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TBF Project:Blog
Posted by Dain, Saturday, November 25, 2006 4:23 PM (Eastern)
I had no idea what I'd be getting into when I started this inquiry. Let me first say, I am a Korean American, and I'd be the first to admit I'm pretty much white (for better or for worse). Still, I'm Asian, so, one would think, I'd know exactly what to suggest.
I don't. The truth is, in the Western world, Asian beauty is a nonissue. We're exotic elements. This is a fact that is evident when you look at Asian beauty within an Asian paradigm, and then compare it to Western treatments. My mother, for example, takes one look at Lucy Liu's dark skin and slits and pronounces her "common". My mother is an elitist, so by this, she is saying that Ms. Liu is of "peasant stock". Asia, apparently, more or less agrees. None of these issues are apparent in American media. Lucy Liu is a welcome relief amongst the blonde masses of Hollywood. Asians on Asians: snow white skin (when my mom tells me my skin is as pale as a corpse, she means it as the highest, and I mean the highest, compliment), round "Euro" eyes (I hate this, personally, I think it is so self-hating), small mouth, and a sharp chin and pointy nose (via crazy plastic surgery, which is rampant in the east, no celebrity escapes its touch). Americans on Asians: generalized exoticism.
It's hard to explain. My friend (who is Mexican) urged me to see Memoirs of a Geisha. "The women are just so beautiful! I really think it celebrates Asian beauty." And my reaction? I thought it was the sort of thing that's racist and doesn't know it. (And also, it is a silly movie, with the exception of the incomparable, radiant Gong Li.)
It's hard to explain, easier to see. Zhang Ziyi in Asia:
the Import (because let's face it, the girl barely speaks English):
They hardly look like the same girl.
Still, she translates well (except, unfortunately, when she speaks). This is because she is really, really, really pretty: that face is a marvel of symmetry. Is this in spite of of her being Asian, or because of? At this point, it's largely academic.
Anyway, the times, they are a changin'.
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