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Happy Belated Father's Day! | Thoughts on being an Asian dad
By Alden E. HabaconTo all the second- and third-generation Asian dads out there who wonder when their children will ever see an Asian man depicted as an everyday person on TV, this post is for you.
This past Father's Day we welcomed the newest member to the Schema family, my son Aiden, who was born just a few days before—also making this my first father's day as a father.
In the past week I've been wondering about whether Aiden will see a media landscape with real representation of diversity in film and TV. Afterall, it was in my father's era that Bruce Lee was considered "too Asian" to play the lead in the Kung Fu television series. It was in my father's era that we heard things like ... "The American public isn't ready."
To our generation's disappointment, things haven't changed all that much for the representation of Asian men in mainstream media. Asian-looking characters are still too Asian to be depicted as saving the world. We are all still left dumbfounded by the casting choice of Justin Chatwin as the hero Goku in Dragon Ball The Movie, the 2009 film adaptation of the manga classic Dragon Ball, where in the animated series the child hero is Asian. And now The Last Airbender a film adaptation of the popular animated TV series, Avatar. The rewriting of the original Asian lead as white is generating HUGE controversy and a call from many Asian American media organisations like racebending.com to boycott the film. More on that later.
On a lighter note, we have seen some change, but more in independent film and in advertising. As I have begun to daydream picking up Aiden from martial arts, soccer and hockey I remembered a Tim Horton's commercial from a couple of years ago.
To date, there hasn't been a commercial that has resonated amongst Asian Canadians as deeply as this tear-jerker.
This Tim Horton's coffee ad tells one of the most quintessential Canadian stories of a dad and his son's hockey team, but with a twist. By writing the story around a Chinese family, it also tells one of the other most quintessential Canadian stories: that of integrating into a community as an immigrant family.
Now that I am a father, the aspect of this ad that is even more relevant to me is that both generations of dads are portrayed as everyday Canadian men. In other words, it's cool to be an Asian dad. They have depth and character. A real first in many ways. Kudos to Tim Horton's and to the creative team that made this! You made my Father's Day for years to come. Ironically, by the time Aiden is old enough to watch this, who knows how we'll watch video online.
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June 28, 2010 at 10:10 AM
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