Actor John Cho has received a lot of attention in the media for being the first Asian American actor to be the lead in a thriller blockbuster film, Searching.
Cho told CinemaBlend this fact is bittersweet in the sense that while it is milestone in terms of diversity, it also highlights the lack of diversity in Hollywood.
“I guess I no longer want to be the first Asian anything… because it means we haven’t done it yet!” Cho said.
This comment should come as no surprise.
Many people tend to only look at the celebratory part of historic moments such as Cho being the first Asian American lead in a big screen thriller film, but they overlook that it’s taken so long for something like that to happen that it becomes “historic.”
August was a big deal in terms of diversity for the Asian American community with the premiere of Crazy Rich Asians, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, and Searching.
While all of this is great, it must be acknowledged that films such as these likely will not happen again for a while, unless you count the planned Crazy Rich Asians sequel.
Even with the sequel, there is still a lack of diverse original films with new stories.
Society will tend to celebrate diversity, but will then also ignore the underlying issues associated with it.
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RE: John Cho tired of Being the First: Seriously?