Not sure what can be done about Asian American representation.
For starters, I think the first step would be to actually have opportunities available for Asian Americans. As it's been said time and time again, how can one be hired when there are no roles being offered? And by roles I mean ones that aren't written like racist caricatures or the stereotypical token character, or roles that are whitewashed and/or given the "color blind" treatment. There are plenty of Asian American actors, but very few actually get chances like this where they are front and center, being written as complex characters with their own stories and personalities. Also, if their heritage is to be featured at all, it should be done respectfully and not as a throwaway punchline. For example, in Agents of Shield Daisy Johnson is half-Chinese because the actress, Chloe Bennet, is half-Chinese and they managed to work that into the show to focus on her finding out who her parents were and where she came from. Not many Asian American actors are that lucky to come across a job like that though, which is a very sad and unfortunate truth that needs to be rectified.
And yet there are a lot of Asians in the US, who also deserve to be treated with respect and to see themselves on screen. It's all very frustrating.
As half-Asian myself, I rarely see anyone like me on television or in movies, which is frustratingly both a blessing (not seeing my culture being butchered) and a curse (not having that proper representation). I'm always excited when I see any Asian representation done right and Asian actors getting work that isn't offensive, but it happens so rarely and the mistreatment many have to go through within the industry in order to get just an ounce of recognition is painful and it shouldn't be happening. This is a long, tired issue that needs to be corrected, along with other minority groups that are suffering the same lack of representation within the entertainment industry as a whole.
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For starters, I think the first step would be to actually have opportunities available for Asian Americans. As it's been said time and time again, how can one be hired when there are no roles being offered? And by roles I mean ones that aren't written like racist caricatures or the stereotypical token character, or roles that are whitewashed and/or given the "color blind" treatment. There are plenty of Asian American actors, but very few actually get chances like this where they are front and center, being written as complex characters with their own stories and personalities. Also, if their heritage is to be featured at all, it should be done respectfully and not as a throwaway punchline. For example, in Agents of Shield Daisy Johnson is half-Chinese because the actress, Chloe Bennet, is half-Chinese and they managed to work that into the show to focus on her finding out who her parents were and where she came from. Not many Asian American actors are that lucky to come across a job like that though, which is a very sad and unfortunate truth that needs to be rectified.
And yet there are a lot of Asians in the US, who also deserve to be treated with respect and to see themselves on screen. It's all very frustrating.
As half-Asian myself, I rarely see anyone like me on television or in movies, which is frustratingly both a blessing (not seeing my culture being butchered) and a curse (not having that proper representation). I'm always excited when I see any Asian representation done right and Asian actors getting work that isn't offensive, but it happens so rarely and the mistreatment many have to go through within the industry in order to get just an ounce of recognition is painful and it shouldn't be happening. This is a long, tired issue that needs to be corrected, along with other minority groups that are suffering the same lack of representation within the entertainment industry as a whole.