-race Asian-white girl who is dorky and adorable and learns a secret about her family that turns her world upside down. The story wasn't originally written for a mixed-race character, but they re-wrote the story based on the strength of Peyton Elizabeth Lee's audition. Lilan Bowden, one of the actors in the show, talks about how refreshing it is for her to play someone that's not totally stereotypical or to play the sidekick.
All that said, I originally thought the main actor was white and I was like nope not going to waste my money or time. I'll probably go see it, but it still makes me sad. Like I've had old co-workers say things to me like oh that baby is so cute bc it's mixed, about a picture of a baby that looks "monoracial" Asian. And it's like okay just bc Lana Condor has a "white" last name doesn't mean she's mixed-race. Like I get that it's probably hard for her to find fully-fleshed roles, but I just don't get why this couldn't have gone to a mixed-race actor. Like she doesn't even look mixed-race, it's really doesn't make any sense to me.
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Link to Variety article
The full trailer is out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=555oi...
They also have some fun clips that aren't in the trailer on their Instagram: @toalltheboysneflix https://www.instagram.com/toalltheboy...
It comes out less than a month away, and I'm pumped! From what I can see, it looks like they did a good job with it :)
NBC Asian America recently did a nice profile on Lana Condor, the actress who's playing the protagonist Lara Jean. I'm a little surprised that they didn't ask Condor about the backlash of her casting since Lara Jean is described to be biracial and Condor is not, but it's great to see how Jenny Han approves of the cast.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/all-boys-i-ve-loved-lana-condor-rom-com-star-n796961