Last Christmas: A Massive Win for Asian Representation In Hollywood
Image courtesy of Polygon
By PANKHURI DAYAL ‘22
Over the years, offensive stereotypes and a lack of Asian representation have famously plagued Hollywood. Typically, Asian women have been demeaned into fetishized temptress roles such as the controversial Nagini in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald or the devious Mongolian slave in The Thief of Baghdad. Asian men have suffered a similar fate, often playing nerdy, desexualised characters that speak in broken English and end up as the butt of all jokes such as Long Duk Dong in Sixteen Candles and Mr. Yunioshi in Breakfast At Tiffany’s.
In recent years, Hollywood movies like Always Be My Maybe and Crazy Rich Asians have been breaking the ‘bamboo ceiling’ and changing these stereotypes; the latest of these movies was Last Christmas. The movie follows Kate, an elf working at a year-round Christmas shop in London owned by a female Santa played by Malaysian actress, Michelle Yeoh. Kate's life, a series of disasters, changes when she meets the handsome and charming Tom, who is played by Malaysian-British actor Henry Golding. Tom aids her journey to become a better and happier person and pursue her true passion: singing. Singer-songwriter George Michael’s songs make up the soundtrack, with “Last Christmas” being the titular song.
The leading Asian characters in Last Christmas, Santa and Tom, are fully fleshed out and positively represent Asians. Santa, a Chinese immigrant, wears the traditional dress, Cheongsam, in order to avoid, as Michelle Yeoh puts it in an interview with Go Movies, “forget[ting] her own culture and ethnicity.” Since no one is able to pronounce her Chinese name, Santa chooses her own name and was “determined to be successful and do whatever it takes” to become a successful shop owner. Santa’s nurturing and compassionate side balances out her stern and business-minded attitude, which positively influences Kate. After plenty of chances and encouragement for Kate to better herself, Santa reprimands the self-absorbed and disastrous elf, a well-intended action that serves as a wake-up call and emotional turning point for Kate. According to Vogue, Director Paul Feig describes Santa, a loving but pragmatic character, as "funny" and "elegant," a far cry from previous, rather unflattering portrayals of Asian women in Hollywood.
Similarly, Feig frames Tom as the perfect guy: he dances on sidewalks, doesn’t care about social media, volunteers at a homeless shelter and has an impeccable apartment. He also doesn’t fall into any of the major Hollywood Asian character types: tech nerd, doctor, mysterious mastermind, or menial worker. As if this depiction isn’t already a massive win for changing Asian stereotypes, his love interest being a white woman adds another dimension to this victory. Historically, Hollywood has taken issue with non-white relationships, even going so far as to include an anti-miscegenation clause in its Production Code from 1934 to the late 1940s, banning the depiction of inter-racial love on screen. So, if Asian men in Hollywood even had love interests, they were Asian women. However, Tom’s story helps change the narrative that Asian men are unattractive to Western audiences and cannot be romantic leads.
While Last Christmas may not be Rotten Tomatoes’ favorite movie, it certainly demonstrates a shift in Hollywood’s attitude towards Asian actors and stories. With Asians making up over half of the world’s population, let’s hope that Asians can continue to see themselves represented in Hollywood without being caged into insulting stereotypes.