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ASIAN AMERICAN ISSUES
Kristin Kreuk: Next Asian American Beauty?
(Updated
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 06:00:00 PM)
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 school 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.]
I have to agree with the statement above made by mm317. The female is gorgeous no if, ands, or buts. Her race shouldn't even be a issue. She is beautiful and talented. Let's just leave it like that. Don't worry about excepting her in Asian American world. I am sure she identifies with both Dutch and Chinese cultures. Tell you the truth I don't think anyone is full blooded anything anyway.
Lil' G
php23@hotmail.com
Wednesday, November 06, 2002 at 10:18:18 (PST)
[65.56.151.130]
Yes, I think she should be claimed as Asian American. Though she doesn't look Asian, but I could tell that she's mix. Many fans are curious of her look, of how and where did she get that look, black hair with hazle eyes. That's just amazing.
Sreymao
Wednesday, November 06, 2002 at 09:54:02 (PST)
[24.199.174.172]
Kristin Kreuk is Canadian...Asian-Canadian i guess then. just wanted to point that out...
jules
Wednesday, November 06, 2002 at 05:35:43 (PST)
[172.164.159.148]
Yes!!! :) We should claim her as Asian American celebrity.... I admire her very much! B'cause her beauty is different from other asian american celebrities.
Jag
jagsubade@yahoo,com
Wednesday, November 06, 2002 at 01:29:16 (PST)
[202.163.201.114]
to Help:
wow ive never met a 1/4 asian b4. well if u dont identify w Asians and the culture thats fine. itd b cool if u were interested later and people may ridicule u for *abandoning* ur roots but just be your own person. it's not ur fault if u were not raised as an asian. just dont deny your heritage or disrespect it and you shuld b fine. i feel u are culturally white but racially a quarter asian. many asian people are offended by u because they have alot of pride and feel u r threatening it by not speaking the langauge etc. i am the opposite of u. people r impressed that i speak cantonese although i look white (im half white half chinese). i guess they have the reverse reaction with you so i can understand it. If people are rude just say u are only a quarter and that u respect ASian culture but wasnt raised with it and leave it at that.
Lilywater47
Tuesday, November 05, 2002 at 23:16:02 (PST)
[66.243.100.232]
To Lilywater. It's me again. I read your post and it reminded me of a story. Once upon a time, there was this Mayor of a small town called "Whiteville". The Mayor is a prick and a racist. One day he's hoping to find a candidate for City Manager (his 2nd in command partner). He's looking for an All-American white candidate. Lucky for him there are seven candidates. Will name them person a,b,c,d,e,f & g.
In the 1st round: Without talking or getting to know the candidates the Mayor saw all of the seven candidates and rejected persons d,e,f,& g. Person d was an African-American. He didn't want a Black person. But person d earn a college degree in Political Science at USC. But that didn't manner to the Mayor because all he see's in him is a Black man. Person e is a Latino-American. Person e was born in American and speaks English and Spanish fluenty. But that didn't manner, because the Mayor took one look at him and assumed he's an illegal immigrant and can't speaks English. Person f is an Asian-American. He was born in the U.S. and got a degree in Pre-Law at UCLA. But that didn't manner either. The Mayor see's him as a "gook" and another immigrant who speaks poor English and see's Asian men as a joke. Person f is a Native-American. But because he's not white, he was also rejected. Person f was the only one who could claim he's not an immigrant or a foreigner. Person f is the true All-American, but that didn't manner to the Mayor. He's not white.
2nd round: Persons a,b & c are all white. The Mayor is now happy to talk to these All-American men. Person a is J. Larson, person b is D. Babcock and person c is L. Martinez. The Mayor was shock with person c. He had blond hair and blue eyes, but he has a Spanish last name. He's half White and half Mexican and was born in Mexico. He's what you called a "white-hispanic", while person e is a "brown-hispanic". Just like Cameron Diaz and Chirstina Aguilera. Some white guys could careless of their Spanish names, they still think their hot along side with Reese Witherspoon. To them, Diaz and Aguilera are white. But the Mayor had a different opinion. He likes person c, because of his blond hair and blue eyes. So the Mayor suggests to person c to change his name from Martinez to Martin. Person c refuses so now person c is rejected.
