The East to Western Movement
Growing up in a Filipino household, I never truly noticed the amount of Eastern Asian culture I was surrounded by. I was so used to watching anime before and after school or eating Asian foods my grandma cooked or bought from the supermarket down the road. It was not truly impactful until I was exposed to social media for the first time when I was 13. The impact of social media on the spread of international media is immaculate, as I watched throughout the years this spread of Eastern Asia taking over my news feed on Facebook and Twitter, to the point where it has almost become a social niche. Ranging from media to electronics to becoming so widespread that the Asian culture has become a fetish and aesthetic.
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The United States have always had an upperhand in media market, but in the last couple of decades, Asia has been trying to overcome and even challenge the west. Asia has one-seventh of the world’s population, yet they control two-thirds of the world’s total information control [here]. For example, a large breakthrough for Asian media is the growth of Japanese animations for the last couple of decades, specifically since 2013, where contracts from surrounding countries, including the United States, to own the rights to stream anime in their country has grown a tremendous 172% [here]. This is due to the influence of social media. Constantly, videos and pictures are shared, reviews bring certain shows to the top of the list, and friends bond and recommend shows to each other. It is a constant flow of exposure, which what has made mainstream animes, such as Naruto, Attack on Titan, and Dragon Ball, so popular to the point where anime conventions have become an event where thousands of people all over the country attend. San Diego had about 130,000 in attendance in 2017, with an economic impact of 140 million USD [here]. Of course not only Japanese Anime is the only thing given credit, as other popular U.S. shows and comics are included, it plays very big part. Just a couple weeks ago, I went to a local convention called Saboten where I watched several people dress up as their favorite character, including my best friend, and even spent more than I want to say on merchandise and posters (as you can see, my wall is growing in size).
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This popularity in anime has led to mascots and video games that have taken over the gaming industry. Pokemon has always been popular since the release of the game, making Pikachu an iconic mascot that even non-fans can recognize. This and Super Mario led to Nintendo’s worldwide popularity. Nintendo’s global net sales are an astonishing 9.95 billion USD and 75 billion USD in the global video game market, the U.S. being the largest share of Nintendo’s revenue (https://www.statista.com/topics/2284/nintendo/). Nintendo games have become a fan favorite, Pokemon and Legend of Zelda being big parts of childhoods. I have not met a single person, online and off, that don’t know or did not enjoy these games. There is also the influence of video games and anime on art, specifically fanart as seen on prints sold at conventions. Even my own art is heavily influenced by these, as I enjoy drawing my favorite characters from my favorite shows and games. This, in turn, causing my art to reach 300-400 notes on fanart on tumblr. This would not have been possible without the help of countries being connected through media and the internet in general, and that has only grown as technology has evolved altogether. A message and a post can spread within a matter of seconds all over the world. Without this, we’d be missing a part of our childhood.
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This can also be said about Asian film and media. Although not as popular as their anime counterparts, dramas and movies have been moving up, perhaps due to their storytelling that almost emulate those cheesy romance scenes you see in anime, or their stunning videography that make them so appealing. This can be seen specifically in the Korean industry, as movies like Train to Busan, A Love So Beautiful, and Descendants of the Sun, which are seen to be trending on Netflix. Usually, Asian dramas are typically shorter in length, so a lot of viewers tend to go towards them. This can also be seen in the popularity in some animes, which are shorter and usually have a interesting and flowing story line. The U.S. has also been introducing Asian actors and all Asian cast films into Hollywood, something rarely if ever seen before. Movies like Crazy Rich Asian ended up having a box office success of 76 million USD, and To All the Boys I’ve Loved before with an Asian female lead soared in popularity, but this wouldn’t have happened if not for the social media spread of Eastern Asian T.V. into Western media. Asians have always been cast as the nerdy side character or a comedic relief in sitcoms, yet in these films we see them portrayed as something more than that, someone human and not a martial artist specialist. This is important for young Asians in the West that don’t get very much representation in western media, making them feel left out, unattractive, and confused. Fortunately, this Eastern takeover has made Asians out to be more than a fetish dream, something we will get to more about later.
