Randall Park has been enjoying a moment of late, most recently via a beloved appearance on WandaVision, but in taking the reins on Shortcomings, the first-time feature director will have his hands full meeting the broader cultural moment. In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, anti-Asian rhetoric has gripped the United States, resulting in violent attacks leading to serious injuries and even deaths. With recent efforts in media to increase visibility of the Asian American experience, Park's upcoming project carries an ethical and cultural weight beyond the usual expectations for a directorial debut. But armed with years of experience telling uniquely Asian American narratives, he seems up to the task.
Originally a graphic novel by Adrian Tomine, Shortcomings tells the story of three Bay Area urbanites as they navigate interpersonal relationships and search across the country for the perfect connection, as reported by Deadline. Tomine was initially reluctant to adapt his graphic novel into a film, but Park and his fellow producers under their Imminent Collision banner convinced him with their passion for this heralded contemporary work. Park himself has already explored the Asian American experience through his starring role in the sitcom Fresh Off the Boat. This next step in his filmmaking career comes at a time when Asian American visibility is of the utmost importance.
After a year of hate-mongering directed at the Asian and Asian American community by prominent figures in U.S. leadership, a mass shooting recently claimed the lives of eight people in Atlanta, six of whom were Asian women. Meanwhile, the 2021 Academy Award nominations featured Chloé Zhao, a Chinese-American filmmaker, leading off the Best Director class, while Minari, a film that directly confronts the Asian immigrant experience, received a Best Picture and Director nomination among others. Asian Americans are finding more and more footholds in American culture, and yet bigotry and xenophobia remain dangerously present in the United States. Through Shortcomings, Park and company have an opportunity to tell a story that deals with escaping ideological prisons without wading too far into clichés.
The film will follow in the footsteps of recent advances in increasing AAPI (Asian American & Pacific Islander) visibility in prominent media. Crazy Rich Asians (2018) was a box office success, while the following year, The Farewell (2019) earned widespread critical acclaim. Minari (2020) earned six Academy Award nominations, including four of the "Big 5." Raya and the Last Dragon (2021) represents Disney's first foray into Southeast Asian culture, and despite some cultural shortcomings, it's a four-quadrant film with an extensive Asian principal cast that will expose young people to this iconography for years to come.
While it's still in the early stages to be sure, Shortcomings is an exciting and hotly anticipated project. Park hopes to parlay his recent surge in popularity as Jimmy Woo into a successful directorial debut, while the material tackles issues the Asian American community currently faces head-on. The responsibility that comes with this comedic drama is not only greater than usual but also exactly the challenge that drew Park and his team to it in the first place.