News, Reviews & Commentary on Lesbian and Bisexual women in Entertainment and the Media

Asian-American lesbians exist, and AfterEllen.com is there to prove it

Yesterday, in honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, I counted down the top five queer Asian-American women in media and entertainment; today I'm revisiting some of AfterEllen.com's coverage of queer Asian women in general. Despite the general paucity of Asian Americans on television and in film, there is a solid group of work out there about lesbian and bisexual Asian Americans, and I have to admit one of my favorites is the 2004 film Saving Face:

In this quirky romantic comedy, young doctor Wil (Michelle Krusiec) struggles with her relationship with her mother, played by Joan Chen (who is unexpectedly and scandalously pregnant), while she falls in love with Vivian (Lynn Chen). Yeah, parts of it are cheesy, but hey, it's set in New York, they eat a lot of Chinese food, and everybody's happy in the end. I loved it!

Saving Face isn't, interestingly enough, the only film about a Chinese-American lesbian; in 2005, Georgia Lee's debut feature Red Doors was released (read about the making of the movie here). This drama/comedy about a uniquely dysfunctional Chinese-American family includes a story line about daughter Julie Wong (Elaine Kao), another doctor, who falls for bombshell actress Mia Scarlett (Mia Riverton).

Following in the family drama vein, Chutney Popcorn (1999) from out director and actor Nisha Ganatra is about Reena (Ganatra), a young Indian-American lesbian who offers to be a surrogate mother to her infertile sister.

In The Gymnast (2006), Addie Yungmee plays Serena, the graceful lesbian acrobat who falls in love with previously heterosexual Jane (Dreya Weber). And in Some Prefer Cake (1998), Machiko Saito plays a one-night stand who comes back to haunt the main character. In her review of the film, Danielle Riendeau wrote, "Saito is an incredible scene-stealer and plays Katie with fantastic comedic instincts."

You know what's so great about these movies? None of the lesbians die in the end! In fact, they pretty much all survive to live another day and even end up with a girlfriend. Hopefully, the upcoming romantic comedy When Kiran Met Karen, about an Indian-American actress who falls for her female co-star, will continue this positive trend.

Television, sadly, hasn't been as kind to lesbian/bi Asian Americans. On the short-lived sitcom Coupling, Lindsay Price played a stereotypically manipulative bisexual, Jane. This past season on The L Word, biracial actress Sandrine Holt (she is of Chinese and French descent) played the wealthy (and, OK, manipulative) gambler Catherine Rothberg, though her Asian background seemed to have nothing to do with her character. (For a positive portrayal of an Asian lesbian on television, you have to go north of the border to Canada's teen drama Edgemont, in which Grace Park, now on Battlestar Galactica, played a lesbian high school student.)

In real life, there aren't too many out Asian-American women celebrities, but there are a good handful. If you haven't done so already, read our interview with Margaret Cho or catch up on what Jenny Shimizu was up to last year. Don't forget about outspoken poet (and co-host of She Said What?) Staceyann Chin and directors Alice Wu and Ligy Pullappally. And in 2003 we spoke to openly lesbian Kashish Chopra, who won the Miss Congeniality award at the Miss India U.S.A. pageant.

If you're interested in looking beyond the borders of the United States, we've covered queer Asian women across the globe as well. In "Queer Asian Women Gain Momentum in Western Entertainment," Helen Madison examines the evolution of queer Asian women in film and TV, including Joan Chen's sexy role in Wild Side. "From Fire to Journey to Kiran" explores how representations of Indian lesbians in film have changed over time. "China's Super Girl Li Yuchun" takes a look at the 2006 winner of China's American Idol-style pop music contest.

We've covered films set outside the U.S., too, from the Indian-Scottish romantic comedy Nina's Heavenly Delights (which should be coming to the U.S. this year) to The Journey (2005), about young women in rural India who fall in love with each other, and the classic film Fire. Les Filles du Botaniste is set in 1980s China, while Butterfly is set in present-day Hong Kong, and Lily Festival is a rare exploration of lesbian sexuality among older Japanese women.

Finally, readers have had a treasure trove of same-sex stories in the Japanese tradition of manga (read "An Introduction to Yuri Manga and Anime"). More recently, Korean graphic novelist June Kim's 12 Days was released, telling a moving tale about Jackie mourning the death of her lover, Noah.

If I have to say so myself, I think we've done a pretty good job. But we're always on the lookout for more Asian-American lesbians and bi women (as well as more women of color) to feature, so if you have any suggestions, please let us know.

  • malindalo's blog
  • Login or register to post comments
  • MetalHead88's picture

    I also remember you covering Bend It Like Beckham...

