Multiple shows, including Amazon's The Boys and Netflix's The Umbrella Academy, have been put under a magnifying glass to explore a long-running issue with Hollywood, and its misrepresentation of Asian characters. The "Silent Asian" trope refers to instances where one of - or most likely, the only - Asian character included in the cast has little to no dialogue within the show or movie - even though they play prominent roles. This has become a common yet unaddressed issue, appearing in a multitude of popular shows and movies.
The Boys and Netflix's The Umbrella Academy, (both having just finished their second seasons and ramping up for their third) have been called into question for their use of the harmful trope. Karen Fukuhara stars in The Boys as Kimiko Miyashiro, who is mute. Justin H. Min of The Umbrella Academy plays Number Six Ben "The Horror" Hargreeves, a ghost. Throughout each show's respective first seasons, both characters had little to no dialogue and limited interaction with the rest of the cast despite being integral parts of the show's overall story.
Mulan actor Jimmy Wong took to Twitter to shed light on the issue, specifically calling out the characters on The Boys and The Umbrella Academy with attached images. He went on to include a thread, made by Twitter user @FaatiTheStreet, showing a multitude of female characters of color "who inexplicably can’t/don’t communicate with the main cast of mostly white characters," starting with Fukuhara's character in The Boys. You can find the initial tweet from Jimmy Wong attached below.
Fans were quick to deflect the accusations, citing that there were valid reasons many of these characters didn't talk. In the case of Kimiko Miyashiro, fans defended her silence as she became mute as a result of lifelong abuse, using her own form of sign language to communicate. Ben Hargreeves, on the other hand, can only be seen by his "I-talk-to-dead-people" brother Klaus, meaning he can't properly communicate with any other members of his family. To that, Wong replied with a screenshot from an interview with The Boys showrunner Eric Kripke addressing the subject himself, saying that he too "...felt they'd fallen into the stereotype of 'a quiet Asian woman' in the first (season)". Despite that, some fans are still defending their favorite shows, saying they're only sticking close to the original source material of the comics. But, does that make it alright?
Most signs point to no - despite having plot-related explanations for characters' lack of dialogue, the implications of the trope are still just as damaging. And these two shows aren't exclusive incidents, either, as it can be seen in many other popular pieces of media as well, each with their own "reasons" for the characters' silence. One of the most well-known characters pointed out in the thread was Hana Mae Lee's Lilly Onakuramara in the 2012 movie Pitch Perfect. Lilly spends most of the film incoherently mumbling her words, and her quiet voice is often used as the crux of a joke, while most characters make no clear effort to understand her. The reasoning for her silence wasn't revealed until the third and final movie in the franchise, with a throwaway line of "Satan has left my body" before speaking in a clear voice.
Things may turn around as the shows continue, as long as the issue continues to be talked about. Ben Hargreeves saw more dialogue and screen time in the shows most recent season, and it looks like he'll be playing an entirely new role in The Umbrella Academy season 3. And The Boys' showrunner's shown acknowledgment of the issue and apparent interest in fixing it may mean more for Kimiko in the future.
Source: Jimmy Wong