Lucy Liu Love Interest On ABC “Cashmere Mafia” Is White. Is This Progress Or Promoting Racism On Television?

Lucy Liu is the lead in the new ABC show “Cashmere Mafia” and the premiere will be on Sunday at 10 pm. According to media reports Lucy’s character Mia Mason is going to be a softer more vulnerable character compared to the other roles Lucy Liu has had. The public have complained that sometimes Lucy Liu has been stereotyped in movies as the dragon lady or the overtly sexual Asian woman.

On ABC’s “Cashmere Mafia” Lucy’s character Mia Mason is going to be the level headed one out of the four friends and she’s going to be more laid back. I am excited about the program because an Asian American actress is the main star once again on a mainstream network television program and it is about time.

Lucy Liu is an international superstar she has been in hit movies such as the “Charlie’s Angels” series, “Shanghai Moon”, “Payback”, and “Kill Bill”. My personal opinion is that Lucy Liu has more range then the movies she has been in recently. I think television could be a good opportunity for Lucy to demonstrate her acting talent. A lot of people forget Lucy Liu saved Ally McBeal she made the show so much more exciting and interesting.

On the blogs there has been a lot of discussion about the fact on the show “Cashmere Mafia” Lucy Liu’s character Mia Mason’s love interest is a white man. I do have a question why does the lead have a western surname instead of an Asian surname? Is this realistic? Wouldn’t it make more sense to give Lucy Liu’s character Mia Mason an Asian last name? Perhaps the writers of the show are going to avoid the issue of race with Lucy’s character and want her to assimilate as much as possible? I have thought about this for a while. I am wondering why isn’t an Asian American male actor Lucy’s love interest? Am I being too sensitive or too critical here? I wonder?

My perspective is ABC obviously wants “Cashmere Mafia” to reach the largest demographics as possible. Television executives want a new television program to appeal to a general audience. We always see Asian American women paired with white men in pop culture we don’t even question it? Hollywood promotes the image that interracial romance ares perfect, fights against racism, and is the ultimate ideal for women of colour.I also notice we rarely see men of colour with women of other races. Whenever a man of colour is on a television show he is consistently paired with a woman of the same race. So why is there this invisible code and double standard?

Almost a decade ago back in 1999 there was an explosive controversy about interracial relationships on the NBC television show ER. Eric La Salle an African American actor was very vocal about the fact he felt NBC was promoting racist stereotypes against heterosexual black love. On ER La Salle’s character was paired with a white woman and their relationship was depicted as being loving and perfect. However, La Salle’s relationships with black women was presented as negative and fractured. It was a powerful statement Eric La Salle made in the media because he was challenging the racist representations and imagery about black heterosexual love.

La Salle was correct in his analysis that NBC was being racist trying to present interracial love as the solution and the final answer. La Salle received a lot of hate mail but eventually ER discontinued the interracial relationship. La Salle had the courage to speak up about the mixed messages NBC was promoting. Just because someone is in an interracial relationship doesn’t mean the issue of racism is over. Some people enter into interracial relationships based on racist assumptions about another race. On the ABC television show “Cashmere Mafia” the classic racist message ABC is promoting is that white American men are better then Asian American men just because of their skin colour.

We don’t even wonder if the constant pairing of Asian American women with white men in pop culture is damaging or promoting racist and sexist stereotypes? Is Hollywood trying to say Asian American men aren’t good enough? When are Asian American males ever depicted as being suitable partners?

Since white Americans are the majority in the United States television still has to orientate to the interests of whites. ABC television is a business and the ideology is they have to create shows so that white people will watch the programs. The more whites that watch Cashmere Mafia the more potential advertising revenue ABC can generate. Perhaps ABC believes pairing Lucy Liu with a white man is considered more palatable for a mainstream audience? However, “Cashmere Mafia” takes place in New York City. Everyone knows New York City is very racially diverse.

Is ABC trying to say they couldn’t find any attractive and talented American American male actors such as Parry Shen, John Cho, or Russell Wong as potential love interests? What is the message ABC is sending? Was ABC afraid to pair Lucy with an Asian American male actor? Did ABC think people would cringe seeing heterosexual love between Asian people? Is there a silent fear here? Why is the heterosexual romance between people of colour never presented as loving, beautiful, and sensual?