In the 3rd round: The background check found that person b has one drop of Native-American blood. He's 1/8th Blackfoot Indian. The Mayor was shocked and like you wrote, person b's whiteness is now nullified. Now the Mayor preferred person c to person b. When you stated that I REVERSED the one drop rule you really hit home. You're right, but a lot of people applies the reversal of the one drop rule, the Mayor did. Person b is now rejected but at least he went farther than persons d,e,f & g.
In the 4th round: Person a got the job. He's the true All-American white person.
So you see, the Mayor (being ignorant) though person b & c was an All American white by 1st impression but found out their not white by 2nd and 3rd impression.
Now let's use Me, Mel Gibson & Kreuk. The mayor would drop me like a hot potato without takling to me and take in Gibson & Kreuk because their White. But by 2nd impression, the Mayor may drop Kreuk because he discovered that Kreuk is half Asian. So compare to Gibson, Kreuk is not really white. But the Mayor is a jerk. Most white guys, who loves her, probably don't care if Kreuk is half Asian and may even consider her still white.
Masmak
Tuesday, November 05, 2002 at 21:25:08 (PST)
[216.244.24.38]
I think you guys need to just relax. She is just a girl trying to adjust to her new found fame and celebrity. No one really knows much about her and she has not given many interviews. There is no reason for her to forwardly claim or not claim her asian-ness, because it is not an issue based on her current role.
Now if she does try to hide her asian-ness then that is sad, because her fame and fortune are due to her looks and talent, part of which she owes to her asian ancestry.
Ok, she is beautiful too but come on what difference is it gonna make for asians if tomorrow she comes out and says she considers herself asian? For every american man who looks at her and thinks she is classy and elegant there could be 4 that thinks exotic, petite asian doll. For every american woman that thinks she is sweet and talented, there could be 4 that are jealous & hateful of her exotic looks and figure. How is she gonna realistically help the image of the AF in America??? AFs in America need average looking actresses doing strong positive roles. They need to be seen as normal people not idealized beauty queens. Think about it.
Personally, the only way an asian in the media can lose my respect is if they either say bad things about asians or if they take demeaning roles that will hurt/re-enforce stereotypes.
Whether they do this knowingly or are even simply ignorant, it shows that they have little knowledge of or regard for the asian community. If they do neither and just go about their work then that is fine. They are just entertainers and should not be role models. Whether or not they wanna take on the task of representing an entire group of diverse people during their free time is something that is their choice not ours.
My 2 Cents
Monday, November 04, 2002 at 15:44:02 (PST)
[66.47.79.250]
I'm a difficult case. Does anyone have an opinion on my situation?
I'm a quarter Asian. My mom is half Asian and half white. My dad is white.
I look mixed to many people but many people also ask or assume I'm just Asian.
Personally I don't identify Asian. I was not raised with an Asian culture and I'm not very interested but sometimes I'm interested in mix race issues especially since my ethnicity is an issue for others. I don't want it to be an issue but it's always an issue for other people so I have to be interested by default.
I like some Asian cuisine, going to festivals, and I'd love to travel to any Asian country but I have no ties to Asia and I'm not comfortable in an Asian group.
The fact is I inherited noticeable "Asian features" (small brown eyes but I have a double lid with a slight fold in the inner part of the eyes, little baby nose but with high bridge and not wide, full lips, strong square jaw and high cheekbones) so what am I? Inside I feel white but what do YOU (this forum) feel I am.
Help
Monday, November 04, 2002 at 14:16:40 (PST)
[208.14.6.170]
to masmak: Well but an ABC is not white... ur talking nationality im talking race. interesting tho that u use a REVERSE one drop rule. many americans say that if u have one drop of ethnic blood ur whiteness is nullified but by your standards a half-ehtnic person who looks white is viewed as white. ur being very respectful but i have to disagree. i hear that some white ppl r disliking kreuk because they find out she's asian. thats not viewing her as a white person now is it? also it is natural to view someone as what they look like. people view me as white (i look all white to most people) until they find out im half chinese. then they view me differently. race is so loosely defined these days. take halle berry. she's half white but black to most people so what u say is true to soem extent but being asian and white and black and white is diff. Asians have the language and culture of Asia whereas AfricanAmericans speak english and generally dont have a distinct ethnic culture.
