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An Open Letter to Kelly Hu
9/29/03
Dear Kelly Hu,
I don't know you all too well, but I do know some things. I know that you were
once crowned as Miss Teen USA. As a young Asian girl at the time, I was ecstatic.
To see an Asian woman stand tall in front of a sea of blond hair and blue green
eyes was both refreshing and empowering. I also know that you starred in "Growing
Pains", "Sunset Beach", "Nash Bridges", and "Martial
Law". I know these things, not because I am a follower of models-turned-Hollywood-actors,
but because you are an Asian American woman, and every time I saw you, it was
a validation of my existence in a white-dominated world. So when your claim
to fame came (read: when white people came to know you as Kelly Hu and not
just "some hot Asian chick") starring opposite The Rock in The Scorpion
King, I, like thousands of Asian Americans who followed your budding career
and rooted for you, already knew who you were.
You see, whether you like it or not, you represent hundreds upon thousands
of Asians, including me, and especially those living in America. This is not
a choice, but a condition, because there are so few prominent Asians in the
American media- something you yourself have recognized in past media interviews.
In fact, this holds true not just in the eyes of Asians, but also in the eyes
of non-Asians- you are referred to by waves of white men as the "fine
Asian girl who kicked ass in Nash Bridges" or as the "cute Asian
girl in Surf Ninjas" (I am refraining from citing the more vulgar terms
you are referred to by white males for obvious reasons).
