The highlight of the 2022 Oscars was not The Slap Heard ‘Round the World, but instead — Yuh-jung Youn (of Minari fame) announcing and presenting Troy Kotsur the Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of a deaf fisherman in the film CODA. The apex of the highlight was absolutely his speech, and Ms. Youn’s witnessing of his speech (watch it HERE). She stands no more than 18 inches from him and is enraptured the entire time. She taps at her heart when she welcomes him on stage, she takes his Oscar in a very motherly way so that he can use both hands to sign his acceptance speech, you can hear her deeply felt utterances, the page on stage tries momentarily to get her to give Troy more space and realizes (rightfully so) that it’s a lost cause, she emotes through every remark, grimace, smile, and soaring joyful pride.
Is it surprise to anyone to see the most marginalized people on earth root so deeply for the other most marginalized people on earth? Surely not.
He’s the second deaf actor to every win an Oscar. The last win by a deaf actor (Marlee Matlin, incidentally Kotsur’s wife in CODA) happened 30 years ago!
And because we could all use another reason to smile this week, how about Lady Gaga requesting Liza Minelli co-present with her the award for Best Motion Picture? Read more HERE. And how Gaga leans down toward Minelli, who is seated in her wheelchair, and whispers “I got you.” when Liza appears to struggle with her cue cards.
On top of that, women are now represented in record numbers, black actors, black women actresses, trans actors, disabled actors/actresses, queer and queer black actresses, a gospel choir, a 20-year old phenom (go Billie!), redheads (Jessica Chastain and Reba McEntire!), Latinos (Javier Bardem), even Latinx animated films (go Encanto!). And yet, we still have so much farther to go, with all due respect — Hollywood and members of the Motion Picture Academy. With all that I was so elated to celebrate, I couldn’t help but see the glaring miss.
What’s missing? Asians! Across the board!
We had two Asian presenters (elegant and poised Ms. Yuh-jung Youn, handsome Simu Liu) and one Asian film in the Best International Film category (Drive My Car).
Otherwise, pretty devoid of Asians. Where is the representation?! If you wonder about the diversity of the members of the Motion Picture Academy (those who vote for the winners), check this out HERE. Note that to this day, no East Asian (and few Asians, broadly) have every won Best Actor, let alone been nominated. Here’s a nice summary.
I recently bought myself RISE: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now. I can’t wait to dig in because I know there are numerous examples of Asian excellence in there, despite Asians being systematically being boxed out of this deep historical cultural American pantheon.
So we still have WORK.TO.DO, people! I grew up with my eyes glued to the Oscars. And seeing it through my adult lens, while I LOVE watching for the red carpet fashion, I wholly cringe at the thought of my two daughters consuming this content like I did. Without even knowing, we assume that greatness can only be achieved by white actors and actresses, and now increasingly Black, Latinx, queer, disabled, and on and on. See it, be it. Representation is everything. What gives me utmost hope is underdogs like Ms. Youn rooting wholeheartedly for underdogs like Troy Kotsur. I know there will come a day when we all triumph.
