Jessica Chen And Actor Jordan Mahr, Cc '20, Discuss Breaking The Limitations Of Asian American Representation In Television

Upper West Side NY

27 September, 2021

3:50 PM

Description

Columbia Daily Spectator BY JULIA TONG SEPTEMBER 26, 2021 Archer Hu's experience at her new elite high school begins with a billionaire heir to a massive corporation leaning into her face, gazing at her with total disgust. "Welcome to LIH," he snarls. "Peasant." Later, Archer jokes in disbelief, "Did that guy really say 'peasant' in 2021?" This cheeky, comedic meta-awareness is the central conceit of the web series "Drama High," which follows working-class Archer as she finds that her elite school subscribes to popular tropes found in Asian dramas. She soon catches the eye of the two richest boys in school, Hideo Takenouchi (played by Jordan Mahr, CC '20) and Jiwon Lee. Takenouchi and Lee both fall in love with Archer, thereby creating the love triangle that makes for a stirring plot point. With her deep knowledge of Asian drama tropes, Archer begins a quest to climb the school's social ladder. "Drama High" is self-referential in that Archer knows that she's in an Asian drama, allowing creator and lead actress Jessica Chen to craft a unique spin on the genre. By using established drama tropes—like a working-class girl entering into an elite environment—and drawing from her own experiences as an Asian American woman living in the United States, Chen develops her own comedic take on the dramas she loves while reflecting on broader issues that many Asian Americans face. "I thought it'd be really good to tackle the fact that Asian Americans as a group in the U.S. have the highest disparity between the richest and the poorest [people]," Chen said in reference to the model minority myth, an assumption that Asian Americans are more financially successful than other racial groups. "I myself grew up in a working-class household in a very affluent area." For both Chen and Mahr, "Drama High" allowed them to play with classic Asian drama tropes without feeling pressure to represent a universally shared experience for an entire racial group. "In the context of being surrounded by all Asian creators, I didn't, at any point, feel like I shouldered any responsibilities or any burden into representing anything more than who the character is," Mahr said. "Which is the most sort of freeing kind of feeling." Conventional ideas of representation focus on celebrating a few projects featuring Asian Americans in an industry largely dominated by white creatives. "Crazy Rich Asians," the 2020 live-action remake of "Mulan," "Raya and the Last Dragon," and most recently, Marvel's superhero film "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings," are examples of major releases that featured a majority-Asian American cast or crew tasked with the responsibility of representing the entire Asian American community. According to Mahr and Chen, the dearth of Asian Americans in the film industry often pressures Asian creators to present Asians on screen primarily in a positive light. Mahr summarizes this tension as he recalls a film class screening of "Better Luck Tomorrow." The film features Asian Americans who are, Mahr stresses, "bad kids" and "all sort of losers." In a recording of a Q&A with director Justin Lin after the first screening of the film, a white audience member stood up and asked, as Mahr paraphrases: "'There are so few Asian people on screen. … Why would you want to present such bad Asians?'" "There is still this idea that, because of limited representation, every character out there has to speak for the community in some way," Mahr said. Mahr's character, Hideo, is a notably unrepresented character: one who is "kind of a dick" and so far removed from the lived experiences of most Asian Americans that he is unrelatable to many viewers. After playing mostly sweet and friendly characters in his theatrical career during college, Mahr relished the opportunity to explore a character with a darker side. "Being on set with all Asian collaborators helped me feel like I didn't have that responsibility at all. I didn't think about representation at all," Mahr said. "You know it's not a very representative character for me or anyone really, … but that's not the point. The point is these people exist or they could exist, … and OK, they happen to be Asian, but they are fundamentally a character." Working with a majority Asian cast and crew—especially after an uncertain year away from set due to COVID-19—created a unique sense of community. Chen felt this "family feeling that you wouldn't get in other sets" when someone on set started speaking in Cantonese and was promptly answered by another crew member. Mahr also felt those tight bonds that knit the "Drama High" cast and crew together. "I've never been on a set that was predominantly Asian in any capacity whatsoever. More often than not, I'm one of the few Asian people involved on-site in production," he said. "I hadn't been in a room that felt so much like instant community in a long time. … That was awesome, and I think a lot of people felt that way." The pilot episode of "Drama High" has been accepted into three film festivals so far: the Mixed Asian Media Fest, the Imagine This International Women's Film Festival, and the FirstGlance Film Festival. The first two festivals will be held online in September, and the third will be held in Philadelphia in October. Chen and Mahr hope that the episode's acceptance to general interest festivals in addition to Asian American-specific ones reflects that the themes resonate with an audience larger than the Asian American community. "I don't want to feel like it's only restricted toward Asian Americans because I'm also very aware that Asian drama fans come in all shapes and colors and everything," Chen said. "And so, [I hope this will appeal to] people more reflective of the United States." Staff writer Julia Tong can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow Spectator on Twitter @ColumbiaSpec. Founded in 1877, the Columbia Daily Spectator is the independent undergraduate newspaper of Columbia University, serving thousands of readers in Morningside Heights, West Harlem, and beyond. Read more at columbiaspectator.com and donate here.