lilywater47
Sunday, November 03, 2002 at 20:37:48 (PST)
[66.243.97.171]
To Lilywater. If a white looking hapa lived in China all his/her life and speaks only Chinese, is he/she still considers white? Yes and No. Now common sense says, yes, he/she is Chinese regardless of race and you're right. But the American public still considers her a White person who lived and speaks Chinese. Let's switch the example. If an American born Asians who lived here all of their lifes and speaks nothing but English, does that make us an Americans? Again yes and No. Common sense says, yes. We are Americans regardless of our race. But if Asians are Americans, why do Americans (or white people)see us as an immigrant? Assumes we don't speak English? Like Malcolm X use to say. "Just because you were born in America doesn't make you an American. I'm not an American, you're not an American. If we were Americans, all of the injustice put on use would not of exist". Why do we call ourselves "African-Americans and Asian-Americans and not just Americans?"
Because the whites (or Americans) never experience the prejudice that we went thru, therefore making us different from a typical Americans (or white people). If a white girl walks in a room, no one asks her, "Do you speak English?"
They asked that question to Asian-Americans and Latino-Americans. If a group of white students were driving around in their cars, the police don't stop them for nothing. But if you're African-American, police would stop you and wondering why you're driving in a good neighborhood or a college campus. In Fountian Valley, in Orange County CA. The Fountian Valley Police stops every teenage Asians and demand that their pictures be taken so that the police could put their photos in an Asian Gang log book. So if an Asian commits a crime, their picture would be transfer from possible gang member to actual gang member. There are also white gang members and Latino gang members. But the city chooses the Asians because we are easy targets. Many Asians complain about it but the Fountain Valley Police said "If you don't like it, then don't come to our city". You show good common sense Lilywater, but unfortunately in a racist society like United States, common sense sometimes doesn't exist in the real world. We have a lot of ignorant people here. Many people sees me as an Asian and not an American, even though I was born here. That's the life of an Asian-American. Oh, and btw, I'm a Sansei. Third generation American born citizen of Japanese decent. Not a hapa but a full Asian.
My white friends & co-workers will treat me like a fellow American because they know me, but the white people I don't know treats me as an Asian. So I don't believe it when my white friends says we are all Americans and there should be no such thing as Asian-Americans or African-Americans or any other hyphenate-Americans. I find that false because all white people never had an experiences as a "hyphenate-Americans". But between you and I, I'm an American, you're an American and Kruek is an American. But unfortunately in this country and in real life, I'm an Asian man, you're white or Asian (depends on your appearance) and Kruek is white actress or American actress. Sad, but that's life.
Masmak
Friday, November 01, 2002 at 20:35:08 (PST)
[216.244.24.123]
I see a lot of people commenting on her "green" eyes. I think they are hazel, greenish brown, and, I have one or two hapa friends with hazel eyes, and I once saw a National Geographic picture of a herdsman somewhere in China who had blue eyes. Anyway, I don't think looks necessarily define a person as Asian. To a certain extent, neither does how much they identify with a certain culture. I mean, we still call whitewashed Asians "Asians", even though they reject Asian culture.
person
Thursday, October 31, 2002 at 14:58:29 (PST)
[216.26.60.117]
to Masmak:
yes i agree with some points you make but what if there was a white looking hapa who lived in china all his/her life and didnt even speak enlgish and was culturally chinese? are you saying that person is still white? id disagree on that one. and it is not just what people around say you are. you can identify yourself. like i tell people i am chinese and white. no big deal. in the case of kreuk though she is an asian actress in the sense that she is racially Asian but not in the sense that she represents Asians. btw are you hapa?
Lilywater47
Wednesday, October 30, 2002 at 21:47:16 (PST)
[66.243.96.104]
To Not to be Pegged. When I wrote "some Asians are desperate...." I wasn't refering to you. I was addressing it to Asians who consider Kreuk as an Asian-American. I apologizes if you took it the wrong way. Maybe I should work on my writing.
Masmak
Wednesday, October 30, 2002 at 19:48:58 (PST)
[209.178.185.7]
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