Introduction
The Oscars, established in 1929, is widely considered as the most prestigious award in the cinematic world. While it primarily aim to celebrate remarkable films in Hollywood and abroad, the Oscars have also influenced people’s opinions concerning what stories and voices need to be heard. Since 2015, this Western-centric approach has been powerfully criticized through the viral hashtag #OscarsSoWhite, an instant reaction to the news that all 20 acting nominations for the 87th Academy Awards went to White actors. This raises more questions about which stories are validated and how cultural hierarchies are reinforced through global cinema. This critique echoes the concept of Orientalism (Said, 1978) — the Western tendency to exoticize and oversimplify Asian cultures. In global cinema, Orientalist viewpoints have confined Asian characters to stereotypical roles or exotic backdrops for Western protagonists.
However, there have been some changes in recent years, where more Asian representatives have secured victory in the said award-giving body. A historic milestone was presented in 2020 when Parasite, a South Korean film, won four out of its six nominations, and became the first Asian film to receive the Best Picture award. Other prominent winners include the South Korean film Minari, which earned Yuh-Jung Youn the Best Supporting Actress award in 2021. One year later, Japan’s Drive My Car won four nominations and the award for Best International Feature Film, further signalling increasing Asian film recognition on the international scene. And just in 2023, Everything Everywhere All At Once marked a significant shift in Hollywood’s portrayal of Asians on screen by placing their stories and struggles in America at the forefront of the movie's storyline and has dominated the Oscars with seven awards, including its acting awards which went to Asian performers: Michelle Yeoh making history as the first Asian Best Actress winner, and Ke Huy Quan becoming the second Asian performer to win Best Supporting Actor.
Although several Asian films have won and been nominated at the Oscars since 2020, this article will discuss two of the most highly publicized films, Parasite and Everything Everywhere All At Once with their record-breaking feats at the Oscars that are viewed to have never been broken in the past. This analysis examines how Asian Oscar winners have significantly influenced the rise of the Asian film industry while recognising the need for changes in global cinema to overcome decades of Asian underrepresentation in the highly influential Western entertainment industry.
Parasite and its message transcendence beyond language
Parasite’s win at the 2020 Oscars is a significant stepping stone in introducing South Korean films to global cinema as it has proven that distinctive cultural depictions can overcome language barriers in the international market. The film’s outstanding screenplay explores Korean society while reflecting broader themes of class warfare. The picture of the relationship between the Kim and the Park family is not only a struggle between two social classes but a metaphor for the functioning of South Korean society. Each member of the two families symbolises another aspect of modern society. This is not new for Western societies, but Parasite differs due to its peculiar perspective on Asian society. Through the lens of Bong Joon-ho, the film masterfully contrasts the house of the Kim family with the penthouse of the Park family: the first space is a banjiha (half-basement apartments), a damp and dark space, representing poverty, while the second house is a clean, light space and shows the life of wealthy classes. Thus, by combining South Korea’s unique elements in storytelling with the topic of class inequality, Bong Joon-ho and his collaborators lead Parasite to stand out from other films.
Moreover, Parasite breaks the language barrier and expands the commercial opportunities for Asian cinema. As Lima-based film critic José Sarmiento Hinojosa has observed, the predominance of English-language content has prevented most American cinema audiences from adopting the habit of reading subtitles. He explained, “If cinema is seen as entertainment, the mindset is that nobody wants to pay to read subtitles; nobody wants to make that effort”. However, being one of the shortlisted Asian films for the Oscars, Parasite later won the support of international audiences, thus further validating itself in the Western cinema space and making more viewers access movies outside Hollywood (Yuen, 2020). With a high revenue of more than a hundred million dollars, this film has led to the discussion of how this film developed Asian representation in global cinema. In particular, Tom Quinn, the boss of the film’s American distribution company NEON, said, “I do not see a trend that foreign-language films are super popular in the U.S.,”. Similarly, Yoonhee Choi, head of international sales at CJ Entertainment which sold Parasite worldwide, commented that this film has opened a new market where the percentage of audiences watching Asian films has been increasing.
Parasite’s victory at the Oscars 2020 represents more than just an award for an independent film in global cinema. By breaking language barriers and proving the commercial ability of Asian films in Western markets, Parasite strongly contributes to the transformative movement for Asian filmmakers today.