    Though it's not about a lesbian couple the issue does come up and is treated very positively (and it's one of the funniest films I've ever seen). 
    vinoek's picture

    spider lilies

    hi check out this new lesbian movie spider lilies...

    http://www.karazen.com/reviews/movies/spiderlilies.php

    isabella leong is super HAWT

    mygoolay's picture

    amen to that

    spider lilies from taiwan is a really good film... i saw it at the boston lgbt film fest where it premiered in the US... i think it's one of my favorite films to date... another asian film i saw at the festival was "Tuli" from the philippines... very artfully done from the director of the blossoming of maximo olivares...
    lostintheverse's picture

    Kudos to AfterEllen's writers...

    especially for their commitment to covering media concerning the diversity (ethnic, sexual, and gender) of women.

    Another groundbreaking lesbian filmmaker is Pratibha Parmar <http://www.kalifilms.com/index2.html> whose work has explored racism in England and lesbian and gay South Asians.

    What about queer Asian writers such as Kitty Tsui's work? Anthologies such as The Very Inside edited by Sharon Lim-Hong, Red Is Not the Only Color (edited by Patricia Sieber) or Piece of My Heart edited by Makeda Silvera (although this last anthology has many women of color writers and not just Asian ones). Or non-fiction books such as Queer in Asian America (edited by David Eng & Alice Hom). I'm sure there must be more literature, but sadly, I'm not familiar with many authors.

     

    anitas's picture

    Good timming

    Coincidentally, the Toronto gay film festival - Inside out - is highlighting asian movies this year. Not the same thing, but pertinent :).

     

    http://www.insideout.on.ca/17Annual/highlights.htm

    sfinch's picture

    While it didn't have a storybook ending...

    I really enjoyed the Chinese Botanist's Daughter

     

    Beautiful cinematoagraphy and mylene jampanoi (chinese and french)

     

    Mylene Jampanoi

     

     

    vinoek's picture

    i heart her

    yes i agree with you, the movie is beautiful but it's very sad... it's hard to find happy ending lesbian movies... most of them ended tragically... not very good for our moral eh:d

    I love Saving face though, excellent script writing and excellent cast! plus it has a happy ending!

     

    v

    nyankobrulee's picture

    It's hard staying within

    It's hard staying within Asian American boundaries when you talk about queer lesbian entertainment. Asian Americans aren't seen very much in the media as a whole anyway, so most of us have to find Asian venues to find queer lesbian movies. But I just want to give props to films made by queer asian-american lesbian indie filmmakers. I saw a couple last year that were really good. They just don't have a big budget (although advanced technology has given new filmmakers affordable DV alternatives) or a distributor. So yay for film fests!
    Gemini84's picture

    OMG

    I never seen Mylene before, but she is freakin GORGEOUS...those EYES...sorry, I'm a sucka for brunettes with green eyes...thanks sfinch =)
    Gemini84's picture

    more to add

    I finally got a chance to read malinda's entire blog and wanted to add some more comments. First of all, I did go see Saving Face with some of my friends, and it's a real sweet movie. Second of all, I didn't know Sandrine Holt was from Chinese and French descent...I'm beginning to think that all mixed Chinese/European chicks are all hot...ahem, Mylene pictured above and Kristen Kreuk? Need I say more? I digress. Third of all, cheers to more queer AND asian women on film! Hopefully, at this year's film fest in my city, I can try to push for films in this genre. Wish me luck!
    unprofessionl's picture

    overlooked?

    Did I miss Rose Lam, or was she overlooked?
    tam358's picture

    Saving Face!

    Saving Face is in my top five or even top three favourite movies. What I love about it is that it's not just a lesbian movie, it's also a touching story of family. It's the kind of film I could watch proudly with my parents. I also really appareciated the specific way that the film interspered small amounts of subtitled dialogue with english, even in the same scene, the way people actually talk in real life. It's touching and adorable, funny and sweet, and a little sexy. Everyone should see Saving Face.

    I couldn't stand Chutney Popcorn. This whiny, unattractive girl is dating Jill Hennesey and yet all she does is sit around and complain for no apparent reason? It's the kind of movie Saving Face could've been, with all the bitching about immigrant parents who just don't understand, but that SF thankfully wasn't. My then gf and I actually got bored and turned it off, I have no idea how it ends.

    I saw Some Prefer Cake when I was quite young, like early teens, and remember being totally weirded out, confused and hating it.

    Nichole's picture

    Loved Saving Face

    Light, fun, touching, text book romantic comedy...that just happened to be about girl meets girl instead of girl meets boy. I recommend this to all my "gay shy" friends as an ice breaker into "gay" movies. Oh and Kissing Jessica Stein.

    High Art...um, not so much.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------

    "I'm not sorry for what I did. I'm sorry for what I didn't do."


    User login

    Recent comments

    After Ellen home page on logo online