Two Sides to a Story: How to Do LGBTQ+ Asian Representation
Written by Kate Cheng
Spoiler warning for Saving Face (2004) and The Half of It (2020)
Michelle Krusiec as Wilhelmina "Wil" Pang and Lynn Chen as Vivian Shing from Saving Face. ©2005 Sony Pictures Entertainment inc
Many Asian-Canadians can say without a doubt, the joy we feel when we see familiar faces and stories reflected back at us on the big screen. Realising that we are not alone in our experiences and seeing our narratives celebrated in the entertainment industry is a powerful sentiment, especially for those of us in less visible groups.
Director and screenwriter Alice Wu’s debut feature film, Saving Face (2004) is a movie rarely mentioned outside of LGBTQ+ circles despite the fact that it is about Chinese diaspora families as much as it is a romantic comedy about a lesbian couple. It truly was a ground-breaking film for Asians in Western media, especially considering it came before the mainstream success of the widely-celebrated Crazy Rich Asians (2018).
A scene from The Half of It. Courtesy of Netflix.
Alice Wu returns 16 years later with The Half of It (2020). Released exclusively on Netflix, The Half of It differentiates itself from other teen rom-coms by addressing unique issues surrounding race and sexuality. While I feel it may not be the most realistic portrayal of a lesbian relationship because of the Cyrano-de-Bergerac styled premise, its focus isn’t romance. At the heart of it, the film is about making meaningful connections with people that don’t share the same backgrounds and perspectives as you do.
The heightened dramatic plotlines of Alice Wu’s movies are indeed unrealistic because of the nature of romantic comedies, but the individual characters and nuances are what resonate with me and other queer Asians. Showing that there is more to a person than just their sexual orientation or their parents’ and communities’ approval is a valuable story we need to continue telling more variations of.
Leah Lewis as Ellie Chu and Collin Chou as Edwin Chu, Ellie's father from The Half of It. Courtesy of Netflix.
The Relatable
The protagonist, Wilhelmina “Wil” Pang (Michelle Krusiec) is the epitome of the obedient Asian daughter stereotype. She works as a surgeon, tend to her grandparents and takes her mother into her own home. But in a particularly heartbreaking scene of her coming out, all her accomplishments and good behaviour are overshadowed by her sexual orientation, a single shortcoming in the eyes of her mother. It is a scenario that I and many other children of Asian households can certainly relate to whether or not they identify as LGBTQ+; this deep yearning for our parents’ approval that can be easily taken away by a single perceived fault.
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Of course, “coming out of the closet” is an extremely significant moment in both real and fictional LGBTQ+ stories that it has nearly become synonymous with the genre. But just as many of us remain in the closet throughout our teenage years due to conservative households, and the typical coming-of-age stories can be difficult to relate to as we never got the chance to authentically explore our identities and sexualities until later on in life.
At the heart of it, ...[it] is about making meaningful connections with people that don’t share the same backgrounds and perspectives as you do.
— Kate Cheng
To have to “come out” is a uniquely LGBTQ+ experience. Thus while it’s important to tell these types of stories, the quiet acceptance of The Half of It’s protagonist, Ellie Chu (Leah Lewis)’s own sexuality is especially significant. First because it is in stark contrast to a common response such as that taken by Wil in Saving Face. When Wil sneaks around, avoids her family before she finally introduces her girlfriend as a “friend,” their actions feel juvenile but their motives, genuine in order to “save face” for her family. Secondly, it shows that although the approval of those around us is valued, it should not be the factor that validates us to ourselves. This latter response is a refreshing departure from what is more commonly depicted in LGBTQ+ movies.
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The reason for these distinct responses lies in the protagonist’s upbringing and communities. You may notice that while the two films are thematically similar, the communities to which the protagonists belong are very different. Wil, her family, and her girlfriend live in a Chinese-American community within the diversely populated New York City. She does not feel like an outsider in her own home when it comes to her Chinese identity. On the other hand, Ellie is the only Asian in her hometown. Her sexual orientation makes her even more of an outsider in a town where she is already racially seen as an “other”.
Thus despite both identifying as Chinese-American and LGBTQ+, Wil and Ellie respond to their circumstances in unique ways. Wil chooses to reconcile her family and love interest by coming out to her mother and community, while Ellie is content to move on from her small town while keeping her sexuality to herself.
A scene from Saving Face. ©2005 Sony Pictures Entertainment inc
The achievements of these two LGBTQ+ rom-coms do not lie within their extraordinary love stories but their attention to detail beyond recognizable LGBTQ+ themes and characters. These are only two sides of a story with many more facets waiting to be told. While both films center around the same themes, their vastly different storylines are a big step in the right direction for varying the representation of LGBTQ+ Asian diaspora in modern media. Seeing Alice Wu create the The Half of It more than a decade after Saving Face brings hope that stories about Asian LGBTQ+ women still are and will always be relevant.
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