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May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage month and one easy (and socially distanced) way to celebrate is to watch movies and other types of content like shows, documentaries, cartoons, and music videos featuring or created by AAPI folks. Thanks to both globalization and increased industry representation, there are now so many more choices than there used to be.
Why it's important to recognize AAPI Heritage Month with movies
Whether it’s learning about AAPI history or just allowing people of AAPI descent to be human and exist, movies are key in shaping our ideas and understanding about culture and people. The more we see AAPI folks on screen being human doing regular human things, the more AAPI folks will be considered normal and human. (What an indictment of culture that people of color are still not particularly portrayed as people.)
“We generally like to watch entertainment shows that have more AAPI and Asian leads to see ourselves represented more,” Asian American homeschooling mom Jean Hong told Mom.com. “We also seek out more children’s books that tell stories about AAPI characters that were so lacking in the past, especially when my husband and I were growing up.”
How to address racism in Disney movies (and others)
Movies reflect the times and culture in which they were made — and even family friendly companies like Disney made missteps. For instance, in The Lady and the Tramp (1955), the aunt brings over two Siamese cats who are not only the nemeses of Lady, they’re named Si and Am, speak with thick Asian accents, and portray other anti-Asian stereotypes. Thankfully, the live action version from 2019 is diverse and a wonderful alternative to the classic.
Of course, Disney isn’t the only company who has anti-Asian racism in their movies — just think of any John Hughes movie with their casual racism. But of course, the most prominent anti-Asian racism was in Sixteen Candles (1984) and the character of Long Duk Dong existing solely to be the butt of racist jokes.
“I worry about my son watching cult classics like The Goonies without proper conversations about problematic depictions of Asians,” writer Michelle H. Yang told Mom.com. “I don't want the racism in entertainment to normalize and validate it — causing younger generations to inherit implicit bias and racism. Especially when there are so many better movies available,” she added.
Normalize speaking to your children about race and racism on a regular basis. When you consume content that may have racist scenes in it, point them out to your kids. Help them identify what makes the content racist — explain to them about learning from the past to make better decisions in the future. While Disney has acknowledged the racism for some of their movies and issued content warnings, you don’t need to wait until a company does so to have these conversations.
How to celebrate AAPI Heritage month by watching AAPI movies
Of course, no list of AAPI movies is ever complete so please consider this very short list as a springboard for checking out other Asian and Pacific Islander movies. Some of these movies are great to watch with the whole family — but some are definitely for older children or adults only.
1) Finding ‘Ohana (2021, PG)
Written (Christina Strain) and directed (Jude Weng) by two Asian American women, this movie chronicles the adventures of a brother and sister from Brooklyn as they search for long lost treasure at their grandfather’s house in rural Oahu one summer and reconnect to their Hawaiian heritage.
2) Better Luck Tomorrow (2003, R)
Definitely for much older and mature kids, “Better Luck Tomorrow” is considered the seminal Asian American film. There is drug use, sexual content, and violence, but this film is considered iconic because it is one of the first films featuring an all Asian American cast that did not have martial arts or mysticism. The film follows the story of bored kids in the suburbs trying to get into Ivy League schools but progressively devolves into crime and murder.
3) The Farewell (2019, PG)
The award-winning movie tells the story of a Chinese American family who collectively decide not to tell the grandmother that she is dying of cancer. The family uses a cousin’s wedding as an excuse to gather the family together to say goodbye.
4) Whale Rider (2002, PG-13)
12-year-old Pai wants to convince her grandfather, the current village leader of her Māori tribe, that she is supposed to be the future chief — even though she is a girl. She attempts to do so by saving a pod of beached whales, playing into her family’s legend of an ancestor who rode a whale from Hawaiki.
5) Minari (2020, PG-13)
This Academy Award nominated movie chronicles a Korean American family who moves from California to an Arkansas farm in pursuit of the father’s dream of growing and selling Korean produce.
6) The Problem with Apu (2017, No rating)
Written by and starring comedian Hari Kondabolu, The Problem with Apu discusses Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, the Kwik-E-Mart owner and Indian immigrant in The Simpsons. The documentary explores how Apu, a character rife with anti-Asian stereotypes, was the only regular character of Indian descent to appear regularly on U.S. television and how it negatively affected people of Indian and South Asian descent.
Also, check out streaming services like Netflix and Hulu that have created entire hubs dedicated to AAPI content.