The cultural signifers is that Asian American women are rejecting Asian American men. Asian American men are emasculated and treated as unworthy of the love of Asian women. Asian American women are always paired with white men or with black men. Is this right or promoting racism? What about Asian American men? Doesn’t anyone care? I wonder what Asian heterosexual American men think about this? Wouldn’t it be nice if we could see Lucy Liu with an Asian American man as her love interest ? Even on Ally McBeal Lucy Liu’s love interest was a white man.

The North American pop culture consistently promotes the racist representations that Asian American male sexuality is inferior to white and black male sexuality. Asian American men are rarely portrayed as sexually attractive and as masculine strong men. Asian American males are often depicted from one extreme as marital arts experts such as Jackie Chan.

The other stereotype is the sexuality of men of colour is presented as inferior to white men. For example, the Hiro and Ando characters on the NBC show Heroes are presented as nerds and effeminate. Some people may say Hiro and Ando are supposed to be the comedians on the program. However, I see this is an excuse for tacky screenwriters that don’t want to present men of colour as complex three dimensional people. Hiro and Ando are presented as the other.

Why are Asian Americans depicted as foreigners on television? Hiro cannot speak English but Ando can speak English with a thick Japanese accent. Why are the Asian American men presented as different from all the other cast members? Also, often when interracial romance is explored between men of colour and white women it is often viewed in a negative light. On the NBC show Heroes the DL character of course is a criminal and his white wife Nikki was a former stripper.

I notice there is no balance. Where are the representations of regular Asian American men? You know the nice, attractive, guys that are our coworkers and our friends. We know there are attractive Asian American male actors out there so why do we hardly see them on television and in films?

There is also the issue of white male dominance in the media. White men are always presented as being suitable partners for women of all races. However, black men, Hispanic men, Asian men, and Native American men are viewed as the other. People can say that “oh this is just a television show no big deal.” Television is a powerful medium that shapes, forms, and creates messages through images. For some people television is actually a learning tool. Television in some ways is an educator it teaches people which kinds of relationships are palatable. Television can also be deleterious it can promote racism that grows and thrives like a cancer. People need to discern and read between the lines and obtain critical media literacy. I believe the subversive message Hollywood is sending is a negative one.

The racist message Hollywood is sending is that whiteness is better and that the only men good enough for women of colour are white heterosexual men. I think this is incredibly racist and offensive on many levels. We hardly ever get to see an Asian American male actor as “the main guy”. We don’t think of Asian American men as the guys women desire, fantasize about, and want as boyfriends or husbands.

However, I think it is a very big deal I call it the Halle Berry effect. Has anyone noticed that the minute an actress of colour gains some popularity she is quickly paired with white men on television and in the movies? Look at Jennifer Lopez, Halle Berry, and Lucy Liu the minute these actresses of colour crossed over into the mainstream, men of colour were no longer acceptable as love interests. Don’t worry Beyonce Knowles will be paired with white male actors very shortly in the next few years.

On the television show “Ugly Betty” also on ABC all the women of colour are paired with white males. It is also interesting Salma Hayek a Latina woman is the executive producer of the show. My question is why is there no diversity? Is Hollywood trying to say heterosexual men of colour aren’t good enough for women of their own races? Or is Hollywood simply fostering the pernicious racist and sexist images?

I think there is a white male fantasy in Hollywood that women of colour need to be saved by white men. The cultural production of television shows consistently promotes this distorted fantasy. I also believe some heterosexual women of colour believe this fantasy and don’t have a problem with it. There is a dangerous precedent about this racist imagery because it treats heterosexual men of colour as inferior due to race. The fantasy is crafted and drafted by white male screenwriters, paid for by white male producers, and green lighted by white male studio executives. The other stereotype that is presented in pop culture is that in order for women of colour to “advance in Hollywood” they need to have a white male love interest.

Now I am not saying interracial romance between white men and women of colour should not occur in television and film. All I am suggesting is why isn’t there more diversity? Why aren’t men of colour on television presented as loving, nurturing, sexually attractive men? When was the last time you saw an Asian American actress in a high profile role on television besides ABC Lost with an Asian American man? I think people need to pay attention to the social constructions of race, gender, and sexuality, when watching television.

We need to be cognizant of the fact that Asian American men are being treated very unfairly in pop culture. I not suggesting “Cashmere Mafia” won’t do well I am sure it will. However, I just think it is kind of derivative that Hollywood is still promoting and fostering the same deleterious, pernicious ,and racist representations and stereotypes.