The U.S. has been seen making remakes of shows and movies like The Good Doctor (same title) and Boys Over Flowers (Between Boys and Friends), and upcoming is a remake of a popular Korean variety show, King of Masked Singer. Variety shows are popular for their ability to bring on famous pop singers and actors to learn more about them and make them seem like real people, rather than the pedestal they are put on here in the U.S.. King of Masked Singer is particularly popular for taking Idols and other popular T.V. persons to show their voice and talent, rather than their looks. This is important because of perfection that is portrayed in media, such as in music videos and T.V. shows. They are to be pure and without fault, making the idol status something to be sought after by not only young adults in eastern countries, but also now in the west as the spread of J-Pop and K-Pop has grown tremendously.
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K-Pop boy band BTS (as show above) and girl group BlackPink has hit the Billboard top 100, with BTS currently at 81 with their new hit “IDOL” ft. Nicki Minaj [here] and BlackPink formerly at 55 with their single “Ddu-Ddu Du” [here]. Though, many idol groups aren’t far behind this peak, like TWICE and EXO and many more climbing their way up with millions of views on Youtube. This increase is most likely due to that challenge of western standards, with many songs emulating pop genres and simplistic beats and twisting it into something catchy, almost hypnotic. You’ll hear many songs incorporate several genres into one, such as pop, rap, and even rock. Along with this is how flawless an idol looks in their videos, their skin seemingly free of all blemishes and fashion that isn’t something ridiculously over the top or painfully simple, but fashionable and wearable. It’s as if these idols are perfect, which is desirable for many young people. Who doesn’t want to seem perfect?
This ideal in looks has turned Asians from being seen as ugly and undesirable, to gorgeous, cute, and natural. This, in turn, going again that human standard I was talking about before. Soon, people began to ask how they keep their skin like their favorite idols, what makeup they use, and how their hair is cut. Unfortunately, the pedestal the west puts their stars on are nowhere near the God-level the east puts their idols on currently, no matter how many variety shows they are on. This human-like quality is being drowned out by this impossible standard of beauty and personality set by none other than eastern media themselves. Eastern Asian beauty products have had a huge impact on how the west does their skincare. Even large sellers, such as Sephora and Ulta, have a section on their website dedicated to Korean skincare. Even I have put Korean and Japanese beauty products into my daily routine, in order to achieve that perfect skin they have (as seen below) and I have to admit, they are working so far, but it really strikes home as I am writing this that perfection is really what we are looking for in today’s society and it’s very difficult to escape.
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This has also hurt the idea that fetishization of Asian culture has also gotten worse, much worse. For years, Asians have been seen as the perfect little wives, shy and obedient. Older white men in the west have turned to dating sites and other sites to look for a Asian wife to marry, but just Asian. As you can see in this short trailer for the film “Seeking Asian Female” by Debbie Lum, the “market” for Asian women is large and has been ongoing for years upon years, especially when the internet really took off. “Asian” has become a tag on pornography sites (along with other races as well, but it is dehumanizing to depict a race as a fetish itself). The perfection of women and men in Asian media has grown this over the past decade, as men and women alike have only wanted to date an eastern Asian man or woman because they “look the best”. Users on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram exposed to Asian media are known for using Asian people to fit their “aesthetic”, or even going as far as wishing and lying about being Asian has become the norm. The Asian culture has been boiled down to nothing more than simply… an aesthetic and a fetish. “When you generalize a specific race or group of people, you deny each and every one of them their individuality and their right to be who they are.” (http://beyondhallyu.com/k-pop/i-love-korean-boys-the-problem-of-fetishization/).
Yet, the east to west movement has opened up this opportunity to change this, as can be seen in western media movies like To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before and Crazy Rich Asians. The people in this film are not perfect, far from it. They are shown as humans unlike the crazy high standards held in Eastern media itself. This would not have been done without the spread of eastern media to the west. Especially in To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, there is no emphasis on the lead’s race, she is simply a normal girl in high school falling in love.
While this widespread media exchange has had it’s ups and downs on society as a whole, I think we are getting to a place where acceptance is the goal. Social media is a place of opinions and has the potential of creating an entire social movement overnight. The East to Western movement has been on the move for decades, but it is coming to fruition now and creating a change in how the West perceives the East.
Written by Silvia Jordan