By breaking language barriers and proving the commercial ability of Asian films in Western markets, Parasite strongly contributes to the transformative movement for Asian filmmakers today.
Everything Everywhere All At Once and the revolutionizing West's Asian film stereotypes
Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) is among the best Asian portrayals in film, winning seven prestigious Oscar awards and ranking $185 million at the box office. With particular emphasis on Western culture and values, this film ultimately creates a particular issue within the Asian American community: the cultural isolation and racism of Asian individuals in America. The approach marks a change in how Asia is perceived in global cinema, where particular issues and realities of Asian individuals are increasingly being heard and acknowledged.
By breaking the Western stereotype where multiverse films – a type of film that explores the concept of multiple parallel universes or alternate realities existing simultaneously – are typically presented with an all-White cast, Everything Everywhere All At Once has proven the opportunity for recognition and good sales at the box office to an Asian cast’s film. The film heavily invests in celebrating Asian culture, expressing the distinction of Asian Americans among American communities. Specifically, Asian culture reference points such as the stereotypical “tiger mom” and Lunar New Year are handled lightly and in the spirit of verisimilitude. Additionally, the filmmakers demonstrate a huge cultural affinity for Asian culture by borrowing stylistic flourishes from traditional Chinese and Hong Kong Kung Fu films and slapstick comedy. Notably, the characters’ alternating conversations in English and Mandarin or Cantonese mark the cultural authenticity of the film.
By placing Chinese cultural facets at the very core of its story, the film is a giant leap beyond the forced and watered-down constructions of Asian identity that dominated Western films as revelations of Orientalism’s consequences in the past. Besides projecting Asian culture onto the global screen, the film also boldly portrays various forms of racism faced by Asian individuals in America, including racism based on looks (Joy’s character), status and language (Gong-Gong’s character), and sexualization of Asian women (Evelyn’s character) (Rizkia, 2023).
"By placing Chinese cultural facets at the very core of its story, the film is a giant leap beyond the forced and watered-down constructions of Asian identity that dominated Western films ... in the past."
Long road ahead
While Asian films gradually gain increased access to a global audience, its path remains nascent. It requires consistent representation to have a lasting influence within the international film industry. Parasite and Everything Everywhere All At Once have undoubtedly broken down barriers, but these are not sufficient to dismantle the structural underrepresentation of Asian filmmakers and performers today.
"Parasite and Everything Everywhere All At Once have undoubtedly broken down barriers, but these are not sufficient to dismantle the structural underrepresentation of Asian filmmakers and performers."
In a report by Professor Stacy L. Smith and the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative which examined the 1,700 top-grossing films from 2007 to 2023, the proportion of Asian characters increased from 3% in 2007 to 18% in 2023. During the same period, the proportion of White characters decreased from 78% in 2007 to 62% in 2022. Although Asian nominations have dominated Oscars awards in recent years, the total percentage of Asian Oscar winners has been approximately 2% to 4% since the first Oscars season. This proved that even though a shift for more Asian representatives both onscreen and offscreen has been observed, inequality still exists and Asian representatives continue to be less than others looking at the full historical picture.
As such, Western film producers still rule most of the world’s cinema industry. Although earlier films displayed at the Oscars have somewhat improved the influence of Asian figures, their presence still reflects significant disadvantages compared to the West. This raises critical challenges for Asian performers standing firm and striving to achieve new heights in the global film industry.
The success of Parasite and Everything Everywhere All At Once has indeed created new global attitudes towards Asian films, proving that narratives with particular cultural contexts can achieve box office triumphs. They have resisted Western stereotyping, increased representation, and paved the way for future generations of Asian film actors and directors. With this development, however, Asian films remain underrepresented in cinema and Western dominance continues to provide smaller arenas for these films in the global stage.
For a sustainable change to occur, the film industry should continue to promote diversity through providing a more extensive options for the global audiences. The present success of Asian films should not be viewed as a standalone victory but as a bridge towards a more diverse and inclusive film industry, where Asian filmmakers are finally noticed and their stories bloom.
This article represents the views of contributors to STEAR's online digital publication, and not those of STEAR, which takes no institutional positions.
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