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ASIAN AMERICAN ISSUES
Kristin Kreuk: Next Asian American Beauty?
t isn't a question of droolworthiness. Her looks are dazzling enough to have locked up a lead role in each of her first three auditions, including the title role in an upcoming TV movie. It's more a question of whether most of us would identify hazel-eyed Smallville heartthrob Lana Lang as a fellow Asian.
Kristin Laura Kreuk was born to a Chinese mother and a Dutch father on December 30, 1982. She grew up in Vancouver, Canada. Kreuk, 5-4, had decided to go to college to study forensic pathology until, in her senior year, her drama teacher suggested she go to an audition for a new Fox Family series called Edgement. She was promptly plucked out of the open audition to play a Chinese Canadian high scool student named Laurel Yeung. Even as she won fans in the role, she landed the Lana Lang role for WB's dramatization of Superboy's life as Clark Kent, then the role of Snow White in the ABC TV movie set for release in 2002. Kreuk's star-quality was obvious to all who tuned in for Smallville's premiere last October. Some even proclaimed her the show's main attraction.
But many Asian American viewers didn't even suspect Kreuk's Asian ancestry. Even those who learned of her mother's nationality questioned whether she can be claimed by Asian Americans. Without an Asian surname or obvious Asian facial features, they argue, Kreuk's success would do nothing for the image of Asians in the American media. Others might argue that most African American stars are, in fact, only fractionally of African descent.
Should we claim Kristin Kreuk and other hapas like her as Asian American celebrities? Or should that designation be reserved for those with a more obviously Asian identity?
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WHAT YOU SAY
[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]
(Updated
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 06:00:13 PM)
"Should we claim Kristin Kreuk and other hapas like her as Asian American celebrities? Or should that designation be reserved for those with a more obviously Asian identity?"
It should not be us claiming her as anything. It should be HER claiming to be an AA. We DON'T have the right to identify her anything.
asian chick
Thursday, April 18, 2002 at 07:57:09 (PDT)
Personally as a Female Asian Canadian, I think it's wonderful to have a role model like her.
When I first saw her on SMALLVILLE, I definetly noticed that she had certain features that resembeled asians, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Still Can't!
But yeah, she's beautiful! I'd kill to have skin like hers!
H T Y
Thursday, April 18, 2002 at 07:50:29 (PDT)
Lachinesca:
I totally agree! I also think it's just great to see a non-white person out there succeeding, and she is chinese (in blood) whether she likes it or not. You're correct in saying it's up to her if she wants to represent Asians. She would have this choice (albeit to a lesser extent) even if she was all asian.
G: that's what i thought too. Lang doesn't have to do with kristin's ethnicity.
halfchynadoll
Wednesday, April 17, 2002 at 22:16:35 (PDT)
I think that Kristin Kreuk is definately a role model actress out there. Although I am a mixed Japanese Canadian (and not Chinese), her talent and absolute gorgeousness makes me proud to be half Asian.
Toronto
Wednesday, April 17, 2002 at 17:46:00 (PDT)
The author of this article acknowledges that Kristin Kreuk was born and raised in Canada, yet illogically raises the question of whether or not Kreuk is an "Asian-American" beauty. As other commentors have mentioned before, she is not American - she is Canadian. Both "Edgemont" and "Smallville" are filmed in Canada, and Kreuk has not relocated or immigrated to the US. I am an Asian-Canadian who is tired of the mentality of some (not all) Americans who treat Canada, the second largest country in the world, as if it were just one of America's fifty states - at least whenever it suits them. In another example during the recent winter Olympics, when Americans championed the cause of wronged French-Canadian figure skaters Jamie Sale and David Pelletier, the American media oddly labelled the much beloved pair as "North American atheletes" instead of "Canadian athletes". Yet in the wake of September 11th last year, when it was suspected that some of the terrorists involved may have entered the US via the US-Canada border, the American media devoted entire news reports and printed articles about how "Canadians" may have been responsible for the atrocities in New York and Washington. Sorry to stray a bit from the topic, but just to reiterate, my point is that the debate should be about whether Kristin Kreuk should or should not be considered and "Asian-Canadian" beauty.
JB
Wednesday, April 17, 2002 at 15:28:51 (PDT)
lilywater47:
"hapas should not doubted more than others because they are half white (or other). They should be given the benefit of doubt as all asian celebrities recieve. "
Yeah, I said the same thing two or three pages back ...
