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ASIAMS.NET |
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, 06:00:05 PM)
Have you guys notice that all the eurasian who posted here all has a caucasian father and a asian mother. There don't seem to have hardly any eurasian with an asian father and a caucasian mother. Thats just show you how much exposure asian female are getting compared to the male.
fReEdeNt
Tuesday, July 23, 2002 at 11:22:13 (PDT)
HEY!
First of all, she's CANADIAN(as am I), not AMERICAN.
secondly, why are wasting our time, discussing what nationality to qualify Kristin as? We should just appreciate splendid acting abilities and dazzling looks.
I am Canadian eh
Monday, July 22, 2002 at 08:24:13 (PDT)
I have to agree with the height comment. 5'4" is actually the average height of a woman in America.
maya
Sunday, July 21, 2002 at 16:47:49 (PDT)
Kristin is not very talented but I hope she will help the Asian community to be respected in North America (Canada and the USA).I also think she is going to be an icon for the large Chinese community in Canada if Smallville is not canceled in one or two seasons (you know, the stories are all "borrowed" from Buffy and The X Files).
Steve Huang
Friday, July 19, 2002 at 19:56:15 (PDT)
American chick:
Most of Canada speaks the same language as us. As a result, they participate in the same culture as mainstream America. So we're never really aware of them as foreigners because they're speaking English without an accent and can understand a lot of the same cultural references.
That's a bit different than Mexico, where they don't even consider foreigners speaking fluent Spanish to be honorary Mexicans (just ask a Guatemalan).
T.H. Lien
Friday, July 19, 2002 at 16:48:11 (PDT)
She is not an Asian-American. She Canadian. If she had the same exact parents but born and raised in Mexico (our other neighbor) would we be calling her Asian-American.
Is it Okay to consider Canadians "honorary Americans" but not Mexicans?
Canadians are foreigners not Americans. Lucy Liu, Tia Carrere, Rosalind Chao are AMERICANS. Pamela Anderson, Linda Evangelista, Jim Carrey, Kristen Kreuk are foreigners-Canadians.
American chick
Thursday, July 18, 2002 at 13:52:26 (PDT)
I am Chinese and Italian and I think that even if it is half asian.. we should still be considered asian, but no one would ever of known my race until i told them...i have kristin kreuk eyes and the italian features.
AmandaLisa Lang
teamdohcbebi@aol.com
Monday, July 15, 2002 at 21:02:49 (PDT)
TH Lien,
"well it's a bit tribalistic just to support people cuz they share one's own genes." But the question is: Is she the next Asian beauty? Not: Is she the next Asian role model? Doesn't Asian beauty have a lot to do with genes then?
Deng Ai
deng_ai2000@yahoo.com
Monday, July 15, 2002 at 09:24:37 (PDT)
to TH Lien:
All i'm really saying is that kristin is chinese (my definition) and can be labeled as such. Society (most ppl) generally label ppl by race and not by cultural custom (as u do) and Kreuk is ancestrally chinese. If people are just looking for an Asian star to look to simply because they are Asian than she fits the bill. I dont think that she's a role model for Asians who seek an actively asian celebrity to look up to because she obvously doesn't qualify. This applies to fully Asian stars as well. I think that there's a double standard because ALL fully Asian stars are hailed as Asian representatives whether they are culturally active or not just becuase they look Asian and are fully Asian. Kristin is met w/ doubt. It's really up to the invidual and what he is looking for.
Lilywater47
Monday, July 15, 2002 at 00:13:53 (PDT)
kristin kruek is something in between white and asian, she's not more of either. i can relate because i'm of scottish/japanese descent and i'm from canada. i don't just want to be considered japanese and i don't just want to be considered scottish because i am not rilly fully either, i am something in between. its great that she's proud of her heritage on both sides, but as for the public obsessing, they're just being stupid. i do agree that asian people should be represented better in the media. the stereotypes should be broken. my answer to the question: "Should we claim Kristin Kreuk and other hapas like her as Asian American celebrities?" is this, she represents the people in north america who are mixed. so, no, she shouldn't be claimed, but i think the discussion of whether or not to 'claim' people because of their racial heritage is stupid, won't that just encourage racism? in the perfect world, people would not be judged or claimed because of their heritage, they would just be accepting of each other and see the beauty in everyone.
christine_ef
Friday, July 12, 2002 at 21:43:23 (PDT)
Lilywater47:
well it's a bit tribalistic just to support people cuz they share one's own genes. Whereas supporting people cuz they share your culture, customs, and values, regardless of their race (even though such factors correlate a lot with race) demonstrates that one has risen above the animal evolutionary instincts which shaped us in prehistory.
so we get back to the definition of what is an Asian-American role model. just anyone who looks Asian at all? I know plenty of Mexicans and a few Italians who would fit the bill, if you want.
but here's what I consider a basic requirement for someone to be a specifically Asian-American role model, rather than just a general role model for everyone: regardless of racial mix, appearance, or whatnot, his or her personal and professional life should demonstrate to others how to embrace and pass on the Asian culture while functioning and thriving in the American society.
T.H. Lien
Friday, July 12, 2002 at 16:26:41 (PDT)
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