Since we’ve already been talking about movies, let’s keep going.

I’m not sure if you’ve heard about it, but there is a breakout film series on Netflix called To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. 

The movies are based off of a book series by UNC Chapel Hill’s very own, Jenny Han. For those of you who don’t know, the movies are about a girl whose secret love letters get sent out to all the boys she’s loved before and follow the consequences of these letters.

Here is the trailer for the first movie.

Now, this blog is not going to talk about the plot points of the movies or deconstruct cinematography or anything like that.

Instead, what we’ll be focusing on is the representation of the Asian people in these movies.

In this movie series, the main character, Lara Jean, and her two sisters are half White and half Korean.

However, what was really confusing to me was that the actresses who play these characters are all not of Korean descent. 

The actresses who play the sisters, Kitty and Margot, are, in fact, half Asian and half White, but they are not half Korean. 

In addition, the actress who plays Lara Jean, who is still supposed to be half Asian, is actually full Vietnamese.

Now, I’m all for Asian representation. And I’m so proud that this film did not white wash these characters. However, a conversation has to be made about representation within the Asian community. 

It has been done time and time again - Asian actors playing ethnicities that aren’t their own. For example, Arden Cho, a Korean-American actress, playing a half Korean half Japanese character on Teen Wolf and Randall Park, a Korean-American actor, playing a Chinese character on Fresh Off the Boat.

I really do want to know why people who are not the same ethnicity as the character they are playing are cast. Like is there such a lack in Asian people that we have to double dip actors into playing roles that they don’t fully represent?

Or another question is if the “perfect” actor has come along who doesn’t actually represent the character’s descriptions, can’t they just have a small rewrite to accommodate the actor they want to play the character?

For example, how hard would it have been to rewrite Lara Jean’s family as fully Vietnamese if Lana Condor was the best actress to play the part?

Now, there’s always that argument: this is all a part of acting, playing someone else.

But, to me, it’s kind of unsettling to watch people on screen represent my culture even though they’ve never experienced it in real life. 

In To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, there is a scene where Lara Jean’s sister, Kitty, is interacting with Peter for the first time. He asks what Kitty is drinking, and Kitty responds that it’s a “Korean smoothie drink.”

Now, if you’re a Korean reading this, there is NO WAY that you would refer to this drink as a “Korean smoothie.” And it was so weird to see it referred to as that and eventually be popularized by American media as “the smoothie drink featured in To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.”

In the second installment of To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, Lara Jean and Kitty wear hanboks, a Korean traditional dress.

I KNOW they’re just acting, but it’s weird to have such a popular movie be praised for its representation of Korean culture and Asian actors when the actors are not actually representative of the story that is being told.

Maybe I’m being too sensitive about this type of stuff, but I feel like there has been a movement going on with trying to cast people who are the same gender, race, or sexuality that the role calls for. For example, the character Jules in Euphoria is played by Hunter Schafer, a trans woman. The character Min-ho in Maze Runner is played by Ki-hong Lee, a Korean-American actor. The character Rosa Diaz in Brooklyn Nine-Nine is played by Stephanie Beatriz, a bisexual woman. 

Now, I’m not trying to tell you to boycott To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. 

In fact, I’m a fan of the movies! Just not the representation.

That’s the difference.

So what is the solution? To cast people who are actually representative of the characters they’re supposed to play.

I know that may be difficult and maybe there just aren’t enough actors who are both representative and good enough to play the part.

But that’s something that we’re just going to have to work on.

Because we need to move towards better representation. Period.