"even suggesting it is because of their "worldview and culture" is quite offensive."
You're saying that the cultural perspective etc. of media types has no influence on how they approach their job? That would be a pretty amazing feat to pull off.
Basically, my principle is that if one guy from group A is messing with me, I deal with him and I don't bother with group A. If 500 guys from group A are messing with me, I tend to think this is something to do with group A rather than individual decisions each of these 500 guys happened to reach. So basically you assert that the prevalence of Asian stereotypes in the media is either the influence of the society at large or a side effect of living in a multicultural democracy. Any proof or comments?
"also, if a person completely without asian ancestry (say a balck person) but meets your requirements be considered asian and a potential representative of the asian people (at least in your eyes)? Does ancestry and appearance play ANY role at all?"
Well, part of belonging to a culture consists of considering yourself to be a member of it - taking on standards and such to be your own rather than some mask you put on over your real self when dealing with members of that culture. In general that implies you at least learned the basic principles of the culture in your own household. In general white, black, Jewish, etc. people don't pull this off too well because they're not exposed to much of real Asian culture and social interaction until the high school or university years, unless they were raised in an Asian country (and attending local schools, NOT American School of Wherever filled with rich executives' kids). So it's possible to define being an Asian with no reference to race and still end up almost entirely with only ethnic Asians falling under your definition. Anyway I kinda lost all my ideas on the importance of race after meeting all these Indian kids in HK who speak fluent Cantonese ...
T.H. Lien
Wednesday, April 17, 2002 at 11:40:23 (PDT)
My cousin and I we were debating wether or not she was (full) asian before reading this article. We could tell she had a little asian in her from Kreuk's (God I wish I knew her so i can use her first name instead of last ;) facial appearance. "Many Asian American viewers didn't even suspect Kreuk's Asian ancestry," which could be true but my fellow asian friends/relatives could tell she was part asian from her facial appearance.
It is nice to get the facts straight; she is part Chinese and part Dutch. Also, I must agree with VietNinjaXTC, she is very attractive and one of my main reasons for watching Smallville.
Drooling
Wednesday, April 17, 2002 at 11:26:36 (PDT)
To Sha (April 15): Thank you! We can't claim Kristin as Asian-American when she's really Chinese-Canadian! (hyphen optional) Being a Chinese-Canadian woman from Vancouver myself, it's great to see even a fragment of Asian-Canadian representation out there in mainstream media. In the end, it's up to Kristin if she wants to take on the responsibility of being a role model for the Asian community in North America, but for now, I am proud to see her succeed in what has been (and still is, in some ways) a very homogenous industry. While she might choose to not make her ethnicity the focus of her career, just being *out there* gives us all the more fodder to enrich others' worldviews and enlighten people on the vast potential that lurks under the lily-white surface of the entertainment industry.
LaChinesca
joiy@interchange.ubc.ca
Tuesday, April 16, 2002 at 22:14:44 (PDT)
HOLY SHINKIES...SHE'S HOTT! i haven't really watched smallville...but she's gorgeous. way ta go whites/asians!
VietNinjaXTC
Tuesday, April 16, 2002 at 19:22:03 (PDT)
To TH Lien: Regarding your comment to Jen, i guess it is up to the individual to decide whether or not to accept kristin as an asian role model. if someone admires asian celebrities or is proud of them SOLELY because they are of asian descent, then kristin is suitable. hapas should not doubted more than others because they are half white (or other). They should be given the benefit of doubt as all asian celebrities recieve. My dad is fully caucasian but he speaks cantonese, mandarin, mastered kung-fu, and writes beautiful chinese. You could argue that he is chinese! Also, it is still unfair to accuse the jewish media owners of inaccurate portrayals of race in the media. it's not as if they alone control the entire media. most are not semitic. If you are going to blame the media for what you percieve as a problem, then do just that. Blame the media, not the jews. If you blame the jews, you are what we call anti-semitic. even suggesting it is because of their "worldview and culture" is quite offensive. also, if a person completely without asian ancestry (say a balck person) but meets your requirements be considered asian and a potential representative of the asian people (at least in your eyes)? Does ancestry and appearance play ANY role at all?
lilywater47
Tuesday, April 16, 2002 at 17:00:40 (PDT)
Lana Lang is from the comics. It has nothing to do with Lois Lane or an allusion to asian heritage.
G
Tuesday, April 16, 2002 at 12:11:57 (PDT)
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