You Will Never Be Western Enough

In recent years, there appears to be a trend of Asians dominating media industries with boundless popularity. Now, more than ever, Asian artists are building names for themselves and finding their audiences in different parts of the world. The media has come a long way in terms of diversity; however, can we say the same for inclusion? Despite the greater visibility Asians have in media— be it film, music, or literature— and their immense displays of pure talent and expression with critical acclaim, there still appears to be a barrier that prevents Asian works from flourishing in the West. As Asians continue to outdo their rivals and even themselves, the recognition and merit for such feats are virtually nonexistent.

Just as it seems that the end goal is in sights for Asian artists, the goalposts abruptly shift, prolonging a never-ending game of catch up in the industry. Award category rules change and eligibility criteria are altered, just enough to keep Asian artists from participating. If they are not barred completely, they are put into boxes labeled “foreign” or relegated to a token that is only allowed to create identity work. And if not othered and kept out, their ideas are stolen from them. This is seen time and time again in areas such as music and film, where no matter the talent, you will never be Western enough.

The global music industry has grown star studded with Asian acts, from the rise of Korean pop music and other subgenres to the creation and growth of Asian groups here in the West. Though the music industry in the East is nothing new, it is only recently that the West has seen its promise, and, by extension, the potential of artists of Asian descent in the West. Despite this, Western, particularly American and British, academies continue to keep their eyes and ears closed. Diaspora artists have been barred from participating in award shows of the countries they live in.

Rina Sawayama, a British Japanese artist who sings primarily in English and has lived in the UK for a majority of her life, had been deemed ineligible for the BRIT music awards and the Mercury Prize for not having a British Passport, despite having permanent UK residence. Even though her debut album has been featured in NME‘s 20 Best Albums of 2020 list with a full five stars upon release, she has not received proper recognition for her work. Sawayama has since campaigned heavily for award shows to change their eligibility rules, finally seeing success in February of 2021 as the BRITs conceded.

When it comes to artists from Asia, the exclusion is more severe. This can be seen glaringly with the way American media has treated the South Korean band BTS with a combination of xenophobia and underrating. BTS has been consistently breaking records, both in South Korea and in the United States: From being named the top recording artist of the world in 2020 by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry to surpassing the Beatles with three of their album releases reaching No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard in a year. Yet, BTS continues to face hurdles such as being relegated to award show categories like “Top Social Artist” in the Billboard Music Awards and “Best K-Pop” in MTV’s Music Video Awards, the latter of which was created in 2019 when K-Pop acts blew up in the Americas. BTS also faced not one, but two Grammy snubs in 2020 for Best Recording Package and 2021 for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, though the band was invited to perform at both award shows. After the initial 2020 snub, BTS released a fully English song, “Dynamite,” in an attempt to overcome possible language barriers; however, this attempt was unsuccessful in terms of aiming for a Grammy award despite the song’s record-breaking success. Furthermore, in the 2021 Grammys, award categories that featured primarily nominees of color were moved off the main show broadcast. Other popular K-Pop groups, such as BlackPink and Monsta X have faced similar treatment. These artists are offered entry into award shows as performers but not given a seat at the table as participants. Often, they are used for diversity points and program viewership brought by their respective fanbases, but they are rarely awarded or viewed as equals.

In the film industry, a similar pattern can be seen. Asian films are often sidelined into “foreign” categories or have their ideas taken from them as American remakes. Bong Joon-Ho’s 2019 film “Parasite” made history by being nominated for six Oscars, winning Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best International Feature Film, while none of the film’s actors received nominations. Upon seeing the success of the film, American directors have set out to adapt the film into an HBO series, but starring white actors. Other works, such as Yeon Sang-ho’s “Train to Busan,” Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata’s “Death Note” and Satoshi Kon's “Perfect Blue,” among others, have all faced such whitewashing.

In America, works by Asian Americans that center Asians are rare, where those that do get made are often held back for not catering to white audiences. Isaac Lee Chung’s 2020 film, “Minari,” is an autobiographical film on the director’s immigrant boyhood in rural Arkansas and centers around the American Dream. It features an American ideal, set in America with a predominantly American cast by an American director— but the primary language spoken in the film is Korean. Despite being all-American, “Minari” was disqualified for Best Picture and relegated to Best Foreign Language Film at the Golden Globes.

According to a statement by Chung, “‘Minari’ was only eligible for the best foreign language film category due to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) rules on language, so the film was submitted to meet these rules; there was no choice involved in the matter.” According to the HFPA website, rules on language state that "any film with at least 50% of non-English dialogue goes into the foreign language category" and eligibility rules for other awards state that: “Foreign Language award also qualify for awards in all other motion picture categories except Best Motion Picture- Drama and Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, which are exclusively for English language motion pictures.” However, these rules did not impede Quentin Tarantino’s 2010 film, “Inglourious Basterds,” which was primarily in French and German with English only making up 30% of the dialogue. Lulu Wang’s “The Farewell,” an American film that is primarily in Mandarin with an all Asian cast, faced the same issue in the 2020's Golden Globes Awards.

The West appears to not only have an issue with Asian languages but with seeing Asian faces as well. Asian American led films that feature Asians often have to fight for the right to keep Asians at the center.

The West appears to not only have an issue with Asian languages but with seeing Asian faces as well. Asian American led films that feature Asians often have to fight for the right to keep Asians at the center. During the production of “The Farewell,” producers had asked to give the protagonist, Billi, a white boyfriend to “make the film feel more ‘American’ and be a ‘Hollywood film,’” as stated by Wang in a tweet. When adapting Jenny Han’s “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” and Kevin Kwan’s “Crazy Rich Asians,” the Asian American protagonists were pitched by Hollywood producers to be re-written as white women. In a personal essay for The New York Times, Han wrote: "I ended up deciding to work with the only production company that agreed the main character would be played by an Asian actress. No one else was willing to do it." Similarly, Kwan addressed the whitewashing attempts, stating, “They wanted to change the heroine into a white girl. I was like, ‘Well, you’ve missed the point completely.’ I said, ‘No, thank you.’”

Arbitrary rules and the demand to cater to Western, specifically white, audiences are major obstacles faced by Asians in the industry. However, when looking at the success of music and film in Asian countries, the question arises:

Do we need the West to acknowledge us?

When the only time Asians are included is when they fight tooth and nail for the opportunity or if they’re only brought in for clout, it is safe to say the answer is no. Asia does not need the West’s approval to exist. Asian talent and success is not a vie for the West’s approval but proof that there is more to media industries than what the West puts out and a statement that demands long overdue respect. For Asian Americans, their work as perpetual foreigners in their own home is extremely important for representation and shows that no matter how much they are pushed into and hidden in the margins, they are still here as the intersection of the East and the West.